Customer Reviews

Thule K-Summit Low-Profile Passenger Car Snow Chain, Size K23 (Sold in pairs)

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I couldn't wait to get these, given Seattle's unexpected week of ice. The chains fit several tire sizes with clear instructions for removing 0 - 4 sizing clips for each size (all four for my 225/50-R17). These are as easy on/off as this video shows (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opugSM6xs58). No need to get knees wet, or lay on the ground.

The chains ride only on the tread and not on the back of the wheel/tire, requiring no inside clearance. The thin cable chains add only about 10mm to the top clearance. The ice grips are aggressive and the chain angles will provide lateral slide resistance.

The set came with the tools needed to remove the clips and mount the lugs. The clips are put on from the factory with something like "Lock-tite". Recommend a 7mm socket to replace the wrench and your own good set of metric Allen wrenches (3mm).

Only problem was the lug locking mechanism was too shallow to fit my deeply recessed lugs on the standard wheels of my car (Infiniti I-30t). This should not be a problem for most cars. Amazon quickly allowed return/refund. Thule sent me to an authorized local dealer for a fit for their CS-10's which do not require a lug lock, but will require me to be on the ground in the slush to mount and dismount.

I would have loved to have kept these. I guess it is too much to expect Thule to have researched all the kinds of wheels on the market.

The K-22s work just as advertised. It takes a little extra effort the first time or two, but once you get used to the system, these are the easiest chains to put on you'll ever own. The traction seems VERY good, and the chains tighten around the tire perfectly. It almost feels like they are part of the tire (which means them off sometimes takes a little effort - just be sure you have some gloves you don't mind getting a bit dirty)

I drive a car with 21mm lugnuts. These ship with 17 and 19mm fittings, so be sure that if you have a car with larger lugnuts you get the adapter. (Prius owners, this means you). They are available from [...] if Amazon is sold out.

I haven't had these for very long, but they seem to be very high quality. The warranty is 1 year, but I would expect them to last much longer. And yes, the price is a little high, but it is a lot less than the cost of damage rims and certainly a lot less than internal damage to your cars braking mechanisms or even just cosmetic damage inside the wheel well. Add that to ease of install and it's kind of a no-brainer. Highly recommended. I'd give 5 stars, but I feel like THULE cheaped-out by not providing the 21mm fits standard. Making that a $25 add-on for a product with a retail price of $450 is ridiculous.

First I would like to say that for those of you suggesting I get "real tire chains"... I have 2 pair that I've managed to get onto my tires exactly... never. If you'd like to buy 2 pair of 17" snow chains cheap just leave me a message, you can have 'em. "Real tire chains" might be great for some people, but if I can't get them on and off my car quickly and easily, they are useless to me.

I live 1400 feet up a 2 and a half mile dirt/gravel road that stays ice and snow covered for weeks after there is no snow anywhere else in our county. I am a small business owner, so if I can't get to work, I don't get paid, simple as that. I needed a product that was easy for a 40+ year old woman to get on and off by herself 6 days a week.

For the last 3 winters I have been using Spikes-Spiders, which I actually think is a fairly good product as well, but after being put thru the rigors of mountain life, many of the plastic components of the Spikes-Spiders were beginning to break and needed replacement, so I began looking for an alternative. These chains by Thule seem to be a great alternative so far.

I have a 2006 Saturn Vue AWD. I'll admit that fitting these chains the first time was a little tricky, but I was having to unlearn what I was expecting from the Spikes-Spiders. They did fall off the first time I used them, but I realized I had reversed a component while trying to make sure I had the right lug adapter on, so it wasn't a fault of engineering but a simple mistake that was easily corrected ...while I was halfway up my mountain. You can't fix an adjustment to regular tire chains unless your car is completely level, which mine most certainly was not. I'm going to suggest the some of the people who are reporting that the chains fell off their tires may very well have made the same easy to make mistake.

Otherwise, the instructions seemed very straight-forward and now that I've done it a few times (I only got them 5 days ago) I can put these on and get them off in a matter of minutes. The Spikes-Spiders were easier to put on and took less time, but these chains are also much more aggressive in traction control, so I feel it is a good trade-off.

Although I can't attest to the durability of this product yet, I'm pretty confident that the sturdier construction (in comparison to my old Spikes-Spiders) will have them last for me at least as long as my old "Snap-On" chains. Considering the price I got the K-Summits for here on Amazon (more then $200 LESS then the Spikes-Spiders), I feel these will be money well spent. They are easy and they work.

well these chains were easy to use, but you will still get your hands dirty. the carry bag is not water proof, so when you take them off and put them back in the carrying bag. the snow on the chain melts and water leaks through the bag and onto your trunk floor. these chains do work well and are the easiest to install that i have ever used. just make sure you bring trash bags to put the chains in. 4stars because of the carry bag.

