Question as I'm still relatively new to living in wintery conditions (from the south and CA here...)

There are several mountain passes (most notably Snoqualmie) in our area that do require chains at certain times, and they can have check points. Although I've never seen a check point, just signs. If you have AWD/4WD you don't need to put on the chains to pass go, but you do need to have them in the vehicle to pass the checkpoints without a $500 fine.

What I didn't realize until someone mentioned it to me at dinner is that it applies to AWD/4WD vehicles like our Defenders.

So what on earth chains could work... Autosocks? ​@GavinC just read a post where you had them on a rental Escalade. Good ?

Funny - I googled Land Rover Autosock after reading a post from and this came up -- so apparently JLR rebrands and sells these for Evoques etc
https://store.landrover.com/vplvw007...ction-aid.html

 

Go to Goodwill and buy a set. I have a pair from a 1982 Oldsmobile that I carried for years in my RRS. Showed them to numerous CHP and CalTrans workers when asked...
They will close the roads before you need chains on your Defender

 

Hmm interesting. So "fake em" ... got it. That did occur to me haha.

 

@nashvegas

It is a legal requirement in WA to carry chains/traction device regardless of drive train if headed over the passes Nov1-Mar31. This is not a law that is enforced. Never ever ever. There are no check points. The only way folks get hit with a fine is when they don't chain up in 2WD and end up in the ditch. I do not carry socks/chains. Unless you're planning on wheeling un-plowed forest tracks, they are not needed in a Defender. *To be fully legal you should carry them but no one does.

The rules here in WA are nonsense. You can drive the snowy passes in AWD on summer tires in winter and be fully legally compliant. Put snow tires on a 2WD and you are still supposed to chain up. It's daft.

I had snow tires on my last car. A 2WD and never chained up. No issues with traction but unlike the AWD summer tire car, mine was illegal. It makes no sense whatsoever and is largely the reason I90 suffers so many closures. Folks think AWD is a miracle device that confers superpowers on their tires in the snow. Spinouts aplenty and the road is closed as the plows can't get through. Today was a case in point.

I've never used the socks or had a rental Escalade. I have used chains on Snoqualmie Pass back when I first moved here. Putting them on in the slushy side of a 4 lane highway in the cold and wet is a flipping miserable business. One I will never have to do again.

If you're going to get anything for the passes/ National parks just get the socks. I wouldn't bother. You'll never use them, never encounter a checkpoint (non-existent) and they can be stashed under a seat.

I wouldn't get the biggest you can get as someone advised. Get ones designed to fit your 32"x 10" tire. Autosock has them all.

Better yet. Get nothing. I've been over the passes 100's of times in winter. WA police do not check.


No chains for me.

 

"I've never used the socks or had a rental Escalade. I have used chains on Snoqualmie Pass back when I first moved here. Putting them on in the slushy side of a 4 lane highway in the cold and wet is a flipping miserable business. One I will never have to do again."

OK -- I def got you confused w/ someone else who posted on here... someone wrote this (I'll go find the post... it said get socks..... and I thought it was you, lol sorry!

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I've definitely said that to someone looking to get socks to be legal rather than wasting money and storage space on chains. I even briefly thought about doing the same thing myself. In theory WASDot can mandate chains on all vehicles. It never happens. Pass closes long before those conditions are ever met.

Often times folks in Europe are headed to the Alps and live in a very unsnowy area and have AS tires. Some European jurisdictions and alpine passes have chain carrying/use requirements. So it's a question that crops up frequently on the forums, this time of year. Socks meet all requirements.

Canada or at least BC has the most sensible rules. Triple peak rated tires are required by law Nov-March on most roads north of Vancouver. They don't seem to suffer from the same weather induced closures that WA does.

 

I frequently go to the Sierras from the Bay Area and I’ve never been asked to show chains being carried in the trunk. I know it’s a requirement so I carry my wife’s old chains from her old Honda accord, which would never fit but who cares
Typically they are too busy to check and as previously mentioned they will always just close the road if the conditions reach R3 requirements.

 

I’m carrying these from Amazon. Haven’t needed them yet, but it’s better to have and not need vs need and not have.

 

Ah - good to know, as this is only my second year here in WA / Seattle; we just are getting rid of our Tacoma and Disco Sport, and have our 110 X. Road trips will be coming!! -M

 

There was an article just the other day in a local paper that had WSP on quote saying they are going to start stepping up the chain enforcement. WSP and WADOT are getting tired of the number of vehicles in ditches and multi car pile ups they have to clean up.

I think a lot of it comes down to the false sense of security coming from so many vehicles offering AWD any more. Too many people traveling through the passes with the wrong tires or no chains and limited snow driving experience because they have an AWD car. My general rule is that chains are an insurance policy —I have them, but I hope to never need them. If the roads are getting poor enough that traction aids are required by WADOT (this is means 3PMS or winter tires on AWD/4x4), then I am avoiding the pass. I’ve used chains to get myself unstuck on forest roads, so I am a firm believer in their use, but I want to be off the road before I need them otherwise.

So far as chains go. I’d get a pair of RUD or cable style chains. The socks are 2-3x as expensive and not nearly as durable. Socks are fine on snow, but they will get torn up quickly on mixed road conditions and gravel.