Now I have two issues... Driving across canada and living in fairbanks. So for the drive are their any recommendations (extra gas cans, are they bad roads, etc)

Part two, living up there. My orders say get my POV winterized to -70. I know where to begin but not much more. Also I need to actually get winter tires for my truck. I havent heard what kind of snow there is up there. Being from wet snow central in NE wisconsin, I was just going to go with mud terrains. However, I've heard lots of ice too... any thoughts? PS If anybody knows place I can get dayton timberline MTs, that would be amazing.

 

I would imagine the roads would be pretty good considering all the shipments that would go through there. Obviously take your basic tools, tire chains, fluids you'd need, some extra parts that commonly fail on your specific rig, maybe an extra belt, stuff like that. I know a lot of people up there run block of plates for their radiator so the engine will run warm enough when its extra cold out.

I couldn't find any of those tires searching around teh interwebs, found timberline a/ts and h/ts, but no m/ts.

 

BFG A/T's!!!! I've personally never ran them, cause I hear they offer mega suck in the mud/trails, but I've heard they're good in the snow. I also hear they're good in the sand, but my dad's grampa-ized F-150 gets stuck just a few feet off the road in 2 wheel down at the local boat launch, and he's only run BFG A/T's on that truck. Can't talk him out of it. Dad seems to get around allright in the wet/ slushy snow though, not sure about ice.....

 

You might need a battery warmer or a gel cell bat and light weight oil.

 

Maybe tires that can be studded? I don't know, I've never ran in ice much, the little bit I have the tires on my stupid duty seem to just fine, they're a fairly aggressive a/t (aggresive for an a/t anyway).

 

Tires are easy. I would recommend going with the Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac. It has the best of both worlds. Open lugs on the outside of the tread pattern, lots and lots of tread siping, and a closer tread pattern in the center. Check them out. As far as winterizing your rig, I would recommend asking the locals what it is that they do. Learn from those who live there.

LT.

 

Pretty much any A/T or hwy,(yes hwy) tire that you get sipped will do allright. Here in ND, I drive a two wheeler dually for work, and I run sipped hwys on it in the winter. But I'd prob put some sipped A/Ts on for up there.

For winterizing, consider using ATF in the cooling system instead of antifreeze. My Grandpa worked up in prutal bay AL, and told me that's what they would do. Also, when it was really cold out, they would just leave the rigs run all the time.

 

Ive used T/As on 4 vehicles for years and they are fine for Hwy ,rain,wet slushy as you put it and some sand off road,but anythin more ...forget em. Theyre better than street tires,but not by much. Theyre fine for what I really use them for. Id like to go wider spacing on lugs,but I hate highway humm they make.

The spacing between lugs is too small to break any ice under your tires so they just spin. Theyre not a good dig in type tire you need.
They just pack up with snow, mud or whatever,and spinnin tthe ires wont clear them. Need lug type tires to do that.Two Chains good 4 w/ ice lug best. Can add more links too. Unstoppable w/ chains and dont even have to work hard at it. Not very convienient though.

I have 295x16 on my 8000 lb 4x4 econoline conversion self contained and itjust spins. (Heavy w/ large tires)
My T/As on my2500 lb isuzu 4x4 w/225x14 did same. (light w/ skinny tires) Light vehicle w/ skinny tires cut icy highways best imo.Its just the look isnt that great I guess.

Sidenote:When at Lake tahoe Volkwagens with skinny street tires would go up steep icy streets where larger tires wouldnt.
It was a real eyeopener.I never hear advertizers mentioning that probably cause Money/visual appeal is in big tires. I digress....

MTs have larger lugs. However,It may be too cold and deep to break ice up there (in winter)so just run chains. Its going to be dark in winter so probably not going to do off roading. Summer are light 24 hr in Fairbanks,but no snow. Mud/tundra yes. Ive been there in summer.
Find out what locals use and have actual experience with his driving conditions. Get on a 4x4 forum located up there and narrow it down.

 

Well im up in fairbanks finally. the drive was alright. I like the duratecs... they get me through a lot. Dont know about ice performance yet though....

 

Enjoy your time here in Fairbanks, Ft Wainwright, I presume, or Eielson? It can get up to -59 which was 2 years ago we had over -50 for 3 straight weeks. There really isn't much snow here as it is just powder as the cold sucks all the moisture out of it. The roads are generally clear as it blows off like dust. You only have to watch it at stoplights, as that is where the ice develops from the idleing. Just check the extra lights ahead of the intersections as they alert you when the lights change to give you more time to prevent a slide through. It is very rare that we have wet snow when it is warm, with warm being a relative term. It doesn't snow at 25 below and beyond. At -30, someone will throw hot coffee at you, and it will vaporize into ice crystals and look like steam. Tires-wise, you can run all seasons around here as I said before, the snow is like powder. I run Goodrich Workhorses year round as they give good traction. What you want is a narrow tire, not a wide one that becomes a big snowboard and easier to slide around with. The vehicles you see in the ditch are those with big wide tires. You will need a block heater and heater pads for your tranny and oil pans. AAFES can install it. Also get a very good quality and large size extension cord to plug in your vehicles. Try to find a #14 AWG cord or even better, a #12 AWG cord. Another thing is that this weather right now is unusual for this time as it should be around 35 during the day.

 

Long drive...drove up from NY 8 years ago for school at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and was up there for 4.5 years. It gets cold but there is little wind in and it is very dry, which helps a lot...the damp cold here is NY is penetrating. I agree get a block heater, oil pan/trans pan pad heaters and optionally one for the battery. You can run studded tires for part of the year up there, but I would just go with a good set of sipped tires. I also 2nd the high quality extension cord...make sure it is cold weather rated, orange cords will just shatter, the others will be fine at -40F.

 

I don't know what you need for your truck, but buy all the mosquito stuff you can find. I thought they were going to carry me off. They're not that bad on base because they spray all the time, but get off base, especially in the woods, and they are unbelievable. I had a pair of lighter jeans on that looked black.

 

Welcome to Alaska. Enjoy your stay and for tires and automotive servicec, I have heard good things about American Tire. I think they are up there in Fairbanks.