Sleeping inside the truck (Winter camping) heating needs

Ha, the route in not finalized but I have factored in 4-5 days to reach Fairbanks, Ak.
Day one: Reach Seattle or cross border.
Day two: Cross border and drive upto Prince George, BC
Day three: Prince George, BC to 10 hours up north...not sure yet
Day Four: from "not sure place" to Whitehorse, YT
Day five: Whitehorse, YT to Fairbanks, AK
(unless absolutely necessary, all overnight stay will be in hotels)

Rest for a day or two then, the LAST PUSH.

Day 1 (450-460 miles):
Fairbanks to HotSpot Cafe (lunch)
HostSpotCafe Arctic circle mile marker F-199 (Photos photos and some more)
Mile marker to ColdFoot (Gas stop)
ColdFoot to DeadHorse (overnight).

Day 2: Rinse and repeat in reverse order.

 

What part of AK are you coming to? If stopping in Anchorage be sure to come by Green Tree Fabrication and say hey, @benbacher works there and they specialize in Toyotas!

 

Fairbanks, AK first and if I have the energy on the way back, I will swing by Denali national park before reaching Anchorage, AK. I called up the "ferry people" and they want almost $2000 to haul me and the truck....so, driving through Canada it is.

 

If you do then you should definitely give us (the local tacoma group here) a holler and should meet up! And yeah I'd be driving too for that price lol

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/alaska-bs-thread.247302/page-557

 

I gotta say is this a time speed run ??

Myself I think your real travel speeds are going to be much slower then what you figure .

You do plan on some sort of stove to heat water nothing better then your hot beverage of choice when your exhausted .

 

I'm up in Deadhorse now and its getting down to 10-15 degrees at night. Its warming up on days enough to thaw some snow then it freezes again at night. Everything is getting pretty slippery. December you'll probably be looking at subzero temps, but nothing terrible. End of January to February is the cold period up here. Like these guys said, definitely get a radiator block to keep your engine temp warm, but you dont need anything fancy. That pizza box will work perfectly. Also, something a lot of people making the drive up from the states overlook is to make sure your washer fluid wont freeze up at cold temps. Most gas stations in Ak or Yukon will have that readily available. The longest stretch you'll have between gas will be Coldfoot to Deadhorse. Something like 230? miles, I think. You shouldn't have a problem finding a room in Deadhorse, but nothing here is cheap. I think gas is floating around 5.50 a gallon right now, Coldfoot will probably be about the same. You wont be alone at any point on that drive, the Dalton will be flooded with tractors hauling supplies up and down. Give them a wide berth as they will be throwing rocks if the roads aren't completely frozen. The temps arent what will get you on that drive, keep an eye on the weather. If a snow flurry comes in your visibility will be shit, dont try to push through those if youre not familiar with driving through snowy conditions.
Radiator block
Good washer fluid
Spendy prices
Big rigs
Shit weather
That's all I can think of being a real concern for you. Let me know if you have questions about anything else.

 

When I worked in New Hampshire many moons ago.... we had a 1987 ish Taco that we had to let idle every night, all night in case we needed to go out on a farm call (Veterinarian) That truck never skipped a beat. My useless opinion and yes I have been to AK. Let her idle and A: Sleep warm and B: Know your transportation is ready to go. Even here in Florida many off shore fisher non-commercial folk idle their outboards all night to ensure the batteries stay charged etc.

 

Cabela's they sale Winter Grill Covers for Toyota Tacoma
http://www.cabelas.com/product/Winter-Summer-Truck-Grille-Covers/745995.uts

Thats the company that makes them
http://www.gofia.com/store/index.ph...9&product_id=2772&make=31&model=581&year=2007

 

Having camped in sub below weather. I think another option would be to for go the heater and by a heavy mummy bag suited for those temps. I've slept in a snow shelter on the side of a mountain with just a heavy mummy bag rated sub zero temps. I was extremely comfortable. Just sucks getting out of it in the morning. In your situation however, you can just lean over and start the truck and warm it up before you get out.

Link to all you need to know about sleeping bags.

 

OP, good luck on your trip. Please get me a shot glass for my collection.

 

Alright people here's my idea for winter camping, let me know what you think... I recently picked up a truck tent that sets up in the bed of the truck. I've got 2 pretty nice sleeping bags for me and my lady and I've got a nice thick foam pad that I lay in the bed to lay on top of. So all of that is pretty nice but not too warm so here's what I'm thinking. The bed of my truck has a 110 V outlet so I'm thinking about getting a little space heater that I can plug into that and then I will be good to go

 

That outlet is ridiculously small (low Watts , 120 I think) so not much of the heater power source.
Also if you drain your battery you will be stranded...

 

I don't know if the outlet works at all if the truck isn't running? But I've got a buddy who installs remote start systems for pretty cheap. So I'm thinking about just having it plugged in and then whenever I need to be warmed up a little bit I can just remote start the truck for a few minutes

 

Electric Blanket. An option is skip the generator use a second battery and a inverter.

http://www.electricblanketinstitute.com/features-benefits/actual-cost-to-run.html

 

Sort of time speed it is. No, I'm just kidding. The camper shell is two weeks out(I ordered it last week). Once it is installed, I plan on building a platform to hold microwave and my propane stove.

 

AWESOME!!!!
I actually do have more questions: Do you have gas trucks up there? or all trucks Diesel? Off the four hotels listed in MilePost, any of these have plugin for a block heater at night? do I even need a block heater? The reason I ask this is because some Engineer sitting in Japan Toyota engineering and design center as decided that the easiest way to prevent two wires(god knows what they are) from touching the engine block is to design a bracket and precisely mount it covering the hole for block heater, more details here: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/2015-engine-block-heater-unable-to-install.392809/
I have to spend some 2 hours labor at a "certified" dealer to get this $50 part-in, which I have buy again just because....it would be much cheaper to just idle the truck! It certainly will not cost over $300.00.
Do gas stations there accept credit cards? or cash only?
Also, the campsites near by, do they have luxury like running water?

 

Kat's 14600 600 Watt 1 1/2" Lower Radiator Hose Heater

http://www.amazon.com/Kats-14600-Lower-Radiator-Heater/dp/B000I8XD1M

simplest way is to put one in the lower radiator hose.

 

Intersting! This will just heat radiator water, the water will never heat the block per say unless you crank the engine and get the pump going.

 

The water in the block gets warm too. At least it did at my fairly cold latitude, dunno about Prudhoe Bay. When I was a young I used either a noncirculating radiator hose heater or one that went in a heater core hose and had a circulation pump. The heater core versions were my favorite since it not only kept the block warm but the windows were always defrosted in the morning.

 

No, my generator will run in those cases...