Anyone here from Alaska or remote Canada?

Planning a trek from Sam Francisco to either Barrow (most likely) or Yellowknife next year. Wondering what mods any of y’all experienced on the roads up there (especially the Dalton Highway) you wouldn’t dare travel without. I have a mostly stock 1794 w the the TRD off road package. Mods will start this fall.

 

Don't currently live there but did previously and I've made the round trip drive from Utah to Alaska six times now. If you plan on driving the Dalton to Prudhoe Bay the only 'mod' I would suggest is having good tires with tall sidewalls and taking at least two full sized spares. If you're towing a trailer bring two at least two spares for that as well. When I worked up there the buses that made that trek guaranteed would get at least one flat, sometimes two, per round trip. Also plan on guaranteed rock chips and for your truck to get very very very dirty. It's all gravel and potholes and the trucks that use the road can be aggressive and they'll frequently spit up a massive amount of gravel when they pass you. Pull over if possible when a truck wants to pass you from behind. Watch your fuel and plan accordingly. Take all of your standard emergency supplies. If you're going in the summer Fairbanks will be hot but it can still get chilly as you head further north.

Edited because I'm tired and actually forgot you can't drive to Barrow, only to Prudhoe Bay.

 

Start to finish, how long did those six drives take you?

 

Google says it's 50 driving hours from here to Anchorage. The fastest I've done it is 3.5 days by myself one way including stops to sleep. I left Anchorage on a Friday at noon and made it back to my house at about 11pm Monday. I've also taken up to a week to make the one way trip, it depends on how much you want to stop to admire the scenery. And there's a lot of scenery to admire on that drive. My absolute favorite stop is the Northern Rockies Lodge at Muncho Lake, highly recommend.

 

Well if you are going to drive to Barrow, that will be a winter time trip on an ice road. The Dalton Highway ends in Prudhoe Bay. Definitely need good tires, two spares. Bring extra gas, wilderness survival gear. I was just up there end of July and saw snow, a week later it was 70, and a week later mid 30’s.

 

Ha lol I didn't even realize it when I typed all that. My mind went oh, Dalton, and forgot you can't get to Barrow by road. Been too long since I lived there I guess.