Has anyone tried tire chains on their Escape? I'm thinking about buying a set for emergency use. My Escape has chrome clad wheels and I'm wondering if the chains will scratch/gauge the covers. Any chain recommendations? Thanks.
There is always a risk of scratching. That being said, most tire chains fit over the tire fairly well if adjusted properly. I am sure I saw some plastic coated chains somewhere - princess automotive maybe - but that would not work as well as the metal ones.
Why not just a set of dedicated winter tires and rims if it is a concern?
I have lived in a snowbelt and in the far north of Canada for a good chunk of my life. In northern Alberta the only guys that used snow chains were truckers and guys with 4x4 3/4 ton pickups headed out into the oil fields. 99.9% of the time if you need chains, you shouldn't be out - and if you HAVE to drive into snowy conditions on a regular basis I vote for a good set of snow tires (and winter rims). My local Ford dealer outside Toronto has a 16" BFG Winter Slalom package with FoMoCo steel rims (kinda fancy black ones) and sensors for about $1000. But so far my Cross terrains have been great in snow and on ice.
Thule makes some nice sets that were designed with all the low profile tire combos in mind. The really big wheels with thin tires you see on the luxury cars, Mercedes, Audi, BMW etc. They work well and are designed to not make contact with the rim other than the single lug.
Thanks guys. Those Thule chains look great and I'll look into them.
I don't expect to use them except for an emergency, which is why I'm not looking at snow tires. I don't want to drive around with snows all winter for 3-4 significant snowfalls per season. Where we live we have to go up a hill to get out of our develpment, and that's the concern. Once this winter I already couldn't make it up the hill. Fortuantely the snow plow came soon after.
I never had chains but it may be a good and inexpensive safety net for those oddball storms that we occassionally have.
Those Thule chains look great. If you are in occasional need for them they could be a good option and appear to be easy on the rims. Of course, being Thule, they won't be cheap (but neither is refinishing a rim)
I consider a set of chains in the trunk a good habbit for winter driving.It is a matter between getting stuck and making it.
In all my winter mountain drives I've only used them once and I consider they earned their money.
The soks are just soks.The Escape will benefit very little from them since it can tackle almost anything that the soks brag about.Plus the fact that they get worn badly to useless after a while.
Many thanks slavrenz! The socks look great and may be just what I was looking for. At $70/pair, these things are cheap. I checked the price for the Thule low profile chain pictured in this thread and they're roughly $390 each. For that price I would just buy a set of Blizzaks and call it a day.
Amazon also sell the Autosock and it generally has very positive reviews. The biggest complaints are difficult installation with low fender clearance and they wear very quickly. For me, I think this might be perfect (assuming they get me up the hill) and I really appreciate you pointing this out!
I was planning on buying the autosock but ran into a problem. They don't show a size to fit the Escape's P225/65R17! I called Tirerack but they couldn't help. I have a call into the US Distributor so maybe they can help. I hope it's a simple matter of updating the chart to show that tire size.
They do have the correct size for our other CUV, so at least I can have it for that vehicle.
But he's not looking to use it for travel through mountain passes - he's looking to use them every once in a blue moon to get up a hill. Surely these are better than just tires alone? I'm not disputing the superiority of the Thule chains, but given the price difference, I think these would at least be worth a shot.
I was planning on buying the autosock but ran into a problem. They don't show a size to fit the Escape's P225/65R17! I called Tirerack but they couldn't help. I have a call into the US Distributor so maybe they can help. I hope it's a simple matter of updating the chart to show that tire size.
They do have the correct size for our other CUV, so at least I can have it for that vehicle.
I spoke with the US Distributor for Autosock and they are not available in the US for the Escape's P225/65R17 wheel size.
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