Can I Use Chains on my '89

[Marccus]

'89 w/ about 445K miles

I have P215/65R15 tires.

I need to use chains on the front tires.

There looks like there is plenty of fender / wheel well room.

Will there be any interference problems (which I am sure I would find out IMMEDIATELY if there were), if I used chains on these tires/wheels. ?

Thanks.

 

[NotSoSlowSHO]

Crawl under the car and look REAL good.

The tire to strut perch clearance is pretty tight.

The manual says you cannot run chains, for this very reason.

 

[Marccus]

Bummer.

Depending on the weather, California Highway Patrol (CHP) requires chains when using certain roads in the mountains. Snow tires and studded are not acceptable. The chains must be installed on the drive wheels.

And they sit in their vehicles at the place in the road where chains are required and check to see if you have them on before they will allow you to pass. No chains and you have to turn around.

Where is the strut perch?

Can I shave it down, so there is no problem?

Perhaps, I can buy a certain type / manufacturer of chains that will not cause an interference problem.

There is a performance auto parts store near me that allows you to try the chains before you buy them.

If there is an interference problem, will I hear it and could I destroy the strut!

Would the best thing to do be first jack the car up, put the chain on one wheel and spin it to see if there is an interference problem, then lower the car and push it a little at at time (say 1/8 of a tire turn), get underneath ,and see if there is a problem after going through an entire rotation?

 

[TwistedD85]

I believe the perch is the cup on the strut that holds the bottom of the spring. Only way you can really get it out of the way is to go with coilovers, you'd have to remove it completely if I remember correctly.

 

[NotSoSlowSHO]

I know how CA is. I used to live there, just south of Mammoth Mtn ski resort a few hours, so I know all about how the CHP handle tire restrictions.

What I would suggest is getting a M&S (mud and snow) rated tire, and carry chains just to show the CHP you have them.

With any "all season" tire, you will get the "M&S" rating. That gets you by in R1 conditions.

Then you have R2, unless you can run chains, you must have 4x4 and M&S tires.

R3, Chains required on all vehicles.


Luckily, when I lived there, conditions rarely were allowed to progress past R2. CHP will close passed quickly when things get bad. One huge reason why people love sport utility 4x4's and M&S tires.


Just crawl under the car and look for the tightest clearance from the tire. That will be the spring perch. And no, you cannot shave it. The spring isnt much further inward of that.

Unless you are running REALLY skinny tires with a deep offset, I do not see chains happening on a Gen 1 SHO.

 

[Marccus]

OK. I read the CHP web site. You obviously have the experience.

No way around this mess it seems, but try to get by with a M&S rated tire (I have "all season" radials) and carrying chains for R1 conditions or waiting out the weather until R2 and R3 pass

 

[Marccus]

FWIW, I find "all season" tires pretty useless in the snow.

I grew up and drove in the Boston area , and all season tires didn't help much.

I could easily detect the handling difference between snow tires and the all season radials when they first came out and in their current design in snow conditions.

IMHO, "snow tires" really DO work in snow and much better than all season radials.

I will need to drive in the "high" country - the Sierras, around Mammoth, through and about Yosemite, then Wyoming, Montana, the Dakotas, etc.

Seems real snow tires and carrying chains would be the best.

 

[SHOVNST]

I have never experimented with tire chains on a Taurus but one thought would be installing tires that are slightly shorter in size to allow the chains to clear the spring perch. There should be enough room for the chains to clear the strut tube using the stock wheels, however, if you can use the `15 wheels there should be even more. Another advantage with the `15 wheels is you should have a better selection of shorter tire sizes......

 

[Marccus]

Cables or Chains?

I guess I was confused.

When I inquired at the auto parts store on whether they sold chains, the salesman stated that he sold cables, not chains. "No one uses chains anymore". But, what I was thinking of as chains are actually called cables. So we were talking the same thing. I had never heard of the term cables. What I saw as cables, I thought they called chains.

So, when the SHO manual and other posters state that "chains" can't be used on the SHO, do they mean chains - real chains - or cables.

It seemed strange to me all along that cables would cause interference problems. I can see where chains would cause a problem.

When the CHP states that chains must be used for cars in R2 conditions, do they mean actual chains or are cables acceptable?

I am sure NotSoSlowSHO can answer that question.

Sorry for the confusion.

 

[kikkinasphalt]

if you live somewhere where chains are required by law in order to drive on that road, the last car id want to own is an SHO.

 

[SHOspazz92]

Did I read that right, 445K on your SHO?

-Sam

 

[Marccus]

About 445K

Odometer has kicked out several times.

But that mileage is all in Southern California and the Southwest Desert, Utah, Arizona, California, etc., and it is about 80% highway on great roads and minimal stop and go.

