Choose your vehicle to see what Snow Chain options you have:
This is The Roof Box Company's website, the UK's leading mail order supplier of car snow chains/snowchains from RUD, Spikes-Spider, KWB, Maggi TRAK, Farad and AutoSock for sale or rental.
An Introduction to Snow Chains
All the snow chains/snowchains are are sold in pairs, and need to
be fitted to the driving wheels. Some people also fit them to the non
driving wheels, which certainly improves all round stability, but is definitely
not necessary. 4 x 4 drivers should fit snowchains to the front wheels unless
we tell you which wheels to use – please check the snow
chains database for fitting notes.
As a rule of thumb, traction control and anti-skid systems
should be turned off when using tyre traction devices, except for AutoSock and Spikes-Spider systems. If you can’t easily turn off these
systems, then it’s probably OK. Check your handbook!
We show all the available options, together with prices
and special offers, on our snow
chains database. This contains well over 100,000 links, and we work
very hard to keep it as up to date as we can. Please though (1) check
your handbook and (2) fit the snowchains we supply ASAP after receiving them, just
to check that they fit, and also to learn how to fit them.
We’ll exchange unused snowchains if they are still in our current range at the time the exchange is arranged. Click here for details.
These are super-strong textile socks, designed and developed in Norway over
many years, which use friction to provide extraordinary levels of grip on ice
and snow. They’re reusable, take up minimal storage space, and you
just slip them over the driving wheels. Strange but true, and ideal for
UK use where snow tends to fall unpredictably and few cars have winter tyres.
Please note that they’re not approved for use in the
Alps where snow chains/ snowchains are required, whatever you might read elsewhere.
These snow chain regulations require the use of “metal” components,
and even though AutoSock makes use of Kevlar (stronger than steel) they won't
be permitted until the regulations are changed. There’s sense in
having a set of AutoSock whether or not you also have a set of metal component
snowchains, because they are so convenient and
easy to use, and so effective.
RUD and KWB: These are much quicker to fit than you might think, but some are easier to fit than others! All snowchains sold in the UK, except for the RUD automatic
snowchains, are fitted by pushing a cable behind the wheel, lifting the two ends
up the face of the wheel until they're well over the widest point, then joining
them together and pushing them over the top of the tyre. This is easy
enough if there's plenty of space between the wheel and the wheel arch, but
unless you’re a contortionist you’ll almost certainly need to
kneel on the ground (which means snow, slush, dirt) to push the cable behind
the wheel at ground level. Self tensioning snowchains spare you the effort
of getting out of the car after a few hundred metres to retighten the snowchain,
but they don’t spare your trousers! So check out RUD’s automatic
snowchains if you’re fussed about this. Some models are also better
at protecting alloy wheels than others.We stock snowchains from KWB,
part of Austria’s Pewag group, and from RUD
of Germany, with prices starting at £39.95.
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Snow Chains: an overview
Spikes-Spider
These are certainly both the fastest and the easiest fitting of all snowchains
available, excluding the time taken to fit the special hub mounting plates.
(Some people leave these plates in place all year, others fit them at the
first sign of snow.) Spikes-Spiders place chain and/or ice spikes around
the face of the tyre. They don’t in fact grip the tyre all round, but
only the part that’s in contact, or just about to be in contact, with
the road; they’re otherwise free to move within the circular mounting
plate, and as such will absorb the frequent changes in tyre shape. The
chains also lift off the top of the wheel as they come around, and so help
to shake out compacting snow. They’re technically very advanced,
Swiss made, and provide full protection for alloy wheels. They're not
cheap to buy, but over a period of years the SPORT and CARRIER models in particular
should prove to be the best value of all snowchains. They're easily resized, i.e. you can buy new parts to make them fit just about any
size of tyre available. All Spikes-Spiders can be used with traction
control and anti-skid systems.
RUD
ProtectAR £14.95
Worried
about your alloy wheels being scratched by snowchains? The RUD ProtectAR is
a cheap solution, consisting of plastic guards which will hold the steel away
from your alloys. There are 16 guards per set, i.e. 8 per wheel. They're suitable
for use on any brand of snowchain, not just RUD snowchains.
From Top left, clockwise :
Maggi TRAK, Spikes-Spider
Compact, AutoSock, ideal for UK use;
RUD 'conventional snow chains/ snowchains';RUD easy2go
The Starting Point
The starting point is to tell you that "conventional snowchains" (RUD, KWB), which wrap chain around the whole tyre, are not suitable for increasing numbers of vehicles, usually because they'd be too close to struts or brake pipes, or because there’s electronic sensing equipment which can't cope with finding metal where there's normally only rubber. You must therefore visit our snow chains/ snowchains database if you want to buy conventional snowchains from us, and choose first your car, then your tyre size, and in many cases also your engine size. Some manufacturers don’t take this prudent view, so you’ll almost certainly be able to buy a set of chains “off the shelf” which will fit around your wheels. Our advice is to check your car handbook very carefully, because if there is a “No fit” for conventional snowchains there could be real danger and expense in fitting the chains and driving the car.
