Chain up front or rear?

[Inbred Redneck]

I'm guessin' this'll be like oil and tire discussions on some of my bike forums but I'll try it anyway. I have one set of chains and if I had my druthers I'd never have to mount 'em, but I've been told by a local shade tree mechanic that he's seen plenty of front diffs blown by guys who only chain up the front tires.
Is there anything to this, other than opinion, or does it really make difference?
Yeah, I can always buy another set of chains, but as much as I dislike doin' one pair, I really don't want to do two.
My '87 Ranger STX 4x4 is bone stock, other than having LT235/75-15s, whereas the door sticker says it came with P215/75-15s. The tires on it are Avon SXT Mud Terrain with lots of meat left and they've been fine as far as gettin' me rolling in snow. Problem is that we very seldom get County trucks around to plow before there's an inch or two of ice on the road surface and the shaded spots can stay slick for a week or so. I'm always more interested in being able to stop than getting rolling, so what suggestions do you guys have?
Again, I hope this ain't like the bike forums where friendships have been endangered by the simple questions about which oil is best or why one should only use (insert favorite brand name here) tires.

 

[adsm08]

I would chain the rear. The rear are the primary drive wheels, and if chained up you may not even need the 4wd. Also, if you have more traction up front, lock up the front while braking, you are gonna go end over end. More traction in the rear, lock up the rear, she might fishtail a bit, but the rear will drag it to a safe stop.

 

[RonD]

Yes, if only one set do rear for sure.

I throw a few sand/salt bags in the rear during winter, good for weight and to get unstuck.

You also may have L/S on the rear.
Check drivers door sticker for axle code.


Never heard of the "blowing out a differential" as far a chains go, front or rear mounted.

 

[wildbill23c]

I'd chain up the front personally. If you only have one set of chains you might want to be able to steer, and if you are on ice chaining up only the rear is going to leave the front end to want to slide sideways on you and you still won't have any traction or enough traction up front to steer.

I've only heard of blowing differentials out with chains on when people are offroading.

 

[gw33gp]

I asked this question on the Expedition Portal Forum and got a reply from someone that seemed to know what he was talking about. He basically said that for long term and higher speeds use the rear axle. If you are in a situation where you need the best traction, chains on the front would be the best. Just make sure the chains clear everything.

I've had a set of chains for 40 years and the only use I have gotten out them is to have them in my vehicle at the point where they require chains on 2WD vehicles. They just waive me by after asking if I have chains.

I always thought they would work best on the front because front wheel drive vehicles typically do better in slippery conditions than rear wheel drive vehicles. I think having better traction for steering would be an advantage. The front tires do the largest percentage of the stopping so it seems chains on the front would again be an advantage. The only problem with that is you might have a tendency to loop it. With ABS, looping should be less likely.

I can't see how chains could get enough traction in snow and ice to cause damage but maybe the vibration from the chains could cause differential damage.

I am no expert on this by a long shot but I am pretty sure if I ever need chains I will put them on the front and just drive slow. The only exception is; if I am towing and need chains, they would go on the rear.

 

[BLOODBANE]

My father was a local road and bridge foreman (30+ years doing this) and he always told me on a 4x4 chain the front. Steering, stopping, and the weight is over the front tires. Now of course on a 4x2, you would need the traction that the drive wheels give, so it would be the back. this logic has never failed me. Best option for deep snow is to chain all 4, but that doesnt seem to be an option here.

 

[Chris_North]

I was told and have read on a 4WD to chain the front. I think it makes sense: I would rather have grip in the front over the rear. Not sure if it would apply the same with a 4WD but with a FWD I could always pull out of a fishtail by throttling out. RWD has always been (for me at least) staying calm and hoping. I've never run chains though. They're a bitch to put on my ATV in a warm garage, I couldn't imagine doing it in the snow and cold alone on a full-size vehicle.

I'm no bullshitter so I'll admit I'm not anything of an authority on automobiles, but why would chains damage a front diff? At least any more than a rear, or for that matter a transaxle?

 

[wildbill23c]

Front diff damage like I said would only occur in extreme situations you would need to do something pretty stupid to break a differential, and I doubt the chains would really have any effect on the damage at that point.

4WD I'd chain up the front for sure if I only had 1 set of chains, you want to be able to to steer. I had a 2WD 1984 Ford Ranger and ran it in some pretty deep snow without chains, then chained up just for the experience as I had just got my license and wanted the knowledge of how to install chains and how the vehicle handled and felt with them on. If I stabbed on the brake pedal with the chains on the rear and nothing on the front, the front end of course would lock up and slide to the side, not exactly something you would want to have happen at a higher rate of speed. I'd throw chains on front and rear if the conditions are that bad. Ok, well for me at least if I need to chain up I'm staying home as I have 2 4WD's LOL. If the 4WD alone won't get me to work then I'm not going to work. However if I was away from home and needing to get home, I'd chain up the front on the 4WD as the rear end will usually track behind anyways, it would be about the same as chaining up a front wheel drive car you'll have the majority of your traction up front at that point, and the rear end will usually follow unless you get into a pretty heavy stop and the back end might try and slide around a bit.

