I got a question for you guys or anyone who knows it. A long while ago the power company came to our house to flip the fuse back on becuz a squirrel went suicidal. well on this big bucket truck he drove the rear diff had links of chain hanging from it. mebbe a few links long. then I see it on ambulances and other heavy duty vehicles and i'm wondering why they have the chains there?

 

They are automatic snow chains. They can be deployed from in the cab I think and they spin on the underside of the vehicle so that the ends of the chains are thrown in front of the tire, thus providing traction.

If you wanna see them in action......

http://www.onspot.com/

 

first, most have it to release static charge. the plastic booms create static. second, our lineman trucks have it to make the power go to ground if they get into a HOT line. This is to reduce the chance of the power going through the guy on the ground touching the truck and standing on the ground.

 

bert that's pretty cool but these things are just hanging from teh actual housing like jus a few links long.

 

Then like performanceag said for grounding.

But it would be cool to have a set of those snow chains on my 2500

 

I definately agree with that lol they'd be pretty friggin sweet.

 

A set of air actuators presses a wheel up against your tire's side wall. Off that wheel are bits of chain (mounted a little lower on that wheel). Your tire's rotation is what causes the cains to rotate.