As we know that in the transportation business , the industry standard truck chains basically mean binder chains and snow chains, and chains as products have much more than just those tire chains , as we can see that there are sash chains, hot dip galvanized grade 30 chains and more, of course there is towing industry, tow chains are there to stay, it is no secret that all these are alloy steel chains.
Tie down chains usually refer to grade 70 transport chain, we usually say binder chains, you should know that there are 2 standards for these chains, American Society for Testing and Materials, and NACM. ASTM chains are all short link chains, while NACM are regular link chains. Short link and regular link chains have same strength, the only difference is flexibility, if you need the chains to wrap around a tight corner, you probably need short link ones, regular link chains probably will not fit. We can see that most tie down chains are being deployed on the trailers, most of the time for securing truck load, you definitely can put these chains to some other way of uses, as long as it’s safe.
Tire chains and snow chains are the same thing under most circumstances, then we know that snow chains are tire chains, but tire chains are not equal to snow chains, people use tire chains on the slippery road, not only when snow covered. Usually tire chains are sold in pairs, since you will always need to chain up tires in pairs. Due to the use condition, all tire chains are made from steel. You will have to buy the matching size of tire chains for your vehicle, say you drive a coupe, you definitely need car tire chains, and if you drive a 18 wheeler, you’re going to need truck tire chains.
Talking about hardware chains, it’s a big category, you’re going to see all kinds of chains in this family of product. For instance, machine chains, with twisted link and straight link, and twisted and straight link coil chains, sash chains , grade 30 chains, hot dip or electro-galvanized, and all those decoration steel chains, of course there are more steel chain product. Steel Hardware chains are popular due it’s variety and applications, the general purpose proof coil grade chains are the most popular one, for instance, you can use grade 30 chains with windlass or fence.
As for towing chains, there is only 5/16” tow chains with towing rig available, the WLL of tow chain is 4700 lbs, actually this strong enough for almost all cases, due to standardization of tow trucks, only a few varieties of tow chains are needed, in fact the tow chains only have 2 lengths available, 6′ and 10′, and hooks have long shank J hook and sports T & J hook variation, I believe that due to well built standard tow trucks, only a few varieties of the tow chains are required, in reality this is a real advantage for both towing and chain vendors.
