Snow Chains for MkV

[Sammy125TDi]

Hi Guys,

I did a search and found a thread regarding the GTi, but no real answers..

I regularly drive to the NSW snow fields in winter and i will be taking my new Jetta down. I've read the manual and it doesn't mention that my 225/45-17 tyres are suitable for use with chains.

I was curious to know wether anyone else has taken their MkV to the snow and used chains?

Cheers
Sam

[John Deere]

I drive to the snow alot (about 8 times a season.....sometimes Syd>Hotham) and I have had a set of Rud Centrax since 2007 on a GTI. They are expensive but awesome!

They work exactly as shown here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gf454wVxrg

I have nearly always left the chain bay before anyone else that pulls up at the same time! They are dead easy and grip well.

I didn't by them for any of those reasons, I got them because I was told they are the only option for a GTI as there is no clearance behind the tyre for normal chains.

I have driven over 25km with them on up to Hotham in a snow storm and they were safe as. The Hoys chain guy offered help getting them on, by the time he was done offering I was almost done putting them on!

I got them from www.paulski.com.au

They are not on the website but if you send him an email he can arrange the order and delivery....he might give you a good deal if you mention I sent you, he looks after me for all my gear!

I can dig up some pics of my GTI if your interested.

[xplainwhy]

Hi John,

Thanks for the advice! I haven't been able to find any answers for this so I'm glad you've found something that fits on the GTI.

If you have some pictures handy, it would help a lot.

Also, not wanting you to give up any deals you may have gotten, but what kind of price range are we talking about for a set of these? Any delivery charges (i noticed the shop below is in Victoria. I'm in Sydney).

Thanks again for your help, much appreciated!

[xplainwhy]

For those wondering, here is the URL to find out if the chains from RUD will fit on your Golf (or any other car, for that matter).

http://schneekettenberater.rud.com/default.aspx

Sadly, mine don't =(

[John Deere]

Sorry, haven't logged on in a while!

I think they were around $700ish (by memory...do get a propper price)....exxy, but I go to the snow ALOT!! One season I put 18,000k's on a car travelling to the snow and back!

Pauls Ski Shop got them freighted directly to me from the RUD guy, so, in effect, there was no "additional" freight cost. These chains are quite specialised, so shops dont keep them in stock.

Pics:



Thats all I have on this PC....will try and dig up more.

[xplainwhy]

Hi John, nice pic

What rims do you have on your GTI?

According to the site above, the RUD-CENTRAX doesn't fit on a GTI on 225/45 R17, but your rims look much the same as mine, but maybe that's because the layer of snow around it makes it look bigger than it actually is

[Sammy125TDi]

i've found out that the Konig K7 size 095 fit the Golf GTI and Jetta running 225/45x17.. apparantly they are a special low clearance 7mm chain.

[John Deere]

They are stock GTI rims, 225/45/17....the RUD site is lying, they fit...I have fitted them many times.

Paul also does Konig, so ask him about those too.


.....but be careful, because it is not the clearance to the body of the car, it is the clearance to suspension components. The centrax has nothing at the back of the rim, thats why I was told they would fit.

[John Deere]

A few more pics:









None of these are with the chains fully on though, once you drive away they self tension.

[Sammy125TDi]

Hi Guys,

i just received my Konig K7 super slip chains for my jetta...

After much ****ing around with the local suppliers not being interested in bringing any in, i went to ebay uk, who refused to ship out of the UK, then ebay Italy... $116 euros and $50 euros for shipping they arrived yesterday which is about $245 aussie... so much cheaper than out here....

[xplainwhy]

Hi All, just a quick update from me.

I found a place in Sydney that sold the RUD Centrax and they were very helpful.

They had some RUD Centrax on display and one of them was the right size for the GTI, so we tried them on and checked that the chain wouldn't rub against any components (wheel arch, suspension etc), including turning the wheel lock to lock.

They were a perfect fit and didn't look even close to coming in contact with anything, so I ended up getting them.

Kudos to the sales guy as there were heaps of customers waiting but he spent a great deal of time helping me try on the chains and made sure I knew how to use them properly, including adjusting the new chains I was going to buy and trying those on the car as well. Overall a very good customer experience!

A bit exxy but I'm very happy that I found chains that fit the GTI after initially thinking that I wouldn't be able to drive to the snow in it.

BTW, we tried normal chains on the GTI as well and even tho they fitted, there was only a mm or two gap between the chain on the inner side wall of the tyre and the suspension. A bit too close for my comfort!

Also, thanks to John for his advice, experience and photos.

Hope to see more GTIs on the way to/from the snow this year

[John Deere]

Hi Guys,

i just received my Konig K7 super slip chains for my jetta...

After much ****ing around with the local suppliers not being interested in bringing any in, i went to ebay uk, who refused to ship out of the UK, then ebay Italy... $116 euros and $50 euros for shipping they arrived yesterday which is about $245 aussie... so much cheaper than out here....

Any Pics of them?

[John Deere]

Hi All, just a quick update from me.

I found a place in Sydney that sold the RUD Centrax and they were very helpful.

They had some RUD Centrax on display and one of them was the right size for the GTI, so we tried them on and checked that the chain wouldn't rub against any components (wheel arch, suspension etc), including turning the wheel lock to lock.

They were a perfect fit and didn't look even close to coming in contact with anything, so I ended up getting them.

Kudos to the sales guy as there were heaps of customers waiting but he spent a great deal of time helping me try on the chains and made sure I knew how to use them properly, including adjusting the new chains I was going to buy and trying those on the car as well. Overall a very good customer experience!

A bit exxy but I'm very happy that I found chains that fit the GTI after initially thinking that I wouldn't be able to drive to the snow in it.

BTW, we tried normal chains on the GTI as well and even tho they fitted, there was only a mm or two gap between the chain on the inner side wall of the tyre and the suspension. A bit too close for my comfort!

Also, thanks to John for his advice, experience and photos.

Hope to see more GTIs on the way to/from the snow this year

Nice work. How much did they end up roughly (if u dont mind saying)?

2mm gap is nowhere near enough given that tyres flex, wise choice to go with centrax.

[xplainwhy]

Nice work. How much did they end up roughly (if u dont mind saying)?

2mm gap is nowhere near enough given that tyres flex, wise choice to go with centrax.

They cost ~$640, can't remember exactly how much.

Pauls Ski Shop had a similar offer and I would've got it from them if I knew for sure the chains fitted, but they were a bit too far away for me to visit unfortunately.

[Sammy125TDi]

Any Pics of them?

Pics are here....

They look awesome, super skinny fit. even with them fitted i can still fit my hand in between the strut and tyre which gives 15+mm of clearance. The chain is a twisted link type and should cause less vibration due to it sitting flatter.