“If we are encountering deep snow on a closed interstate or highway, is it not better to have the chains on the front wheels to grasp and steer?”
If Ford specifies that chains are permitted on the front wheels, then ideally you would mount chains on all 4 wheels. If you are going to use chains on only two wheels, then they should be mounted on the rear wheels, for the exact reasons that Mike mentioned.
Well if he IS a troll, why give him unwarranted attention? That’s what trolls generally want.
I have not set above the tire’s maximum pressure.
Big O, Discount Tire and Firestone stores have set at the maximun and a few psi below max.
After a long drive in summer heat I checked the tire pressure with a digital gauge. It was not above the maximum on the tire.
The Expedition’s Michelin 265/70 R18 M&S tires are 44 psi max (at 42 psi)
On 17-inch rims, Nordman SUV Winter tires 265/70 R17 are 47 psi max (at 42 psi)
“If we are encountering deep snow on a closed interstate or highway, is it not better to have the chains on the front wheels to grasp and steer?
We have had to shovel drifts to get through. Better than getting stuck and then trying to dig out.”
We get deep (and wide) snow drifts where I live. One cannot judge the depth of one of these drifts by looking at it. It is sometimes not just a lack of tire traction that causes people to get stuck.
The drifted snow becomes quite dense and crusted. Believe it or not, driving through a large drift can lift your vehicle off the ground (not to mention packing the engine compartment and wheels with snow).
Once the drive wheels lose contact with the ground, even a tiny bit, you are badly stuck. The car cannot be “rocked” to regain traction. It must be dug out or towed out.
I watched this play out just last week on my 800 foot long rural road that connects me to the highway. I guy driving saw a large drift ahead and gave his car a little extra gas to "plow through."
Surprise! Instead of plowing through, the car rode up on the snow and he was stuck, but good.
Keep in mind that your steering goes away while this is happening and then you create a road block like the clown did on my road. The county plow could not/would not come through until the guy dug his car out by hand.
It inconvenienced several people because either the guy had no patience, didn’t know what he was doing, or both. He should have been ticketed.
Tire chains won’t work when they are on tires hovering above the ground.
CSA
That is why we dig drifts.
And blood bank people have asked why I am soaking wet! From exertion.
I volunteer to drive the ambulance for the local Emergency Medical Services unit. We are over 65 miles from the nearest hospital, with half the distance being on two lane mountain roads. We (me and the other drivers) have found that you might save three to five minutes if you drive flat out, which over the course of an hour-plus trip is not worth the risk. We also turn our lights and siren off once we get into the city, as it only significantly raises the risk of someone pulling in front of you because they did not hear you because they are old or have their radio on too high a volume. It is not worth the greatly increased risk to save so little time. This is while transporting a patient with a heart attack, etc. Only once did the paramedic in the back ask me to go beyond 75-80 mph, and that was because the 30 year old patient’s vital signs were crashing and he had exhausted all he could do for her. Even then, I still used due caution and slowed down on the curves or when approaching other vehicles. One of our ambulances has a governor that holds you to 84 mph - the other one has no governor but maxes out at 95 mph but slows to 65 on hills (17,00 gross vehicle weight). I am trying to understand why transporting blood and blood products would justify doing more than for a live patient.
"That is why we dig drifts."
You must encounter drifts much smaller than the ones I deal with here. Your blood delivery would turn to gravy by the time you shoveled through!
The day I watched the clown block my road, I observed a Rural Electric COOP truck patiently following a County road grader with a front mounted plow that was opening one lane of traffic so the large County plow trucks could begin plowing.
You’d have to grow some patience.
CSA
meanjoe75fan: Because for me the unwarranted attention is worth the entertainment. One definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results. I’m thinking in this case it could also be asking the same question over and over expecting a different answer.
This question is about Wal-Mart’s Peerless self-tightening tire chains.
Never heard of such before.
