Video Transcript for An In-Depth Look at the Konig Tire Chains

Zach: Hey, everybody. Zach here at etrailer.com. Today, we're taking a look at the Konig CB12 snow tire chains.Now, this chain, there's a couple of different fits on it, so definitely use our fit guide. Get your right tire size in there and find the right specific chain for your vehicle. But the CB12s, in my opinion, are one of the best tire chains if you're looking for that good mix of easy-to-use and effective chains, and that's really important to me. So if I need to put on tire chains and I'm on the side of the road, I don't want to have the hassle of messing with my tire chains for 15 or 20 minutes.

I want to be able to put them on, get out of my situation safely, and just get on with my day. And what the CB12s do is they give us a really effective chain, but they're really easy to put on. So I can put these on in just a couple minutes. Now, it may take you a few more minutes than I will here today, because I'm in a garage and I'm not messing with snow, but these are much easier to put on.We get really good traction with these small, dual-sided dealings, but we also have a diamond pattern. So not only are these going to be effective with starts and stops, but since we're getting much greater tire coverage, we're also going to have better traction when we're turning.

Now, if you're looking at entry-level tire chains, ones that are specifically smaller style to fit vehicles with limited wheel well clearance, like we have on our Jetta today, these are going to be a better solution, compared to those styles. They're going to do the job. They're going to give you some traction, but they're much more difficult to put on, and those ladder styles compared to this, you just don't get as good a traction. It's just not going to be as effective.We're not getting the links here. They will be a little bit smoother, but we're not looking for a real smooth ride.

We're looking to get out of our situation of being stuck in snow and ice. And with these smaller links, it's going to be slightly rough, but it's not going to be really jolting you all over the road like you would with maybe some larger chains that you'd see on a bigger SUV or truck. So yes, these aren't as smooth as rollers, but they're more effective, and at the end of the day, that's what we want. We want good traction.When it comes to the construction, these are made of a nickel manganese alloy, so they're going to be really durable. They're going to do a good job of holding up against rust and corrosion.

And comparing to the cable and roller styles, I think they're going to hold up much longer. So if you live in those environments where you maybe need to use them a few times a year, this is definitely a better option. I just don't think that that other style is going to hold up to repeat use.When it comes to what separates these chains for others, I think Konig makes really nice chains. These are actually one of my favorite tire chains that I've ever handled, especially for my car. They're just really quick and easy to put on. So I'm going to take these off real quick. We talked about that a few minutes ago, about how when you're on the side of the road, you don't want to have to be messing with chains for very long. So getting these off is really easy, as well. Depending on where you're at on the pattern, you may have to drive forward just a little bit to get them off all the way. There we go.So to get them in place, these are really easy, but I would suggest kind of testing them out before winter hits. That way, you have a pretty decent idea of how they go on. You're not trying to figure it out while you're on the side of the road. So what you want to do is you want them laid out, and we want to make sure that where these are crimped around this cable, we want that hook facing up. So we want the smooth side on the tire, so that's something to keep in mind. And then it's always a good idea, definitely, if you've used them before, but to check for any damaged links. That's something that will eventually happen. Even though they're really nice and they're going to hold up, you're putting a lot of pressure on those links when you're driving down the road.So we're going to slide these around, and you'll notice I don't have to crawl underneath the vehicle. With those ladder-style and other entry-level chains, I have to make a connection on the bottom side of the back side of the tire. That means I have to crawl underneath the vehicle, and it's just not ideal, especially with a vehicle that's so low to the ground. I can't fit underneath there, and then when I've got all that snow and ice that's all caught up in the wheel well, it is not ideal to be fighting that stuff when you're down underneath there. Plus, if you're on your way to work or just in general, you don't want to be underneath your vehicle when it's snowy and icy out.So I made that hook or that connection up top. Then we'll come here and I'm going to connect these red pieces right there. That's the nice thing. It's color-coded, so you kind of have a general idea how it goes in place. And we'll run our chain through that little tensioner right there. I'm going to pull it as tight as I can get it. And depending on your tire size, you can kind of play around with where you hook this in place. You just kind of want to make sure that it's not loose. So we'll just pull it tight somewhere. But we have these little keepers here to keep the chain from hitting our wheel. And then I'll just hook it up here to provide that tension on it, and then we can install the chain on the other side.You know, it's a good idea to drive forward a little bit, kind of check the tension, make sure everything's on there still. But you can see we have a nice tight chain with hardly any effort. I didn't have to crawl underneath there. With those ladder styles, you have to have an additional tensioner, and that's just one more thing to keep track of throughout the summer. And then it comes winter time and you left it in the garage. Then you have a chain that doesn't fit. It's going to damage your vehicle.Now, when it comes to protecting our wheels, that's something that we care about, and all of these pieces that are close to my wheels are either rubber-coated or are plastic. So we do have this one little metal piece here, but I don't think that that's going to make contact. I think that plastic protector there is going to do a good job of holding it up, so that's not going to make contact.When it comes to which tires that you're supposed to put this on, I have a front-wheel-drive vehicle today, so we've put it on the front. If you have an all-wheel-drive vehicle, you can pick up four chains, if you would like. But I would just put them on the front, as well, if it's an all-wheel-drive. And then if it's a rear-wheel drive, just put them back there. And one thing that I like is that it comes with this hard case, which is really nice. It comes with a plastic mat and some gloves to put this on. For me, I don't think those are very useful. I would just get an additional set of gloves. It could just be some basic chore or winter gloves, whatever you want to just throw in the back. And then to keep your knees and stuff dry, you can get a carpet square, or a floor mat works. We also have a tire chain installation kit that just makes it a little bit cleaner to put on. Maybe pick up a high-vis vest, as well, just so you're a little bit more visible.But when it comes to this case, I think that cases kind of get overlooked, sometimes. Some of those entry-level chains, they come with just kind of a flimsy bag that eventually tears. I like that this case is going to hold both my chains in there. It's going to not really get torn up too easily. And one thing I would do is maybe let them dry off. Rinse them off if your state uses salt. If that stuff sits in there for a long time, even though they are finished, the rust will eventually start appearing there if you keep that trapped in there and you don't let them dry out.So I think that the case is nice. This is small enough that I would just leave it in my trunk year around, so I don't ever get stuck in that situation where that storm kind of comes in and we weren't prepared because we forgot to put our chains in at the beginning of the season. So I think that the case is actually a really big deal.So if you can't tell, I'm a big fan of these chains. I think that when it comes to looking for a chain that's easy to put on, works great for these cars, and also is effective, this is one of the best options out there.But that's going to do it for our look at the Konig CB12 snow tire chains.