Chain tighteners for cable chains

Cable chains (as opposed to "chain" chains) seem to be low cost; easy
on-off; pretty effective (at least in Tahoe/Donner Pass snows); and
reasonably durable. Also nice to tighten 'em up with the big rubber
band plus multi-hook tighteners available lots of places.

Problem is, the S-hooks or figure-8-hooks that come with all the brands
of tighteners I've been able to find all put a sharp bend or kink in the
circumferential cable at the point where the cable runs through the
hook; and it doesn't look like this sharp bend in the cable as it passes
through the hook is going to be good for long cable life.

I've seen on one car up here a fancier form of tightener in which the
outer end of each S-hook (the end that hooks onto the cable) has an
additional piece of metal that hooks over the wire cable in a broad
gentle curve ,something like the way a suspension bridge cable is gently
bent over the top of the towers, so the cable only makes a gentle bend.

Looked for these on Google; no luck yet. Anyone have any leads on where
to find them.

I use 550 cord, tie one end and zig zag and tighten, then tie off, works well.

"AES/newspost" wrote in message ...
Cable chains (as opposed to "chain" chains) seem to be low cost; easy
on-off;

Used real chains lately? Konig makes a variety of chains that are much
easier to install than any of the cables I've owned. No need to move the
vehicle. Fasten both the inside fastener and the outside fastener from
the outside, so no need to hug your wet, muddy tire. Ratcheting tensioner.

They cost about more than cables though.

They're probably available in the South Bay. I bought 'em at Wilderness
Exchange in Berkeley.

On Sat, 31 Jan 2004 10:24:04 -0800, "David"
wrote:


"AES/newspost" wrote in message ...
Cable chains (as opposed to "chain" chains) seem to be low cost; easy
on-off;

Used real chains lately? Konig makes a variety of chains that are much
easier to install than any of the cables I've owned. No need to move the
vehicle. Fasten both the inside fastener and the outside fastener from
the outside, so no need to hug your wet, muddy tire. Ratcheting tensioner.

They cost about more than cables though.

They're probably available in the South Bay. I bought 'em at Wilderness
Exchange in Berkeley.

Check out your local Wal-Mart, I have seen them carry a good selection
of chains and cables at good prices.

Chains tend to grip better in more conditions, and be more repairable.

Cables work better when there is limited clearance around the drive
wheels, very common with Front WD.

Happy trails,
Gary (net.yogi.bear)
------------------------------------------------
at the 51st percentile of ursine intelligence

Gary D. Schwartz, Needham, MA, USA
Please reply to: garyDOTschwartzATpoboxDOTcom

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In article ,
David wrote:

"AES/newspost" wrote in message ...
Cable chains (as opposed to "chain" chains) seem to be low cost; easy
on-off;

- - Only in theory. In practice they self-destruct fairly quickly.
Watch the side of the road on the way home and count the number
of destroyed balls of cable chains. Cable chains will not last
a whole season if you like powder skiing, road salt destroys the
tensioners and once they go they whole thing self destructs.


Used real chains lately? Konig makes a variety of chains that are much
easier to install than any of the cables I've owned. No need to move the
vehicle. Fasten both the inside fastener and the outside fastener from
the outside, so no need to hug your wet, muddy tire. Ratcheting tensioner.

They cost about more than cables though.

They're probably available in the South Bay.

_ I doubt it, they're hard to find.

I bought 'em at Wilderness
Exchange in Berkeley.


_ These are great if pricey chains. In the long run they are much
cheaper than cables if you go up there a lot and IMHO easier to
install. The nice part is that you can repair them fairly easily
with spare links. They don't work loose and have a nice
self-locking tightening mechanism.

_ If you really want easy on/off find a quick and simple screw
jack that will work with your car. Old volvo's have a really nice
one, but you car has to have the square jack points to use
it. You don't need to jack the car all the way up, just enough to
get clearance. The tire shouldn't leave the ground. Makes
the whole thing about a thousand times simpler. When one of the
chain guys saw me at work he said

"Hey, that's cheating..."

