Forum Discussion

fulltimedaniel's avatar
fulltimedaniel
Explorer
Feb 08, 2017

Off to Alaska Soon YES in FEBRUARY

I know this will sound strange but there is a good chance that I will accept a job in Fairbanks for the summer that will require me to leave Tucson very soon to start the trip north.

However it means that I have to be in Fairbanks by the 19th of March.

I tow my 33 foot travel trailer with my new 2016 Dodge 4x4 Cummins. This will be its 2nd trip to Alaska since I bought it last April.

For all of those who wonder about going to Alaska and the road and all of that other stuff..stay tuned. I will report back here at every opportunity with photos and commentary about the trip and how I handled it.

Keep in mind that in late Feb/Early March it will definitely be WINTER still for much of the trip especially that portion on the Alaska Hwy.

Now to be fair I have to admit that I have driven the hwy in winter before...in 1972/3 when I was re-stationed from Biloxi, MS to Elmendorf AFB in Anchorage.

Hopefully the posts will be informative as well as entertaining.
  • Trackrig's avatar
    Trackrig
    Explorer II
    Feb 08, 2017
    The first thing to do is check how cold your antifreeze is good for.

    I have lived in Alaska most of my life. Went outside in 1983 and bought a new truck and drove it back. Got up around Whitehorse and the radiator froze over. Found out that the factory antifreeze was only good for about -30 so they could save a few pennies.

    Threw a sleeping bag over the hood and radiator to let the heat of the engine thaw out the radiator. When it did, I drained a couple gallons of the weak antifreeze out of the bottom of the radiator, added more straight antifreeze, checked it with a tester and was ready to go.

    Further north it was down to -60 until getting a ways west of Glennallen.

    Ran into a guy up around the border who had the same problem only it also caused a vapor lock in his cab heater so he had no heat in his truck. When we found him, he was out running around his truck trying to warm up. He had to drive with both windows down trying to keep his breath from freezing on his windows so he could see to drive.

    He'd have to stop, scrape the insides of his windows, run around his truck to warm up and then drive some more until he was too cold. We stuck with him for a long ways letting him warm up in our truck until he turned off to go to Fbks. At least he was smart enough to have good winter clothing with him.

    Bill
  • dave17352's avatar
    dave17352
    Explorer
    Feb 08, 2017
    Ok I am subscribing, I will be fascinated to follow your trip up north1
  • gbopp's avatar
    gbopp
    Explorer
    Feb 08, 2017
    It sounds like a cool adventure. Be safe and keep us updated. :C

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