Extra Tires to the Yukon?

You will have some stretches of gravel due to construction. You'll receive mixed answers, I believe. We drove up on new tires to Alaska with no issues and many do, especially those with big motorhomes because they typically don't carry spares - tires are too heavy.

Then there are others that take two of everything... just in case. Do whatever feels comfortable for you. Very few people get flats on the trip and very few get broken windshields.

The best suggestion is to drive slow, especially through the gravel areas. This is one trip you can't rush. Have a good one!

Did the Dempaster in 2015 ...crushed stone and mud road...some rough spots . Borrowed an extra spare for truck ,never needed but nice to have . Met a guy that had 2 flats in a 100 km streatch . Carry flat repair and insta flat can ....also I always have 2 spares for camper . Along the Dempster the first spot for a tire repair is Eagle Plains ,then ft Mc ferson ,then Inuvik.. The worst road I hit was Alaskan hwy from yukon / alska border to Destruction bay..

I carry an unmounted spare strapped up between the chassis rails plus the tools to change it if I'm desperate. Lots of tyre repair plugs too.
Plan B if necessary if a front tyre gets damaged is to take off one of the duallies for the front, pump the remaining tyre up to maximum sidewall pressure and drive slowly to the next town.

Heading up towards Tuk in a couple of months.

We put 30,000 km on the truck to Alaska, Yukon, Northwest Territories in 2016. Only had the spare on the truck. Never needed the spare at all.
I helped an Austrian couple change a tire on their rental on the Dempster. They had it repaired at Eagle Plains.
The road is open all the way to Tuk now. Not sure what they are doing for camping up there though.
Enjoy the trip, it's worth the drive.

In Nevada lots of people carry two spares, especially people that work on mines and chukar hunters. It is totally logical to carry two spares when the gas stations can be more than 100 miles apart. I have lost three tires in one day twice in my life. The last one was not that long ago.

If you do venture on the Dempster Highway well past Eagle Plains enroute to Inuvik, I would recommend carrying more than one spare tire due to the sharp shale rock sections that will work their way thru tire tread and inner belts that are famous for causing multi flats, even with quality tires.

Some get lucky and never gotten a flat tire on the Dempster, others get one flat, and others can get two and way more flats on a single trip as one canadian trucker that drives that route a lot explained to me - some days it doesn't matter upon quality tires and driving habits that you can control, but it does help if the conditions are right not to potentially get a flat.



When I ventured on the Dalton and Dempster Highways, those were the only times I ever prepared to carry two spare tires for two reasons, along with a plug kit and an air compressor that I always have onhand anyway.

1 - The severe remoteness of regional area where services are real limited and the potential delays of tire repair in those parts if situations arise which could happen that the tire mount machine is broken or the mechanic is not on duty, etc...

2 - The intermittent sections of shale rock on the Dempster and intermittent sections of hard volcanic rock on the Dalton.

With those two potential reasons alone, in my opinion one would be a fool not to carry at least two spare tires with a non commercial rig if venturing along these two routes - unless you happen to be some royal sheik or one with influential clout that can make things happen with a snap of the fingers no matter the situation.



A friend of mine from southern Alberta ventured on the notorious remote North Canol Road in the Yukon and made it to the NWT border in his 1944 Willys Jeep, he carried two spares and ended up having five flats in which the plug kit and compressor is what really saved him to get back to his camper and trailer based on the east Campbell Highway.....He was down to one remaining plug after that adventure and was so happy to see a garage open on a Saturday morning when he arrived at Watson Lake to have extensive repairs done on the two flat spares.

Although I never quite made it to the shale rock area of the Dempster highway past the low 200km mark - since 1985 going on 33 years of travel here in an RV or passenger rig, on most every main road and a handful of remote side routes in the far north of Alaska and western Canada upon a full day or full month distant road trip.... I have yet to ever have a flat tire incident happen to me - with the one exception in Washington State outside of Chehalis driving thru a vacant lot with broken glass and developed a slow leak in 1990.

Other than that, I normally carry only one spare tire at all times.

Good advice from all of the above. We towed a TT to Yukon-Alaska twice,traveled the Dempster, out to McCarthy & etc. We carried extra spares for the truck and the TT. We did not need them for ourselves (loaned one to another motorist), but it was so worth it to us to have them. lizzie

Did the Alaska trip in 2016. Put new tires on the truck and 5er, truck was due and 5er had El-Cheapo's. Kept 1 extra of each to have a second spare 'just in case'. Didn't touch either one in 10,500 miles but felt comfortable that I had backup.

Thanks for all the advice folks.

I guess if we go far up the Dempster, we'll carry a second spare for both vehicles.

ppine wrote:
In Nevada lots of people carry two spares, especially people that work on mines and chukar hunters. It is totally logical to carry two spares when the gas stations can be more than 100 miles apart. I have lost three tires in one day twice in my life. The last one was not that long ago.

Four summers spent traveling in AK and the Yukon, with travel trailers and a motorhome. In that time I had exactly zero issues with tires. Unless you are on the Dempster, or another truly remote wilderness road, reality is as Yeti plus describes it in his post.