Long road trip to arctic circle, tire reliability?

[youkefei]

Hi, I'm planning a road trip into arctic circle, about 8000km(5000Mi) round trip. I currently have 275/55R20 Nitto TerraGrappler on 4 stock rims. I'm considering to buy another same Nitto tire mounted on the spare rim.

A couple of questions:

• According to Nitto tire spec, the tire is supposed to be mounted on 7.5"-9.5" rim, my Limited stock rim is only 7" wide, do I have to worry about tire blowing off when doing a 8000km road trip?
• Do you guys think a second same size spare tire is necessary?

I know the "best" solution is to replace all stock rims to wider ones, but cost wise, it might not be the best.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Ryan_S]

What sort of roads will the trip be on? It might be worth it to bring a second spare if you will be many miles from civilization. I guess I would at least bring some fix-a-flat, patch kit, compressor.

Sounds like a fun trip. Post up some pictures when you get back, eh?

 

[youkefei]

Sure, will do.

Most of the trip will be on highways and some gravel/dirt roads. Puncture seal or tire plug kit will be a must.

What sort of roads will the trip be on? It might be worth it to bring a second spare if you will be many miles from civilization. I guess I would at least bring some fix-a-flat, patch kit, compressor.

Sounds like a fun trip. Post up some pictures when you get back, eh?

 

[-JD-]

I would think you should be fine with a single spare and some puncture sealant. i guess the nice thing is that should you break down at least this time of year it will never be dark!

 

[hamiltonj2w1]

Is your spare already a Nitto 275/55/20? If not you should definitely have the same size spare if not it could cause problems if you need to use it. I would be less worried about tires and more worried about some extra blankets this trip it sounds cold lol

 

[pawzitiv]

Hi! Nice to see another Calgarian here.

If you plan on driving the Dempster Highway, you might want to rethink your tire choice or it may be a long walk back to civilization. The surface of the Dempster Highway is not typical highway crushed gravel but rather sharp fragments of shale and it chews up tire sidewalls.

Two spares are highly recommended; with only one spare, a tire plug kit is pretty much mandatory as well as a way to inflate a tire in the middle of nowhere. You'd be wise to look at tires that have a tough 3-ply sidewall. I can't find any sidewall ply info on your TerraGrapplers but I'd be surprised if they had a 3-ply sidewall. Steer clear of P-series tires for this kind of service; you want a LT tire.

If it were me, I'd switch to 17" wheels and then look at the new Cooper Discoverer ST Maxx or the Cooper Discoverer STT with extra siping. Both are damn tough tires. Talk to Dwayne Ewasiuk at Ward Tire (403.273.0202), tell him what you're planning and he'll set you up.

Another option: I have just upsized my 5 Cooper STT's (siped) from LT265/70R17 (less than 6,000km wear) to LT285/70R17; if the LT265/70R17's interest you, I may be persuaded to work a local deal with you. PM me and let me know what you decide to do for tires.

 

[youkefei]

The trip is scheduled to no earlier than August, not sure if we can see the mid-night sun, but it still will be a long day!:reddance:

I would think you should be fine with a single spare and some puncture sealant. i guess the nice thing is that should you break down at least this time of year it will never be dark!

 

[youkefei]

No, I only have the stock spare for now. Agreed it's absolutely necessary to have a matching spare tire.

Is your spare already a Nitto 275/55/20? If not you should definitely have the same size spare if not it could cause problems if you need to use it. I would be less worried about tires and more worried about some extra blankets this trip it sounds cold lol

 

[youkefei]

Thanks pawzitiv! Lots of helpful information!

I'm still struggling on driving the Dempster Highway to Inuvik in NWT or on Dalton Highway to Deadhorse in Alaska. Dalton seems the only way you can drive to the Arctic Ocean.

2 spare tires involves an additional tire mount rack, maybe on the roof, but I will put a cargo box on top.... I'll figure it out anyway.

I'll do some more research on tire, and will think about your Cooper tires. If I would, I should get rid of my stock 20" rims and tires first! We'll see.

Hi! Nice to see another Calgarian here.

If you plan on driving the Dempster Highway, you might want to rethink your tire choice or it may be a long walk back to civilization. The surface of the Dempster Highway is not typical highway crushed gravel but rather sharp fragments of shale and it chews up tire sidewalls.

Two spares are highly recommended; with only one spare, a tire plug kit is pretty much mandatory as well as a way to inflate a tire in the middle of nowhere. You'd be wise to look at tires that have a tough 3-ply sidewall. I can't find any sidewall ply info on your TerraGrapplers but I'd be surprised if they had a 3-ply sidewall. Steer clear of P-series tires for this kind of service; you want a LT tire.

If it were me, I'd switch to 17" wheels and then look at the new Cooper Discoverer ST Maxx or the Cooper Discoverer STT with extra siping. Both are damn tough tires. Talk to Dwayne Ewasiuk at Ward Tire (403.273.0202), tell him what you're planning and he'll set you up.

