The BEST Snow Chains For Your Van

The Peerless Auto-Trac Chains Got Us Through A Huge Storm

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Peerless Auto-Trac Snow Chains

Why These Chains

I went up to the snow a few weeks ago and stopped by an auto parts store to pick up some cable chains just in case it snowed. The guy at the shop said cable chains don’t last very long and if I was going to use them regularly I should get actual chains, which they didn’t have. They had an easy return policy if I ended up not using them though.

Well, I didn’t use them so I took them back on my way home. My new mission was to get a good set of actual snow chains. Like most of us do, I went on Amazon and You Tube to researched snow chains. As you can imagine there are A LOT of choices.

I came across the Peerless Auto-Trac chains and watched videos and read reviews. They seemed easy to install, had a reasonable price and got great reviews. I hit the BUY button and had them in two days.

Practice Before Use

The first thing I did was take them out to the driveway to practice putting them on and to make sure they fit. The instructions are well written with great pictures. They are printed on weatherproof material so you can lay them out in the snow.

I highly recommend practicing putting them on before you need them. When I was installing them in the snow, a guy asked me to help put his chains on. He literally had no idea how to put them on or about the driving speed limitations.

Real World Review

We were up at Lake Tahoe California for a few days camping at Sugar Pine Point State Campground. There was a pretty big storm coming in on day two of our trip. We decided to stay and enjoy sleeping in the van while it was snowing. We woke up to the entire campground being covered in snow. It was beautiful and now I knew we were going to get to use the chains.

We got 8-10 inches overnight and chain control was on over the Donner Pass. Send me a message if you want to see a video of the conditions we were driving in. We made it out of the campground without chains thanks to our newly purchased Falken Wildpeak AT4W tires. I’ll write a review on them soon.

As we drove slowly up highway 80 with all the other people trying to get home, we arrived at the chain control area and stopped. I put on my ski pants and jacket, grabbed some gloves and headed out into the snowy conditions.

Thankfully I had practiced so I didn’t need the instructions. It took me about 7 minutes per tire and we were ready to go. As we slowly rolled forward the chain tensioners did their job and we were on our way. The instructions said the max speed was 30mph, but with the conditions we never drove over 25 mph.

We could definitely tell we had chains on, but it wasn’t bad at all. We were driving through quite a blizzard, but the van always felt in complete control. Our Promaster has front wheel drive and the steering felt very solid. As the driver, I was never concerned about the chains not gripping the road.

We drove about 15 miles at varying speeds. When it came time to take them off, my partner did have to move the van forward a few inches to get the tire off the chain. The chains were both off in about half the time it took to install them.

front view of the chains on the tire tread

Features & More

Self tightening and centering.
Easy installation and removal in minutes.
No need to move or jack up the vehicle to install.
Diamond Pattern Cross Chain Provides A Smoother Ride And Superior Traction.
Maximum speed is 30mph.
Made of manganese alloy steel.

Our Conclusion

These chains really hit all the points I was looking for in a snow chain. Price, ease of installation and secure feel on the road.

We couldn’t be happier with our choice. I have always dreaded the thought of putting on snow chains. This was the first time in all my years of driving that I have needed them. I am looking forward to going to the snow agin now that I know how well they work and how easy they are to put on.

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