Alcan Hwy

joe b. wrote:
Trailers tend to be harder on tires than vehicles. I find one spare tire for the tow vehicle and a mounted spare for the trailer, plus an unmournted trailer tire works for me. I much prefer radial tires all around and stay away from bias ply

I also carry a tire plug kit and a 12 volt air compressor, a Viair 400, with me on most trips anywhere we go. The only recent tire problems, 2009 trip, I have had was a rock punctured tire on the Top of the World road out of Dawson Town headed for the Alaska border with Yukon.

Great suggestions, Joe. We had two flats going the opposite direction on the TOTW Highway, but both were on the rear axle of the truck, not the trailer. We made it as far as Whitehorse on two plugged tires before we bought two new Goodyears at Walmart (Canadian Tire was next door, but was much more expensive). Interestingly, that Walmart's price was comparable to the same tire at Walmart in the Lower 48 when I later replaced the truck's front tires.

In Seward, we had a trailer tire with a nail through the sidewall right at the edge of the tread. But I hadn't brought an unmounted second trailer tire, as Joe recommends. Although I tried to repair it with my plugs and 12v compressor, it didn't hold due to the location. So, we had to buy a new trailer tire when we got back to Wasilla. A tire in Anchorage may have been somewhat cheaper, but we didn't stop there on our way out of the Kenai.