4 Wheel Drive vehicles - if driving in snow and ice, and only
possessing one pair of tire chains, should they be installed on the
front or rear wheels, and why?

I understand that on 2 wheel drive vehicles they always go on the
drive wheels.  But taking the example of a 4wd pickup truck, they are
all drive wheels.  At first thought it seems that the front is most
important to keep traction, because of steering and braking and
accelerating,  whereas the back wheels can only do some accelerating. 
BUT the back wheels might spin even more with chains on the front
only, leading to dangerous fish-tailing (especially with the back end
of an unloaded pickup truck being so light.)
So where should the chains go on a 4wd vehicle if only 1 pair is available?

If someone can find me the definitive answer, plus a little bit of
explanation, I would be so happy, as I wonder about it way too much.

thanks!

Hi ralph_desmond,

If you absolutely cannot have 2 sets of chains/cables available, put
them on the rear, and drive VERY carefully.

Where do you put the chains if you have only one pair?
http://www.4x4abc.com/jeep101/chains.html
This link has a couple other important links, be sure to click.

..."Chains mounted on front axle with 4WD/AWD - good acceleration,
good steering, good braking. However, since the rear wheels have no
lateral guidance, the rear end might come around - fast. Not good.
Feather your brakes. Go slow...."

..."Chains mounted on rear axle with 4WD/AWD - good acceleration,
lousy steering (no lateral guidance), so so braking (remember, 80% of
brake force goes to front wheels and isn't put to use without chains).
No fishtailing. Best compromise for 4WD with only one pair of chains.
Go slow...."

Don't miss this link:

State by state tire chain requirements
http://www.4x4abc.com/ML320/ml_chainsss.html

How many tire chains are needed on a 4WD?
http://4x4abc.com/ML320/ml_chains.html
Following the links to more information from this page leads to the
first link I referred you to.

This person did some "research" on his own and came up with the same advice:

SCROLL DOWN TO: Front or Rear? Which is best? 
http://www.glinx.com/~sbest/4chains.htm
..."If limited to one set of tire chains I prefer to put them on the
rear for highway use and on the front only in extreme snow or mud
conditions.  I must warn that at higher speeds or downhill or off
camber or icy conditions drastic oversteer can occur with tire chains
only on the front. For highway use with a single pair of tire chains I
would recommend always putting the them on the rear to avoid this
oversteer characteristic..."

This cached page is not as relevant but is very interesting
nevertheless.  I left it cached so you may scroll down and view the
interesting parts quickly:

http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:YqJ6ssk8HxUJ:www.acuramdx.org/forums/showthread.php%3Fthreadid%3D442+%224+wheel+drive%22+%22front+or+rear%22+chains+%22one+set%22&hl=en
(you may need to copy and paste the link to get it to work)

I hope this answers your question to your satisfaction.  If I can
elaborate, please ask via the "Request For Clarification" feature.

Sincerely,
~~Cynthia

Search Terms used at Google:
"4 wheel drive" "front or rear" chains 
"4 wheel drive" chains "one set"

---

Clarification of Answer by cynthia-ga on 27 Dec 2004 20:54 PST

ralph_desmond,

Thanks for coming back and rating my Answer 4 stars, and also for the
kind words...  I appreciate it very much.

~~Cynthia

excellent. pretty much just what I was looking for!  Thanks!