Konig Tire Chains - Diamond Pattern - Square Link - Self Tensioning - 1 Pair

Product arrived on schedule as other items I have purchased in the past.Mounted the chains on my 2015 Toyota sienna which has 19inch rims and they fit perfectly. They were very easy to mount and I would highly recommend them if you need some extreme traction.I purchased them to climb a very steep driveway with ice on it at a ski chalet in vermount.
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Thanks to sweet Cathy, who is the delightful and very knowledgeable lady who helped direct me to the Konig self-tensioning chains, I now have VERY EASY TO INSTALL and remove chains! By far the easiest I have ever used and I have used many over the last 50 years.

Once I have used them in snow and ice I will write about how they performed. Let it snow, let it snow....

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by: David 01/03/2023

These Konig chains are incredible. I used them recently in Vermont during a 25" snow storm. I parked under an overhead at a Home Depot and put them on the SUV. It took about 10-15 minutes just because I'm super-slow when doing these things. However, once on, I easily got up the hill. I had so much confidence, I stopping several times to help push other people and their cars which were stuck. I took them off the next day since they were no longer necessary. As with most all, not advisable to go over 30 MPH. I wish someone can make chains that can adapt to higher-speeds since highway driving during a blizzard is always possible. But I understand why it's difficult to do so.1492536

by: Alfredo 12/20/2022

only got to use them twice. But in their few hours of service they performed wonderfully. Attached well onto my wheels and made me feel comfortable while driving. Bit of a pain to install being actually metal chains as opposed to tire socks, but they weren't too bad once you got the hang of where to connect them all.1487699

Well, I would say a little harder to put on correctly than advertised, but I called customer support and they helped me. Also watching all of the videos helped because each one was worded a little differently. Definitely would suggest one or two dry runs before you are in the elements. Important to realize to slide the plastic coated cable to the backside of the tire and center the chains after connecting the plastic coated cable and the small red hook. Once I figured this out I was able to almost perfectly center the chains (at least on one tire). On the other tire I couldn't get it perfectly centered (see photos). After about an 1/8 of a mile of very low speed driving it still didn't center but maybe with more driving at higher speeds it would. Also important to remember to have the yellow end of the chain on your right hand side beofore sliding behind the tire and making the first connection. One question I still have is how tight to pull the tension cable after you put it through the stop device. Every video seems a little bit different as to how tight you pull the cable by hand before connecting it to the tensioning device. As far as taking them off I tried four times to line up my car perfectly so I wouldn't have to drive over the chains after disconnecting them but this was not possible for me. So, with the plastic coated cable on top I just disconnected the connections in reverse and then put all the hooks and components off to the side and drove off/over the chains, which seemed to work fine. Will see how they work in the snow and ice but I'm hopeful they will do well.913194

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I bought these chains for my daughter who is moving to Chicago from California. The owners manual of her Jeep Compass warns about the limited clearance and these chains were perfect because of their low profile. I also bought these particular chains (I now own 3 sets) for their ease of use. Snow is not something that any of my girls are used to being from California's Central Valley and putting chains on was not something that any of them had the faintest clue about. These chains are so easy to install that my wife and daughter were actually racing each other the other day to see who could install faster.

My youngest daughter and wife are driving across county as I type this review carrying with them these Thule chains and I am confident that they and their Thules will handle any snow they encounter.162792

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by: John 11/27/2023

This chains saved me last winter. I was driving through a winter storm. I like that it is easy put on. I did it without practicing beforehand. The ride with the chains were smooth and not very bumpy. The chains hold up really well even after a year. The price is reasonable.
One thing that I dont like is that the box that came with the snow chains arrived with broken clips. I did not bother asking for a new box, so i am using duct tape to keep it closed. I recommend this product if you are looking for a snow chain1696363

Easy on after untangling. Safely up the mountain with no problem. Easy off. Found that individually bagging each chainset reduced tangling and eased storage in the provided carrying case. Hope this helps. Thanks etrailer.com for being there.333414

