I took my car to a Bellevue mechanic recommended by my friend korup. He was supposed to find out why the left front wheel was rubbing on the wheel well. While the car was on the rack he discovered that the previous owner or owner's mechanic had installed the front struts rotated 180 degrees from proper position. As a result, the brackets holding the brake lines were on the outside facing the wheels. The snow chains I had used on Saturday apparently had snagged the bracket on the right side pulling it so that the brake line was rubbing on the wheel rim. On the left side, one could see cracks in the brake line resulting from its having been bent at an extreme radius. Either line could have broken at any time resulting in a crash!
Another mechanic who had recently replaced the left axle never noticed the problem. I consider myself to be very lucky.