[mahout]

Originally Posted by roja

I am posting this so that others can avoid my frustrations on this subject. I live in the Bay Area, which gets no snow. I drive at most once or twice per year in the snow (when going to the mountains). I have the all-season OEM Dunlops on my 2007 Fit. My other car runs summer-only performance tires.

This year, I planned a trip over a few mountain passes that require you to carry chains and often require you to put on your chains unless you have a 4wd. So I punched in the OEM tire size (195/55-15) and bought the recommended cable chains (type 1030). When I went to put them on for a ski trip, they were extremely loose and obviously would not work at all. I went to three different tire and auto parts stores without any luck. I tried on four different kinds of cable chains before finding ones that fit. I checked two or three different manufacturers, but in each case the cables were too loose, even on the tightest setting (they are all called 1030, even though they are made by different companies). Finally, I started experimenting with cable chains designed for smaller tires. The first set I tried (1018) was too tight. Then I tried the 1026, which seemed to work, so I bought them. I haven't had to use them yet, but they seem to be the right size.

Has anyone else had a similar experience? Perhaps the OEM Dunlops are much smaller than other 195/55-15 tires. I just wanted to share in case others end up in a similar position.

Thanks.

Search Terms for Future Use: snow tires, snow chains, tire chains, cable chains, snow cables, tire cables.

We have a place in the NC mountains near Chimney Rock and we have to plow thru snow sometimes. We have 175/65x15 tires with matching chains if we need them for the backroads. The chains fit as the tires are a little larger in dia than stock but so far haven't needed them.