2023-08-04, 07:34 AM
One item that hasn't been mentioned yet. Tires.
If you plan on travel on Death Valley back country roads and trails, I'd heartily recommend LT rated truck tires to be spooned onto your Sienna, best if they are of an all terrain tread. No need to go with a bigger tire. Those will give you better protection from stone puncture caused flat tires, plus added traction to those two driving wheels. Those with multiple ply sidewalls, such as B.F. Goodrich All Terrain T/A KO2 and others, will allow you to drop the air pressure for added floatation over washboards, better resistance to stone puncture in the sidewalls and additional traction in loose soils.
For maximum protection, I'd have those tires on all four wheels. Stick with a true truck rated tire, not imitation all terrain types that come as OEM tires on many 4x4 vehicles. They might look rugged but are passenger car rated construction thus prone to flat tires like any other. And carry some fix-a-flat in a can, or best a simple tire plug kit; and a 12v air compressor.
How do I know? A brand new 1996 Chevy 4x4 pickup with Goodyear Wrangler tires on its maiden voyage. Three flats in one day. On the maintained Racetrack and Big Pine-Death Valley roads. All caused by gravel stuck in the tire treads. Fifteen or sixteen flats in a short time later, I got LT rated tires and have motored on happily ever after.
If you plan on travel on Death Valley back country roads and trails, I'd heartily recommend LT rated truck tires to be spooned onto your Sienna, best if they are of an all terrain tread. No need to go with a bigger tire. Those will give you better protection from stone puncture caused flat tires, plus added traction to those two driving wheels. Those with multiple ply sidewalls, such as B.F. Goodrich All Terrain T/A KO2 and others, will allow you to drop the air pressure for added floatation over washboards, better resistance to stone puncture in the sidewalls and additional traction in loose soils.
For maximum protection, I'd have those tires on all four wheels. Stick with a true truck rated tire, not imitation all terrain types that come as OEM tires on many 4x4 vehicles. They might look rugged but are passenger car rated construction thus prone to flat tires like any other. And carry some fix-a-flat in a can, or best a simple tire plug kit; and a 12v air compressor.
How do I know? A brand new 1996 Chevy 4x4 pickup with Goodyear Wrangler tires on its maiden voyage. Three flats in one day. On the maintained Racetrack and Big Pine-Death Valley roads. All caused by gravel stuck in the tire treads. Fifteen or sixteen flats in a short time later, I got LT rated tires and have motored on happily ever after.
DAW
~When You Live in Nevada, "just down the road" is anywhere in the line of sight within the curvature of the earth.
~When You Live in Nevada, "just down the road" is anywhere in the line of sight within the curvature of the earth.