CA chain control

[char]

I have awd and snow rated tires on my car. I understand that I am still required to carry chains. What are the odds they will check on 97 and or between Sacramento and Tahoe? I am from Oregon.

I should probably go the schwabs route, but it seems beyond stupid to put chains on a car that doesn't accept them even under r3 conditions.

[truckeelocal]

In my experience ... zero chance. If there is chain control CHP will be dealing with a cl^sterf^ck of epic proportions and you'll be the least of their worries. They may leverage your lack of posession of chains if you are involved in an incident, but then that will be the least of your worries. I don't know of any locals who carry chains for their AWD/4WD.

Don't go out in R3 conditions. More likely than not the road will be closed and R3 is only a conceptual situation. Think of some flatlander trying to go gambling in Reno trying to push through on an undrivable road. Then multiply that by a factor of multiple thousand. Add in a load of semis attempting interstate commerce. I don't blame Caltrans for shutting everything down.

[Hugh Conway]

There are vague internet rumors that they occasionally stop 4WD/AWD vehicles and ask for chains if they are feeling like cunts. Hopefully with a budget surplus this revenue generation scheme is on the outs if it ever really happened. As a practical matter 90% of the time they don't even look at the tires on 4WD/AWD vehicles so Bay Area dipshits drive around in their XC90 with bald tires - which is part of the reason why you practically never see R3 conditions on any major road.

[truckeelocal]

Bay Area dipshits drive around in their XC90 with bald tires.

Hey, I was driving around with bald Blizzarks wondering why the car was handling like crap. Dipshits live all over. But it does lead to another issue. Folks up here have experience and equipment designed for the snow and Bay Area (and other) dipshits think they have equivalent experience and equipment and drive crazy silly to be like the locals. Dumb.

[Hugh Conway]

Folks up here have experience and equipment designed for the snow and Bay Area (and other) dipshits think they have equivalent experience and equipment and drive crazy silly to be like the locals. Dumb.

oh, yes, all of the fauxcals who moved to Tahoe in November and are rallying their Taco's.

[Hott Butt Mud]

Hugh's got nothing on the gnar of I-70 in CO!!

[truckeelocal]

Hugh's got nothing on the gnar of I-70 in CO!!

Not wishing to get into a p!ss!ng match but at least almost everyone is going to the same destination on I-70. On I-80 you've got the mix of skiers and gamblers and commerce with a nice high pass (7,227') to get Darwin engaged.

[Hott Butt Mud]

I'm fucking with you. I bet I-80 in CA is way more of a shitshow because it actually snows in CA.

[truckeelocal]

I'm fucking with you. I bet I-80 in CA is way more of a shitshow because it actually snows in CA.

Again not wishing to p!ss you off but it also snows in Reno ... talking of shitshow driving. Oh and a foot of blower powder the night before last on the mountain.

[MTT]

I'm fucking with you. I bet I-80 in CA is way more of a shitshow because it actually snows in CA.

I have been on both. I-70 is the creepier Snow Storm Drive. At least it used to be.

Altho that section of 80 East from Colfax with the freezing rain can get pretty ugly.

Around Tahoe I have never been ask to produce chains (In a 4WD)
They are starting to bother me with the Are you in 4WD question. Like Really? DUH

[truckeelocal]

I have been on both. I-70 is the creepier Snow Storm Drive. At least it used to be.

Creepy round here are the flats on 267 in Martis Valley. No reference points and the wind blows.

They are starting to bother me with the Are you in 4WD question. Like Really? DUH

Yeh, I've noticed that too. Wierd. It's a K2500, it's chain control, damn straight I'm in 4WD with all these other crazies on the road.

[hutash]

There are vague internet rumors that they occasionally stop 4WD/AWD vehicles and ask for chains if they are feeling like cunts.

I may just be an internet rumor, but I have been stopped on 395 and had to show the CHP that I was carrying chain...bastard. I was driving an Audi AWD with four "real" snow tires.

[truckeelocal]

I may just be an internet rumor, but I have been stopped on 395 and had to show the CHP that I was carrying chain...bastard. I was driving an Audi AWD with four "real" snow tires.

R2 is where you have to carry chains accordng to CalTrans ... http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/roadinfo/chcontrl.htm
"Requirement One (R1): Chains, traction devices or snow tires are required on the drive axle of all vehicles except four wheel/ all wheel drive vehicles.Requirement Two (R2): Chains or traction devices are required on all vehicles except four wheel/ all wheel drive vehicles with snow-tread tires on all four wheels.
(NOTE: Four wheel/all wheel drive vehicles must carry traction devices in chain control areas.)
Requirement Three (R3): Chains or traction devices are required on all vehicles, no exceptions"

[Hugh Conway]

R2 is where you have to carry chains accordng to CalTrans ... http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/roadinfo/chcontrl.htm
"Requirement One (R1): Chains, traction devices or snow tires are required on the drive axle of all vehicles except four wheel/ all wheel drive vehicles.Requirement Two (R2): Chains or traction devices are required on all vehicles except four wheel/ all wheel drive vehicles with snow-tread tires on all four wheels.
(NOTE: Four wheel/all wheel drive vehicles must carry traction devices in chain control areas.)
Requirement Three (R3): Chains or traction devices are required on all vehicles, no exceptions"

No, all the time in snow country in season is when you are supposed to carry chains.

