Driving in Alaska

In addition to what others mentioned regarding winter tires, block heater, and winter washer fluid, make sure that your battery is working well and that your engine coolant is rated for the cold temperatures. Also make sure that you have a good snow brush/window scraper, it sucks to use your bare hands and a credit card. Booster cables, a shovel and a tow rope are good emergency items to carry with you in the car.

 

Good calls on the jumper cables, tow strap, snow brush / ice scraper, and windshield coverage.

I need to add the windshield coverage. Our windshields up here get murdered. I have gotten very proficient with those DIY repair kits.

 

Your welcome, We do not have a block heater on the 4Runner, it stays in the garage which is a "balmy" 55F, the 20 year old S-10 I drive to work has a block heater, but it gets to stay outside year around, it does get plugged in for extreme cold.. say 20 below zero F, but usually it's not that cold here, so at 0 F or so I just give it a little time for a good warmup. Don't worry about the cold, you'll be fine.... You have a pro-active approach to being prepared, and that's a good place to be!

 

Thanks!

 

The car is brand new, so I think we are good. I´m gonna check the coolant because I´m not sure what kind it is. We already bought the scraper and thinking of installing the winch. Thanks for your comments

 

The 4R has already a Dunlop AT Tires. We were thinking about the chains just in case of an emergency. We love to do outdoors activities and we are kind of scared if the tires won´t be enough for a snow roads or slippery.

 

For backpacking and camping in the snow I have a lightweight aluminum shovel with a collapsible handle, like this one. Now I keep it always in the back of the 4R. These shovels are a little pricey but they’re great for clearing snow and sand to free tires. No need to carry a full size shovel.
https://www.rei.com/product/825254/backcountry-access-b-1-ext-bomber-avalanche-shovel

 

The first thing to do tomorrow morning, go to REI and buy it. Thanks!

 

The factory tires aren't AT, they are HT, and they aren't great in / on anything but good traction surfaces. I would not operate those tires in snowy conditions.

 

Hi! Thanks for writing. Well, I am not kind of expert in tires, but the grab on the tire says "GRANDTREK DUNLOP AT20" So, is it AT tires? thanks for helping

 

I guess they might technically be all terrain the same way the 8 year old in a school play is technically an actor

Feel free to use them

They probably burn real nice if you need to stay warm while stuck in the snow

 

I was wondering about this so I looked it up on the site below. Conclusion: NFG for snow.

“Performance in winter road conditions is below average. Light or deep snow is a problem for this tire, and ice makes it worse. We would definitely advise extra caution if you do any amount of winter driving. Treadlife has also been an area of complaint according to more than a few drivers.”

https://tirereviewsandmore.com/dunlop-grandtrek-at20-reviews/

Here’s a tire to consider. I’m biased of course, because I’ve had great luck with Michelins on all my vehicles. Michelin LTX A/T2.
https://tirereviewsandmore.com/michelin-ltx-a-t-2-reviews/

 

Wow! kind of aggressive. But, thanks for technically helping. Have a great day

 

That is awesome. I really appreciate your time for sharing this info. I´ll try to sell my actual tires before leaving OKC and get the proper ones.

 

One of my workers runs Cooper AT3 4S’s on his F150 and his wife’s Explorer. He loves them as a year round tire.

Once the stock Terra Grapplers are shot on my wife’s 4Runner, that is what I will be going with.

 

Passive aggressive

It's kind of my thing

 

He hit the nail on the head, though.

 

OP 1st thing I did after buying my 4Runner from the dealer was to take it over to Discount Tire and have stock size Falken Wildpeak AT3W tires put on. The OEM Dunlops are trash.

 

welcome! all the best in your move to alaska. dont forget to post some photos!

 

Thanks! We are still deciding between which brand is the best. We have read some good comments about the Michelin and BFGoodrich. But we´ll keep a look on the Falken. Have a great day

 

Thanks! we are planning to be there the first week of January. Hope to share some photos

 

This is true. A skilled driver with winter driving sense can handle just about any conditions on the road. As long as you’re not driving in snow so deep your front end is plowing it. A lot of us learned to drive in the winter in 2WD cars. And my first FWD car with radial summer tires handled like a champ. It was fun to go to an empty snow covered parking lot and learn how to power through turns, donuts, and figure-eights by using the handbrake to slide the rear wheels. And what an out of control slide feels like. When I eventually put winter tires on the front it performed even better.

 

I concur

But better tires won't make a good driver worse

 

Satellite phone for trekking and always leave sealed long term food in lockable cooler

 

Hi! good point. Were have read some forum about the wildlife in Alaska. Definitely, I´ll buy the cooler and we´ll also add the roof tent for the 4R. Have a great day

 

Them's fighting words.

 

Some good tips on this Thread for winter driving in general. Thanks.

Here in St. Louis, MO we recently received a 10" snowfall. Big, for this area of the Midwest. Now being retired, I was able to get the 4R out for a real test before the snow was packed down and the snow plows got to it. Talk about fun !!! In 4H the 4R went through the fresh, deep snow effortlessly.
The Factory Dunlop's (with 11K miles) performed "OK".

In 2010, a couple weeks after I purchased new, my FJ Cruiser (with the off-road package) a similar snowfall (about 8" as I recall) occurred here. The FJ came with BF Goodrich A/T K02's as standard with the package. I was able to test it out in fresh, deep snow also. The FJ seemed to perform a bit better as I recall.

With the 21' 4R having essentially the same drive train as the FJ, I attribute the better snow performance of the FJ to the tires. When I traded in the FJ for the 4R last year, the FJ was in it's third set of K02's. I'm really sold on that tire and will be getting a set for the 4R soon. The K02's also have a bonus: They look good !! LOL

So I would rate the Factory Dunlop's as a good, all-season radial. It's smooth, quite, and performs well on dry pavement and rain. But not an A/T tire. Considering that at least half of the 4R's sold will never see any real off-road use, Toyota's choice for the Dunlops as the standard tire is probably the correct move, as the choices in after market A/T tires is endless.