Strange Question of the Day

[TxDoc]

Not sure why, but this question popped in my head and wanted to see what people think who live in, in the words of Led Zeppelin, the land of the ice and snow...think.

Seeing as how we don't deal with so much snow as other parts of the country, I wondered about how cars/trucks/tractors use some form of chain(s) to gain traction....if you have electric trailer brakes....and are able to adjust for snow/ice level of traction...would you be extremely efficient in braking utilizing tire chains on your trailer tires?

I have never seen any photos or videos of a trailer with chains. Might be costly, but less costly than being in an accident. Wanted to see what reality is, though. If this is completely insane....please disregard.

Thanks

 

[sheepfarmer]

I have never seen a trailer with chains on the wheels, but now avoid driving in snow and ice with the horse trailer. See below. Seems like it might help but??? Studded snow tires are illegal here, not sure when or if you can use chains. Something to make sure the trailer doesn't start to skid when the brakes come on would be nice.

I had never heard of freezing rain before I drove East for the first time and disregarded someone's advice not to continue my journey for a day. You know those signs "bridge freezes before road surface" ? It's true. I found the whole rig suddenly gliding sideways across a bridge over a deep river canyon, turned perpendicular to the direction of travel, taking up all 4 lanes, hadn't touched the brakes, and didn't touch brakes. Fortunately no one was coming and I could steer again when we got to the other side or I wouldn't be typing this.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Some states actually have laws that state if your trailer has brakes and they require chains your trailer must have them too.

 

[pendoreille]

A friend of mine bought chains for his travel trailer. they were expensive, somewhere in the neighborhood of 400.00. His thought was mountain passes.
My thought is if it is that bad tuck in somewhere. and my other thought is if the person next to you, coming towards you, passing you etc has chains.

semis chain up all the time both drivers and trailer.

 

[bearskinner]

If the weather was that bad, I would avoid towing if at all possible! Towing with chains is miserable

 

[Kubota_Man]

They are called "Drag chains". Yes they are used but as mentioned they are a PIA, but will help.

 

[Tooljunkie]

Never saw chains for trailers. Good concept. Would go with studded tires though.
I have seen roads so slick you couldnt stop on them. If you did stop, you would slide into ditch just from the crown slope. I was crawling ever so slow ,5 mph and took my foot off the gas and almost lost control. Was so dangerous even sanding trucks couldnt go out. The local municipality sanded roads in reverse. Gave them traction to move and stop.

 

[TxDoc]

Thanks for the replies. I had just wondered what a tandem trailer with four more tires with cable chains trying to stop would be like compared to none.

We had an ice storm in 2001. My father was an electrical contractor and we had to take transformers on a 7x14 trailer with no trailer brakes. I had a four wheel drive with two sets of SSC cable chains. I was very careful to stay way back of others, drive slow, slow down slowly, and not make sudden steering inputs. I did not have any trouble.

When I was growing up, we seemed to rarely have snow. But,now it seems at least once a year. And, seems like we get freezing rains, sleet, ice more than snow. I drove about 200 miles to Monroe, LA and to Dallas, TX in a front wheel drive Honda Accord back in the 1980's . I carried chains for the front tires and some hunting clothes just in case. It took me about 6 hours each time. My CB kept me informed of what was up ahead and a scanner did, too.

Thanks for the replies. I learned something new.

 

[Kubota_Man]

Never saw chains for trailers. Good concept. Would go with studded tires though.

I don't think that would be a good idea as when conditions are not bad enough the studs would hold traction like a set of slicks on ice. I don't think there be enough weight to compress the rubber around the studs and all you would have is metal studs on the driving surface.

I am no friction engineer mind you. So I could be wrong