Tire Chains

I have far too many vehicles up here in Los Anchorage. Plow truck, daily pickup, old pickup that I can't sell for enough money, ATV, etc. I have chains for all of them.

Over the past 5 years (as best I recall), I've only used the chains on anything except the plow truck only once to get out of my 120' driveway, on a slope, in March, when it snowed 12" then rained, then dropped to -5. The plow truck wears chains pretty much non-stop December - April.

Chains are worth their weight in gold on a steep icy hill. Nice to have but don't help as much in "just snow".

You won't need them for your trip.

Have made somewhere north of 20 trips up/down the Alcan (quite a few mirroring the OP planned trip) and only needed chains (that I had fortunately) one time back in the dark ages (79 or 80 IIRC) and that was for traction in the mud.

Does GM recommend chairs or cables for your 3500? My 1500 says cables.

Yes. For a trip like that, bring chains along with down sleeping bags and warm clothes for everyone on the trip. In cold remote country, that stuff goes in the vehicle in the fall and stays there until the spring.

And I've always said that chains (real chains, not the cable types) were for the extra weight in the trunk and not to be put on (a miserable undertaking).

I agree, no chains necessary. We're heading up for our 10th summer trip in 2021 and although we've hit occasional snow squalls, we never needed chains. As jsummers72 pointed out, if roads get bad all you need to do is pull over for a day or so and things will be clear. One year we were told that Tok Alaska had 27" of snow 5 days before we arrived and we never even saw a white spot on the north side of the hills. Go and enjoy, just don't be so fixed on your plans that you can't modify things as needed. We travel up in May and down in September.

No, you won’t need chains. Done it the last 6 yrs in April coming home to AK. If it does snow it’ll be gone fast. It’s a major rd now a days. Driven it ( both ways) in mid winter too and carried chains but never had to use em. Do not start trip w/ old tires however. Take your time, enjoy the trip, IF the borders open up finally.

You could run into a snow storm, more likely in the spring but not impossible in the fall. Watch the forecast and the best bet is to just sit it out for a day or two. At that time of year it will not be around long and plows will be out anyway.

I,ve made three trips from SE Texas, never had a need. The last trip was 2005 and I,m sure the roads are better now than they were then.

Don

Who knows what the weather will be like in 2 yrs

Better to be prepared then HAVE to get them