Driving from S.Carolina to Alaska...W/Trailer

cool, your going to love it up here, lots of outdoor stuff to do, fishing is world class here, lots of dirt roads, some good trails, lots of places to camp. i do alot of contract work on JBER, i really liked it better when it was just Elmendorf or Ft. Rich. occasionally at wainwright and eilson. Ft. greely i been a few times. any idea where your going exactly?

 

4x4 tacoma and when you get up there hook up the new truck with some arctic truck goodies

 

It's been said by others but your nuts if you try to tow 7000lbs on that journey. I'm all for towing with these trucks but not that kind of weight on that terrain. I just did a 125 hop in northern BC with a pretty heavy trailer. I was trying to make time because I had a deadline and I had to be WOT for like 5 minutes at a time on some of the uphill pulls. Brutal on fuel too, 125 miles got me under the 1/4 mark from full tank. I definitley would not want to be doing that day in and day out.

A lighter trailer would be alright though, and if you can take your time the drive will be awesome. I drove coast to coast across Canada a few years back in about 2 weeks doing lots of stopping, it was a great trip.

Like the other guys said too, if you have the time maybe think hard about the 4wd trade up. A prerunner has the 4wd ground clearance and with good tires and weight in the back you might be alright but if you decide you want the 4wd once you're there it might be too late to have much of a chance at selling it for a decent buck.

Better to buy the 4wd in an area that doesn't need it.

 

If you really want to DITY move yourself, rent a big uhaul and trailer and tow your truck.

There are sections that are steep, but the scenery is BEAUTIFUL!!!!

You can survive in Alaska without a 4 wheel drive vehicle. Depends on what you want to do. If you want to explore the back woods, then definitely get a 4x4, but you don't need it to drive the roads (at least not in Fairbanks)

Have fun and enjoy the LONG days and then the LONG nights

 

X2

But I had a 2wd for a while and I always wished I had 4x4. There is way too much beautiful scenery up there to enjoy.

(Personal opinion alert) I am not a big fan of taking out truck loans not to mention Alaska will be hard on your truck. So with that said, I can not recommend dumping your 2wd to purchase the latest 2012 4x4. Instead, if you want to explore a lot of the logging roads or what not, I would consider a quad cab first gen 4x4 or a late model 2nd gen. But that is my conservative $.02. I never had a truck payment in my life and I never want to. Two major life goals of mine: 1) never have a car loan and 2) never be in a situation that requires surgery .

I also like the idea of renting a big uhaul and towing your vehicle though, which ever vehicle you have at the time. Just an FYI though, if you find yourself needing to rent storage space don't rent with uhaul. My Brother-in-law was in the middle of moving for the military and he rented one. He moved all of his stuff out one day past due and they charged him a $30 late fee plus another entire month of rent... $130 something total . Way to support our military uhual .

 

good luck man that drive sucked balls from idaho lol we pulled a 17ft camper with a 1500 dodge ram.. and she didnt like the mountains much. there are alot of steep grades and of course down them. trailor brakes is a must!! idk if anyone else has told you the same but you will struggle a little on the mountains just so you know haha but its amazing once you get up there. i want to move back so bad!

GOOD LUCK!!

 

Tires, tires, tires.... Make sure you have two spares for the truck and the trailer. Many people get caught on the Alaska hwy in the middle of nowhere.
See you in Edmonton

-- Sent from my Palm Pre using Forums

 

It is, I spent 5.5 years stationed at Elmendorf AFB.

BTW - if your thinking about 4x4, buy it outside of AK - there's no way your going to to get anything close to reasonable with a 4x2 from anybody up there.

And, like others said, do a partial DITY - and enjoy the trip, its on HELL of a drive.

 

I drove from Spartanburg to Washington state this summer and there was so much interstate construction in the mid-west, especially along my route, with the recession govt money. There are pretty much two routes: one, the one i took that goes through Omaha and the one you should take, which goes up to Chicago and then over... I hope you heed my warning. Once you hit Montana you will run into some hill, especially right before Idaho. Good news is it's all downhill in Idaho untill you hit Washington. It's a beautiful ride.

