How to Lay Out Tire Chains

Video Transcript

"Hello, in this segment we're going to cover laying out the chains. We're doing this in the garage, but you'd be doing this out in whatever the environment or the situation calls for. Whether you're putting the chains on because you've become stuck or you're putting the chains on because you had to pull over and highway conditions warrant it, and they're needed or else it's a mandatory requirement to travel over one of the mountain passes. You've got a couple different options of how you put the chains on. If you're stuck, you're going to be stuck dealing with putting the chains on pretty much where the car is at and one of the things you'll want to pay attention to while you're attempting to get unstuck initially. If you're starting to dig down and not moving anywhere, the digger, or excuse me, the deeper you dig that hole. The harder it's going to make applying the chains. If you dig the hole down deep enough to where the body of the car comes down and contacts the snow, then you'll find it extremely difficult to get a jack underneath it to jack it up to give you any assistance. A shovel is a good idea to have along with you in winter driving situations. If you're putting the chain on as the vehicle sits, you drape the chain up over the top of the vehicle or the top of the tire and curl around down the bottom and fasten it down below. In order to do so, you'd have to remove all the snow from right around the surface of the tire so you get the chain pulled very tight. The problem with that being is you have to reach around the back to make that connection back there as well. If you pulled over to have the chains put on as a preventive situation, then you could just take the chains and lay them out. Now remember when you're laying them out, there marked on there, this side to the tire, so you have to flip it upside down so that would be to the tire. Lay both the chains right underneath the front tires. If it's a front wheel drive. Then just take the vehicle and put it in neutral or in reverse and just slowly back up about a foot and a half and that will locate the car right on the center of the chain. Then you could pull the connections on the chain on the top half of the tire. Where you're out of the snow and you don't have the cold conditions where you have to put your hands down there and dig the snow out and various situations of that nature. So I thought I'd point that out to you, that you have a couple different options, depending on the situation. I'll go ahead at this time and I'll continue to show you how to put the chains on the front wheel as you would be sitting in this condition. Please watch our next segment and we'll cover installing the chains."