I don't know that I've driven on them enough to give proper details on durability. I can say that they worked very well on the 8 inches or so of snow I drove on over unpaved roads. And, I did not have to touch dirt or snow with anything but the fingers of my gloves and my boots. They were incredibly easy to install. I did not have to lay on my back or side. I did not have to reach behind the wheel. I got them on in about 1 minute per wheel. They came off in seconds. For the price you'll want to make sure you wash them without delay to keep them in good shape.

My car sits very low and has hardly any space between the fenders and tires but these fit wonderfully. Simple to install, they do not even touch the rims, and I have not slid once. I have a huge fear about driving in the snow but these definitely eased my mind. The only down side is now I have no excuse to miss work :-)

My car has 255/35r19 rear tires so this seemed like the right (albeit EXPENSIVE) choice. Upon using for the first time last weekend a pin holding a chain link to a plate popped out thus rendering the chain useless. As a result we were stuck in the mountain for THREE HOURS waiting for a flatbed tow. As soon as I put the chains on (which BTW have terrible terse instructions), I wasn't beaming with confidence as the chains didn't seat at the center of the wide tires. The following might be a better alternative: Security Chain Super Z6, SZ143.

I bought these chains, feeling apprehensive about the price, and unsure whether I even need chains on my Audi allroad (tire size 225/65 R17). As it turned out during the Christmas skiing trip even with good M+S tires and quattro drive you can encounter road conditions that call for chains to be safe. 30 miles of solid iced-over snow, encountering 8 spun-out vehicles and one horrible accident, I was very happy to have spent the money. So half-way into the ordeal, we found a spot to pull over, mounted the chains and were really happy from there on. I mounted the chains twice so far. It is very easy to do, takes 5 minutes on each side, taking them off takes 2 minutes. They drive great, due to the continuous line of chain links along the circumference of the wheel. They don't rattle the car as much as the diamond shaped regular chains do. Driving on pavement feels very smooth. I have not tested whether they would come off in hard cornering and stayed at the 35 mph range, but their advantage of fitting into the complex and narrow wheel assembly, without requiring special rims and narrower tires to make room for full chains is a real boon.
Instructions are not the greatest but not complicated either (Thule has a youtube video showing the installation.) Check the lug nut size and order the very large adapter if you need it. My chains came with an adapter but the standard size fits my car. And fit the chains and put them on at home on pavement to make sure you know what you are doing when it gets dicey!
I can't say how long-lived these chains will be, if you have enough room in your wheel well, perhaps full chains are more affordable, sturdier and even more reliable, but the K-summit are a great compromise.

This review is for the XXL K67 size for a p245/65/17 tire on a Ford Explorer. I have to descend a steep hill every morning on my drive into town that is sometimes very icy. I bought these chains because they are easy to put on and take off with the hopes that I would use them more often rather than just take my chances. I removed one yellow tension element as per the included instruction for my tire size and they fit perfectly. I jacked my car up in the garage and test fit them by hand the first time. When I next installed them without the aid of a jack, I had to gently kick the bottom two plates to get them started under the edge of the tire because the XXL size has five traction plate arms (rather than the four that you see pictured for the smaller sizes) therefore the spacing is closer. Those two bottom plates only went about halfway onto the tire but after driving down my 300' driveway in 5" of snow, I stopped for an inspection to find that they had finished installing themselves. The traction and braking were excellent. The ride was smoother than with the Z-chains I've used with other vehicles.

The good news is that these chains actually DO self-adjust onto the tire - ONCE YOU GET THE SIZE CORRECTLY ADJUSTED. The pictorial guide had me remove 4 of the cross bolts, and I had to remove one more because I have "mud and snow" tires. MAKE SURE you get these sized and adjusted BEFORE you get to the snow. I would hate to have to try to do this in the cold and snow on the side of the road.

The bad news is that the ratchet mechanism is too flimsy, and you can EASILY damage it by over-tightening while ratcheting in the chains. So be careful.

Note to Thule: If you had actually used words in your instructions (instead of cryptic and hard-to-understand pictorials) I might have avoided this problem. In this case, a couple of words (e.g., "Do not over-tighten the ratchet, because we used a flimsy design") would have been worth a thousand pictures.

Also - the pictorial instructions on how to select the correct stand-offs for the lug nut bolt were VERY difficult to understand. No indications of what the critical spacing or dimensions are, so you have to guess.