HuskyHauler

If so, wondering what your experience was, what you did to prepare, and what you would have done differently (if at all)?

Thanks!

pleiad7

I believe Quicksilver has done it many times, and we also have a few members who've tackled the Alcan 5000 Rally:
Arctic Challenger FXTs - Alcan Winter Rally 2008
'08 Alcan 5000: Preparations underway for P. Eklund's Forester XT team

__________________
-Silke
04 FXT PP PSM ~ "Subed"
98 Forester S ~ "Slynki"
92 SVX LS-L ~ x2

HuskyHauler

for where I am heading. Wow! I recoginzed the location of several of the pictures in the blog but not with so much snow. My drive *should* be much more relaxing than those rally chaps but it certainly looks like a good adventure. Have added the Alcan 5000 link to my favorites........

Thanks!

CabinDude

You should be fine. I'd recommend taking at least 1 full size tire though. The road is perpetually under construction between Kluane and the AK border, and when they grade some sections it exposes shale or schist, which can be rather sharp. A buddy tore out the sidewall on his trailer 2 months ago, in that stretch, but I don't know where precisely.

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2008 Forester 2.5X 5MT

HuskyHauler

Hubby spent several days up in your neck of the woods earlier this year preparing dog food drop bags for a friend running in the '08 Iditarod......

Any issues with your Forester operating in the cold conditions up yonder? We had the engine block heater and battery warmer installed at the dealership. Not sure if the Forester will get garage time or not. I doubt we'll see the temperature extremes you do up in Fairbanks but will plan on seeing double digit negatives in the Willow/Hatcher's Pass area.

vintage42

Your profile shows a BMW. Sound like you just got a new Forester. The comment about a full size spare is important, and very critically so if you have an automatic. The information is in the Owners Manual but is not at all apparent. If you need details, I can put them here.
If you want a full size spare, I can put that here, too.
If you don't get a full size spare, then this item would be good to get:
Tire Accessories - Continental Tire ContiComfortKit
I did both -- changed to a full size spare and got the Conti kit.

CabinDude

HuskyHauler:
I just got her in March, so I'm not sure how she'll handle the extreme cold, but judging by the number of Foresters in town I think she'll do just fine. We hit -10 to -15 (F) a couple of times after I got her and she did just fine (no garage), but she was plugged in (she's got a block heater, a battery pad, and an oil pan heater). I'd definitely recommend getting an oil pan heater, and possibly even a transmission heater (although not crucial). Even 5W-30 comes out pretty thick at -30, which you may see in Wasilla.

Glad to see another musher/afficionado on here. That's actually why I got her; the wife needs a 6 place dogbox on the truck to get to the sprint races, so I needed something to haul trash, domestic water, and dog "gifts". Didn't want another truck because of the mileage, so I needed something that could tow.

Are you planning a move?

Vintage42:
Good idea on the air compressor. I've got one in each vehicle, and had to use them more than once. Just FYI, no matter how hard I've tried, these little air-compressors cannot re-seat a bead on a C-range trailer tire, even with rachet straps around the center to try and rapidly increase the internal pressure.

Something some folks carry is a storage tank - they provide higher pressure at much greater volumes. Portable Air Tank - Vertical - 7 Gallon - Mfg# 112-00007V

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2008 Forester 2.5X 5MT

HuskyHauler

Departure date is Sept 5th so now is the time to start making my supplies list and checking it twice.......

Vintage42 - thanks for the reminder! I updated my profile. As of Friday evening, I am no longer a BMW owner.

CabinDude - I know about those "gifts" left in the dog yard....... Does your wife mostly race at Tok? We may be targeting middle distance stuff after we get settled in (Parks Hwy just north of Houston). The 6-dog races we've done in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho are peanuts compared to the events you all have up in AK. May do the Serum Run first and see how it goes before making any AK racing goals. My hubby is probably the only 6'9" dog driver around so we should stick out above the crowd. He does the strength training with our team..... I do the speed work!

CabinDude

Nah. My wife generally just sticks around up here for the sprints. The local dog mushing association has races most weekends once the snow is good. She's been in the Limited North American skijoring as well, but no distance stuff. The Serum Run is a good little jaunt. Oddly enough, I've helped set-up and run the Deadman Lake stop for the last 5 years, except this last winter when they canceled the run. Convinced me to never get a 4-stroke snow machine. it only got down to -30, and we had tarps and a diesel heater on that thing 3 hours before it started again. I guess the rest of the trip he had to get up and start it every 2 hours at night.

Back to business: You might consider getting the full size spare shaved down to approximate the size of your current tire, to limit 1.) the wear and tear on the driveline should you need to use it, and 2.) the possibility of having to replace all 4 tires in one of the small communities along the way up, which could involve steep mark-ups and extended shipping times. Offhand I don't remember the tolerances, but I think all tires have to be w/in 3cm (diameter) to prevent damage to the driveline.

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2008 Forester 2.5X 5MT

vintage42

It says if you put the temp spare anywhere on a manual, you must change the AWD to FWD by removing a fuse. The missing fuse activates a solenoid, which can be damaged if the fuse is out for too long.
It says the same for an automatic, plus the temp spare can only go on the rear of an automatic, so if you have a flat front, you first move a rear to its place, then put the temp spare on the rear, a change of two tires.
I wondered if you saw this in the Owners Manual or realized what it said. That is why a temporary spare might be inconvenient if you should need to use it on the AlCan highway, so a full size spare is needed.
When you change to a full size spare, you delete the storage tray and add a storage bucket that supports the floor panel. The storage bucket came on the pre-2006 Foresters that had full size spares, and still comes on the Canadian Foresters that don't have temp spares.

HuskyHauler

I only breezed thru the tire change section in the o.m. last week as I figured I needed to do a test "change" in my driveway to better understand what the manual says. Appreciate the translation and persistence. I probably wouldn't have realized these important details just from the o.m.!

Thanks for your input, Guys!

pleiad7

Actually, you put a spare fuse in to activate FWD mode. Unless that has been changed in recent years.

__________________
-Silke
04 FXT PP PSM ~ "Subed"
98 Forester S ~ "Slynki"
92 SVX LS-L ~ x2

vintage42

No change, I got it backwards. Pull a fuse out of a spare slot and put it into the FWD slot.