I'm starting my build this week

1. Teraflex 4-inch full-flexarm coil lift
2. Teraflex 1.25-inch wheel spacers
3. Goodyear DuraTrac 315/70/17 (35x12.5x17)
4. Superchips Flashpaq

I want to run tire chains for snow wheelin' here in Colorado and want to know if the the Teraflex spacers on my stock wheels will provide enough room to run tire chains. Anyone have experience with this?

 

You SHOULD be okay....maybe.

You've got two issues to deal with - clearance between the fender and the top of the tire, and clearance between your brake lines and suspension components and the inside of the tire.

Provided that your sway bar links don't stick out too muck you should be okay on the inside.

When it comes to the top of the tire, understand that when you apply the gas, the chain can increase the amount of room required by the tire by up to two inches.

 

I disagree with that.

Big wide tires and running low pressures are absolutely spot-on for deep snow. But when the sun comes out and those south-facing hills have been through a few freeze-thaw cycles (and may have been packed down by the last group of Jeeps through the area), there is no substitute for a set of quality v-bar chains.

On some of the runs that our club does, nobody even makes it past the driver's meeting without a rear locker and at least one set of chains. We've seen too many rigs sliding backwards down icy hills.

Sometimes rubber just isn't enough.

 

If you've got the time and a set of these



Then they make chains for almost all sizes

The links that join the "rungs" to the actual chain loops aren't hardened, so you can open and close them with the right set of tools.

As far as damaging your rig when you spin them? Well, it's all in the fitting, and what you use to tension the chains. How many cams do you have, and what sort of "supplemental" devices to back up the cams. How much you get into the skinny pedal also affects it...and the amount of clearance in your wheel well.

We do get some VERY interesting weather in this neck of the woods - including Chinooks...the temperature can go up from -5 to 50 degrees (farenheit) in three hours or less...and then drop back down just as quickly. I know that Montana also sees some Chinook winds (maybe by a different name?) but from the research I've done on weather in the Eastern Slopes area, I think that they tend to be less intense than what we see further north.

Previous traffic on some of the hills also plays a part in determining how icy things get. If there is a fair amount of traffic when the snow is warm, subsequent freezing can create some very slick conditions.

 

In my case, the chains are mostly insurance. I hope I never have to use them, but want the peace of mind of having another set of options in the back of the Jeep.

 

Can't speak for the damage (which is part of the motivation of my original question about fitment with the Teraflex spacers), but they make 'em that big,

h ttp://www.tirechain.com/37X12.50X17.htm

Here's a video of a trail in my area from a week or two ago. I wasn't there, but I don't like the idea of sliding backward down that hill.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fN-KV8Af1g

 

Tire Chains, what are thoes

 

Good luck!!!