Customer Reviews

Thule 10mm CS10 Super-Premium Passenger Car Snow Chain, Size 100 (Sold in pairs)

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I got these to drive up into the mountains and snow shoe. A day after they arrived, Seattle got whacked with a brutal 7 day storm. These things are expensive, but they work as advertised. In particular, they are very easy to get on and, especially, off.

Since the highways here are clear and the side streets are ice, I've been having to put these on to leave the house, pop them off near the freeway, and then put them on again once I exit the freeway. I've never used normal chains before, so I can't say if these are faster to mount or un-mount, but they do go on in about a minute per tire and off in about 30 seconds. However, you will have to add time to back off them, since they always end up under the tire the way toast ends up falling butter down.

I have them on a base 2008 Honda Fit in case anyone cares. Front wheel drive and these mean I can go wherever I want. Excellent traction, but I'm more of a sucker for the ease.

This is an excellent product. Traction is ample, and once one gets the hang of it, the installation and removal are a breeze. The only down side is the instructions, which are a little hard to follow. I strongly recommend that you practice the installation in your driveway, in the daylight, before you have to put them on in deep snow in failing light, as we did!

just used these chains in tahoe after digging my car out of 3' of fresh snow on the sloped icy driveway of our ski house. after clearing the snow from the tires, the chains took about a minute for each tire to install. if I had used them before, it probably would have taken less time. my accord climbed up the driveway with barely any slipping...our friends AWD Subaru took 5 guys to help push it out. After I got to plowed roads the chains took about 30 seconds to remove. Just pull the "ripcord" and they basically fall off the tire. highly recommended!

the only reason I give them 4 stars is the manual recommends to not drive over 35mph with these chains. Driving on a 55mph road that was only partially snow-covered was pretty agonizing. And they're a bit expensive for something that only gets used every now and again...but for the convenience and time saved installing, I think they're worth every penny.

there's a video on youtube detailing the installation and removal of the chains. if you search for "konig chains" or "thule chains" it should come up.

When I received these snow chains, I tried them on my tires to confirm their fit and did not encounter any difficulties. I thought the design was clever and packed them away for my trip to Lake Tahoe.

After arrival, a blizzard hit, so I tried to install these snow chains. I futzed around with them for over than an hour and could not get them to fit around my tires!

Eventually, I figured out that they needed to be restored to their original factory state before installation. It is not enough to use the quick removal feature when you are through with them. You must unhook the red links and remove the cables from their pulleys (this will make more sense when you have the snow chains in front of you).

Once installed, these snow chains worked well. However, I knocked off a star since the owner's manual makes no mention of how to uninstall them in a manner that makes it possible to reinstall them later. Hopefully, this review will save others from having to slush around in the ice and snow like I did!

I bought these chains after reviewing a lot of internet chatter on the driveability of a Prius in winter conditions (our family was headed to Mammoth Lakes, CA for snowboarding/skiing). My summary of research was that the Prius should be find but to keep the agressive full-time traction control happy it seemed like a good idea to maximize traction. More research brought me to the Thule's and they performed beautifully all week (we got ~4 ft of new snow that week).

While it took two tries to get the sizing right (the chart originally linked to by the Amazon site didn't list my tire size, when I made a first order -- these were chains for a 2009 car, so they simply hadn't updated it), but when I realized that the chains originally ordered didn't fit, Amazon made the return incredibly easy. And the return shipping was free.

So I reordered the correct size (based on the new sizing chart that appeared in the intervening month), and the chains came. Look, tire chains are a necessary evil -- when my small SUV which I'd owned for ten years was rear-ended, and totaled out by my insurance co, I downsized to a small Honda. But that means using chains, sometimes, when I cross the Sierra Nevada of California-Nevada, which I do regularly. Sure enough, a month after I got the chains, I had to use them. I'd fitted them at home (good idea to do that), and it was relatively easy to do on the road. Even in the slush, it took a couple of minutes each, and then, as Thule promises, they self-adjusted once I started driving. Superb traction once you hit snow & ice, and they are quiet, with no slapping or dinging, when driving on concrete or asphalt (CalTrans always makes you chain up and drive on bare highway for a dozen miles or so before the snow-ice starts). These are expensive chains, and I can't speak to longevity. But right now (2009), the chain monkeys want $30 to put the chains on, and $15 to remove -- so if chains are easy enough to install that you can do it yourself, that means you pay for these chains in three uses. They come with a repair kit (you provide the pliers), and the design is ingenious: They're set up so you install the chains without having to drive forward or back onto them. There are others that do likewise -- but I've been told these are the best. I like 'em, anyway.

I'd never been a fan of traditional tire chains. You only put them on in the snow, but doing so while wearing gloves is near impossible, and I ended up with cuts and bruises more than once. After my traditional chains broke last year 30 miles from home, I decided to make sure we had good chains before the snow fell this year. I hunted around for recommendations before settling on these Thule chains.

The installation is ridiculously easy in comparison. There is very little tugging and pulling on the chains to get them into position, like with regular chains. They come with a convenient, hand-held hook for the single step that requires tugging - slipping the tension cable through a locking mechanism - and everything else is done while the chains are loose and easy to work with. Once you've got the tension cable attached properly (the "eye" of the steel cable has to be completely through the locking mechanism), the whole thing tightens up and centers on its own.

My girlfriend and I put these on in the middle of the night, by the light of my headlights, in about 5 minutes - and that was our first time ever, while reading the instructions.

I used these chains last night in some nasty mid east snow (York, PA). I WOULD NOT HAVE MADE IT HOME WITHOUT THEM!!! They worked very well on my 2004 Lexus LS430. My only suggestion is to have your tire jack handy when you put them on. While it is possible to put them on without a tire jack, you must have adequate wheel well clearance as the first connection is made on the top, back-side of the tire. If you have REALLY small hands, it shouldn't be a problem, for the rest of us, use a tire jack. If you jack the car up, as I did last night, it makes it much easier. These chains are easy to put on, and even easier to remove with the pull tab. Another suggestion...PRACTICE putting them on in good weather before trying in bad weather. These are very well engineered, but it is not obvious as to how to connect them, and the instructions on the side of the box are brief. They are great for cars with limited wheel well clearance, as is the case with my car. WOULD RECOMMEND TO ANYONE!!! We haven't had snow like this in 20 years, but it was worth it when I needed them..

Simple fast install. Great for when it's cold and dark and you just want to go home! I live on a steep gravel road in upstate New York and have had to walk up the hill many times before I owned the chains.

we purchased these for our 2004 honda odyssey for our trip to Lake Tahoe and Incline Village. Haven't been up to the Tahoe area in over 20 years. Was contemplating a trial run in the SF bay area but ran out of time. We needed to put the Thule chains on the way back. Very easy, no practice and the instruction manual was very straightforward. Incredibly compact. Have used several times now. Little rust on the hardware so I just make sure I rinse them off and spray some bicyle "metal prep" on the slightly rusty areas (usually for my daughter's bicycle chain) and ready to go. 5 stars.