Snow chains for 18" tires.

Yankinwaoz

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 17, 2005
Location
San Diego, CA
TDI
2012 Passat SE
I bought some snow chains. I'm not thrilled with them. They are actually cables. My Passat has Michelin 235/45-18 tires.

Security Chain Company SZ339 Shur Grip Super Z Passenger Car Tire Traction Chain
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BRA6OW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Despite these being chains, low profile, I noticed that the inside of the chain hits the strut. They don't hit very hard. More like "click.. click.. click" as the wheel rotates.

There is zero room between the tire and the strut for any kind of chain that wraps over the tread of the tire.

I think they will be ok for short drives, and very low speed.

Has anyone found a snow chain that works on 18" tires on the Passet?

I would assume that the problem is even worse for 17" tires because the perimeter of the tire is even closer to the strut.
 

740GLE

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Location
NH
TDI
2015 Passat SEL, 2017 Alltrack SE; BB 2010 Sedan Man; 2012 Passat,
Some 5-10mm spacers would move the tire away from the strut and fix that issue. Look at ECS they should have a flush kit for the Passat that may still be on sale.

All depends on the offset of the wheel, 17" usually are 7"-7.5" where 18" are 7.5" or 8" wide rims.
 

20IndigoBlue02

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 22, 2001
Location
Was North NJ, now SoCal
TDI
2002 Golf TDI-- deceased
Spikes Spiders and Thule/Koenig K-Summits.
They are pricey though.

K-summit shown below
http://www.vulcantire.com/cgi-bin/chainsearch.cgi?size=235/45-18&f=KonigKSummit_al.htm&ver=3

They do not wrap around the back of the tire.
Spikes Spider
http://www.spikes-spider.com/New/18-inch/235-45-18/


17" tires should be better for chains, as they are narrower, 215mm vs 235mm, unless the offset of the wheels puts them close to the strut. The owner's manual should say something about snow chains and which wheel/tire size is appropriate.
 
Last edited:

Yankinwaoz

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 17, 2005
Location
San Diego, CA
TDI
2012 Passat SE
Wow! You are not kidding about the price. $650!!! Too bad I can't rent those. I only need them for one afternoon trip up a mountain.



Spikes Spiders and Thule/Koenig K-Summits.
They are pricey though.
K-summit shown below
http://www.vulcantire.com/cgi-bin/chainsearch.cgi?size=235/45-18&f=KonigKSummit_al.htm&ver=3

They do not wrap around the back of the tire.
Spikes Spider
http://www.spikes-spider.com/New/18-inch/235-45-18/

17" tires should be better for chains, as they are narrower, 215mm vs 235mm, unless the offset of the wheels puts them close to the strut. The owner's manual should say something about snow chains and which wheel/tire size is appropriate.
 

Yankinwaoz

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 17, 2005
Location
San Diego, CA
TDI
2012 Passat SE
Interesting. I didn't know such a thing existed.

I wonder if that would cause the tire to hit the body when I turn the wheel?

Some 5-10mm spacers would move the tire away from the strut and fix that issue. Look at ECS they should have a flush kit for the Passat that may still be on sale.

All depends on the offset of the wheel, 17" usually are 7"-7.5" where 18" are 7.5" or 8" wide rims.
 

turbobrick240

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 18, 2014
Location
maine
TDI
2011 vw golf tdi(gone to greener pastures), 2001 ford f250 powerstroke
$650 for sketchy looking tire chains is ridiculous. I'd get regular tire chains for a one time trip up a snowy mountain. I wouldn't want to use any chains on a nice set of alloy wheels though.
 

1854sailor

Resident Curmudgeon
Joined
Aug 10, 2004
Location
Westerly, RI
TDI
2015 Golf SE SportWagen, 2015 Golf SE Hatch Back.
I'm pretty sure that you can rent a 4WD something or other for a one time trip up a snowy mountain for a lot less than $650.00...
 

20IndigoBlue02

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 22, 2001
Location
Was North NJ, now SoCal
TDI
2002 Golf TDI-- deceased
you do realize the Thule/Koenig option is $380, so you don't have to be fixated at the $650 price for Spikes Spiders.

Most likely, rental cars don't have chains in them, which according to Caltrans, you have to carry chains in the car, so you'd be turned around, regardless of AWD or not, a wasted trip trying to get to Big Bear mountain or another ski area near San Diego.
 

Yankinwaoz

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 17, 2005
Location
San Diego, CA
TDI
2012 Passat SE
I'm giving up my TDI in mid 2018. So I didn't want to invest a lot of money into chains that I will get to use only a couple of times on this car.

I don't know what tires my next car will have. I've considered selling my chains on Craigslist/eBay when I give up the Passat TDi. But that means I need to find a buyer with tires the same size tires as mine. So I would still take a major loss on the chains. I spent $60 on this pair, which I'm willing to eat the cost of. Perhaps I can find a good home for them on this forum.

And 20IndigoBlue is correct. Rentals won't let you install chains on their cars (can't blame them!). And the CHP will require chains where I want to go up in the Sierras.

It might be enough that I just have them in the trunk that day to get past the checkpoint. Then worse case, I will install them and limp along at 4mph.
 

rustycat

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 27, 2012
Location
seattle
TDI
2015 passat sel
I worry about CHP requiring chains, as no way will they fit my winter wheels with snows all the way around. I think between VW's fantastic traction control system and snow tires it could be argued that chains are not needed in almost all instances, but I don't know how CHP would respond to that.
I often think of Cali silliness when I watched almost 100% of the Cal plated cars stop on bare pavement on I 5 in Oregon to have chains put on by enterprising Oregonians because of a hwy sign saying chains required. A huge majority never made it to the slightly snow covered pass, as their chains busted and wrapped around their wheels and stranded them on the side of the road. They were apparently incapable of removing the mess, as they had no idea how they were put on.
 

740GLE

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Location
NH
TDI
2015 Passat SEL, 2017 Alltrack SE; BB 2010 Sedan Man; 2012 Passat,
I can attest “VW excellent traction control” just cuts power first detection of spinning tires, resulting in stopping of all forward momentum pretty quick if you don’t have a good head of steam or the hill is steep enough, snow tires or no snow tires. Now as soon as you shut traction control off and let the tires dig, then I’ve clawed up our driveway pretty good.

The stability control works wonders as soon as you start going sideways but that’s never been my issue, traction has always been my issue until we got the 4Mo.
 

740GLE

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Location
NH
TDI
2015 Passat SEL, 2017 Alltrack SE; BB 2010 Sedan Man; 2012 Passat,
Interesting. I didn't know such a thing existed.
I wonder if that would cause the tire to hit the body when I turn the wheel?
Moving the tire out 5-10mm shoudn't rub the body, unless you're over loaded and the rear sags. Stock 18" are pretty flush but theres room.
 
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