What are these funky chains?

[PNW_Steve]

Hey Everyone,

While I was crawling around under my Bluebird the other day I took note of a mechanism that I am not familiar with.

Just aft of the axle on each side of the bus are "wheels" about 7" in diameter with sever short lengths of chain attached to them. The "wheels" move freely when I try to spin them.

Both are on what looks like some kind of pivot mechanism.

Then I ran out of daylight.

Can anyone explain what these are? I had wondered if they could be some kind of "built in tire chains" but they are behind the drive tires.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

S,

[superdave]

snow chains. they move over against the tire and it spins and slings the chains under the tires.

[Stu & Filo. T]

I had a conversation with a retired driver who had those on her bus, There should be a valve on your dash to activate them, She told me they only work in a couple inches of snow any more than that & their pretty much useless

[family wagon]

Onspot is one such brand. The operating principle is like those bicycle headlight generators of yesteryear: the device presses against the sidewall of the tire and is driven by the rotation of the tire.

I once was pulled over because there were sparks under my bus. It turned out to be from those tire chains -- apparently if it was rotated just so, one of the lengths of chain was long enough to bounce on the pavement and create a spark. Fortunately the deputy who stopped me was satisfied with a zip-tie fix and sent me on my way.

[PNW_Steve]

Snow chains was my first though but these are behind the axle...

I will have to look closer when I crawl under there again. We have returned to normal weather and there is a small river running under the bus so it may be a bit

thanks for the replies.

S.

[Rameses]

Originally Posted by PNW_Steve

Snow chains was my first though but these are behind the axle...

That's in the stored position. When deployed, they swing down right next to the inside tire.

If I recall correctly, those systems are really expensive.

[Jameson]

Youtube has some good videos demonstrating operation if you search on spot tire chains. Haven't needed mine yet, but I did function check and they are pretty cool.

[PNW_Steve]

Thank you!!

My first thought when I saw them was that they were snow chains but dismissed the idea because of where they are located in the retracted position.

When deployed they swing way around!

Cool video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YcDrsYJfug

Thanks again.

S.