I have a 2009 Tacoma and I’m looking to get chains for my occasional trips where I might encounter snow.
Reading my owners manual, Toyota specifies side chain of 0.2 in diameter and cross chain of .25 inch diameter for the thickness of the links.
Went to the local Les Schwab tire shop and the chains they had were smaller than that specification. These may have been passenger car rather than light truck.
Anyone have some good info on the difference in chains?
Is this a 2wd or a 4wd?
Check ut this web site for information…
also check out this recent posting on this forum…
http://community.cartalk.com/posts/list/2131971.page
with four snow tires you should be able to manage, otherwise wait for plows.
How much snow do you expect to run into that you need chains??
You won’t find too many chains made for cars. If it’s that bad out…leave the car at home. A smaller chain will probably be fine. But unless you’re driving through mountain passes where chains are required…I seriously doubt you’ll need them with this truck.
Chains impose severe driving limitations, like 25 MPH top speed…The BEST ones will be marked “V-Bar reinforced”…Practice installing them in your driveway so when you need them, installation is not a mystery…
In answer to you all –
My question is about the Toyota specifications for chains, not the other stuff.
My Tacoma is 2WD.
I want tire chains for the possibility of needing chains to get over a mountain pass or summit. If the roads are really bad, I’ll wait until road conditions improve. I’m retired and seldom “have” to get somewhere by a certain time.
I’ve driven with chains before to drive over Echo Summit (US50) and Donner Summit (I80) when I was skiing and going out for a weekend.
If I drove where roads were icy or snowy a lot, I’d get suitable tires. Maybe will get such tires when the original ones need replacing.
Does the owner’s manual differentiate the chain requirement for the 2wd truck and the 4wd truck?
I’m guessing that the recommendation in the manual assumes you’ll be slogging through deep snow and ice (and maybe some rocks) with a 4wd truck and so they recommend a thickness of chain that’s not going to break and whip around and break something. For a 2wd truck that’s only being driven on the highway, I’d say a set of cable chains or thinner car-style chains will probably be just fine, so long as they fit okay.