Snow Chains on a Dually?

[dccarpenter]

I'm working on nursing my '67 LWB back to health as a daily driver but have been driving my dually and a '67 dually that's a buddy's as my daily driver in the mean time. It is a 2wd with regular tires(not bald but not snow tires)...it is awful in the snow/ice, I've never seen anything worse in my life.

If one of the rear tires is on ice when I park it gets completely stuck and can't get out unless I beat the ice with a hammer, throw down sand, curse a lot. I lived in New England for years so I know about rocking, feathering the e-brake, moving the tires left/right, I'm not a newbie to snow but this thing has NO traction whatsoever. With a one ton suspension adding weight to the bed has no effect, I'd have to drop 800 pounds in it to get any weight bearing on that axle.

I was thinking of getting some snow chains for the back to ts try and save some money as 4 snow tires are beyond my budget, would a chain on just the outer wheel work? Will it even be possible to get it on there since there is only an inch or so of space between the wheels? If not I'm guessing buying a Posi and installing myself will likely be cheaper than the snow tires. I help older relatives with shoveling&transport so getting around on the snow days is important.

[Hottrucks]

ok let me help you out drive it to the gravle pit and tell the guy to load it with 800 lbs

what you want to do will work BUT it WILL tear up the fender to start then when they get loose ( and they will) it will tear up the bed....so once you have fought to get them on and your unstuck then the fun begins..you can only drive up to 35 MPH and thats on a GOOD set of chains....and then you should only go a few miles on them.....once spring is here then you can go buy new tires since the side walls are all cut up

the other thing you can do is remove the inner wheel and run it as a reg truck it looks goofy but works..another thought is to go buy a cheap recap snow tire for the winter yea reacp...they have come a long way and most big trucks run them on the drive axle

hope this helps yea

[dccarpenter]

Thanks for the info,

I had never heard of a recap tire, but a google search led the way so I'll call around tommorow about getting 4 recap snow tires for the rear. Most of my driving is in the city so the speed thing wouldn't be terrible..and I'd probably only be using them 3 or 4 times this year(I'm guessing max..not like DC got much snow when I was younger) but I definitely wouldn't want it killing my tires.

It's just so embarassing having a huge long bed dually and constantly getting stuck in regular parking spots while FWD cars are zipping in and out with ease.

The gravel one is a good idea but I'm a carpenter and need the bed for plywood, trim, tablesaw, etc.. could build a platform with the gravel under it but I have a gangbox in the bed too already taking up space.

[Stocker]

If you are still considering chains.... I have used them quite a bit (and hate them, that's why I own nothing but 4WD).... yes, you can run them on the outer tires only, we have done that many times on our work fleet. As Hottrucks said, 35 mph is an absolute maximum speed, and I would advise a bit less. Of course it's important to have a set that fits well. I haven't had them tear up sidewalls, but they can if they are installed too tightly. They do need to be snug though.... and they shouldn't tear up your fenders if you use tensioners (or strong bungee cords) to keep them snug on the tire. If they are flapping around, something is wrong with the fit or the installation, and you may get damage.

Chains are somewhat of a PITA to deal with, but they are very effective....

[roger0080]

I had a 72 C10 once, parked on a flat parking lot, on typical ice chunks etc. I was stuck. All I did was spin a rear wheel.

After some hee-hawing by fellow workers who were kind enough to push me off it, I found out I had a dragging brake caused by the emergency brake dragging! HTH.

[CCCC]

All I can say is that I share your frustration, becasue my 70 1 ton dually flatbed is the same way - those four rear tires give so much surface area/weight distribution that they just float on anything slippery. Otherwise a good and neat truck, but it simply is a DOG under those conditions.

I have used chains when absolutely necessary to move it on snow/ice, but do not run it very fast. Wider tires do not give enough clearance between tires to install chains- 235s are too wide on mine. We get some rough winter driving up here at 8,000 ft. and I am very fortunate to have others that go well - so now I simply park the dually further into the garage in winter and wait until Spring.

[Shyguy]

I can see how a 2 wheel drive dually would not be that good on snow and ice.

Actually ice is pretty difficult for any rear wheel drive vehicle.

I see a lot of 4 wheel drive vehicles in the ditches when we get ice around here.

I have a '92 GMC dually that works ok on ice and snow as long as I am careful, but mud is a different story. I sunk that sucker twice up to the axles in mud that was firm enough for me to walk on.

My wife seemed to get a kick out of me getting the "Beast" stuck.

Around here some people run studded tires in the winter when there is ice and snow.

Danny

[special-K]

Lightly loaded 2wd dual wheel trucks suck on slick stuff.They float when you need to dig.But,we don`t get enough snow for chains here.All you need is a patch of ice or snow to get stuck.Our roads are cleared within a day and the pace keeps on rolling fast.But,small patches remain.Would you run chains on 98% cleared roads just in case you set on an ice patch?I`d put real winter tires on there and most of all...weight.

[69TowRig]

If you are not hauling anything, get a spare set of normal-offset wide wheels for the rear and run a good tire rated for snow/ice use, or even better one that you can stud.

It is a bit of extra work but if you have to DD a dually it would work pretty well.

[lineman33]

from out here in Wyoming we get snow and ice and if you are going with chains look for some Pewag chains they have cam locks on the sides that suck the chains tight to the tire eliminating chain flop. We use them on all our equipment at the power company and they really take a beating and bite hard.