The few comments I would like to add are :
Expect the unexpected for winter travel, period -
I also do recommend having chains "onhand" if you EVER need them, particularly in the northern rockies region -
If an area so happens to develop significant freezing rain while on the road, you are definitely gonna wish you have tire chains as there are many hills throughout southern and central BC and on the Alaska Highway -
I read the OP stated previously been in Alaska in the past, however not sure if time was ever spent in Interior Alaska where it is much colder in the winter in comparison to the much milder coastal or southcentral regions, but I will cover this portion in case if never spent time in the Interior during winter :
- Solid repack trailer bearings with red #2 lithium grease as it is suitable for both summer and winter weather with a wide temperature range, as a Nevada to Alaska trip would fit this criteria....I personally would not run arctic grease in regions that are above freezing and have yet to apply that stuff on my rigs here in my area.
Notice the drive BC signs posted by Soup stating passenger cars, trucks, and RV's "MUST USE WINTER TIRES" - They mean it in British Columbia as I recommend also installing "winter rated" tires and not typical "AT" tires for the truck .....G series Goodyear, Blizzak, and other equivalent winter rated snow-ice tires are soft compound that are ideal for winter conditions...running harder compound tires in winter like typical AT tires is simply asking for it, especially on a long haul towing trip like this.
Running AT tires on the trailer should be fine, providing the tread has some type of horizontal grooves that will rooster snow off of them, as it might be safe to have onhand a set of tire cables for the trailer if needed.
If running the G series Goodyear or equivalent, I recommend getting the tread siped as well, which tapers the tread and will rooster the snow and moisture off the tires better, and the tread will last longer too keeping the tires a little cooler.
Block heater is essential to have especially for a diesel engine, oil pan heater is also mentioned however if the transmission is an automatic, I also highly recommend a pad heater (75w or 100w) for the transmission pan as well, as the torq converter oil will warm up so much faster and put less strain on the valve body and pump, as all 7 of my Ford C6 transmissions have pad heaters on every one of them.
A battery heating pad or trickle charger is more efficient than a battery blanket too, however I never used those items anymore since I only run CATERPILLAR batteries in all my rigs since 1999, the CATERPILLAR battery lead plates are silver cadmium coated and are great cold weather batteries as I never had an issue running anything to keep the battery warm or insulated in the Alaska Interior winters here.
A few days ago when I was reading up on CBC news, the Yukon Government just declared new additional restrictive measures on travelers from abroad (non Yukon residents) of mandatory quarantine for 14 days upon arrival (this includes all BC and NWT residents as well, with the exception of Atlin BC and Lower Post BC residents)....
I am assuming Alaska bound travelers are still under the 24 hour rule thru the Yukon Territory at this time, however that could or would be a hard stretch of commute under winter conditions from Watson Lake to the Alaska Border in a 24 hour period, especially towing a large trailer.
The last I knew, CBSA restricted 5 land port of call border crossings to permitted Alaska bound or Alaska departure travelers...I believe they were :
Blaine - Douglas
Sumas - Huntingdon
Oroville - Osoyoos
Eastport - Kingsgate
Sweetgrass - Coutts
However predicting what the CBSA will enforce or restrict in the next 90 days or so is like predicting the weather in the next 90 days, so I would be checking up on updates often.
StirCrazy wrote:
yup, with the same restrictions as regual people passing through. there is increased scrutiny now due to quite a few people saying they were going to alaska then cught haveing vacations way out of the way of the pather between the boarder and alaska
Got that right StirCrazy.......10 parties reported that were Alaska bound got caught venturing off to Banff Nat'l Park during the summer which was NOT a direct route to Alaska, knowing they signed and understood the restrictions of non essential travel thru Canada....
As the park rangers waited for the parties to return to their USA plate vehicles after hiking or visiting, they were clearly in violation and got cited on the spot between $800 to $1200 CAD as they had to pay it immediately or have their vehicle impounded until the citation was paid in full.....I say that was a pretty expensive hike on the trails.
Since then, Canada imposed stricter measures for Alaska bound or departure travelers like imposing 5 to 7 days of travel using the most direct route, providing a placard to hang on the rear view mirror that's marked Alaska bound and having to clear with CBSA upon departure from Canada before clearing with US Customs to re-enter the United States.
Lodging accommodations for US travelers in Canada during this hardship of times shouldn't be an issue at all as that is what they are in business for.
One other post that mentioned mechanical breakdowns and such upon restricted travel, I can attest to that on sharing what my boss went thru last September-October :
First of all, I was surprised the CBSA permitted my boss into Canada this year as he tows a horse trailer with his horses to Washington State every year in the fall (keeping the horses there during the winter months) and not knowing if it would fly this year as essential travel....
Then he had problems when he got to Muncho Lake as the truck had little to no power towing thru Muncho Lake, Summit Lake, and Steamboat Mountain - and somehow made it to Fort Nelson as he was stranded at the machine shop for four days as their hardened taps broke trying to rethread something.....had to expedite some parts available in Edmonton for overnight delivery - meanwhile everyone in the Fort Nelson community that knew the situation went out of their way to help my boss with the horses and were so nice, as the RCMP escorted the horses to a corral just west of town for safekeeping while informing the CBSA that my boss was currently travel delayed due to mechanical issues as he finally cleared customs with no issues when the truck was sound again.
