[Bigtbassman]

Although I have lived in Idaho for 25 years I've never felt the need for tire chains. My son bought a cabin in the mountains and think at least cable chains would be a good idea when conditions are bad. Do you advise putting chains on the front or rear, 2016 F350 diesel 4X4. T
20 in tires

 

[DENNY]

This might be a second post I am on the road for not sure how good my phone is working I would chain the rear first same for trailer or truck change the rear and then work forward it is not so much for traction in going forward it is traction in stopping. If you change the front the chance of the rear coming around as you stop on ice is greatly increased if I towed the trailer I would start at the rear trailer tires and then work forward from there
DEMNY

 

[NickKent]

Whenever I chained up I did all 4

 

[bugman]

Cable chains will be next to worthless if you really need chains. They are designed for highway travel and do a poor job at that.

I would chain up the rear with real chains and put 500-1000 lbs of weight in the back of the truck and go.

 

[klhansen]

If you're stuck in a snow berm, then I'd chain up the front tires. Pulls a lot better getting out. But they should be taken off right away. I agree that you need to keep the rear end toward the back for general driving, so chains should go on the back. If it's really white knuckle time, all 4 wheels is a better choice if you have enough chains to do it.

 

[79jasper]

I guess not that it matters, and my memory is all but about gone.
But some reason I thought some states don't allow chains on the front?
I don't know, maybe I'm just thinking of retread tires.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

 

[bugman]

I agree that the front should be chained up first and the rear last but the last time I looked under a front end and thought about putting chains on it all I could think of was what I was going to tear off.

I have had mine chained up all the way around and before I shimmed out my front bumper I would just put them on the rear with a lot of weight in the bed of the truck. This got me around in 3' of snow in the Utah mountains during deer and elk hunts. You just have to go slow.

 

[karlduke]

For 4wd, I would put chains on the front first. But for descents, putting on both front and rear is highly recommended.

 

[kip]

If you have 20" wheels then chains are not recommended at all.

 

[jchipper]

I used these chains from Etrailer https://www.etrailer.com/Tire-Chains/Ford/F-350+Super+Duty/2016/TC2533.html?vehicleid=20161439436
when we went up to get christmas Trees this year. I chained up all 4 tires 4x4 low and turned on the rear locker I was pushing snow with the front bumper sometimes it was slow going climbing but I never got stuck,(in fact I had to pull my buddy that got stuck he drives a chevy and he was following in my tracks! )
the chains bearly clear my mud flaps but they do clear and it worked really well, I would recommend those chains in a hearbeat, Lightweight, low clearance so they won't tear off your mud flaps, and easy to install and they are tight so no flapping around.

 

[FordWilly]

I live at 7000ft in a ski resort town. I have only dually's (which I never drive empty in snow/ice) now, but on my last single wheel 350 here was my experience. I had cleated heavy duty chains that I tried simultaneously on both the front and rear. They work good in relatively deep snow. Buttttt on icy roads or very little snow covering ice beneath you loose your steering capability. Example ---- rolling up to a intersection intending to turn left and especially turning right, the front chains slide on the ice when you turn the wheels (even cleated chains) and you end up sliding, making a 45 degree turn rather than a 90 degree turn. The first time I experienced this I almost ended up crashing into the corner curb on the far side of the street. From that time on I only used them on the rear.

 

[ArcticDriver]

Interesting topic.

I chain up all four when I need chains on a 4x4 but when I have been stuck during Spring break-up then I have just chained front to get unstuck.

If I was driving uphill to a remote cabin then I would chain front axle first but then I would probably change them to rear for the way back down ;-)

So my vote is chain both axles.