Snow socks?

Monokne

Howdy all

Ok so I've been doing some research both on here and google but can't get a consensus so just thought I'd ask:

1) Are they any good?
2) Are they easy to put on and off?
3) How durable are they? Like can you leave them on the car overnight or must you put on/take off at start and end of each journey?
and lastly 4) Is there a particular brand I should go for, or just buy whatever's on MicksGarage?

Help would be appreciated...seems like this winter ain't gonna be pretty!

shaywest

a friend of mine bought them for his wife last year ,she drives a lexus 300 i asked him what he thought of them he said "like having tits on a bull "in other words not worth a boxxxox!

johnos1984

For emergencies only

youtube!

Get the ones from Fastfit,they work fantastically well. I used them right thru the cold snap and they got me out of some situations I can tell ya,however dont make the mistake of fitting them only when you get stuck,make sure they are fitted as soon as you leave the house. They are extremely easy to fit and really durable,just dont drive them on non icy roads for a prolonged time. Basically if you use a bit of common sense they will last you a good while,I still have mine from last yr and they are good to go again.

Hiace.

Had the snow socks on wife’s car loads of times last winter, they were brilliant, made it up very bad country roads most cars could not. No problems with wear, they are still good as new for this year, I was careful with them and used them as directed. Having said that, like chains they are a 20-30mph get you home device, not a drive everywhere all day device.

I had winter tyres on my own car, and the socks could out perform the winter tyres.

I used Weissenfels WeissSock, a well established German brand.

http://www.snowchains.co.uk/main/weisssock.htm

I also tried out a set of chains and they outperformed the socks.

Having said that, like socks, chains are a get you home device, not a drive everywhere all day device. Chains have a bit of adjustment, socks have none. They will either fit properly or they won't.

Chains have the disadvantage that they could damage a road/drive in light patches of snow, and if a chain snaps when it comes off, it can do damage to your bodywork.

Socks are easier to get on for some people.

So in summary :

Winter tyres : best for all round use, and much better than ordinary tyres.
Socks : more traction than winter tyres, but really a get you home job only.
Chains : more traction than winter tyres and socks, but really a get you home job only, and for heavier snow/ice only.

Also socks and chains must be the right size for your tyres, or they may not be of any use.

e.g. Socks are good to keep in the boot of your second car, that does not have winter tyres, or a car that does not do enough mileage to justify winter tyres.

There is loads of videos on You Tube showing your the performance of socks.

Tefral

Micksgarage.ie have a code for 10% off "MGSNOW"

_Conrad_

They're a half arsed way of getting around a problem at best. Buying actual winter tyres and having some idea how to drive, and how to adapt to different conditions is a far better and safer strategy

oldyouth

Brilliant yokes altogether. Make sure us use them as per the INSTRUCTIONS. Got mine from Micks Garage online, got the wife's from Fast Fit

cjmcork

I got them last year and I'd swear by them - if you use them as instructed, I was driving about 7kms each way to and from work, and they were grand; HOWEVER, they are a pain in the ass to get off - I thought I'd broken a finger one morning, they're wet by the time your journey is done and the part where you pull doesn't really work (I'm a 5'2 woman - might be different for a 6'5 man!)...........but they have new ones out now that JUST covers the tyre (not the alloy / steel) and I think they might be more user-friendly

just to note though, I bought winter tyres for this year though

Chippy01

shaywest wrote: »

a friend of mine bought them for his wife last year ,she drives a lexus 300 i asked him what he thought of them he said "like having tits on a bull "in other words not worth a boxxxox!

I had a Lexus GS300 for the past 2 snowy winters
Rear wheel drive and a big heavy engine up front meant more time sliding than driving.
Even spiked ice tyres would have been useless on the GS, without some substantial amount of weight (similar to the engine's weight, maybe) in the boot.

Tabnabs

I have them and would have been lost without them in the snow last year. Treat them like chains and only drive in snow and they will last many seasons.

You need to take them off at night or if parked for the day otherwise the compacted snow will freeze on the surface and render them unsuitable or so I understand.

They can be put on in an emergency to get you out of a bind too. I found it nigh on impossible to get the wheels to spin, the traction was excellent. I got them from Micksgarage too.