Yes. If really bad, we are to call DOT and follow a snow plow. Luckily we have dug through drifts without taking plows away from their assignments. (I did get stuck in a hospital’s parking lot at 2 a.m.!) Maintenance could not get to the hospital and we dug out the ED entrance.
I am trying to understand why transporting blood and blood products would justify doing more than for a live patient.
A live patient is receiving BLS or ALS care in the ambulance.
When a hospital calls for us to speed up, if we can do so safely, we do.
Still, I am considering damage to the 4WD transmission. Guess who pays for that?
As a registered tree hugger, I am also using more fuel and generating more pollution.
A live patient is receiving BLS or ALS care in the ambulance. When a hospital calls for us to speed up, if we can do so safely, we do.
If this is true (which I seriously doubt)…it’s the only state in the country that allows it. Every other state will give you a ticket for driving that fast.
As much as I hate to give Mr. Gift a leg up, it is true. Colorado allows authorized emergency vehicles (including private vehicles so-designated) to break the speed limit as long as they stay safe and don’t endanger anyone. It does not, that I could find, limit how much you can exceed the speed limit.
I would, however, argue that 100mph dashes on overinflated tires automatically endangers people and in general should not be done.
I’ll also say this - Mr. Gift is consistent. He talks about transporting blood on several other forums, so it’s not just us he’s talking to.
This doesn’t mean that I automatically believe that he is what he says he is, and it certainly doesn’t mean I believe his questions come from a rational thought process, but thus far nothing that he’s said about what emergency vehicles are allowed to do has been wrong that I’ve seen.
Well…last time I drove in CO, I think I saw an 80MPH limit in a rural area of the interstate, so 100 isn’t grossly in excess of the posted limit.
“As a registered tree hugger…” (figurative)
Keep driving like there’s no tomorrow and if you survive you’ll say,
“As a registered tree hugger…” (literal) You could become really bonded to a tree.
Sorry, couldn’t resist. :neutral:
CSA
Originally I asked State Patrol. They said Kansas and Nebraska farmers frequently drive their King Ranch Expeditions at 100 to 110 mph. I asked a couple of farmers myself. They said talk to Texans!
Then a police department said they removed the governors from their Expedtitions.
Ford dealers say 105 (governed speed) is fine.
I should post a dashcam video and you can see how stable and smooth the vehicle is.
(Wind noise is annoying.)
The video also shows how we coast down when approaching catching up to traffic.
When you see vast distances of no traffic and open plains you’ll wonder why not speed up.
Ask the state police if they. Have tested these Wal Mart tire chains. If Kansas has not, then maybe Colorado has.
It’s gonna snow here tomorrow so I’m going to do the rational thing and stay home.
Well...last time I drove in CO, I think I saw an 80MPH limit in a rural area of the interstate, so 100 isn't *grossly* in excess of the posted limit.
The highest speed limit in Colorado is 75, I recall. Have seen 80 in Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, Montana and Texas. (Texas may now have a toll road with 85 mph speed limit.)
Years ago I drove in Montana where some stretches of I-90 had no speed limit!
People who live in the more heavily populated areas of the country have no Idea how far apart everything is west of the Mississippi. I many areas 100 is a common speed. The reason most truckers don’t drive that fast are (1) most trucks are not geared or governed for over 70. (2) whoever is paying for the fuel makes sure the rig can’t or doesn’t go over 70. (3) Fear of losing license
No one ever gave me a 100 mph truck to drive, but that is the only thing that stopped me. When you get paid by the mile, there is no speed that feels unsafe on clear dry straight roads in the middle of the night.
The only truckers I knew who routinely drove at those speeds were coast to coasr reefer drivers who hauled meat and produce, but that was 30 years ago and in many states they just collected the fines and didn’t report to your home state or a national database. I have no Idea if any trucker is doing it today.
Robert Gift is right about one thing. People who drive their stock automobiles at top speed, whether they are magazine road testers, or guys who drive at the Maxton Mile , Bonneville or in the Copper State Classic routinely inflate their tires to the maximum pressure shown on the sidewall.