Ok, so the North-East just got hit with somewhere between a dusting and a foot of snow. If you're like me, you're still in "let's go play outside" mode, and getting stuck with zero traction just isn't fun. Armed with a YouTube video, $12 in hobby chain from Lowes, a pair of needle-nose pliers and a spare set of wheels, I set out to make my SCX10 a snowbeast.
I bought 20 feet of the smallest chain I could find at Lowes. This chain is nice because you can open up one end of the link and the other end stays put.
It's important that the pliers have teeth that will grip the chain, otherwise it'll keep slipping out whenever you try to close the open links.
Take a wild guess as to how many links you'll need for the longest chains to lay where you want them to. Close to the edge is good, unless you've got *really* soft tires, where they might flip off.
We're purposely not measuring with a tape measure because we need to think in terms of links, not inches. If we have an even number of links on the main hoops, that means we can mount the cross-links every other link, which is good for this size chain.
Do it twice, and you've got two hoops, one for the inside, one for the outside. I've got 20 links on each side, which works out nicely.
Take another guess as to how many links it'll take to get from one side to the other. If you're in between two numbers, go for the larger number. Here, I'm between 5 and 6, so I'll go with 6.
With 20 links on the main hoops, and 6 links across, we need 10 cross-links made up. Here's everything all made up. I've left both ends of the cross-links open, which will make things easier later on.
Attach the cross-links to one of the hoops like so. When done, it should look like a child's drawing of the sun.
Attach the other hoop to the other end of one of the cross-links
Attach the link directly across from that one, I can already see that this chain is waaayyy too big.
With the chain too big, we'll start removing pieces to tighten it up. I've started by removing one of the cross-links altogether, so now we have 9 cross-links. Still too big, but not by much, and like I said, it's easier to tighten up than it is to add slack.
I ended up taking a link out of every few cross-links, and that put my where I needed to be. So if you were to go around the wheel, it'd go 5-5-6, 5-5-6, 5-5-6.
If the chain is too loose, it'll slip right off or get lopsided. If the chain is too tight, it'll pull itself into the tire, and then it won't do much of anything because the rubber is sticking out more than the chain. With the chain somewhere in the middle, it'll add an extra bit of traction, and grab onto the snow as it passes through.
I found this to be a fun little evening project, and for less than $20, you can equip a vehicle to handle some extra-slippery terrain.
I bought 20 feet of the smallest chain I could find at Lowes. This chain is nice because you can open up one end of the link and the other end stays put.
It's important that the pliers have teeth that will grip the chain, otherwise it'll keep slipping out whenever you try to close the open links.
Take a wild guess as to how many links you'll need for the longest chains to lay where you want them to. Close to the edge is good, unless you've got *really* soft tires, where they might flip off.
We're purposely not measuring with a tape measure because we need to think in terms of links, not inches. If we have an even number of links on the main hoops, that means we can mount the cross-links every other link, which is good for this size chain.
Do it twice, and you've got two hoops, one for the inside, one for the outside. I've got 20 links on each side, which works out nicely.
Take another guess as to how many links it'll take to get from one side to the other. If you're in between two numbers, go for the larger number. Here, I'm between 5 and 6, so I'll go with 6.
With 20 links on the main hoops, and 6 links across, we need 10 cross-links made up. Here's everything all made up. I've left both ends of the cross-links open, which will make things easier later on.
Attach the cross-links to one of the hoops like so. When done, it should look like a child's drawing of the sun.
Attach the other hoop to the other end of one of the cross-links
Attach the link directly across from that one, I can already see that this chain is waaayyy too big.
With the chain too big, we'll start removing pieces to tighten it up. I've started by removing one of the cross-links altogether, so now we have 9 cross-links. Still too big, but not by much, and like I said, it's easier to tighten up than it is to add slack.
I ended up taking a link out of every few cross-links, and that put my where I needed to be. So if you were to go around the wheel, it'd go 5-5-6, 5-5-6, 5-5-6.
If the chain is too loose, it'll slip right off or get lopsided. If the chain is too tight, it'll pull itself into the tire, and then it won't do much of anything because the rubber is sticking out more than the chain. With the chain somewhere in the middle, it'll add an extra bit of traction, and grab onto the snow as it passes through.
I found this to be a fun little evening project, and for less than $20, you can equip a vehicle to handle some extra-slippery terrain.
