Alaska Owners?

[acruxksa]

Byrdman previously said:

I've got the silver 08, it's at Muffler City right now being leveled and getting new shoes - with this fresh snow I'll have my "how the KM2's handle in snow" report today.

I'd like to go on some wheelin trips up here, maybe we can get some Anchorage area trip going.

I've posted a few pic's from last Sunday at Jim's Creek - I'm not seeing my avatar, but yep, that's mine if it'll show up.....

Sweet,
I've got some hand siped BFG MT's (KM's) that I'm dying to test as well. I'll keep an eye out for you. Here's my rig:

[tonkat]

acruxksa previously said:

Petersburg is a great little town, my father was born there. It's a nice community and has quite a few things to do. Most involve a boat though. The rainwater system is know as a cistern and is pretty common in Ketchikan. My only experience with it was a cabin on a tiny island outside of Sitka and a house my parents owned in Hawaii. Most towns have city water unless you are living way out of town. The islands are often solid rock which often negates the possibility of drilling a well.

You will find that your vehicle gets worked in most of Alaska because many towns are right on the water and your FJ will be subject to the salt air. Frequent washes can help stave off rust, but it's rare to see a rust free vehicle that's more the 7 or 8 years old. The rock chips are commonly from the media that they use to sand the roads with. It's less like sand than really small pieces of pea gravel.

The bonus to Petersburg or Ketchikan is that your are only a ferry ride away from Prince of Wales Island. This island has hundreds of miles of old logging roads that you can 4x4 on. The FJ would be perfect for this. You are also only a ferry ride away from Prince Rupert B.C. so if you have friends in the NW it wouldn't be too hard to visit occasionally. It's still possible up north, but usually requires a much longer ($$$$) ferry ride or more commonly a drive down the Alcan (an adventure everyone should try once)

The good thing is that we have a boat, although it's 'not quite big enough' for my hubby's tastes Its a 17' aluminum hull, center console, and he says it would be fine for going out around Petersburg/Ketchikan but prob not for the more open areas/rougher waters. I think that we'd probably have to sell it and get a larger one in order to avoid relying on everyone else to go out sightseeing/fishing... but I don't know. I don't know what everyone runs up there so I'm not sure what size would be appropriate... maybe the hubby just wants an 'excuse' to buy a bigger boat!

My bro lives in Seattle and has already talked about hopping on the ferry to come see us if we head to Alaska. We also have friends in Bellingham as well but I'm not sure if a ferry runs from there.

As far as the FJ goes, I'm not too worried about the salt/rust issue. I had the paint protection & undercoating applied to it right after purchase, so that should stave off any corrosion, hopefully. We've done some offroading around here but nothing major, partly due to the lack of time and knowledge of awesome places to go outside the Olympic Peninsula. My other concern is what tires are best suited for the harsh winter environments up there... I still have the crappy stock ones on and was looking at getting BFG A/T's after the 1st of the year- would those be good enough? What are you guys running on?

[acruxksa]

There is ferry service to Bellingham it just takes 1 1/2 days from Ketchikan. Also a good 17' aluminum skiff is perfect for most things in SE Alaska. You don't have to go far for good fishing, hunting and camping. If you don't have them already, mustang suits are recommended. A skiff is nice because there are pretty large tidal changes and the bigger the boat, the harder it is to deal with if it gets beached. There are ways / tricks that deal with this problem and prevent it from happening in the first place I'm sure you husband know this.

As for tires, for inexperienced winter drivers, I recommend two different sets. Studded snow tires for the winter and AT's or MT's for the summer. If you've got a few winter driving seasons under your belt, you could probably get away with the AT's or MT's year round.

[tonkat]

acruxksa previously said:

There is ferry service to Bellingham it just takes 1 1/2 days from Ketchikan. Also a good 17' aluminum skiff is perfect for most things in SE Alaska. You don't have to go far for good fishing, hunting and camping. If you don't have them already, mustang suits are recommended. A skiff is nice because there are pretty large tidal changes and the bigger the boat, the harder it is to deal with if it gets beached. There are ways / tricks that deal with this problem and prevent it from happening in the first place I'm sure you husband know this.