I don't have chains for either of my vehicles right now, and so far have never needed them. I do plan on purchasing a set for my truck sometime this year, but I'm going to buy a set for all 4 wheels. My B2 I'm not sure how long it will stick around so I'm not going to waste much money on stuff like that for it at this point. My 84 Ranger I only had a set of 2 chains so of course they went on the back wheels since it was a 4x2, but I think even with that chains on the front wheels would just give it more stability in not wanting to slide around.

 

[martin]

I don't see how chains are going to help with the stopping on ice, additional siping on the tyres might though.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I don't see how chains are going to help with the stopping on ice, additional siping on the tyres might though.

Steel is the best thing to throw at ice.

Certain areas ban it because it also tears up the streets... so it has to be good.

 

[Inbred Redneck]

Thanks for the quick replies. My logic (if there is such a thing) was tellin' me that front would be better but if the only problems were caused by off-roading with chains, that ain't something I'll be doin', other than the third of a mile on my driveway that gets me to pavement. I probably have another set or two of chains around here (used to have enough to do all four on my Seventy & Seventy-one Broncos) but it seems when I first tried those (for P235/75-15s) they were a bit small.
Anyway, I'd like to think that stopping and steering would be better with the front done, so that's what I'll do if the need arises, and I guess I'll just break down and buy a set for the rear so I'll have 'em on hand. Damn, I may just dig around in the stuff in the garage and see if there aren't some that'll fit. Might as well plan on chain' up one end first, then beatin' down the snow enough that I can do the other set in semi-comfort. I work six days a week in a small town Post Office so I have to be able to get there. It ain't often that I even need to worry about it and the Ranger has worked just fine so far. Most days with a little snow I've made it just fine in one of my Festivas with cables or chains on the front.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Thanks for the quick replies. My logic (if there is such a thing) was tellin' me that front would be better but if the only problems were caused by off-roading with chains, that ain't something I'll be doin', other than the third of a mile on my driveway that gets me to pavement. I probably have another set or two of chains around here (used to have enough to do all four on my Seventy & Seventy-one Broncos) but it seems when I first tried those (for P235/75-15s) they were a bit small.
Anyway, I'd like to think that stopping and steering would be better with the front done, so that's what I'll do if the need arises, and I guess I'll just break down and buy a set for the rear so I'll have 'em on hand. Damn, I may just dig around in the stuff in the garage and see if there aren't some that'll fit. Might as well plan on chain' up one end first, then beatin' down the snow enough that I can do the other set in semi-comfort. I work six days a week in a small town Post Office so I have to be able to get there. It ain't often that I even need to worry about it and the Ranger has worked just fine so far. Most days with a little snow I've made it just fine in one of my Festivas with cables or chains on the front.

One thing to keep in mind, with more traction on the front than the rear, the rear will be more likely to come around and try to pass the front on a curve/turn.

I would run them in the rear, with 4wd you have thrust vectoring on the front for steering to bring the nose around if you need it.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I've played a little with chains before. When I went off to college I just had my 2wd Ranger the first winter there (the land of the lake effect snow, or as I used to call it, hell's icebox). I discovered really quick that a 2wd truck sucked there even with good tires. Partly because aside from campus and the main road through town (which was maintained by the state), the town was a sheet of ice all winter long. They had this idea of plowing once a day whether it needed it or not between 3am and 6am and never salt. At the end of winter they'd take heavy equipment around and scrape the 6" or so of ice off the roads. So my second winter there I sallied forth armed with a set of V-bar chains for the rear axle. With those chains wrapped around a set of mud tires, my little Ranger was a tank. I could get going no matter what and I could stop too. With some good all terrains on the front, I never had a problem with steering either. Of course, running chains, I tried not to exceed about 35 mph whenever possible. And at slow speeds there was a good bit of vibration. But it was worth it to be able to travel wherever I wanted without fear of sliding into someone (which is exactly what I ended up doing the first winter there, and I was only going 10-15 mph, slid over 50'). My third winter there I used a 4x4 Bronco II for my campus beater and my Ranger for travel home. That was when I discovered that a good 4x4 works pretty good even on ice if you aren't in a big hurry.

Of course, I also took the BII wheeling in the snow up there that winter. I threw the chains on the back since there is less chance if you break a chain of it whipping and catching a brake hose. It was a beast in the snow like that.

I bought my chains from http://www.tirechains.com since I found they were made in the USA (actually made in Pennsylvania).

 

[the_novice]

Also not all chains are created equal. I might put cable chains on the front but my v-bar chains not a chance. There are too many things going on in the front end, tie rod ends, ball joints, u-joints. Heavy duty chains put a lot of stress on things.

 

[veefer800canuck]

Clearance is usually an issue if mounting them on the front. Especially when turning to full lock. And if you have larger tires, so much the worse.

Remember that no matter how tight you get the chains, they always "grow" a little when you're driving at speed.

Don't want the chains to take out a brake hose or tie rod end, or something else.