Alaska???

enblethen wrote:
This past spring/summer crews were rebuilding some of the road between Burwash and the Alaska border. It should be in pretty good shape.
The crews are always working on the road!

There was an article posted from the newspaper in Whitehorse that repaving of sections of the Highway north of Haines Junction have been put on hold for 2016. There is an agreement between the US and Canada where the US provides part of the funding for maintenance on the Alaska Highway. Since 2012 the US has not been providing their share of the funding. Sounds a bit goofy since it is a Canadian highway, but about 80% of the traffic is US travelers.

Anyway, because of this I'd expect that the northern portions of the Highway will be is worse shape next summer than it has been in the past. That probably means more gravel, more potholes and frost heaves which all translate to slower speeds.

Plan your trip to overnight or more at Muncho Lake.

This past spring/summer crews were rebuilding some of the road between Burwash and the Alaska border. It should be in pretty good shape.
The crews are always working on the road!

The road is mostly good. In sections there will be major potholes. The northern Yukon was bad the year we went up. If you see a orange cone or flagging on the side of the road. Slow down. If the orange is on one side, the hole will be on that side. If it's on both, the hole will be in the middle of the lane, or it will be a heave. HEAVES SUCK driving anything. My wife and I were on a HD Road King.

Your rig is small compared to a lot of them on the highways. Ours was a 40' motorhome towing the Jeep. No problems.

The Milepost tends to keep pretty up to date on which stretches of road are bad, so get a current copy. Don't be surprised if you come back with a cracked windshield. I went up with one and came back with one, but way more cracks. I saw big rigs going 5 mph over some of the potholes and frost heaves and was glad it wasn't me, seems like it would take forever and also some of the fun out of it. OTOH, they all had nice places to rest at night and I didn't so much. It's a big trade off, but lots of big rigs do it every year with no problems, at least it appears to be that way.

I did meet a guy pulling a big fifth wheel in Teslin and we talked, since we were from the same area, and he told me he would be glad to get home, as he was tired of pulling the thing. He said he would never do it again, but others do it every year.

I will add that most of the highway is as good as any in the Lower 48, it's just the few bad stretches that will gitcha.

Many rigs your size go up and down the Alaska Highway. Best advice I can offer is to not use the posted speed limit as a guide. Go slower. Don't set a strict schedule, let there be flexibility so you can take your time and drive to the road conditions.

This past summer, broken RVs were common between my place and Whitehorse. Broken hitches mostly. The frost heaves were bad, the potholes were nasty. Just drive to suit the conditions so you don't abuse your rig.

When we're towing the fifth wheel, we tend to drive 10 mph below the posted speed limit and don't hesitate to take it down to 30 mph through the rough areas. In my car, I whip along quite a bit faster, usually more than 10 mph over the speed limit.

Once you're north of Fort Nelson (British Columbia) on the Alaska Highway, drive the speed that suits you and your rig.

You appear to have an adequate sized truck. The Alaska Highway is generally a decent road. The main difference is on the hills, in the US grades are usually kept to 6% or less, on the Alaska Hwy some of the grades are posted at 10%, but they are usually not very long, should be no problem. On the road and in Alaska you will see about every size and type and combination of vehicles possible, you will blend right in. Enjoy the trip!

While we did have a small amount of Canadian cash virtually everything was charged on our Visa card with it's cash back and no exchange fees. Amex with it's high fees was locked away until we reached Alaska.

We waited until we crossed into Canada to get most of the fresh food supply. Our bank as an affiliate in Canada so we used their cash machine to get money. When we were returning we stopped just north of the border, counted how much Canadian currency we had and put in the fuel tank.
Canada has great stores in the major towns. You don't have to carry all kinds of extra gear and parts.