Toad in Alaska February 02, 2009, 09:20:02 pm Yahoo Message Number: 98999We are planning a trip this Spring/Summer to Alaska. In reading travel reports and talking with RVers who have make the trek we are confused about the need or lack of need to tow our Jeep. Please share your thoughts. We have a 26.5 ft mid-bath LZ named Tara. Ed Gaffney
Re: Toad in Alaska Reply #1 – February 03, 2009, 10:26:04 am Yahoo Message Number: 99001Quote We are planning a trip this Spring/Summer to Alaska. In reading travel reports and talking with RVers who have make the trek we are confused about the need or lack of need to tow our Jeep. Please share your thoughts. We have a 26.5 ft mid-bath LZ named Tara. Ed Gaffney After making such a trip in 2005, I still have mixed feelings. During that trip, we traveled with another LD. They towed their Wrangler, we left ours at home. While it definitely was nice to have it at times, it also just gets towed for a lot of miles. Even though the roads get better every year, there are still sections with gravel (mostly where repair work is being done). If your toad is not well protected, expect some pits in the paint or windshield. It was nice having one rig that could back up to check out campgrounds and call on the CB to tell the towing rig that they should or should not enter (most campgrounds were fine). Also, if you plan on taking the Alaska Ferry at least one way, a toad will increase that cost. On the other hand, we pulled our Wrangler almost 15,000 miles in the US and Canada last year. It was very handy to have, but the nature of that trip was somewhat different. I think if we were going back to Alaska alone, I'd probably take the toad. If we were traveling with others, I'd have to think about it. We seem to get 1 to 1-1/2 miles better fuel economy when not towing.Hope this helps, Art
Re: Toad in Alaska Reply #2 – February 03, 2009, 12:22:21 pm Yahoo Message Number: 99003older_fossil wrote: Even though the roads get better every year, there are still sections with gravel (mostly where repair work is being done). If your toad is not well protected, expect some pits in the paint or windshield. --- I don't tow, so just passing along this information without comment for those who do. The quote is from Mike and Terri Church's book, "Traveler's Guide to Alaskan Camping": "Frost heaves are a unique road hazard in Alaska and the Yukon. They are causes by both permafrost and the constant freezing and thawing of water in the gravel underlying the pavement. After being bounced off the ceiling by the first couple you hit you'll learn to keep a sharp lookout for them. We've seen them so bad that we had to unhook our tow car and drive it separately to save the hitch."Joan
Re: Toad in Alaska Reply #3 – February 03, 2009, 02:19:40 pm Yahoo Message Number: 99004QuoteI don't tow, so just passing along this information without comment for those who do. The quote is from Mike and Terri Church's book, "Traveler's Guide to Alaskan Camping": "Frost heaves are a unique road hazard in Alaska and the Yukon. They are causes by both permafrost and the constant freezing and thawing of water in the gravel underlying the pavement. After being bounced off the ceiling by the first couple you hit you'll learn to keep a sharp lookout for them. We've seen them so bad that we had to unhook our tow car and drive it separately to save the hitch." We found that generally pavement hazards like frost heaves were well marked with warning markers. Slowing down is the best way to deal with these and gravel sections.Art
Re: Toad in Alaska Reply #4 – February 03, 2009, 04:49:27 pm Yahoo Message Number: 99005Quote from: jctaylor1941" "We've seen them so bad that we had to unhook our tow car and drive it separately to save the hitch."JoanJoan & others...The last time I was in Alaska (1985?) I talked to a man at the RV park in Tok (rhymes with Coke). He said that during a drive from Tok to Anchorage he broke a spring pack on his TT due to going too fast over frost heaves. Not to be outdone, on the way back over the same road, he broke the spring pack on the opposite side. How dumb is that?Steve S. Lazy Bones & Jiggs
Re: Toad in Alaska Reply #5 – February 04, 2009, 07:33:01 am Yahoo Message Number: 99009We went to Alaska about 8 yrs; ago
Re: Toad in Alaska Reply #6 – February 04, 2009, 01:33:50 pm Yahoo Message Number: 99019Ed,We're taking a trip to Alaska this summer too. We'll leave home about April 15, work our way slowly north, explore Alaska thoroughly and return back home
Re: Toad in Alaska Reply #7 – February 05, 2009, 09:35:07 am Yahoo Message Number: 99038Good morning, We moved up here June 07 towing an Outback. Frost heaves weren't a problem, lot of road construction is the norm though - very slow. The later in the year you drive through Canada the better, gives them time to repair the winter damage. We thought we had the front of the Roo covered fairly well but still killed two lights (the driving lights) coming up. When we arrived, first stop was a carwash, after the last bit the Roo was completely covered in very heavy rocky mud. Even on the paved roads there is a lot of gravel and if you don't crack your windshield you're very lucky. We did make it here with a clean windshield but cracked it in the Kenai this last summer. When I was buying the replacement lights for the Roo, the parts dude gave me a brochure for www.armorauto.com, said it was really great stuff. It is stick-on plastic, similar to the bullet proof stick-on for windows. At $150/light (doing my part for the economy don't ya know) I'll be trying these. Also, the Roo has plastic headlights, the roadgravel/sand from just driving around the last two years has really trashed these too, they are all hazy now. Just something to consider as you figure your toad configuration. We saw a full toad frontend bra coming through Nevada I'm looking into, about $350. There is a place in LA too that has a plastic stick-on product for the whole front-end, wasn't real comfortable with the thought of the sticky/residue/possible damage to the LD's paint though. Bugs are a huge hassle to clean off, I'd recommend at least a bug screen for your radiator.Tane' 2007 26.5 MB Enjoying a balmy 7 degrees just North of Anchorage...[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Re: Toad in Alaska Reply #8 – February 07, 2009, 07:15:00 pm Yahoo Message Number: 99081Thanks to all of you that posted online and offline regarding towing the toad in Alaska. We have made the decision not to tow. It seems the majority of responses indicated that the 26.5 is short enough to manuver around just fine.Many thanks for your input!Ed
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Topic: Toad in Alaska (Read 4 times)
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