ALCAN Drive 2011

Great pics and story...keep it coming!

 

Damn
I want to do this!
I want to do it in the winter sometime... Maybe I will try it first in summer
Seen as how I'm 17 and only have a prerunner at my disposal it'll probably be a while...
If it were summer, do you think I could camp as I went?

 

AMAZING VIEW! i want to do this one day. will it be in a taco who know i hope.

and sub

 

Yes.

 

Considering my buddy once did it on a BICYCLE, yes, you can.


OP - great thread. Keep the updates coming!

We are all living vicariously through your adventure!

Happy Christmas!

 

Awesome pic!

 

I could stare at this all day long...

Thanks for all the pics they are great.

 

Awesome thread. Thanks for sharing. God's speed

 

NICE!!!
Major props for helping the lady that was off the road. I hear there are 5 women to every dude in Alaska. But they have more hair on their legs than the guys do? I Hope to get up there and do some fishing one day.

 

Amazing thread and trip. Thanks Jake and be safe.

 

just made this my background picture on my laptop

 

Honored, thanks!

 

If I ever make this trip, I'll be sure to bring plenty of extra gas!

 

I have some friends in AL who tell me to drive up some time, it's on my bucket list, summer is nice but your story sounds like my kind of challenge. Keep up posted please, you tell a good story dude.

 

The highway is 100% paved and has been for at least 10 years. In 2005 I rode a Goldwing up from Kentucky. This past summer we drove up from Oregon in a 34 foot RV.

You don't need 4 wheel drive although in the winter it can certaintly help. Generally the road is in excellent shape except where construction is going on and the occassional frost heeves as you get close to the Alaskan border.

 

The hotel bar is expensive...dammit!

Contemplating making up a winter front for today's drive to Tok, AK. Got to get my ass in gear this AM - the partial hangover isn't quite helping matters!

Had the block heater plugged in all night; mostly out of spite. Had to use it at least once throughout this trip!

I think that one of the first things I'll do on the truck when I get to Kodiak is install some Aux. driving lights. Possibly considering a Hella 500 HID Retro, although not too sure about reliability/beam pattern. Driving at night up here it's really beneficial to throw as much light as possible. Considering that I have aftermarket, non-OEM components in my headlights; I'd like something reliable as a backup. (Knock on wood)...

Okay, time to get going - got about 2 Lbs. of Canadian coins in my pocket - still trying to figure out the denominations! Continually battling the Metric system.

So - my question is - should I retro a set of Hella 500s, or opt for something else? Looking for a driving pattern, that will only be used at night/day without any oncoming traffic (obviously).

Oh, and something else - a rant -

THERE ARE SO MANY OF THE STUPID "SMURF BLUE" HEADLIGHTS UP HERE...HID "DROP IN KITS"...SERIOUSLY - SPEND THE MONEY AND DO IT RIGHT!!!!

Driving at night up here is dangerous enough already - I've been blinded to the point where I've had to pull off the road. The headlights don't only look stupid, they are a safety concern. I was always skeptical of the other members who flamed the "Drop in Kits", and was even considering a kit instead of a retrofit. Not worth it. Again, they could very easily cause an accident.

END RANT.

 

Sold by the liter up here...very, very, very expensive liters.

Not even going to try doing the conversion to figure MPGs. Honestly, it 'don't matter.

 

I thought the beams on the Hella's were a little too narrow for my tastes, I found some KC's at a diesel junkyard, replaced the 50w's with 135w halogens and replaced the wiring with heavier gauges and I'm good, the beam is kind of pear-shaped and with the stock on high, i'm looking way down the road and lateral quite a bit. Drove up to Seattle and back earlier this year and much of it was at night, since i mounted the KC switch on the front side of the center vault, it sits where my right hand falls i can toggle it on or off so as not to blind people, it works great.

 

this is the time that i regret not buying a 4wd. I live in houston tx and it's flat here, it rarely snows, no need for a 4wd so i thought i could save myself a few thousand $ by getting a prerunner, but hey what's done is done, so i'm going to do the best with what i have. not planning on driving in the winter, so i should be good. this trip is definetely in my to do list with the kiddo.

 

it looks like we have the same bumper here. i bought the IPF's i've had them on for a few weeks and really like them. it's pretty bright and by the review i did a lot of people like them. installation is fairly easy and they are made for the arb bumper.