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by: Jonathan 11/19/2022

I bought two tire chains for the front wheels of my 2016 Toyota Prius C one year ago and they work wonderfully— I drove to the mountain so many times to ski and it was pretty easy to put the chains on and off as needed, with a little practice (definitely practice at home first!). But they make driving in the snow/ice WAY safer. Highly recommend1471556

by: Michael 12/06/2022

Got me through the Snoqualmie pass near Seattle. Easy to put on. Easy to take off. Great!1479677

Great customer service, easy size guide. Great selection.1695912

I haven't had to use these yet for my Outback 22. But I did a couple test trails and it goes on so smoothly. Easy to understand as well. Customer service had all the answers to my questions, when I was looking to purchase.1705004

by: Thomas11/29/2021

I purchased a pair of these chains for a 2019 Subaru Outback. We travel steep gravel roads in to our vacation cabin in North Carolina which can get both snow and ice. While the Outback might well be able to get up some of the steeper sections even with ice, getting down through the iced up switchbacks safely would be a huge gamble. These chains fit the tires perfectly and with a little practice in fair weather conditions, fitting them in even the worst conditions has been a breeze. Having owned traditional ladder-style chains for another vehicle, the color-coded markings on these make finding the connection points and adjusting tension much easier. Removal is also very quick if you need to transition back to cleared pavement as we often do. We have fared well with using just a pair on the front tires. If you need low-profile chains for your vehicle, these are a great match.1213577

by: Lloyd12/14/2022

Makes all the difference. Pain to put on for the first few times.

Easily gets me up my nightmare driveway. Nice carrying case.1484668

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Pleased with the quality of the chains that come in a convenient plastic case for tidy storage in the trunk. I have not used them yet but assume they will be easy to put on the car. They are as advertized and ETrailer did everything required in processing my order and shipping. There were no complications. I would use them again when I need different chains for a different car.1521784

by: Eli01/02/2022

Chains broke after ~4 uses - one of the links down the center of the tire. I've used chains for years, they were installed correctly and I always drive less than 30mph. Luckily I still had my old chains in the car to get home.1235800

These fit fine on stock-size tires, and ran pretty smoothly on snow covered roads. Other than the untangling issue other reviews mention, these chains are pretty easy to put on. My initial install was in the snow. Initial side took several minutes to put on, but once figured out, other side went on much quicker.1526814

Ist time putting them on, it took me 15 minutes for both wheels. Two families me installed them and said they are going to buy them.1532283

Fantastic traction, helped me out big time today in the Rockies. Easier to put on then to take off.922119

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I just got my Konig Self-Tensioning, Low-Profile Snow Tire Chains in the mail from etrailer.com. I could not be more stoked on the order. First, the product is amazing. Second, I ordered free shipping and it got across the US in under 5 days over Christmas. That's a feat in and of itself.

I go out of town 12/31 and will most likely have to use them, so having them here now is great peace of mind.

Also, the auto-tracking on the website is HUGE! i went back to get my order number and noticed that it was one click to see exactly where the product was at that moment. 10-stars for every step in the order process from etrailer.

Thank you all and Happy New Year! 462883

First, I don't think I've ever had better service from an online retailer. Just outstanding. The chains got here incredibly fast.
The chains themselves, I've used these before when they were made by Thule. Overall they do not seem as heavy-duty but I could be wrong & will update after I've used them. This time I got the kind without the quick-release feature, as I've gotten that feature twice in the past & both times it was the first thing to go. I was still able to use the chains without it but it was a waste. So I got the other one, where one end slips inside the other & there isn't a quick release, but I expect it will be fine. Just not having to drive back & forth makes it easy for one person to put on the chains & that's really the best feature. I use these on an old honda civic & they've always worked really well. I got bungee-type tensioners as well, since the last ones were always a bit loose even with the "auto tensioner" on 13-inch rims. I will update after I use them but we haven't had any snow yet.1223122

This review is after 1 winter of light duty use.

