Has anyone found out if the slim fit snow chains fit on the original 205/50/17 tyres without damaging the strut/brake pipes/ bodywork.

I am going to the alps very soon for a few weeks so will definately need them to fit, not just to show the cops.

I have found some which only protrude by 8mm but would like confirmation that these will work.

Cheers,

P

IIRC Skoda advise snow chains to only be used with 16" wheels.

Thanks, but I'm sure there must be a way around it as when I lived in Chamonix I saw plenty of Audis with 17in + wheels and snow chains (their owner manuals tell them they can't fit them either!)

The skoda manual recommends chains less than 15mm wide on 205/55/16 squeezed on to a 5.5in wheel. The tyre having the same width and rolling diameter as 205/50/17, one can but assume that the alledged body/strut/pipe clearance problem lies at the chain/wheel interface. With very rough maths assuming the wheels have the same et then there shouldn't be much in it with 8mm chains especially as vw/skoda will have included a safety factor. I'll have to dry test some as I can't afford 2 new wheels/snow tyres and chains on top of the cost of the holiday and xmas etc.

Cheers,

P

I'll let you know if they work.

You could try Roofbox Company

On their homepage, if you scroll down a bit they do standard chains, plus a "spider" one for "no-fit" applications.

Not sure on the cost though !

If you buy from them, ask if you get the AutoExpress subscriber disscount - might get you 5% off.

I bought some of these: www.autosock.com

Not tried them yet, but they're TUV and VW/Audi approved and best of all, they're super dooper slim, so no problems with bigger wheels.

Check em out!

Thanks guys,

I've ended up going for the Spikes Spiders which fit from the outside of the wheel as I don't believe the French Gendarmes accept the tyre socks. Luckily there was a sale on but they still cost me

The Spikes spiders are brilliant! They really only take 45 sec per wheel which is handy when you get short sections of uncleared road. I stayed up a steep windy uncleared road whilst the rest of the valley was cleared daily.

It takes about half an hour to set up the discs on your wheels and test the chains out before you go on your trip. They fit perfectly to the Octavia vRS.

I thought these were way to expensive to start with but after putting them on and off a dozen times whilst driving between Chamonix, La Grave, Verbier and Zermatt I have to say they were probably my best investment of 2004.

Cheers,

P