Patent ID: 7096906

Claim:
A method for quickly and conveniently attaching a tire chain to a vehicle tire of a vehicle, in which the ends of the tire chain are automatically brought together after the chain is placed on the tire and without any need to (i) jack the wheel of the vehicle tire off the ground or (ii) crawl under the vehicle, the method comprising: placing said tire chain over a top of said vehicle tire with the respective ends of said tire chain touching the ground; lifting an inner end and an outer end of a first end of said tire chain off of the ground and attaching said inner and outer ends of said first end of said tire chain to a first crossover member; positioning a bottom of said first crossover member between said tire and the ground; lifting an inner end and an outer end of a second end of said tire chain off of the ground and attaching said inner and outer ends of said second end of said tire chain to a second crossover member; positioning a bottom of said second crossover member between said tire and the ground; attaching together said first and second crossover members at a pivot point on an outward facing side of said tire; stretching a tension member between said first and second crossover members; driving said vehicle a sufficient distance but less than a full rotation of said tire to rotate said crossover members above the ground so that said tension member automatically pivots said crossover members toward each other to draw said respective ends of said tire chain together; attaching said inner ends of said first and second ends of said tire chain together; removing said crossover members from said tire chain and said tire; and attaching said outer ends of said first and second ends of said tire chain together, after removing said crossover members.