Help with Long Term planning for Alaska
My wife and I plan to visit Alaska in a few years (2-4) but may start getting the pieces sooner, so want some advice. We currently have a 26'TT (5500# dry) I pull with a F150 3.5EB. I will likely ge...
Forum Discussion
Couple things which are my opinions and from my experience:
Followed my Cousin from Washington State from Oregon / Washington State boarder to Moab Utah and back. They at the time owned a 2018 150 3.5 EB pulling a 26ft trailer. Every time we hit a hill we slowed down to a crawl. I live in south eastern BC in the middle of the mountains so I have years of experience driving a hauling trailers in the mountains all months of the year. . I told them the last night we camped together before they headed back down to Vancouver Washington State that they needed a bigger truck, they agreed. They now have a new Ford F-350 Diesel.
If your going to be thinking of a new truck and your going to be doing a lot of traveling towing something, hands down a diesel is your best option. I had gas trucks and diesel trucks Over the years, and my last two trucks have been diesel, and we are sure happy they were / are.
If your thinking of a new truck the Long box or short box would be what you want, however I would get a crew cab for extra storage. The short box is a little easier to manage in parking / backing up a trailer around tight corners but even with my short box I take two parking sport when I park empty.
What ever truck you decide on make sure it has a transmission cooler if it doesn’t all ready have one. I’m pretty sure that when you get the “tow” package, when you buy a new truck, the transmission cooler is part of that package, so ask if it is part of the package, if it isn’t get one installed. Transmission have a hard time to dissipate heat, and when you add longer drives, mountains plus a trailer being towed, the transmission is having a much harder time trying to cool the fluid in the transmission. I see it all the time people broke down on a mountain pass becuase their transmission started slipping on HOT days, and it does get Hot up here.
There is nothing wrong with the trailer you have now is there? If you still like it why buy new and then find problems that come with a new rig, because all new RV’s have issues, again I know this from experience and seeing lots of people while out camping.
A couple things to do before you leave home with your present trailer. Repack and or replace all the wheel bearings, and put brand new rubber on the trailer. Not saying you won’t cook a bearing or get a flat, but the chances are much less and a piece of mind knowing, what’s rolling down the road is A-OK when you left home.
Our first trip up to Dawson City Yukon in 2004 we took our 1980 skylark 5th wheel and we didn’t have one issue. However I did go through that rig from one end to the other and repacked the wheel bearings and added new rubber including the spare as the rubber was checkered on the spare even thou it had a wheel cover over it.
Add a couple 100 watts of solar panels ether potable or attached to the roof. It’s day light much long the farther north you go so these panels will keep you batteries charged up when your not traveling and dry camping. ( boondocking in the USA) . I also use two 6 volt batteries for May last 3 RV’s and we do mostly dry camping for weeks on end no power issues. We do have a 2000 watt Yamaha Gen set, however we rarely use it.
My was if from Stewart BC ( Stewart B.C. / Hyder Alaska) and we have made many trips up to northern B.C. over the years. When we did the trip up the Alaska Hwy through Dawson Creek we bought Mile Post as everyone on here was talking about that book. Wife thought I was nuts spending that money on a book, however once she started using it while we traveled it sure was handy. I just got my 2020 Mile Post for next year trip to Tuktoyaktuk NWT. lots of new stuff in it since my last book in 2004.
Have fun on your trip
Soup.
Followed my Cousin from Washington State from Oregon / Washington State boarder to Moab Utah and back. They at the time owned a 2018 150 3.5 EB pulling a 26ft trailer. Every time we hit a hill we slowed down to a crawl. I live in south eastern BC in the middle of the mountains so I have years of experience driving a hauling trailers in the mountains all months of the year. . I told them the last night we camped together before they headed back down to Vancouver Washington State that they needed a bigger truck, they agreed. They now have a new Ford F-350 Diesel.
If your going to be thinking of a new truck and your going to be doing a lot of traveling towing something, hands down a diesel is your best option. I had gas trucks and diesel trucks Over the years, and my last two trucks have been diesel, and we are sure happy they were / are.
If your thinking of a new truck the Long box or short box would be what you want, however I would get a crew cab for extra storage. The short box is a little easier to manage in parking / backing up a trailer around tight corners but even with my short box I take two parking sport when I park empty.
What ever truck you decide on make sure it has a transmission cooler if it doesn’t all ready have one. I’m pretty sure that when you get the “tow” package, when you buy a new truck, the transmission cooler is part of that package, so ask if it is part of the package, if it isn’t get one installed. Transmission have a hard time to dissipate heat, and when you add longer drives, mountains plus a trailer being towed, the transmission is having a much harder time trying to cool the fluid in the transmission. I see it all the time people broke down on a mountain pass becuase their transmission started slipping on HOT days, and it does get Hot up here.
There is nothing wrong with the trailer you have now is there? If you still like it why buy new and then find problems that come with a new rig, because all new RV’s have issues, again I know this from experience and seeing lots of people while out camping.
A couple things to do before you leave home with your present trailer. Repack and or replace all the wheel bearings, and put brand new rubber on the trailer. Not saying you won’t cook a bearing or get a flat, but the chances are much less and a piece of mind knowing, what’s rolling down the road is A-OK when you left home.
Our first trip up to Dawson City Yukon in 2004 we took our 1980 skylark 5th wheel and we didn’t have one issue. However I did go through that rig from one end to the other and repacked the wheel bearings and added new rubber including the spare as the rubber was checkered on the spare even thou it had a wheel cover over it.
Add a couple 100 watts of solar panels ether potable or attached to the roof. It’s day light much long the farther north you go so these panels will keep you batteries charged up when your not traveling and dry camping. ( boondocking in the USA) . I also use two 6 volt batteries for May last 3 RV’s and we do mostly dry camping for weeks on end no power issues. We do have a 2000 watt Yamaha Gen set, however we rarely use it.
My was if from Stewart BC ( Stewart B.C. / Hyder Alaska) and we have made many trips up to northern B.C. over the years. When we did the trip up the Alaska Hwy through Dawson Creek we bought Mile Post as everyone on here was talking about that book. Wife thought I was nuts spending that money on a book, however once she started using it while we traveled it sure was handy. I just got my 2020 Mile Post for next year trip to Tuktoyaktuk NWT. lots of new stuff in it since my last book in 2004.
Have fun on your trip
Soup.