All the "other snowchain systems" we sell, (AutoSock, Farad SNOW, Maggi TRAK and Spikes-Spider) can be used on every vehicle, subject to finding a set of the appropriate size, even if the use of conventional snow chains is forbidden.
To see a spreadsheet of which of these systems fit each tyre size, i.e. to get an appreciation of relative transferability and all round value, please click here. There are no links to the Farad, Spikes-Spider and TRAK systems because these also require you to have wheel nut adapters of the correct size for your car; you'll find all the information you need on the snow chains/ snowchains database.
Please be sure to take your tyre size from the tyre itself, not from the handbook. You are usually looking for three numbers, e.g. 195/65-R15, written on the wall of the tyre. See Frequently Asked Questions for information on what these numbers mean.
Click here to find the snow chains that fit your car.
Maggi TRAK snow chains/snowchains Maggi TRAK: These also place a ladder of chain and ice spikes around the face of the tyre,
and are fitted from a crouching position. They’re fastened to
one of the wheel bolts – no special adapter is necessary - and wind
themselves onto the wheel when it starts to move.
Farad: These have plastic traction arms and ice spikes and work very well in most
snow conditions. One size can quickly be rejigged to fit other tyre
sizes. They’re generally a slightly cheaper winter traction system
than TRAK or Spikes-Spider for those who can’t use conventional snowchains.
RUD's Quick Step shoe chain is the simplest and cheapest, but it still
makes a massive difference between slipping and walking! All you need to do is to pull the superlastic loops over your shoe (small loop over the toe, large loop over the heel) and off you go! The RUD 'Bergsteiger' is altogether a much more serious shoe chain,available in four sizes. It is standard issue to most European post offices, including our own Royal Mail! Made of alloy steel, easy to put on, take off, and store and (amazingly!) self-cleaning, i.e. no snow and ice residue is left between the chain and the sole of the shoe.
Pack one of these collapsible Ortovox snow shovels into one of the rear pockets of your car, and you'll need never to be caught out again by the sudden arrival of winter, whether you are off for a winter holiday or just commuting on the M62!
Snow chains/snowchains are compulsary on most Alpine roads, even for 4x4 vehicles. Increasing numbers of people also carry
a set for UK use, for snow or for grass, e.g. to give essential grip in green
field car parks during the British summer.
We are snow chain specialists, and distribute many of
Europe’s best known brands, covering the whole range of snow chain sectors
and aiming to have a snowchain for every available wheel size.
Skiweb is an easy to use ski and pole carrier with no buckles or adjustments, with the unique additional feature of folding back into itself to the size of a Mobile Phone to carry in the pocket while skiing. Wrap around the skis and poles and carry vertically over the shoulder making them feel lighter, your hands are free and it’s safer... no protruding skis behind you!
Designed to help children carry their own equipment.
Suitable for skis up to 140 length, approx. age 10. The same award winning design as the shoulder carrier, but slightly smaller. Ideal for families, enabling parents to carry multiple sets of skis and poles. 2 Designs: Lion and Snowflake.
The Boardweb brings the simplistic and easy-to-use design of the Skiweb to snowboards. Wrap around the snowboard and strap across the back or over the shoulder to hike to the perfect powder. Totally safe to carry while on the slopes. No buckles or adjustments.
Click on the magnifying glass logo, wherever you see it,
to find out which products have been specifically approved for use on your
vehicle.
RUD conventional snowchains are official Land Rover accessories
Snow Chains
Exchange Scheme
We’ll exchange unused snow chains if they are still in our current range at the time the exchange is arranged, and you purchased them from us; please phone (015396 21884) or e-mail with the subject “Snow chains exchange” so we know to expect them. (There’s no problem if you want to exchange for more expensive snow chains – you will in effect just be paying the price difference - but we don’t give refunds if you trade down market.)
You need to send the snowchains back to us with a covering
note - not forgetting your name and address! “Unused” means
just that. We can tell the difference at a glance between a set of snowchains
that have been fitted once for testing purposes and a set which has been used
for real. There's always a minimum £15 carriage / handling charge
for exchange snow chains. (We'll need to charge more if you don't live on the
UK mainland.)