_ Booker C. Bense

P.S. Buy yourself a $19 PVC rain suit extra large. Road
salt does number on goretex.

P.P.S Wash and dry your chains after every trip. Spraying
some silicon on them doesn't hurt.

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In article ,
Gary S. Idontwantspam@net wrote:
On Sat, 31 Jan 2004 10:24:04 -0800, "David"
wrote:


"AES/newspost" wrote in message ...
Cable chains (as opposed to "chain" chains) seem to be low cost; easy
on-off;

Used real chains lately? Konig makes a variety of chains that are much
easier to install than any of the cables I've owned. No need to move the
vehicle. Fasten both the inside fastener and the outside fastener from
the outside, so no need to hug your wet, muddy tire. Ratcheting tensioner.

They cost about more than cables though.

They're probably available in the South Bay. I bought 'em at Wilderness
Exchange in Berkeley.

Check out your local Wal-Mart, I have seen them carry a good selection
of chains and cables at good prices.

_ I doubt you'll find the Konig there. You can get the ones with
wire hoops which are good, but not as good as the Konig ones.
They have a really nice chain ratcheting mechanism that doesn't
self-destruct in the presense of salt.


Chains tend to grip better in more conditions, and be more repairable.

Cables work better when there is limited clearance around the drive
wheels, very common with Front WD.


_ Recipe for diaster once the cables snap, I've seen plenty
immobilized FWD cars with remains of cables snarled in
the axle.

_ Both the Konig and wire hoop chains can be tightened much
better than standard chains. Plus they come in enough sizes
that you can match the tires fairly well. They are also less
disasterous when they fail [1], but they will do a number on
your paint job.

_ Booker C. Bense

[1]- All chains fail eventually.


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"Gary S." Idontwantspam@net wrote in message ...
On Sat, 31 Jan 2004 10:24:04 -0800, "David"
wrote:

Cables work better when there is limited clearance around the drive
wheels, very common with Front WD.

In the US, cars with minimal clearance are usually rated for class-S chains.
Cables are usually (always?) class S, but some chains are too. Konig
has some low profile chains, but I don't know if they're class S, and their
website (Italian) doesn't discuss it.

My old FWD car seems fine with standard Konig chains, but my new car
has limited clearance in the back, and requires class S.

On Mon, 2 Feb 2004 09:58:06 -0800, "David"
wrote:

"Gary S." Idontwantspam@net wrote in message ...
On Sat, 31 Jan 2004 10:24:04 -0800, "David"
wrote:

Cables work better when there is limited clearance around the drive
wheels, very common with Front WD.

In the US, cars with minimal clearance are usually rated for class-S chains.
Cables are usually (always?) class S, but some chains are too. Konig
has some low profile chains, but I don't know if they're class S, and their
website (Italian) doesn't discuss it.

My old FWD car seems fine with standard Konig chains, but my new car
has limited clearance in the back, and requires class S.

As long as you use a low clearance chain or cable device. Ripping
apart the wheel wells from the inside could get expensive as well as
dangerous.

Happy trails,
Gary (net.yogi.bear)
------------------------------------------------
at the 51st percentile of ursine intelligence

Gary D. Schwartz, Needham, MA, USA
Please reply to: garyDOTschwartzATpoboxDOTcom

"Gary S." Idontwantspam@net wrote in message ...

As long as you use a low clearance chain or cable device. Ripping
apart the wheel wells from the inside could get expensive as well as
dangerous.

Yup.

Actually my hope is to *never* have to install chains on this AWD wagon. We'll
see...

I've heard good things about, but never used, "Spike Spider" - see
http://www.spike-spider.com/ - especially for low-clearance cars. I
certainly see the hub adapters on a lot of cars here in the Bay Area.

chris