[truckeelocal]

No, all the time in snow country in season is when you are supposed to carry chains.

Well the source I cite certainly can be used to justify an attempt to fight a ticket.

And a story ... many years ago when Truckee became an incorporated town it needed to create a new police force. This new, naive, innocent, police force attempted to be very proactive. One issue was with weekend traffic and parking in downtown Truckee. So off went our boys in blue one Sunday and wrote a sh!t load of parking tickets. Turns out they hit mostly locals who were in church. The sh!t hit the fan. Point being that locals may get a by on some of this stuff.

[k2skier112]

We were stopped on Hwy 50 in about 2002 on our way to South Lake Tahoe, the only vehicles getting through without chaining up were AWD/4WD with studs all the way around. Musta been an R3 day. But there were at least 3 cars off the road and 1 in the river.

[hutash]

R2 is where you have to carry chains accordng to CalTrans ... http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/roadinfo/chcontrl.htm
"Requirement One (R1): Chains, traction devices or snow tires are required on the drive axle of all vehicles except four wheel/ all wheel drive vehicles.Requirement Two (R2): Chains or traction devices are required on all vehicles except four wheel/ all wheel drive vehicles with snow-tread tires on all four wheels.
(NOTE: Four wheel/all wheel drive vehicles must carry traction devices in chain control areas.)
Requirement Three (R3): Chains or traction devices are required on all vehicles, no exceptions"

The "note" applies to both R1 and R2 conditions, so yes legally you have carry chains anytime the chain control signs are up. I don't have the vehicle code citation, but you can check the FAQ section of Caltrans, there is no gray area.

[plugboots]

This:

which is part of the reason why you practically never see R3 conditions on any major road.

In my dozen years of driving back and forth to Tahoe from the Bay area, I was never asked once for chains on my Audis w/ all-seasons, and I HAD chains. I think it was R3 once in all those years also, (when it should have been many times).

[Steven S. Dallas]

I have been asked, while driving my AWD vehicle, to produce (not put on) chains on 395, in between Bishop and Mammoth Lakes. I have never been asked to produce them at any other California chain control area, even in the crappiest conditions imaginable. I think they just close the roads when things approach R3-levels of gnar.

[hutash]

I can only speak from experience on the east side, but Caltrans/CHP will rarely invoke R3, they just close the highway instead. I have never seen an R3, but I have seen them close 395 a few times. They might put an R3 restriction on some of the side roads that don't get plowed as quickly, say like Benton Crossing, but I have never seen it, and I suspect they just close the road there as well.

[hutash]

I have been asked, while driving my AWD vehicle, to produce (not put on) chains on 395, in between Bishop and Mammoth Lakes. I have never been asked to produce them at any other California chain control area, even in the crappiest conditions imaginable. I think they just close the roads when things approach R3-levels of gnar.

Didn't you get a nod, nod, wink, wink, from CHP to drive 14 when the road was technically closed? That would never happen between Bishop and Mammoth, though I know a few mags that managed to sneak through and drive the closed road.

[snapt]

Was asked to produce chains once during the monster season of 10/11 on 88 before the spur but never had to put them on. Also saw chp give out a few tix to folks who snuck through without 4wd/awd or chains on that year. Haven't seen that since. I carry an old pair that don't even fit my car in case I'm ever asked to produce, although they'll close the roads before requiring 4wd/awd to chain up. You're fine with decent tires.

[plugboots]

My friend told me who lives in Homewood, that they close the road, and if it stays closed for a long period of time, (whatever that means), they then put out the R3 for people that need to get to their houses. I can understand that.

[Viva]

. What are the odds they will check on 97 and or between Sacramento and Tahoe?

Hwy 97? Maybe yer talking 'bout Hwy 89, which goes from abouts Shasta right into Truckeeeeee. CHP won't check on that road, at least they didn't when I used to make that trip, regardless of how sketch it might be.

I've also been stopped on the 395 going up Sherwin Grade. I was allowed to proceed without installing chains because I had 4X4 Ranger and M&S-rated tires.

[BigHerm]

He's talking about 97 south from the Oregon border through far northern CA. Never done that drive in the winter, but I can imagine it would be brutal in a storm. You should ask in the Tahoe discussion thread or in a Shasta/Lassen thread.

On the chain point: I love my Les Schwab chains. They fit well on low-pro tires and have got me through some thick shit. Easy to put on (no driving over).

My advice: buy some LS chains, learn how to use them, and never give it another thought. You'll have them for any checkpoints and if you do need them, you'll be the badass with 4 wheel chains rallying through the gnar.