Chains vs. Singles

[Pooch1128]

Well living if Fl. I can't speak on the subject of chains, but I can say that as we have 2 woods trucks 1 being an A2 and the other an A3 with singles that the A3 with singles goes thru swamp, mud, muck and etc. ALOT better than the A2 with duals. Now I know some people will claim that the transmission might have something to do with it and that maybe true, But the A3 has had to pull other A2's out that got struck and not vice versa....I would diffently have singles rather than duals.

 

[smgman]

I think I may have got lucky but I found a complete set for the Deuce shipped to my house
(Came in six 5 gallon Buckets and were brand new ) for Around $250 .

I will look up the info I have and see if I can find where I got them .
The Buckets should still have the sellers name and address on them .

I have not installed them yet but need to try them out soon so they will be ready when I need them .

I have installed chains on the outside tire of duals at work for the fire dept many times and that is easy cause you can use the inside tire to back up on a ramp .
Installing on both duals will be a little more work but should be well worth it .

I did not see any spreaders with my new chain set anyone know where to get military ones or I will have to make them .

Jay

 

[M1075]

I have some NIB 11x20 chains in the classifieds.

 

[blybrook]

What was the problem with chains on the outside tires only? Just curious how it damaged the u-joints. Around Kansas City there's not much use for chains. They're just nice to have when parking in snowy or muddy grass at airsoft games.

Would it hurt a deuce to run with chains on the outer tires only?

With the chains on the outside only and the neighbor trying to go up a hill that was yet to be properly plowed. He got the chained tire off of the packed portion of the road, so the non-chained tire was bearing on the slick pack (was 4-5" thick + ice). He lost traction, starting spinning, then immediately gained traction with the other wheel. Snapped a u-joint like it wasn't there. Had he been running chains on both tires instead of the outside only, he wouldn't have had lost traction in the first place.

It was a one ton chebby with what he claimed was posi-trac & an automatic. I have never seen one act like his did though. Another neighbor with full chains that was already on top of the hill came down with a strap and pulled him out of the way so the rest of us could get home.

Can't tell ya if it would hurt a deuce or not, I would doubt it as you wouldn't have the rpm high enough to be breaking things in the first place.

 

[mikey]

Well living if Fl. I can't speak on the subject of chains, but I can say that as we have 2 woods trucks 1 being an A2 and the other an A3 with singles that the A3 with singles goes thru swamp, mud, muck and etc. ALOT better than the A2 with duals. Now I know some people will claim that the transmission might have something to do with it and that maybe true, But the A3 has had to pull other A2's out that got struck and not vice versa....I would diffently have singles rather than duals.

I think the only advantage stock ndt's MIGHT have over singles is soft sand. That being said you are comparing singles to non chained NDT's. OP is asking for singles vs NDT's with good chains. I've read here and in TM's that you can/should use chains for mud as well as snow. It would be interesting if you could run NDT's and a set of chains in mud and compare them to singles. My guess would be singles would still perform better, but it would be interesting to hear the results. I would think the A2 with chains would be much better in mud than without. An a2 in snow without chains is a world of difference compared to an a2 in snow with chains. It would be interesting if someone with experience could respond.

 

[DaveP]

cant speak for the singles but the duals chained work very well.

 

[sail-bum]

Is there a problem with putting chains on only one rear axle and the front axle? I only have enough chains for one rear axle and the front axle.

 

[wilber]

I typically chain up just the front. I haven't had any problems yet.

 

[Flyingvan911]

With the 8-12 inches we got in KC this year I had no trouble without any chains. I do try to stay off of the steep hills and off of the ice. I would like to get some just in case. The snow zombies could invade.

 

[motomacguyver]

Should be no problem just chaining up the rears and the front. All the 4x4 guys say if you only have one set of chains, to chain up the front wheels.

 

[cranetruck]

Here is a picture of my deuce when I first started to use chains. The snow covered hills around here would stop the truck cold without them.
Chains can be custom made if you have the right size chains (cross section, diameter etc). Since chains for the xm757 was almost impossible to find, I made my own, using 1100-20 tire chains, which has the same crosslinks and side chain link dimensions, just different lengths. It took 10ea 1100-20 chains to make 4ea of the chains as specified for the 8x8.
The additional crosslinks on the 8x8 makes for a relatively smooth ride on a hard surface.

The crosslinks needed to be longer and links were added as shown in the last image.

 

[Lax]

How long does it take to chain up all around usually?

 

[panshark]

it takes quite a while the first time. then once you get the hang of it and know exactly how they should go on you don't take nearly as long. Other factors also, such as age, back problems, needing to chain up and get somewhere in a hurry, etc.

I don't know if you're going to get a straight answer to your question. Best way for YOU to find out how long it will take YOU is to try your hand at chaining up. If you don't have chains, maybe see if someone nearby does. Same methodology applies to tire changes, oil changes, etc.

Sorry that there's not a precise answer to your question.

 

[Josh]

Last time I took the deuce in the snow. I chained up the front end, and just the rear-rear axle. Used Single chains on the rear axle. Worked good. I didnt air the tires down at all. I came to a stop in a drive that was deep enough that I couldnt open my door all the way. The truck hopped (was spining tires) for about 2-3 seconds after I let out the clutch and she took right off like the snow wasnt even there.

 

[DaveP]

How long does it take to chain up all around usually?

I can normaly do mine in 15 min on a good day.

 

[cranetruck]

.. I didnt air the tires down at all.....

Never air down when using chains, the tires may get damaged.

To install the six 1100-20 tire chains on the deuce takes me from 20 to 30 minutes.

 

[dobyg75]

I have found that if you air down to half of the tire pressure you would normally run chain up as tight as possible and re-inflate to the normal pressure than you will not need the black bungine cords to hold them on

 

[covert]

It took me about a hour to chain up the deuce all way around. It was the first time so maybe it wont take as long next time. as far as preformance in the snow, GREAT. Frist there are a few differant types of snow. the fluffy kind and hard packed wind blown drifts. we had a hard wind blow drift about 2 feet deep and 150 feet long. The deuce plowed over half way through then began to kind of hop it didnt stop it just kept hoping and surgeing forward about 6 inchs at a time. So I reverced out no problem then rammed it again and made it through.