Moving to Alaska in December, ALCAN or Ferry?

Want to thank everyone for their input, with your help I feel ready to tackle this road trip/move.

Here is the route that I have decided on...



As far as the truck is concerned, I have a list here of everything that I have installed.

- General Grabber AT2 - Not going to stud them, so I'll be carrying chains just in case
- BulletProof Fabrication Skid Plate
- Avid Light Bar
- Rigid Dually D2s - With Amber Covers
- HID Retrofit Kit
- xB LED Fog Light Kit
- Cobra 75 WXST CB w. 3' Firestik
- 2x 30,000 Recovery Straps
- Shackles on the front and rear
- Block Heater
- Remote Starter

As for the rest of the gear I'm taking...

- 1 Case of MREs
- 5 Gallons of Water
- Dog Food for my pup
- 20 Gallons of Gas
- Wool Blankets and extra warm clothes
- Candles
- Tin Foil
- Flares
- A Milepost
- A Cooler to carry the normal food I plan to eat. (MREs will be in the cab for emergencies, cooler will be in the bed)


Based on the timeline I have now, I'll arrive in Alaska by mid-January... Taking my time on the drive to enjoy the sights and people, but I'm super excited to get up to the last frontier!

 

If you need a hand with lighting lemme know, as for tires, lots of people up here refer to all terrains as 'no terrains'. A solid tire, but the rubber is pretty rigid and they don't do as well on ice. I ran my stock dunlops into some nuts places and never had an issue on ice with them. I run super swampers now. VERY soft whoch means they wear fast, but grip the ice like you wouldnt believe and I havent found a better tire in dirt.

Oh, and ALCAN, just to say you did it. Get a milepost.

 

As far as the lighting, I have a TRS retrofit kit & xB fogs at my parents house that I'll install when I get there for my Korean mid-tour leave. But I was going to order a pair of Rigid Dually D2 Driving lights to install on the Avid bar that I have waiting at my parents place too. I'll just have to pick up an OTTRAW switch for those too.

I was going to buy a set of DuraTracs, but I've been hearing some really bad things about them lately. So I decided on the BFGs because they have a great reputation elsewhere. Is there another tire that you would recommend that might last a little longer than the swampers? I'd like to have one set of tires for all seasons up there. I had two sets when I had a Subaru in Nebraska and I hated changing them and re-programming the TPMS.

I was leaning towards the ALCAN, mostly because I just read that my dog would have to stay in the truck if I took the ferry. If he's stuck in the truck, I'm with him

I forgot to mention in the original post, I've been lurking on the Alaska page for a while (as I was waiting on the notification that I would get the assignment) and I can't wait to meet y'all and get to some of the meets!

 

Haha I definitely wasn't recommending buying swampers. Expensive and frequently changed. How often are you wheeling your rig?

 

I've had a better wear pattern with Hankook Dynapro Atm over anything from BFG. I leave them on my truck during the winter and being in Alberta we see occasional snowfalls followed by rapid melts which produces thick ice. I've never had a problem stopping with the Dynapro's in those conditions. If you do the ALCAN maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to switch your spare over to something else too so you don't have to run an extended period of time on your stock spare if you have a flat in Canada.

Have fun, that sounds like a hell of an interesting drive .

 

I haven't done it, but I was told you can ship a vehicle on the ferry. That might be a good option instead of towing it up to AK.

Get some good lights if you drive the whole way in December. It's a long way to go in the dark... And there are sections where you're almost guaranteed to have wildlife on the road.

I also consider winter tires a must when living up north, but a lot of people get by without them.

I'm sure you'll enjoy Alaska!

 

I don't wheel often, but it seems like the group up there has fairly regular meets for trips and I would definitely like to go on a few for sure. I'll just have to stick to the easier trips until I get my lift kit installed.

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll look into the Dynapro's. I was planning on swapping all 5 tires anyway because I am going up a size, and I don't want mis-matched tires because I know the truck is basically going to live in 4x4 once I get near Canada. I was also going to pack about 15 extra gallons of gas, survival gear and food/water.

I'll have to look into shipping the car. But I would only be towing one if my sister moves with me. She has been living with my folks for a while and they want her to move out so. I'm actually very nervous about towing a trailer on that drive. I've towed a lot, but never on snowy/icy roads. Plan was to keep the speed down and give myself a million miles to stop if I towed her car.

 

Also, should I get a block heater and or an oil pan heater?

