Looking to travel from Central Valley California up thru Canada

[B&TR1T]

Hoping to make a trip from Sacramento to Vancouver. Currently only have 21” tires so no snow tires. Looking for recommendations as I think I might need to carry snow tires/wheels in the bed .

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[iamnid]

When are you planning the trip? Other than maybe through Grant's Pass, you probably won't need snow tires. I lived in BC for 20+ years and it was rare that anyone ran anything other than All Seasons year round. Vancouver doesn't get a lot of snow.

 

[Feetdry]

We live about 50 miles south of the Canadian border and just made reservations for Thanksgiving dinner in Vancouver. We don't expect to see snow this time of the year just going to Canada in my 23 model T...

 

[TyeeMike]

unless you plan to do some side trips out of the vancouver lower mainland, you will not be too likely to see snow.
if you plan to go to north of vancouver or east of hope then you will need them.
it if does by chance snow, the roads will be a complete gong show. ill equipped vehicles driven by people who have no business on the roads (at anty time) with bald tires, fear of a few flakes, etc will quickly block up every highway around vancouver. some call it snow-mageddon for the week or two that we actually have snow stick to the roads.

 

[B&TR1T]

Thanks. Also anticipate moving to Colorado in the near future. So going to Canada , Vancouver in particular, snow tires are probably not necessary.

 

[cbrcanuck]

Thanks. Also anticipate moving to Colorado in the near future. So going to Canada , Vancouver in particular, snow tires are probably not necessary.

If it doesn't snow, you won't need them. If it does, you'll wish you had them. Plan accordingly (Unlikely to snow, but not impossible). And as @TyeeMike said, 99% of people don't have them on right now, and all roads turn to chaos when it snows.

 

[cbrcanuck]

Thanks. Also anticipate moving to Colorado in the near future. So going to Canada , Vancouver in particular, snow tires are probably not necessary.

Also for anyone reading this in the future - Vancouver snow is not like snow in most other places (I grew up in Winnipeg). We're all hills, and the snow is wet and slippery like you wouldn't believe.

 

[B&TR1T]

Thanks for the advice! Did plenty of skiing back in the day in Colorado. Totally get the drivers that have no business driving in snow conditions! I purchased the 21” tires for maximum range. Unfortunately few (if any) M/S tires for this size!!

 

[cbrcanuck]

Thanks for the advice! Did plenty of skiing back in the day in Colorado. Totally get the drivers that have no business driving in snow conditions! I purchased the 21” tires for maximum range. Unfortunately few (if any) M/S tires for this size!!

I'm the same. I run the 21s outside the winter (they're holding up way better than I expected) and I have winter tires (I just got a set of 20" rims and do a full swap each season, and then I use one of my "off season" wheels/tires as my spare). I just put the winter tires on a few days ago, actually.

 

[TyeeMike]

The fun part of Vancouver - and region - snow mageddon... people ignore snow warnings and get on the road in the AM and cause the commuting horror. If you are smart, get to your destination when the first flakes hit. I close my office and send people home on these days. Even if you are the most skilled winter driver with best tires it will not matter. Its not you, its the unprepared.

If you find yourself in this commuting hell, rather than sitting on some highway eating up KWs find a decent restaurant or pub and kill 4-5 hours over an extended dinner, maybe a movie. things usually get better after say 10pm on these days from hell.

That being said, it mostly doesn't snow / stick, except when it does

 

[Birdowin]

Thanks for the advice! Did plenty of skiing back in the day in Colorado. Totally get the drivers that have no business driving in snow conditions! I purchased the 21” tires for maximum range. Unfortunately few (if any) M/S tires for this size!!

With the 21" tires you can use chains. Can't with the 20s

 

[Taco Corp]

Hoping to make a trip from Sacramento to Vancouver. Currently only have 21” tires so no snow tires. Looking for recommendations as I think I might need to carry snow tires/wheels in the bed .

I do this drive multiple times a year, well most of it. I live in Seattle but we have an orchard down by Lodi. The only place you really need to worry about is Siskiyou summit and maybe to a lesser degree some of the higher hills in southern Oregon, but you can also just go up the coast and avoid most of it worst case.

When I had the 21" stock wheels/tires I just had a set of chains I kept in the frunk, have never needed them. Driving back in forth between November and February the biggest issue I had was it just being super cold and burning a lot of battery up between Ashland and Yreka. Well that, and going back a few years the charging options were basically only at Walmarts.

What I normally do:
Start in Lodi @ 100%
Top up a bit at a Tesla charger south of Redding
Top up at the RAN charger in Shasta
I can usually get from Shasta to Roseburg and the next RAN charger, but if not there are EA and Tesla in between.
Charge again in Tigard @ EA - the Portland RAN is like 25 miles out of the way vs. staying on I-5 though I do use it on the way south.
Charge in Grand Mound at the Tesla Charger
You should be able to make it to the Lynnwood RAN charger north of Seattle from there, it's a little off the freeway but usually not busy. It is in a mall parking lot so holiday traffic may be a thing.
I always use the truck crossing going into B.C. - Theres a bunch of Tesla chargers at the truck stop just before the border crossing.

Make sure you setup an EA Canada account, and maybe BC Hydro depending on where you're going in BC or in my experience the bigger Vancouver hotels that require valet will charge you up as part of the parking fee.

 

[B&TR1T]

Great information. Thanks! Didn’t know that there were chains for 21” tires. Will search for some. We head to Reno every so often and I-80 may have chain controls required.

 

[Taco Corp]

Great information. Thanks! Didn’t know that there were chains for 21” tires. Will search for some. We head to Reno every so often and I-80 may have chain controls required.

I've not been up I-80 with my Rivian in the winter, but yeah, that looks pretty gnarly at times and I think they are pretty strict about chains and/or snow tires. Good luck! The I-5 grind isn't super exciting but very doable and getting much easier as the volume and reliability of charging increases.

 

[DarcyL]

It is worth mentioning that winter tires are now required if you head to Whistler on Highway 99 or go east of Hope on Highway 1.

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