North to Alaska

[happ]

For those that have made the trip are rock guards for the trailer, hood, and lights worth it or considered necessary?

[nedfarquhar]

It's all surfaced now, very little gravel. But it's a long trip and many of the roadside villages and road lodges/service places have withered because the road condition now allows longer driving days between the larger cities. It's best to be prepared, of course. And you never know when you'll encounter a long stretch of gravelly road work. I did it about 8 times in the 70s and 80s, and a couple times in the '00s, loved it, great people, great scenery, cool towns en route. Have a great trip!

[Radar1]

When we took our trip 5 years ago, I placed a wire screen with 1/4" squares in front of the radiator to help keep any gravel chips and gigantic mosquitoes from possibly puncturing the aluminum fins.
We taped bubble wrap on the front corners of the Scamp in the gravel sections at first, but gravel punctured several of the bubbles, making those areas less protective. We ended up buying a foam sleeping bag ground pad, cut it in half, and taped each section to the front corners of our Scamp. That worked better.

Third step was to get some corrugated plastic irrigation pipe and wrapped small sections around any sewer pipes and gate valves under the camper. You can see part of the corrugated pipe wrapped around the black water valve in one of the close ups.

They all worked!

Have fun! It's a wonderful trip.

[CarlD]

We went in 2019 and had a wonderful trip. It all depends on where you go. If you are planning on taking dirt roads, such as to Prudhoe Bay, Denali highway, Top of the World highway, Tuktoyaktuk, or other dirt roads, then you should consider some protection from stone damage. We went in 2019 and had a wonderful trip. We mostly stuck to paved roads when towing the trailer. When we were on dirt roads, such as the Top of the World highway we took our time. We sustained no damage, no flat tires (but did carry 2 spares), no broken windows. We travelled at around 50-55 MPH for most of the trip on pavement. I would plan on at least 2 months minimum for the trip. Lots of boondocking opportunities and reasonably priced campgrounds along the way, we had no reservations. If you go a little later in the season, (we left in July 4) they will have most of the road repair done, but still expect construction.

[David B.]

Originally Posted by happ

For those that have made the trip are rock guards for the trailer, hood, and lights worth it or considered necessary?

I didn’t put any protection on our Lil Snoozy, but sure wish I had. The front had many chips ( we did Top Of The World Hwy) and a rock must have bounced off the trailer taking out the rear window of the truck topper. We met up with several fiberglass rv members in Denali, who had taped yoga mats on the fronts of their trailers, and suffered no chips.

[Jann Todd]

Originally Posted by happ

For those that have made the trip are rock guards for the trailer, hood, and lights worth it or considered necessary?

We took our motorhome in 2008 and 2015. Both times we put a screen made for the frontend on it to prevent damage to the radiator, lights and to keep the radiator from getting full of bugs. The damages we got was a chipped windshield in Fairbanks on the highway when a piece of black top got threw into us and at one of the pavement breaks when a huge motorhome flew past us going the opposite direction going to fast and threw a rock onto the part of the motorhome that sticks out past the cab. We drove a lot of dirt roads because we wanted to see a lot. We also drove around 45-50 MPH in a lot of places so we could see animals along the road. There is still a lot of gravel areas where they can't pave because of frost heaving and where there is construction but it is mostly paved now. We went in early June both times and came home in late August. It is a trip of a lifetime and we went slowly to enjoy it.

[GpaNed]

We made a 10,000 mile road trip with our Scamp to Alaska in June 2019. We stayed on main Highways 1 and 2 but with the yearly frost heave and road construction probably drove on 200 miles of gravel. I added the plastic film to the front of the Scamp but it did not stop the rock chips. Many areas on the frame were also chipped and I repainted it with Rustoleum and a brush.

It was a great trip but if I do it again I will add mud flaps to my tow vehicle.

This video shows what the roads were like in the areas with frost heave. Look at times from 0:45 to 4:40 and this was how the road were in many sections. Maybe later in the year, say August, the roads are better.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pNdpK7n_SU

[jgilliam1955]

Thanks for the pictures. Depending on the price of gas we plan to take a trip next summer.

[David B.]