*** Overview ***

I bought these low-profile chains to fit a 2013 Jetta TDI SportWagen.

Ease of use: 3.5 stars
Effectiveness: 4 stars
Durability: 1 star

Ultimately, these did what they were advertised to do. The details below are mostly about the specific combination of these chains with the TDI in icy and packed-snow conditions in Portland, OR.

*** Details ***

Ease of install is okay. You definitely want to practice a bunch of times before you really need to put them on in the snow. The instructional video is nice. Main complaint is that once they get icy they're a pain to deal with. Much of this is related to the minimal clearance to the wheel wells in the Jetta, and the way they tend to get packed with snow and ice when driving (and also getting your glove-covered hands into the areas they need to go). You'll need something to hack through the ice if you need to put these on and off mid-trip (we mostly use them around town so it's mostly something I can manage in the garage, but I used my ice scraper once... that sucked). As others have noted, you basically need to take them off with the wheel in the same rotational position as it was when you put them on, which is trivial but an unpleasant surprise if you don't know that.

Functionally, they provide reasonable traction for my front-wheel-drive TDI. I used only chains on the two drive wheels. Our use case is mostly light snow and ice in the elevations of the city of Portland. They're not going to get you through the rockies, but that's more of a limitation of the car's clearance and FWD and less about the chains. We never got stuck with them, and with careful driving they provided reasonable traction at controlled low speed up and down steep windy concrete and asphalt roads.

My main complaint is durability. My TDI has traction control, but has a tendency to be very torquey at low RPMs, like say starting uphill from a stop. This causes initial wheel slippage when facing uphill, and can also cause torque spikes when shifting gears uphill. These low-profile chains can't handle _any_ slippage without breaking links. This is worst if they're still trying to self-tension while they're slipping and catching. The diamond pattern means that they're still reasonably good traction and tension-wise when broken, but they'll hit your wheel wells and drive you crazy. There are replacement links provided, but they're pretty hard to repair on the road---if this is something that you worry about then get some really intense pliers to carry around. Basically, you need to be really gentle during the first 10-20 yards of driving while they self-tension, and you need to control torque to avoid slipping and catching on partially icy pavement.

I have snow tires on steel wheels so I wasn't using the rim protectors.575363

by: Nancy 12/14/2022

I bought these as a gift for my son. He LOVES them!! He had never used chains before and these Konig tire chains are easy to put on and off. Plus they work GREAT!! Thank you etrailer for yet ANOTHER GREAT PRODUCT!1484362

I bought these chains for my 2013 Mazda 3 for a trip into the mountains. I didn't think I would actually need them that early in the year, but eventually I was required to use them.

When I unboxed the chains I was a little puzzled since I ordered 'Thule' chains but received a box labeled 'König'. I was a little afraid having received the wrong product, but apart from the branding the product looked identical to what I ordered and some online research confirmed that Thule and König are associated. Would have been nice to have a notice about that though.

I practiced putting on the chains once in best conditions at home. It wasn't really that complicated and the instructions are easy to follow. I'd recommend doing such a practice run though, since you don't want to face this for the first time at the roadside in the snow.

A few weeks later I was returning from a trip into the mountains and one pass required chains (or other traction equipment, but for me that meant chains). I got the chains out and went over the instructions again and then started putting the chains on. I was glad I had done the practice run at home and got the chains on fairly quickly without bigger trouble (and I saw plenty of people at the roadside struggling with theirs or paying for that service). With that I made it across the pass.

On the other side of the pass I found taking the chains off more troublesome than putting them on. The chains itself worked great and it wasn't a problem to loosen and detach them but it's a little inconvenient since the chains need to be in the right position to come off the wheel (it's all in documented in the instructions though). I guess with a 2nd person directing the driver when to stop it would be very simple, on my own I had to move the car back and forth tiny bits to get the positioning right (i.e. i was jumping in and out of the car moving it a bit and checking tire/chain position).587706