I'm thinking of heading up to Mammoth this weekend but road conditions state youeither need chains, or if a 4x4, snow tires. I've been told that chains are not required & cannot be put on the H3s. My car has done fine driving in light snow with the 4 wheel low lock on but I've never driven in such harse weather conditions as this.Will I be ok to drive with no chains or snow tires?

 

depends on what kind of tires you've got and how well CalTrans has cleared the roads. as for chanins not fitting on an H3, that's a crock - i've got chains for the bus but CalTrans has never made me put them on. any kind of off road tires will get you past the CalTrans checkpoints, but i doubt they'll even look at your tires if you're in a hummer. you might want to let some air out of your tires, take them to about 28 lbs or maybe a little less. it won't kill them to drive for a while after you're off the snow and find a gas station to fill them back up. bottom line, you should be fine unless the snow is above the bumper . . . .

 

I agree. Chains are over rated and to keep unprepared ******** off snow covered western roads.

They don't even know what chains are in the MI UP, and they damn near got a monopoly on snow covered roads!

 

Haha. Thanks guys! I just have stock tires on my car. I bought some chains but last time I went up to the snow caltrans let mepass bc they said chains were not needed on Hummers. So you thinkCaltrans will let me pass even tho they said4WD vehicles must have snow tires on all 4 tires?

 

unless they're close to closing the road i doubt they'll even look at your tires once they see what you're driving. i'd still recommend dropping the tire pressure to around 25 -28 lbs on the snow. one thing you don't want to do is ask the caltrans worker WHY you don't need chains. if they've been standing there for a while they might be cranky and change their mind. don't know about the mammoth area, but we're supposed to get rain and snow both days this weekend in Sac. if it hits down there you may end up facing a road closure. then they don't care what you're driving, you're gonna wait . . . . . [:@]