I could never get that type of mileage and longevity anywhere else.

But I am religious about changing the oil, keeping up with sensor problems, and more important I think than oil and what no one talks about is engine coolant maintenance.

I have removed the heads from many SHO's in junk yards and the coolant passages were corroded to crap and the coolant system filled with stop leak.

I have a John Deere coolant eye on the outlet of my heater hose - which is a non-obstructing coolant filter that is used on John Deere tractors.

Iron block / aluminum heads is one of the worst corrosion combinations you can get.

I use a sacrificial anode radiator cap (Rad-Cap), which has a sacrificial magnesium anode that corrodes before the zinc or iron will. You can also buy one for the stopcock on the radiator.

I add a corrosion inhibitor to the coolant made in Germany offered by Griot's Garage in the recommended concentration.

And I change the coolant yearly. I also use water wetter.

Five year life for coolant may be fine for an engine with tens of thousands of miles on it, but I don't believe a long interval like that applies to an engine with hundreds of thousands of miles on it.

Want more proof?

I changed my original water pump after 400,000 miles only because I was installing a new timing belt and CKP sensor and figured I'd should do it. It was not leaking.

The water pump looked almost like the remanufactured one I was installing. There was hardly any pitting on the impeller or the casting. I could have left it in for who knows how much longer.

Anyway, coolant system diligence works for me. Your "mileage" may vary.

 

[Marccus]

if you live somewhere where chains are required by law in order to drive on that road, the last car id want to own is an SHO.

Yes, but are CABLES acceptable as chains. Cables are not chains, but auto parts stores sell these, not chains.

 

[tompumped]

Thanks for the info on the cooling system maintenance, interesting. I guess that is proof if the wp lasted that long?

You beat me to it, I used to work at napa and we had a book that had cables in the book, and it also had chains. I don't know anyone that has used cables, but if they are still around they must work. I'd try the cables, there should be enough clearance running them. I'd imagine they would be acceptable, but I have no idea.
Also about the m&s tires, I have had luck with some tires and others were dangerous.

 

[SHO_DOODmorrris]

hint: most snow tires are mud and snow rated

and goot to hear about the coolant maintenance! if i was you i would stop using the water wetter though, it plugs up after a while just like the stop leak product does! but you change it anually though so it figures its fine!

-Mitch

 

[NotSoSlowSHO]

When the CHP states that chains must be used for cars in R2 conditions, do they mean actual chains or are cables acceptable?

I am sure NotSoSlowSHO can answer that question.

Sorry for the confusion.

CHP website states chains or "traction devices" which means cables, or any of the 15 other different gimics sold as chain alternatives.

 

[NotSoSlowSHO]

Seems real snow tires and carrying chains would be the best.

For safety, yes.

However, if you are anything like all of the other "flatlanders" from LA or Orange CO, that hit the slopes during the winter, real snow tires are really silly. I never ran snow tires, only good all-seasons. But yes, all seasons in snow are a bit sketchy.

Living in Northern Idaho now, I run a good set of studded, factory siped tires on the SHO. Damn thing will go anywhere.

I should also state that my SHO has not two, but THREE sets of wheels and tires. With stud restrictions that overlap actual winter weather, I run a summer set for dry only, an All-Season for early fall and late spring, and the studs for late fall to early spring.

Somewhat of a hassle, but it works, keeps my SHO safe on the road, and certainly helps extend tread life!

Te truck runs an set of siped all terrains. But it really does need real winter tires for the winter. There are times that I feel more confident behind the wheel of the SHO around here than the truck.

 

[Marccus]

Wow. Your tire / wheel arrangement is great, the best, optimal! I wish I could practically and affordably do that.

My cousin uses snows in the Winter driving Route 128 "belt" that surrounds Boston, which is notorious for winter blizzards / slush when there is rain closer to Boston on the coast.

He swears by snow tires and gets a laugh out of people trying to drive 55 mph in snow on all seasons.

I lived among the flatlanders and "I can drive as fast in the rain as on dry pavement" of Orange County.

These whack jobs drive 55 to 60 mph on city streets during a first rain after a a long dry spell, which is when a thin film of oil/rubber comes up from the asphalt.

Can they spell H-Y-D-R-0-P-L-A-N-I-N-G.

On my way to work, I've seen horrendous crashes against side rails and with other cars, where it's questionable whether anyone survived.

And they continue to drive that way - no one seems to learn.

 

[Marccus]

Living in Northern Idaho now, I run a good set of studded, factory siped tires on the SHO. Damn thing will go anywhere.

What are "siped" tires?

 

[tompumped]

http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/tireSiping.dos

I had no idea about siping either.