Rusty Chains

LOL!!! Sorry, had to do that. Believe me, in a few years if you come back and read your post, you'll either laugh or shake your head. If this is your biggest problem in trucking, count your blessings. But, ok, there is after all no such thing as a stupid question. Now that I've had my laugh at your expense, if daily use, being dragged back and forth on the ground, trailer, over the loads isn't getting them clean enough for you, you could tie an end to something and use a wire brush and dry rag on them. Heads up, I'm afraid you just might be in for a fair bit of ribbing on this one.

 

Yeah, because of this reason ,I have chains that are used more often. Since I rarely use all that I carry, the ones that are used tend to stay rust free and clean, and then get used more.

 

Talking about tire chains or load chains?

Which company are you running with in Cleveland?
Might wanna shoot more towards Youngstown next time if you're looking for flat-bedding work, a lot of steel is still moving through those mills down there. Coil steel is good work and there's a lot of it down that way. Most of the fleets running out of Y-town is working good up-to date equipment and you won't have to worry about chains.

All of my chains are a rusty dirty mess, I work for a small fleet owner and he doesn't have a bunch of money to snag new links. Mine never let me down, keep a can of WD-40 handy when the ratchets bind up, a rubber mallet and a propane torch isn't a bad idea either.

(BTW I'm over in Willoughby.)

 

If you read his whole post you would see that he included ratchets, so I guess tire chains are out of the question.

 

If your chains are that rusted, you need to check your cotter pins (split pins.) They tend to rust through or have metal fatigue from bending the metal many times. It is a good idea to stock up at the hardware store and carry backups.

 

I know thus sounds crazy, but it works ... if you have access to a lot of dirt or gravel road, tie them to a bumper and drag them around for about 10 minutes, then swap ends and repeat. The binders can be individually worked to remove the bulk of the rust by various means and wipe down with gun oil saturated rag then wipe with dirt to remove the excess oil that may make them "slippery" where they need not be slippery.

 

Your main worry should be... is the strength rating readable? if not the d.o.t. can ruin your day. if the rating is not readable they can write you up for unsecure load. my neighbor faced a 3,000 fine & faced 30 day's in jail in A.L. just cause his g70 rated chains were not visible enough to read clearly. had to hire a lawyer pay over 3 grand in all.