And I'll be adding remote start too.

 

I'd say a good battery and block heater are probably the bare minimum. I've got a battery pad as well which is added peace of mind.

Oil pan heater is a nice to have. I think around here it's not as popular as the first 2, unless your vehicle really has a hard time in the cold.

 

Also, it generally wasn't to find a hotel that would offer pet friendly rooms, but I once had an issue with a place that wouldn't let me in with my dog. I usually don't insist at all, but that was the only option around and there was no way he was staying outside over night in -20F!

In the winter, I call ahead of time to check pet friendly room availability, but I was too tired to continue at the time... so I slept in my vehicle for a few hours with the dog.

 

Chive on!! Synthetic oil, block heater and a remote start really is all you need

 

KCCO brother. Thanks, I forgot about synthetic oil. I'm going home in two weeks for my mid-tour leave and my parents are getting sick of all the toys I've ordered because I'm going to Alaska haha. But I will swap her over to synthetic while I'm there too.

Also, I think I'm going to put some General Grabber AT2s on her. Anyone have experience with them? Seems like the best all around tire for the north.

 

Tons of mall crawlers have them around here, probably to match that pretty red sidewall to a black or red coloured truck. I've never seen them on a oilfield or on farm truck though. There's probably a good reason for that. Seriously, I've had the most luck with hankook dynapro ATM and the L/T version of the Toyo Open Country AT. Everything else chipped to shit fast on bad/gravelled roads. Even the Toyos chipped a little fast for my liking. The two worst tires I've ever run were yokoyama geolanders and BFG AT TO.

 

You're thinking of the General Grabber Red Labels. The AT2 is a good tire and I ran them on my old truck. Pretty good grip all around, but me driving 2 years ago in the snow and now in the snow are two different things. The AT2's are snow flake rated as well and I hear that they last for awhile.

 

Ah, my mistake then! I wish they'd make a nokian wr2 copy for light trucks. I'd put those on my truck for everyday driving in a heart beat, then switch tires and rims anytime I'm going to go on a road less traveled.

 

I would say do the ALCAN. I drove the ALCAN back in 2003 from Fairbanks to California then North Carolina. Just make sure to stay back as much as possible from the big rigs, because they are prone to sling rocks that is big enough to crack a windshield. This was years back, so maybe the roads have improved now. I know a bunch of people that PCS from Ft. Wainwright including myself that drove the ALCAN and all of us got a chip in our windshields. But in the end it was all worth it.

 

Yeah, I wasn't looking at the red labels. Just the AT2. I was looking at the Dynapros as well, but the Generals got better user ratings on tirerack, if only slightly better. Plus, they are slightly cheaper too.

I've been leaning more towards the ALCAN now that I heard that my dog has to stay in the truck while on the Ferry. I don't want to leave him alone and bored in a crate in the back of my truck.

The info about the Big Rigs is good to know, I didn't think about that. I also picked up a milepost and have started to big into that a little bit.

 

No worries! I will agree with you on Dynapro atm rf10 tires are awesome and they definitely perform well in the snow.

 

My dad and I have had good luck with the Hankook ipike rw11 in a LT. I run them studded and swap out in the summer for something more AT. Currently running BFG AT KOs. I love having both sets myself, studs are not an essential in the winter but I sure like the extra traction when stopping/wheeling/cornering/snatching some one out of a ditch. Added bonus is they are one of the cheaper winter tires. Just my $.02. You will love it up here though! And definitely drive it. At the very least I would feel more comfortable with some recovery gear on that long of a drive, everything else should be fine.


Welcome to the last frontier.

 

I took the ferry when I moved up in Feb. '96 and was glad of it. It's still a drive from Haines. Many of the new Elmendorf transfers did not have block heaters and had to pay to be reheated in Tok (-50 deg F). I recommend a tank heater style. Tires - make 'em studded winters all around. I bought a second pair of steel wheels and put the winter tires on them (1st gen Taco doesn't use tire sensors). The snow in AK turns to ice immediately after falling and "all season" tires or others are the ones on the vehicles you will see in the ditch. We call it "creative parking".
I have driven the ALCAN several times but always in the summer and that is a non-issue except for rocks and construction. Two spares are carried by many. Be careful about fueling. Do it whenever available. They are few and far between. The station at Beaver (Yukon?) closes at 5:00 PM. If you go that way make sure to take time for a stop at Liard Hot Springs. Good luck - AK is awesome - get out of Anchorage.