U haul rental for Dalton Highway
Caribou
Looking for thought on taking a U haul (15 footer) up the haul road for caribou, specifically around flat tires and reliability. Especially looking to hear from anyone who has done this themselves, or others who have seen hunters do this. I think we are especially concerned around flat tires in one. 1) do you see a lot of u hauls with flats? 2) do you find a spare or two take with you, just buy them? 3) are the flats you get in general up there fixable with a plug kit and a pump? or fix a flat? We are heading up in middle of August and will have a truck and maybe a uhaul for 2nd vehicle, but also don't want to lose 2-3 days of a 7 day trip with lots of flat tire headaches. I know there are some other posts on this topic, but 4-5 years old. Welcome any thoughts anyone has. Will be first trip to Alaska. Thanks, Joe
Good luck and have a great time!
I did this in 2020 with no problems but........ I have a friend who goes up there every year and hunts and last year he informed me that U-Haul no longer rents out vehicles longer than a 24 hour window. Good luck and let me know what you find out!
You might look into purchasing an enclosed trailer. There are some used ones out there that are kind of beat up that are "fairly" reasonable - just make sure you go through and grease the bearings and install bearing buddies - put good tires on it and a couple spares (load range "E"). When you get back you should be able to sell it. Even if you loose a few bucks it still might be better / cheaper than a u-haul rental.
Not only that, you'll have it plenty early and can put shelving / tie downs / bunk beds / etc., etc., in it.
Thanks for the comments so far, encouraged you did this with no issues cwater, will double check in reserving. Did you bring any tire patch things or what was your plan if you got a flat??
Thanks for the idea inshart, but the uhaul is more for cheap transportation than gear space. We have 6 people total, need 2 vehicles and so expensive. Taking a couple of our sons this year for first ever diy hunt, for my son first ever non whitetail deer hunt. Have never seen a caribou in the wild, will be a great adventure. Just don’t want to be stranded on side of road for half the hunt with flats in a uhaul! Appreciate any other advice on u haul, tires, or anything at all Thanks
I hunted it with Stan Parkerson in 2010 and 2012 for grizzly and we went as far as Antigun Pass I believe it was. No issues on either trip with flats and Stan just had a F350 towing a camper. I was surprised at the quality of the road and the amount of it that was paved. I imagine, if anything, it has only gotten more "tame" in the last decade.
No experience with the trip. I'm jealous though. My only thought would be you show up to uhaul and the only thing they have on the lot is already a junker. Even if the vehicle didn't look worn those things take a beating. A simple reliability problem would scare me.
We drove a U Haul van all the way to Prudhoe Bay in 2018 with no problems. It was the regular looking van, not the box van type.
Drove this car to Wiseman last year, that is the better half of the road, but the car was far from heavy duty. No tire issues, just had to watch for ruts and soft spots in the road to keep from bottoming out.
We were on the Dalton last year, up past the Yukon River. Road wasn’t that bad in August. Take your time and pay attention and you should be good.
Did you already book the uhaul? Do they still allow it?
Not sure yet wildwilderness