As for tires, for inexperienced winter drivers, I recommend two different sets. Studded snow tires for the winter and AT's or MT's for the summer. If you've got a few winter driving seasons under your belt, you could probably get away with the AT's or MT's year round.

Oh, winter driving is well under my belt. We were in the Philly area for 6 years before moving here and dealing with those harsh conditions (waking up to 2' of snow is NOT fun!) was a hassle but prepared us for the PNW (although here on the peninsula it doesn't snow nearly as much as the NE). I always thought that the studded tires were a waste of $$$- my boss told me that, in his experience/opinion, they were useless (I looked at getting them for the FJ for this upcoming winter). I guess it all depends on the snow/ice conditions as well. I just don't want to be spending most of my commute to work in the ditch, seems how its very hilly terrain around here

[acruxksa]

If you move to Anchorage or Homer, you will have more snow than you know what to do with for longer than you ever thought possible. Studs may be a waste of money someplace where you only have snow 2 or 3 months a year, but when it's common to have snow on the ground 5 or 6 months a year, studs suddenly don't seem like that bad an idea

They are no substitute for common sense, but NO AT or MT tire can compare to a studded set of blizaaks or hakkapilliitta's when it comes to snow and ice traction. 4 wheel drive doesn't help you stop and your brakes are only as good as the tires that are connected to them. Everyone has their opinions, but there is a reason about %75 of the state switches to snow tires in the winter and I'm pretty sure it's not to waste $$$

In any case you won't find me recommending anything but studded snow tires to people who ask, because if you have to ask..........................

FYI, average annual snowfall:
Cordova - 120"
Petersburg - 97"
Anchorage - 80"
Homer - 55" (that's in the city of Homer, it's probably double that up on the bluff)
Ketchikan - 37"
Phillidelphia - 21"
Seattle - 13"

[tonkat]

acruxksa previously said:

If you move to Anchorage or Homer, you will have more snow than you know what to do with for longer than you ever thought possible. Studs may be a waste of money someplace where you only have snow 2 or 3 months a year, but when it's common to have snow on the ground 5 or 6 months a year, studs suddenly don't seem like that bad an idea

They are no substitute for common sense, but NO AT or MT tire can compare to a studded set of blizaaks or hakkapilliitta's when it comes to snow and ice traction. 4 wheel drive doesn't help you stop and your brakes are only as good as the tires that are connected to them. Everyone has their opinions, but there is a reason about %75 of the state switches to snow tires in the winter and I'm pretty sure it's not to waste $$$

In any case you won't find me recommending anything but studded snow tires to people who ask, because if you have to ask..........................

FYI, average annual snowfall:
Cordova - 120"
Petersburg - 97"
Anchorage - 80"
Homer - 55" (that's in the city of Homer, it's probably double that up on the bluff)
Ketchikan - 37"
Phillidelphia - 21"
Seattle - 13"

I'm wondering where all of you Alaskan's glacier-climbing pics are?!?!

When we were researching the different cities, I just about crapped my pants when seeing the amount of snow in the various parts of Alaska. I mean, I'm a native Texan and hubby is native Kansan, so we will be in a bit of a shock. However, he was stationed in Michigan (Tawas and Detroit) for a few years, and then in the NE, so he LOVES the snow and could care less. I, on the other hand, love it as long as I'm strapped to skis, snowboard, or sled I don't mind the snow as long as you have the proper gear for being out in it... and since I traded in the RX-8 in for the FJ, I shouldn't have any issues in Alaska! The most snow I've seen in one place was ~ 96", up at Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic Mountains last winter... and that was amazing!

So realistically, what's a set of studded tires, average, gonna set me back up there? I know that the cost of living is sky high up there (thankfully we get a huge cost-of-living allowance), so maybe it would be better to get them here as soon as we find out for sure if we're moving up there.