 

Oh man, YES. Spares Spares Spares. I can't tell you how many trailer tires I've had shred to pieces. 2 on one side! Are you kidding me. Chain reaction... 1st one went, then threw all kinds of good stuff into the second one and that was it. Oh and it was 115 outside. In the shade. Lol.

 

Thats like 5-6 solid days of driving. Prob have to go through Alberta/Saskatchwan would def need a 4x4. Doing it with 4x4=hard doing it with trailer= unthinkable. my prerunner has problems in 2'' of snow. Should wait til April, thats when the snow's gone.

 

off topic...but who knows anything about those alaskan tacomas posted above (post 22) w the fat fender flares and fat tires? thx

 

I would never tow very far more than the tow rating of any truck.If you would get envolved in an accident and it is your fault you could get the pants sued off you and maybe jail time if someone is killed not to mention the guilt you will carry the rest of your life.

 

Others have already offered some good advice. I'm sure you will pick andchoose what advice to take. On a different note, vehicles aren't the only thingsthat cost more in Alaska. If you have wants/needs that you have put off.Consider buying them now or wait till your tour in AK is over. Everything costsmore up here, especially toys, i.e. 4 wheelers, snow machines, tires/wheels,guns and such.

 

This is good advice! I'd also say you would be money ahead to get the truck you want AND the accessories while you're down there. There's no such thing as "Free Shipping" to Alaska! Read the fine print, cause it doesn't happen. And if you're coming up Fairbanks way, save a few bucks cause you're going to need some winterizing on your rig, i.e. block, battery, tranny heaters.

But don't let the facts get you down, cause it's worth it!!!

 

what they said about the tires...buddy of mine is EOD up there (lives in North Pole, AK, Ft Wainright) and had it happen to him on his drive up, had to sleep in his truck overnight...he'll be up there a few years so if you end up that far north shoot me a PM and I can put you in touch with him.

 

I know you are all going to hate me for saying this......sell the tacoma and get a tundra.

Everything in AK is .......well......large. you need a large truck for a place like AK.

 

First move?
For that distance, I'd let the military move you. It's a fucking breeze. I mean, you may not get your shit for a week once you arrive up there, but seriously? Bring a sleeping bag, a pillow, anything you don't want them moving (guns, uniforms, etc, though if you have a gun you'll need to deal with moving them through Canada). Also don't have to deal with the hassle of getting your reimbursement.

Driving 5000 miles w/ a trailer you'll be getting like 12mpg. Let's see, that's about ... 12mpg x 20 gallons = 240 miles per tank. Equals about 4 tanks per thousand miles. Equals about 20 refills (call it 18 gallon per refill) to get there. At $3/gallon equals about $1000 on just gas alone. Probably more, since gas isn't really $3. Probably closer to $1200. let's not forget sleeping accomodations on what is at LEAST a 3 days drive, and more realistically about 6. Tack on another $500-1000. Oh yeah, this is before your reimbursement comes in, so hope you've saved at least that much. And meals come into play too.

Have fun in the winter too - you ever seen an Alaska winter? They're still at 0 in April. Sure, you probably won't have a problem if you drive across the southern US then up I-5, but once you start hitting Northern Cali, there's potential for snow. Figure by Canada you're really into it.

"I hear the mountains are steep." Really? Yeah, no shit, they're called "Rockies" for a reason. Not the stupid Appalachia hills out east. These are real, holy shit are we really 8000 feet high, crap my ears just popped, I can't breathe, mountains. (sorry, I'm from Cali, so "my" mountains is an old habit).

 

I did it in my 98 Tacoma with bed loaded down for a partial DITY in late December 09 from Fairbanks, AK to FT Bragg, NC. I went down the Alcan to Edmonton then south through Montana and such to South Padre Island, TX before heading up to NC.

I'm not gonna lie, it was a rough drive through Canada in the winter but from what I understand it's an awesome drive in the spring and summer months. The roads through the Rockies and the Yukon are pretty hairy and in pretty bad repair, a trailer that heavy is just going to make it that much harder. Also, the distance in between gas stations is pretty far so make sure you have a couple of jerry cans. They're all open in the spring and summer so you should be good but that trailer will eat up a lot of gas making it up those mountain passes.

All in all, it was a great drive. Took it slow to enjoy everything along the way, you'll get 10 days travel, per diem, mileage, all that stuff. You'll make some serious bank out of it.