Best tire for driving Alaskan Highway

^Well if you can't imagine the noise and general horror "mudders" would cause then you're right, they're probably not for you. However some people actually use their trucks off pavement and in snow and......mud! BTW, I'm not talking swampers or Thornbirds, more like Duratracs or Toyo RT/MT.
No they're not the most efficient tires, neither is a big RV drinking gas like it's free.
But, the most useful, do everything tire is a stout mud tire, siped for rain n snow traction.

Fortunately for all of us there are tire designs for everyone.

SidecarFlip wrote:

bb_94401 wrote:
If you plan on taking the Dempster Highway to Inuvik on your trip, you might consider a tire with a cut /chip resistant tire compound.

Approximately 460 miles of gravel, one way from the Yukon Territory Hwy 5 junction east of Dawson, then Hwy 8 once you cross into the Northwest Territories to Inuvik.

An example would be the Toyo M-55 LT265/70R17 tires I run as summer tires. Cooper Tires also have cut and chip resistant compound tires as well.

I used to run All Terrain TA/KO/KD's on my 350 4x4 TC camper hauler and I found that they are not stone / cut / chip resistant. I didn't wear them out per se, the tread got so chewed up (I live and farm on gravel / dirt roads, that I had to replace them. Never again. The Michelins wear much better. Better tread design. Not as 'Macho' looking but in my case I don't give a hoot about macho, I want a long wearing tire.

Yep, I have done the trip many times and cringed when somebody mentioned "mudders". 99% of a ten thousand mile+ trip is pavement, I can't imagine the noise, and wear those things would have. It's always amusing to pull up to a brodozer truck in this area, and be guaranteed to see one thing. Mudders who's only function on the street is to look cool, and make the cab sound like the inside of a tank. Unless they are a new set, they are also typically heavily damaged with scalloping on the edges and flat spots. Nothing like a noisy, expensive, poor wearing tire to degrade the quality of a great trip. I did the trip in several big SUVs and pickups. Always ran Firestone Transforce HTs. Zero issues. The motorhome also did fine, with nearly grip free, Goodyear Motorhome tires with about 1/3rd of the tread left. The travel trailers all had typical ST rated stuff, even Chinese junk. Never had a tire issue in upper CA. or AK.

bb_94401 wrote:
If you plan on taking the Dempster Highway to Inuvik on your trip, you might consider a tire with a cut /chip resistant tire compound.

Approximately 460 miles of gravel, one way from the Yukon Territory Hwy 5 junction east of Dawson, then Hwy 8 once you cross into the Northwest Territories to Inuvik.

An example would be the Toyo M-55 LT265/70R17 tires I run as summer tires. Cooper Tires also have cut and chip resistant compound tires as well.

I used to run All Terrain TA/KO/KD's on my 350 4x4 TC camper hauler and I found that they are not stone / cut / chip resistant. I didn't wear them out per se, the tread got so chewed up (I live and farm on gravel / dirt roads, that I had to replace them. Never again. The Michelins wear much better. Better tread design. Not as 'Macho' looking but in my case I don't give a hoot about macho, I want a long wearing tire.

Grit dog wrote:

Tom/Barb wrote:
It is all well maintained hard top road all the way from the US border to Fairbanks, except 13Km between Watson Lake and Whitehorse and that was very smooth,

So any good street tread should work fine.

^This. If you're just taking the Alcan straight to AK. Road isn't bad (frost heaves are). Only risk is distance between services, not likelihood of puncturing a tire.
You want to gear up for what you do that is NOT on the highway. The Denali, Dalton, Mc Carthy Rd etc.
If funds allow, I'd shoe that 150 with some good E load ATs or Mudders, pick your favorite brand.

We just got back, 90% of the highways are paved. the unpaved are no worse than the dirt roads of Texas.

Biggest problem going up this time of year are the fires of northern BC

anyone running the dirt roads of Alaska this time of year deserve all the dust they can eat :)

Tom/Barb wrote:
It is all well maintained hard top road all the way from the US border to Fairbanks, except 13Km between Watson Lake and Whitehorse and that was very smooth,

So any good street tread should work fine.

^This. If you're just taking the Alcan straight to AK. Road isn't bad (frost heaves are). Only risk is distance between services, not likelihood of puncturing a tire.
You want to gear up for what you do that is NOT on the highway. The Denali, Dalton, Mc Carthy Rd etc.
If funds allow, I'd shoe that 150 with some good E load ATs or Mudders, pick your favorite brand.

Dragged my Jeep Wrangler up and down the Alcan behind my RV last year. Then took the Jeep on the Dempster (some gravel) all the way to Deadhorse, over the Taylor/Top of the World Highway (mostly gravel) and up and down the Dempster (all gravel). Stock tires on the Jeep which are Goodyear Wranglers, and didn't have a single problem. Towed the Jeep to Big Bend NP over Christmas and took a bolt in a tire running on pavement.

Have traveled the Alcan multiple times going all the way back to '67 when it was 1108 miles of gravel and have never had a flat on the gravel portions.

If you plan on taking the Dempster Highway to Inuvik on your trip, you might consider a tire with a cut /chip resistant tire compound.

Approximately 460 miles of gravel, one way from the Yukon Territory Hwy 5 junction east of Dawson, then Hwy 8 once you cross into the Northwest Territories to Inuvik.

An example would be the Toyo M-55 LT265/70R17 tires I run as summer tires. Cooper Tires also have cut and chip resistant compound tires as well.

It is all well maintained hard top road all the way from the US border to Fairbanks, except 13Km between Watson Lake and Whitehorse and that was very smooth,

So any good street tread should work fine.

Driving the Alaska highway and other northern roads is like driving any rough paved road in the lower 48, and the same as any gravel road. If this were 60 to 70 years ago, the answer would be different. Whatever serviceable tires you have on your vehicle now will be fine.

Not to be snarky but... One that don't go flat and not a too aggressive tread because an aggressive tread will pick up gravel and you'll be on gravel roads up there. No point in destroying your paint right off the bat. I'm partial to Michelin's myself but thats a personal opinion.