angusdevil
Adventurer
BINGO! We have a winner!! :wings:
Arctic Ram
- Thread starter calebwat
- Start date
BINGO! We have a winner!! :wings:
GTABurnout
Explorer
My mistake... Damn..
angusdevil
Adventurer
Funny thing is, I literally just gave away my bumper about 2 weeks ago.
a few tips for the Alcan and beyond
Hi guys, great forums. I've been lurking for a bit and thought I'd register to add a little insight to this thread.
As a longtime (now former) Fairbanksan, I've been up and down the Alcan and the haul road (you folks call it the Dalton Hwy) more times than I can count.
Tires tires tires. Bring tires. Good ones. 10 ply if you can, D-rated is a must. The Alcan's pretty decent, just some light tar/gravel during construction. You will be traveling during the season, so expect some delays - we're talking an hour wait in some places.
The Dalton chews up mudders and spits out rubber dust like no other road. It is well maintained, but it's maintained for heavy truck traffic. It's blacktop up past Livengood -but the asphalt sucks (as it does in most of Alaska, more on that later), and potholes abound. We're talking rim-busters if you're running aluminum.
For the sake of mileage, you might want to consider a closer tread pattern tire in a common size, like 265/75 or some such. 17's are getting more common, but if you tear up a 35" tire outside of Old Man Camp, you're going to be stranded for days and days. Bring a spare, or two. Seriously. A flat, even during the summer could kill you up there. There's few pull-outs on the Dalton, and no shoulder to speak of. A heavy hauler will run you down rather than lose his load over the side. You may have to drive a few miles to a RGV turnout on a flat tire in order to safely change it.
Add mudflaps to your list - ping-pong ball sized gravel is not uncommon. While you're at it, get glassbreak coverage added to your policy. You're gonna lose some glass.
I'm glad you're packing a CB. Truckers monitor 19, Alyeska monitors 9 and 19. You can get help if you get in trouble.
Suspension. Gas charged anything is ok. Make sure your bearings are lubed and your bushings are in good shape. Ball joints take a beating, and you don't want to deal with Gene's Chrysler for spare parts.
Standard Alaska warnings apply to this trip also. Turn off the highway, and you might not make it back. There's critters up there (2 and 4 legged) who don't like strangers. There's also a whole lot of folks that will stop and help you out if you get into trouble. Sometimes they look similar.
I hope you have a good safe trip, bring a bunch of batteries and take a lot of pictures. Alaska's a very special place.
Oh, gas. Bring your own cans, fill up in Fairbanks. There's an occasional gas station at the Yukon River bridge, and another in Coldfoot. You might not get any gasoline in Deadhorse, so don't count on it.
Hi guys, great forums. I've been lurking for a bit and thought I'd register to add a little insight to this thread.
As a longtime (now former) Fairbanksan, I've been up and down the Alcan and the haul road (you folks call it the Dalton Hwy) more times than I can count.
Tires tires tires. Bring tires. Good ones. 10 ply if you can, D-rated is a must. The Alcan's pretty decent, just some light tar/gravel during construction. You will be traveling during the season, so expect some delays - we're talking an hour wait in some places.
The Dalton chews up mudders and spits out rubber dust like no other road. It is well maintained, but it's maintained for heavy truck traffic. It's blacktop up past Livengood -but the asphalt sucks (as it does in most of Alaska, more on that later), and potholes abound. We're talking rim-busters if you're running aluminum.
For the sake of mileage, you might want to consider a closer tread pattern tire in a common size, like 265/75 or some such. 17's are getting more common, but if you tear up a 35" tire outside of Old Man Camp, you're going to be stranded for days and days. Bring a spare, or two. Seriously. A flat, even during the summer could kill you up there. There's few pull-outs on the Dalton, and no shoulder to speak of. A heavy hauler will run you down rather than lose his load over the side. You may have to drive a few miles to a RGV turnout on a flat tire in order to safely change it.
Add mudflaps to your list - ping-pong ball sized gravel is not uncommon. While you're at it, get glassbreak coverage added to your policy. You're gonna lose some glass.
I'm glad you're packing a CB. Truckers monitor 19, Alyeska monitors 9 and 19. You can get help if you get in trouble.
Suspension. Gas charged anything is ok. Make sure your bearings are lubed and your bushings are in good shape. Ball joints take a beating, and you don't want to deal with Gene's Chrysler for spare parts.
Standard Alaska warnings apply to this trip also. Turn off the highway, and you might not make it back. There's critters up there (2 and 4 legged) who don't like strangers. There's also a whole lot of folks that will stop and help you out if you get into trouble. Sometimes they look similar.
I hope you have a good safe trip, bring a bunch of batteries and take a lot of pictures. Alaska's a very special place.
Oh, gas. Bring your own cans, fill up in Fairbanks. There's an occasional gas station at the Yukon River bridge, and another in Coldfoot. You might not get any gasoline in Deadhorse, so don't count on it.
mbeach THANKS and welcome.
I am new here too but found this to be a great community. Wow what great info. I am not at the tire decision stage yet. I would love a set of mpt81 style tires but alas they are way too big for my rig. I am doing a paint job on the nose of my truck this weekend or next and will post pics of that soon.
I am new here too but found this to be a great community. Wow what great info. I am not at the tire decision stage yet. I would love a set of mpt81 style tires but alas they are way too big for my rig. I am doing a paint job on the nose of my truck this weekend or next and will post pics of that soon.
Yup, just a tbar crank with some 35's. Suspension in those pics were just some whitebody shocks, moog lowers and CST uppers. Got serious about the suspension so I had to get rid of the 1500.
What is your tire wheel combo on the old 1500?
Coopers and Bridgestones are the most popular tires up north, Bridgestone by reputation and Cooper by cost and availability. Toyo's picking up a market share, but they are strictly found on mall-crawlers in the cities.
Alaska pavement sucks. Rutted, heaved, you name it. Anything wider than a 285 will make your truck wander like a blind drunk.
Bumpers: Save yourself the hassle. I've done thousands of miles behind stock bumpers. If you hit a moose, it's your ***, RoadArmor or not. :elkgrin:
Bright lights and awareness is the way to go. My VXs had the stock poly units and mowed down spruce trees like it was their job. My dually has Frontier Gear units, but I just wanted to look cool, there's no purpose behind them.
Winch: Those are for the other guy. Up past the Yukon, you'd be hard pressed to find a tree bigger than Urkel's arm in diameter. Pullpals are useless in the tundra. Just try to stay on the road.
I'm currently 10 time zones ahead of you, but if anything else pops into my head I'll jot it down.
Alaska pavement sucks. Rutted, heaved, you name it. Anything wider than a 285 will make your truck wander like a blind drunk.
Bumpers: Save yourself the hassle. I've done thousands of miles behind stock bumpers. If you hit a moose, it's your ***, RoadArmor or not. :elkgrin:
Bright lights and awareness is the way to go. My VXs had the stock poly units and mowed down spruce trees like it was their job. My dually has Frontier Gear units, but I just wanted to look cool, there's no purpose behind them.
Winch: Those are for the other guy. Up past the Yukon, you'd be hard pressed to find a tree bigger than Urkel's arm in diameter. Pullpals are useless in the tundra. Just try to stay on the road.
I'm currently 10 time zones ahead of you, but if anything else pops into my head I'll jot it down.
angusdevil
Adventurer
Those are BFG KM's on Cragar 17" Soft 8's. I would never suggest those tires for an overland rig. Very soft and lots of flex. Great for crawling but thats about it. I destroyed that set in about 9 months here in AZ.
The wheels were great! Basic steel wheels that took everything I threw at them. I was hard on them and they did very well.