Monokne

Great info. Thanks all. I will more than likely plump for them.

Incidentally, does anyone know what the cost of winter tyres roughly is? I may get them for the missus as I don't see her fancying putting socks on her car at 6am...

TheZ

I used them last year and they work really well - used to leave them on overnight but once you hit a cleared road they need to come off and taking them off is a real pain

locking wheels to one side and then the other makes it easier to put on - not sure how you would put them on rear wheel drive car

but the hassle of putting them on/taking them off is something that you probably don't want over a number of days - i used to try and drive to work on untreated roads all the way to try and avoid taking them off


has anybody used the Bottari snow socks - any easier to fit than the Weiss snow socks?

Monokne

Yeah I'd appreciate knowing what the easiest to apply and most durable brand is!

Hiace.

Monokne wrote: »

Yeah I'd appreciate knowing what the easiest to apply and most durable brand is!

I don't think there is a huge difference between brands.

-Corkie-

There was a pic here somewhere last year of a Bimmer and the snow socks were on the front wheels. Your man was spinning for death..:D

the culture of deference

The weisssock are very good, I had a cheap set last year that only went around the tyre, and had no cross straps. I drove 4 miles on the N4 under 40kph and they came off.

Then I went out and bought winter tyres. Just remember winter tyres do not mean you can drive as you did before. You will still slip and slide, and ice covered bridges will still be hard to cross. If you have front wheel drive and only change the front be careful on corners as you may lose the rears easily.

Frank165

I thought I'd throw in my experience. I bought the snow socks last year, they were the motorsock brand. Snow chains & winter tyres seem a bit overkill for the few weeks we get. Anyway you cant use chains unless its very heavy ice/snow & they wreck your cars suspension on tarmac. Also I think they are illegal for use on roads where there isn't snow/ice so you'd be taking them on & off every few minutes.
I drive a rear wheel drive & saw loads of similar cars struggling. I found the motorsocks excellent. I left them in the car all winter & used them whenever I was leaving my estate, there's a slope on the way out which was impossible to get up without them as its exits onto a main road, so you couldn't take a run at it. Used them probably around twenty or thirty times for the commute home, its about 7 miles & they are still pretty much perfect, ready for this year. Sure they cost a few bob, but a lot cheaper than driving into the car in front of you or braking an arm on an icy footpath after abandoning your car by the side of the road.
The brand I bought were adjustable, might be a bonus if you change or swap cars during the winter.

Homer

-Corkie- wrote: »

There was a pic here somewhere last year of a Bimmer and the snow socks were on the front wheels. Your man was spinning for death..:D

Not the exact image you were talking about Corkie.. but you get the idea

Victor Meldrew

cjmcork wrote: »

HOWEVER, they are a pain in the ass to get off - I thought I'd broken a finger one morning, they're wet by the time your journey is done and the part where you pull doesn't really work (I'm a 5'2 woman - might be different for a 6'5 man!).

No different for a bloke... but they are a complete brute to remove. Biggest drawback, especially as you are not going to want to pull over to get under the car in that weather...

reiger

when driving on snow and ice the narrower the tyre you have the better,then you see people putting socks over wide tyres and well they just dont work well too much of a contact patch looking to get grip.

if your doing any ammount of driving in the snow get winter tyres these socks in my oppinion a not much good,maybe they might be ok for going to the shop.or small runs

Tabnabs

reiger wrote: »

when driving on snow and ice the narrower the tyre you have the better,then you see people putting socks over wide tyres and well they just dont work well too much of a contact patch looking to get grip.

if your doing any ammount of driving in the snow get winter tyres these socks in my oppinion a not much good,maybe they might be ok for going to the shop.or small runs

I'm curious, do you have any experience to back up these opinions or are you just assuming...?

Because my direct experience is very different. In fact, the complete opposite...

seamus

Just to throw my 2c in. I got snow socks in B&Q last year. Not quite like the weiss socks, they were a hollow sock that went around the tyre and centred themselves on the wheel - These exact ones actually. Seem to be easier to get on than the weissocks as you can get your hand in between the sock and the tyre to push it across. Literally took 30 seconds per wheel to put them on, once I'd done it twice and got to know the system.

