Disclaimer: I hate driving my jeep in the snow. No matter what I do, it gets squirrely..typically when there is a cliff nearby.
I'm not going to give up trying and I'm heading up to some deep stuff next weekend. I've got some chains, and a couple of questions. Will a pair be good enough? If so, should I run both rears, both fronts, or one each? Should I spend the coin to buy another pair and go all four? Lastly, how much better traction will I get? Is it going to be rock solid, or still a little slipping and sliding?

 

What type of tires are you running?

 

I have always put the chains on the front when I only had one pair. The thought behind this is too put them on the tires that steer. Keep in mind that you can still get stuck with chains. After you out them on make sure they stay tight and they don't interfere with your brakelines. As far as traction goes they do help a lot but you can still slip and slide with them on. I now have a set for the front and rear and can say I have gone through some pretty crazy snow with them. As always use good judgement. Hope this helps.

 

I'm running mtr/k's

Thanks for the info, sounds like I'll pick up another pair and go all 4. I don't care about getting stuck, I just care about sliding towards the trails edge, ugh

 

MTR/K's are notorious for not having good snow/rain traction. Try dropping your pressure. I have Duratrac's and in the winter run 28-29 psi, summer I'm running 31-32lbs. Tire pressures make a huge difference and shouldn't be discounted concerning the differences it can truly make.

 

I concur...my first snow run this winter I dropped down to 8psi. They are great tires, but suck ass in snow

 

Interesting, wouldn't say mine suck ass in snow and rain. They are pretty worn now...down to about 6/32, but are heavily grooved and that must help. Was able to drive up past Fred on humps and bumps when he was stuck in "the ice bowls" and back around to winch him sideways from the rear to turn him around. Kudos to the MTRs I didn't need any help up there. Also took the lead on the Iron Goat trail run I went on after Brett insisted on using chains in the soft deep snow. Aired down (9psi) worn out tires were way better for that. I also have no complaints in the rain...I have never hydroplaned. Only time I thought the tires weren't doing too good was when we had the lowland snow with freezing rain on top in mid Jan. I have a long steep driveway and needed both lockers to get up it and it was squirrely. This was at 26psi cause I was headed to work. I don't know if airing down would have helped and not sure anything short of specialty winter tires would have been good in that stuff. I just ordered beadlocks and have a new set of MTRs on order to put on them but may keep my stock wheels and put some siped ATs (duratrac, nitto or geolander) on them for on road.

As far as Alex's question "will there still be slipping and sliding". This completely depends on snow conditions. In some types of snow I don't think you can eliminate some slipping and sliding. On the Iron Goat run Brett was actually slipping around and digging in with chains more than I was without. For warm deep snow conditions flotation was more important than traction. He tried chaining up all four, then used front only and finally took them off and aired down. For deep snow I don't think the chains will help much. They will if it is icy. I think you just need to get more experience in snow and gain confidence in your ability to control the slipping and sliding. I also recommend lockers going up hill and open going down but you just have to try different combinations to see what works in the conditions you're in on a particular day.

 

I have a single pair of chains but have only used them once and when I did I put them on the front. This was on the trail and based on the snow conditions it seemed to only dig in deeper. Should have just aired down. However, I still think that these could save my *ss on an icy hill. Have been meaning to get a pair of v-bar chains for the rear.

Also... practice putting them on in your driveway at home.

 

Have you considered getting your tires sipped? I got my 37" MTR's sipped and they have worked great so far this winter. Before they were sipped it wasn't too bad but once I got them sipped I had no trouble going anywhere around the city.