Another option: I have just upsized my 5 Cooper STT's (siped) from LT265/70R17 (less than 6,000km wear) to LT285/70R17; if the LT265/70R17's interest you, I may be persuaded to work a local deal with you. PM me and let me know what you decide to do for tires.

 

[Devin_P]

Don't have experience with the other road but the description sounds just like the Dalton. My brother and I killed two BFG All-terrains on that route back in 2007. We had debated the second spare and I'm glad I won that argument.

 

[JB.]

According to Nitto tire spec, the tire is supposed to be mounted on 7.5"-9.5" rim, my Limited stock rim is only 7" wide, do I have to worry about tire blowing off when doing a 8000km road trip?

No, not at all, it just falls slightly out of the optimum range. Theoretically, the tire will arch slightly and tend to wear more in the middle so you might want to keep an eye out for that, but I'm guessing it'll be too subtle to notice.

 

[M1911]

Switch to 17" wheels, bring two spare tires, and bring a repair kit.

 

[Ghost Runner]

I would definitely go with two spare tires of the same size that you are running. I would put one on the roof.

It is not uncommon to run through more than 2 tires on the trip you described.

PS also in Calgary

 

[scanny]

I'm thinking about driving North as well, but since I'm in Ontario I was researching James Bay Road and Trans-Taiga Road. I came across the following warning about Trans-Taiga road:

"Flat tires: The Trans-Taiga Road is "a tire eater road"! If you drive something heavy like an SUV or a full-size pick-up truck, it is a must to have 6 ply tires. In summer, the road surface temperature can be quite high. This high temperature can literally chew up and destroy your tires. In about 75% of the cases of flat tires along here, the tire is not any good afterwards." (James Bay Road Website - Home Page)

I'm not sure if it applies to the road you are planning to travel, but it might be very similar conditions up there.

 

[mib]

Thanks pawzitiv! Lots of helpful information!

I'm still struggling on driving the Dempster Highway to Inuvik in NWT or on Dalton Highway to Deadhorse in Alaska. Dalton seems the only way you can drive to the Arctic Ocean.

....

Hi there...

I guess everyone has different experiences. My wife and I drove to Inuvik for our honeymoon (from Toronto). Toyota Rav4 in 2001. Maybe the roads were better back then.... but, I had a single spare wheel, and a jerrycan of gas (also a puncture repair kit with small compressor...). (the gas was more for the stretch between Ross River and other civilization... we calculated we needed 7/8ths of a tank between towns.... and needed some buffer). Eagle-plains on the Dempster highway has gas, so no problem for that stretch, it's just a few hundred k's.

Perhaps the conditions when we did it (late july 2001) were great, but we had *no* issues. not even a 'rough spot'. The worst was probably the ferry across the Mckenzie river.... Some of the roads in Alaska were far worse... Also, the construction on the Stewart-Cassiar Highway was terrible... the worst road we drove.

Anyway, as for the Arctic ocean, my wife and I took a float-plane to Herschel Island. (we stayed at a B&B called Arctic Chalet, and they pre-arranged the flight... relatively affordable if it is a 'highlight' of a honeymoon). That way you get to have a really nice Arctic ocean experience. At least you get to swim in it if you want while near the docks on the Island. Also, the flight is simply amazing.

Anyway, back to the road.... does this really look scary?

(Google Street-view)
Google Maps

I must admit, it was far more intimidating before the days of google maps!

I'm not saying you shouldn't be prepared, but, unless you are planning major off-roading, which you should not be doing on the Dempster (and it's sensitive ground), it's really is just a dirt road! OK, a *long* dirt road... and you can have an adventure on any dirt road, I guess. The info we had at the time was that when wet the road can get slippery... but for us it was dry.

In case of emergency we were seeing some traffic, about one car every couple of hours. We did stop and help one person driving a touring motorbike... but it turned out he was just taking a leak...

The only caution I have is also published on the sign at the beginning of the Dempster... there's no CAA coverage (and no emergency services)!

Have fun!

mib

 

[Catchlight]

We drove the Dempster Highway to Inuvik in a Land Cruiser in 1982 and had no tire problems because it's just a really long gravel road and we had 6-ply LT tires. One spare ought to do, but we saw guys in pickups with two or more in the back.

Interesting Toyota sidebar: At that time there was exactly one fuel source on the 500 miles from Dawson City to Inuvik, at Eagle Plains. The Land Cruiser was a brand new model in Canada at that time (I got the second one), so I was surprised when the guy filling our tank saw our vehicle and said "I haven't seen one of these for over a year." Apparently Toyota had flown in a number of Cruisers from Japan, ran them up and down the Dempster for several days, flew them back to Japan, and stripped them down to the last bolt and cotter pin to check for wear and weaknesses.

The QC must have worked, because our beast was great mechanically for 11 years, until the body rusted out badly, which was typical for some Toyota models at the time. I sold it to a local mechanic, and I saw him still driving it around a couple of weeks ago held together by fibreglass patches, and with every door and the back hatch a different colour--whatever the wrecker had when the original rusted out.