Worked really well, allowed me to get up roads that were impassable for anything but 4wd vehicles - I got up Stocking Lane to the DSPCA using them. They were destroyed though when I drove them once on thin snow/tarmac above 30km/h. So very much to be used for getting you through/across a bad section of road, and then they need to be removed again.

I'm considering having winter tyres fitted this year though. Got "all season" tyres fitted in February from Atlas tyres and they're utter muck. Lose grip in heavy rain during the summer, so I don't fancy their chances on snow.

reiger

Tabnabs wrote: »

I'm curious, do you have any experience to back up these opinions or are you just assuming...?

Because my direct experience is very different. In fact, the complete opposite...

well in snowy conditions a narrower wheel will cope better,im involved in rallying serviced on the RAC last year in these conditiond and we encountere these such issues with wheel withs.
but then sure thats my experience or oppinion what ever you would want to call it

Tabnabs

reiger wrote: »

well in snowy conditions a narrower wheel will cope better,im involved in rallying serviced on the RAC last year in these conditiond and we encountere these such issues with wheel withs.
but then sure thats my experience or oppinion what ever you would want to call it

So the answer is no then, you've never driven with snow socks on wide tyres, but still claim they won't work

Tabnabs

seamus wrote: »

They were destroyed though when I drove them once on thin snow/tarmac above 30km/h. So very much to be used for getting you through/across a bad section of road, and then they need to be removed again.

If you wouldn't drive like that with chains, then snow socks really are no different, they will get destroyed if not used with care. The longest run I did was about 18k on suburban roads and they're still as good as new.

reiger

yes i did i had to pull a womans car out of the side of the road that got stuck on her we ended up getting grit because the thing was sitting on the spot, even when we got her back on the road where there was mainly packed snow she had a job to get going,
now you seem to have singled out my oppion i know i cannot go much further with you as you are a mod and ill get a holiday

Tabnabs

reiger wrote: »

yes i did i had to pull a womans car out of the side of the road that got stuck on her we ended up getting grit because the thing was sitting on the spot, even when we got her back on the road where there was mainly packed snow she had a job to get going,
now you seem to have singled out my oppion i know i cannot go much further with you as you are a mod and ill get a holiday

I'm not a motoring mod so feel free to disagree all you like

But my point is, you said snow socks are no good with wide tyres. Yes?

I have wide tyres on my car and have snow socks. My point is in my direct experience, the width of the tyre has no real bearing on how effective the socks are.

You are involved in rallying (which don't use the socks) and helped a women out of (I assume) deep snow. But you personally have never driven with socks and wide tyres have you? But yet still say they won't work...

MrDerp

I didn't have too many problems because work allows me to telecommute in bad weather so I worked from home for half of December.

Herself tore off every day, even driving home in a blizzard one of the days, delighted at how few other cars were on the road

My biggest fear is getting stuck behind buses, wheel-spinning BMWs and gowls (one zoomed out of an estate in front of me when I'd taken a run at a hill, and promptly got stuck just before the crest). I'd be more afraid of jams than of my car not making it any of my route to be honest.

I think rather than winter socks I'll be investing in these:
http://www.snowandicegrips.co.uk/yaktrax-walker-snow--ice-grips-7-p.asp

as I spent far more time taking hoppers walking the dog, and trying to help people out of their estates/drives etc, than I did getting my car out of trouble.

Victor Meldrew

Tabnabs wrote: »

But my point is, you said snow socks are no good with wide tyres. Yes?

I have wide tyres on my car and have snow socks. My point is in my direct experience, the width of the tyre has no real bearing on how effective the socks are.

You are involved in rallying (which don't use the socks) and helped a women out of (I assume) deep snow. But you personally have never driven with socks and wide tyres have you? But yet still say they won't work...

Work fine on 205 section tyres. that would have been wide 10 years ago. now it is normal

However, Socks have limits, which we nearly reached with the wife's car last winter. namely, 6 inches of loose snow. you will still have the same ground clearance and power issues inherent in your car. but, in both cases when my wife and I had problems, we were being idiots...

pole drift

I think that they are grand, got a pair off snowsock.ie If you go over 50kmh they will fall off and if you use them on gravel they will fray. Just look after them as they are reusable.

