Cooper Discoverer AT3
Continuing the test results for the new Cooper Discoverer AT3 tires mounted on 2011 Chevy Silverado, we will be driving north through Montana, Idaho into British Columbia and into the Yukon before reaching Alaska on June 22, 2011.
Cooper AT3 Tires Make The Drive To Alaska
More gravel and even some spring snow met us as we traveled over an old mining
road in northern Idaho. Our map showed this road connecting Wallace Idaho with
Highway 200 in Montana and more than likely does. We passed through some little
mining ghost towns of Gem and of Burke before encountering the loose gravel
and rock where Highway 4 turns into FSR 7623 that heads over Glidden Pass.
We were looking forward to trying this road as it is advertised as having a
very challenging climb up and over Glidden Pass. Problem was, snow, and lots
of it. We were up over the hubs in no time and had just reached the trees where
the melting snow was still four feet deep over the road. Being far from any
civilization, we choose to turn around as there were still miles to go and
2500 feet to climb.
Turning around was a test in itself. Backing down to the turnoff for Lower Glidden Lake, our young driver drove through a berm and up the bank to where we were looking like the space shuttle ready for launch. Snow was packed under the body, rocks scraping the undercarriage but the truck keep moving, up, up and up that embankment. The tires worked very well in the soft dirt and gravel of the berm left from a dozer or possibly a grader.
Back down to Wallace and we were headed west on I-90 for Kingston and Coeur D'Alene River Road where we can bypass the non-maintained trails and take our truck over Thompson Pass, another high, scenic route that crosses into Montana and reaches Highway 200 not far from our initial destination.
See the tires mounted on our Chevy; 285x70x17 Cooper AT3 on a 2011 Chevy Silverado 1500
Next we will be testing the Cooper S/T MAXX over the Cassiar and Alaska Highways during the extreme winter driving conditions.