Ned, I had added mudflaps to our truck that were 2” off the road, but the rocks ate another 2” more off their length! 🥴

[Sid]

One year after we bought our Parkliner I bought one of these…
Stone Stomper Stone Guard | Stone stomper
Pricey but buy once cry once. Six years later no additional rock chips or mud spray.
If this one ever wears out I would quickly buy another.

[jgilliam1955]

Originally Posted by Sid

One year after we bought our Parkliner I bought one of these…
Stone Stomper Stone Guard | Stone stomper
Pricey but buy once cry once. Six years later no additional rock chips or mud spray.
If this one ever wears out I would quickly buy another.

That looks so cool. I may get this. I wonder if it works with tar? On my first trip out I drove through a construction area & tar-covered my camper & truck.
Also my last trip someone had just dumped their black tank at a stoplight. I ran thru it & got covered in toilet paper and crap. It took my hours to wash that stuff off & the smell lasted a week. People would not pass my truck on the highway and would drop back. At the campground, the smell covered several lots.

[jgilliam1955]

What rock guards folks have had success or failure with for their camper?

[happ]

Thanks for the responses.
Who makes a long mud flap.. Those I googled look short, weathertech and husky. What is a good length?

[jgilliam1955]

Originally Posted by happ

Thanks for the responses.
Who makes a long mud flap.. Those I googled look short, weathertech and husky. What is a good length?

I have been watching YouTube on different Rock Guards. Saw this for example.
https://www.rocktamers.shop/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjAr00icHGc

[thrifty bill]

Originally Posted by jgilliam1955

Thanks for the pictures. Depending on the price of gas we plan to take a trip next summer.

You can count on gas being high throughout Canada and in Alaska as well. Its how it goes. And then you have the miles you travel. Our trips to Alaska (several) have all been in the 11,000 to 13,000 mile range.

The main highways have gotten better and better. On my last trip (2018) I found the roads better than what I have seen in several of the lower 48 states. Now once you get off the main roads, conditions deteriorate. I met a guy that decided to take his four wheel drive pickup with a pickup camper up the Dalton Highway. The entire camper came loose, structural members broken. He put several straps across the top of it to temporarily hold it in place.

You can see the front box on my Escape took some abuse, thats on the way home in the Yukon.

The one picture is a typical gas price, not the highest. The highest we paid was about $7.50/gallon, and this was back when gas was "cheap".

[jgilliam1955]

Thank you for the information & pictures.

[brroberts]

Lived up their 25 years and made the trip many times. Some say protect it, others say the main roads are paved and it’s no big deal. I’d say for the main highways / ferry’s, just go. If you know you want roads like the Denali or Dempster highways take the precautions you feel comfortable with for any other long gravel just as you might or might not do in the southwest US.

[JPM]

Did a Calgary to Whitehorse trip in August (2021) for 3 weeks with our 1972 Boler. Hard top surface all the way, with the usual summer road construction, but not too bad. The worst part (roughest) if I recall was the stretch from Hinton (Alberta) to Grande Cache (Alberta).
Took some small stone chips in the Boler's front end paint. A logging truck tossed up a rock that cracked the bug deflector and dented the hood on my Outlook in a construction zone but that was about it. As mentioned, alot of the roadside ammenties (camps sites and gas stations etc have closed down so a bit of careful planning is required and filling up with gas pretty frequently just in case never hurts either. Superb trip though - so scenic it makes us want to go back soon!!
Enjoy your trip next summer - the north is awesome!!.
Cheers
jpm

[Ak Ron]

Lots of good advice here. Pick what seems right for you and where you are going in Alaska….remember that it is a BIG state! Windshields are at risk, but not much you can do about that except slow down. “construction season” will be scattered everywhere!
If you have time, a detour into southeast at Haines Junction to see Haines might be worth it for you. Skagway is possible if you add a ferry connection and you can make a loop. A reverse loop is possible from a cutoff. near Whitehorse and it will get you back on the ak highway.
Enjoy!

[jerrybob]

Another option....not for everyone.....is to fly into Anchorage and rent a RV.....this is a good option especially if time is a concern. For a few thousand bucks.....you can spend a few weeks......see some great country and not worry about chips and damage to your trailer or tow vehicle. My two cents.