650Ginge

Tabnabs wrote: »

reiger wrote: »

when driving on snow and ice the narrower the tyre you have the better,then you see people putting socks over wide tyres and well they just dont work well too much of a contact patch looking to get grip.

if your doing any ammount of driving in the snow get winter tyres these socks in my oppinion a not much good,maybe they might be ok for going to the shop.or small runs

I'm curious, do you have any experience to back up these opinions or are you just assuming...?

Because my direct experience is very different. In fact, the complete opposite...

Isn't that the problem with boards, any big mouth can come along and sound knowledgeable, even if they know nothing about what they talk about.

My experience with snow socks is positive on the rear wheels of an e class estate. They come with rules and limitations, abide by them and you won't get stuck and they will last you a long time, for a lots less than winter Tyres. Winters are likely the best option but they cost a lot more.

bensers

Agreed you are better off with snow tyres if your doing alot of driving round the country. In contrast I disagree re snowsocks, had a set of snowsocks from MotorSock.ie and they were the business last year. Can't use them from Dublin to Kerry like but all round Dublin last year and round Kerry when I was home for Xmas were perfect. If you can't get em there try Micks Garage but they were more expensive as had to get set for bird last year and MotorSock.ie were sold out

bensers

Whoever said like having tits on a bull clearly hasn't a clue. I got them for my car and for the birds car and we both got on great with them. Snow tyres are a bit much for the few weeks of snow, snowsocks are the short term solution to a short term problem. Got mine from MotoSock.ie bit cheaper than the rest of them, got the birds from Micks garage and would recconend MotorSock.ie , easier to fit and better on around the estate.

Alfie1

I'm thinking of getting some snow socks this year & trying to decide which to go for.

I'm leaning toward the Autosocks ( a bit more expensive though as I'll have to get them shipped from the UK ) as they will fit my current size wheels ( 215/45 R17 ) & also a few other common size wheels (including 225/45 R17 & 225/40 R18 ) so I'd possibly be able to use them on the next car.



Autosocks

WeissSock

Bottari GripSock

Motorsock


Any opinions on which are the best or is there really much of a difference between the different brands ?


Hoping to never have to fit them anyway but handy to have a pair for an emergency




.

Anan1

bensers wrote: »

Snow tyres are a bit much for the few weeks of snow, snowsocks are the short term solution to a short term problem.

For the umpteenth time, winter tyres work better whenever it's below 7 degrees C outside. And that's a lot of the time here.

jkeane234

I reckon the motorsock are the ones to go for, still have mine from last year & they are in pretty good nick, they worked perfectly & you can adjust them so you can use them on any other cars in the house or if you change car. They're easy to fit & make a huge difference, you can drive in pretty deep snow or even up icy slopes with them.
I reckon winter tyres are a bit overkill for the short time we get snow for, paying for four new tyres, balancing them, tracking them & then taking them off & storing them again a few weeks later makes sense in the alps, bit much for Ireland. Plus winter tyres burn more fuel & are no better than ordinary tyres on ice.

tossy

bensers wrote: »

Snow tyres are a bit much for the few weeks of snow, snowsocks are the short term solution to a short term problem

No,snow socks are an Irish solution to a very non Irish problem. i.e its snowing out ill get my snow socks out to get out of my estate..oh 'im out of my estate now i'll get back out and take them off,oh now i'm about to turn into my place of work better get back out again..... mean while winter tyre man has been sitting in his lovely warm car since November and all the while his summer tyres are in his not so warm shed at home NOT being used and thus actually negating the cost of the winter tyres and making it an all round cost neutral exercise.They have been doing it in mainland Europe for years so we all know its a winner,just in case here are some other things they have been doing in mainland Europe for years also just to show how clued in and cool these boyos are.

Autobahns
Beer fests
Porn on main stream TV
BMWs
Rally driving
Amsterdam
Good Football
Meatballs
Lidl and Aldi
Ikea

you get the drift. :D

jkeane234 wrote: »

Plus winter tyres burn more fuel & are no better than ordinary tyres on ice.