Thanks again for all your input... I'll put ya down as my honorary Alaskan travel guide

[acruxksa]

There's plenty of places down south that get lots of snow, most are around the Great Lakes, Northern Plain States and Rocky Mountains. My experiences with snow and Texas are that when it snows in Texas we get to see the news anchor on CNN with cars and trucks in the background sliding into each other on the highway

I couldn't say for sure on the snow tires, but they are probably in the $150/each range for the FJ. Most people have two complete sets of tires, winter and summer. You should easily get 4 seasons out of a set of studded snow tires. They will be cheaper in and around Anchorage than any other town, so If you find that your are going to be stationed in SE Alaska, get them in Washington if possible. Another common sight is cheap steel rims for winter tires so you don't have to pay $50 every 6months to get your tires re-mounted, so if you have a place to get some inexpensive steel rims you might want to think about that as well.

Surprisingly, the cost of living up here isn't as far off as you would think. It's not cheap up here, but there are more expensive places to live. None better though if you ask me

[jwbwx1]

acruxksa previously said:

Byrdman, what color is your FJ? jwbwx1, is that your FJ in your avatar?

There seem to be quite a few FJ's rolling around Anchorage lately. Last week I was on Brayton Dr. following a Voodoo Blue FJ and had a Sun Fusion pull up right next to me. Must have been a sight for everyone else, three FJ's heading north on Brayton Dr.

Yep, that is mine

Jerry

[Byrdman]

tonkat previously said:

I'm wondering where all of you Alaskan's glacier-climbing pics are?!?!

When we were researching the different cities, I just about crapped my pants when seeing the amount of snow in the various parts of Alaska. I mean, I'm a native Texan and hubby is native Kansan, so we will be in a bit of a shock. However, he was stationed in Michigan (Tawas and Detroit) for a few years, and then in the NE, so he LOVES the snow and could care less. I, on the other hand, love it as long as I'm strapped to skis, snowboard, or sled I don't mind the snow as long as you have the proper gear for being out in it... and since I traded in the RX-8 in for the FJ, I shouldn't have any issues in Alaska! The most snow I've seen in one place was ~ 96", up at Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic Mountains last winter... and that was amazing!

So realistically, what's a set of studded tires, average, gonna set me back up there? I know that the cost of living is sky high up there (thankfully we get a huge cost-of-living allowance), so maybe it would be better to get them here as soon as we find out for sure if we're moving up there.

Thanks again for all your input... I'll put ya down as my honorary Alaskan travel guide

this is one of my buddies I took out fishing, he's lived here about 5 years - I call this one "Welcome to Alaska"....

I'm up here from Texas, I don't plan on going back other than to visit when I have to. As long as you aren't afraid to get out there and play and you can stand the brutal cold when it hits you'll be all right. I had sticker shock when I got up here, prices are extremely higher than Houston...

I just had my stock tires drilled and studded, it was $40 per tire plus some small fee I think 45 per tire total - but I'm not running them I sold them to a buddy with an FJ, I'm running mud terrain tires and having no problems, just gotta be cautious and not drive like so many people do (A-Hole style driving).

if I need extra traction I'm adding chains or cables. I made it up here for over a year in a 1987 K5 Blazer with mud terrain tires on it -

see ya out there!

[itzdbom]

acruxksa previously said:

Nome and Barrow are not connected to the rest of Alaska by road. Alaska Airlines offers daily service to both places and may even have more flights in the summer and during certain times of the year, weather permitting off course. It's been my experience that if AK Air can't land, no one can, at least no other jet, prop planes have different rules and requirements so sometimes it's possible to get in during crappy weather on a smaller turbo prop. Alaska Airlines uses Boeing 737's.

Neither town has ferry service either, the ferry system does not extend that far north.

thank u for the explanation. one of my goals in life it to hit up nome and barrow.