In my experience both these facts are completely untrue.

barney85

Clearly you have never used snow socks. Had mine on the car last year and left them on driving around Dublin as the place was a disaster and they are perfect still. As above they are a solution to a short term problem in Ireland. You can spend €300 on winter tyres which will also wear and tear and in Europe they use Snow Socks and Snow Chains on their winter tyres in severe conditions. Alternatively you can get a set for €50 and save yourself the hassle of trying to change your winter tyres and store them. Got mine from Motorsock www.motorsock.ie . Couple other companies doing them but they had the best price.

tossy

barney85 wrote: »

Clearly you have never used snow socks.

Nope i haven''t but i did my research last year when i decided i needed something for winter motoring and everything i read pointed to winter tyres being the way forward for me.You couldn't drive around Dublin/cork in your snow socks and then travel at 75 mph along the M7 without taking them off,only to have to stop outside what ever town/townland you were arriving at to refit them,not being a smart ass but the term pain in the hole comes to mind.

Gazmantoo

barney85 wrote: »

Clearly you have never used snow socks. Had mine on the car last year and left them on driving around Dublin as the place was a disaster and they are perfect still. As above they are a solution to a short term problem in Ireland. You can spend €300 on winter tyres which will also wear and tear and in Europe they use Snow Socks and Snow Chains on their winter tyres in severe conditions. Alternatively you can get a set for €50 and save yourself the hassle of trying to change your winter tyres and store them. Got mine from Motorsock www.motorsock.ie . Couple other companies doing them but they had the best price.

Yeah I remember last winter in Dublin too, there was a few inches of snow around and suddenly the cry was "it's an emergency!!! call out the army!!!"...:D...disaster my arse!, or rather disaster only because of the inhabitant muppets not the weather!...

jkeane234

Everyone has their own ideas but I reckon snow socks are the way to go.
Mainly because they cost about 80% less than winter tyres, tracking, balancing etc.
They solve the problem unlike winter tyres, which are alright on fresh snow but crap on ice & compacted snow because there is nothing for the tyre threads to bite into. You dont have to go to a garage & wait around for fitting & taking them off again.
Snow socks give way, way better traction on ice & snow than winter tyres, which is why the Gardai, ambulances & the A.A. used them last year. Plus you dont have to store or pay for storing 4 tyres throughout the winter. On tarmac the deeper thread on winter tyres also gives a rougher ride, causes poorer cornering & burns more fuel than ordinary tyres.
Another advantage is that the snow socks from www.motorsock.ie are adjustable so you can swap them from car to car.

tossy

jkeane234 wrote: »

They solve the problem unlike winter tyres, which are alright on fresh snow but crap on ice & compacted snow because there is nothing for the tyre threads to bite into.

I'm sorry but that is utter horse ****,how much experience do you have of driving on winter tyres?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlYEMH10Z4s

tipptom

tossy wrote: »

I'm sorry but that is utter horse ****,how much experience do you have of driving on winter tyres?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlYEMH10Z4s

I got the weisstock socks from Micks garage and tried them this morning for the snow,easy to get on,worked very well gripping the snow in e200 estate which was absolutly horrific last year in the snow,but what a pure ba*tard to get of.I think a lot of women would shred them because they would be just to hard to get of when they hit the clear road,maybe iI am just unlucky with my fit.

Type 17

Socks are fine on wide tyres - I used them last winter on 225s, and they were great, but not having them on the rears meant that it was possible to get heavy oversteer on a FWD car at 10 mph!

They’re a pain to get on and off - the optional 17” wheels fill the arches very well, which meant that I ended up leaving them on for a week, and driving on the whitest parts of the road, but eventually one of them failed, and I had to take them off, and I could only get them off by jacking up the car, and it slipped off the jack (icy surface of course!), making a nasty dent in the sill :mad:

With that experience in mind, I bought steel rims and second-hand winter tyres last July, and even though it hasn’t snowed in Dublin city (yet), they’ve been on the car over a week now, and are already noticeably better than all-season tyres in cold and especially cold and wet conditions.

If I had a car with tyres that didn’t fill the arches too well, and lived in an area which was guaranteed long periods of thick snow (Austria!), I’d consider them...