Alaska Daily Drivers: Hydro Blue 80A and Bright White JTR

[Turnswrench]

Great build so far! I liked your Sparko wheels so much I found a set at Tire Rack on closeout for $173/each. It looks like Sparco doesn't make these in bronze anynore.

Niiiice! Congrats on the new wheels. I guess we got bronze in the nick of time.

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[Turnswrench]

Love reading about your build! I'm also going to go treasure hunting too. I'm gonna be removing the seats and adding some sound deadening to the floor boards.

How hard was it to reinstall the carpeting? Any tips?

Thank you! Everything came out and went back fairly easily. I needed a panel removal tool to help with some of the areas and especially the wiring under the seat to get it removed. Even if you don't intend to remove the center console, loosen the 4 bolts around the bottom of it that are hidden behind caps to give you some flexibility to shift it around. Everything being molded into shape really helps and gives confidence to go at it.

 

[Fpolanco]

Thank you! Everything came out and went back fairly easily. I needed a panel removal tool to help with some of the areas and especially the wiring under the seat to get it removed. Even if you don't intend to remove the center console, loosen the 4 bolts around the bottom of it that are hidden behind caps to give you some flexibility to shift it around. Everything being molded into shape really helps and gives confidence to go at it.

Awesome...thank you!!

 

[DailyMoparGuy]

There's just something about being on the couch and getting to experience the aurora borealis that makes the cold worth it.

Absolutely stunning view.

 

[mrmo]

Wow thats too cool

 

[Bacstar]

Nice JT. I went with the Clayton 3.5" Overland + on mine. My poor Jeep is definitely getting beat up over the 3 years of owning it. I'm definitely looking forward to summer this year. For some reason, this winter has been kinda brutal. Plus last summer was a bust for me; I couldn't do much due to health reasons.

Hopefully, I'll see you driving around, on a trail, or at a campground! Keep an eye out for Peanuts, my beagle Pippy, and my rpod!

 

[Turnswrench]

Nice JT. I went with the Clayton 3.5" Overland + on mine. My poor Jeep is definitely getting beat up over the 3 years of owning it. I'm definitely looking forward to summer this year. For some reason, this winter has been kinda brutal. Plus last summer was a bust for me; I couldn't do much due to health reasons.

Hopefully, I'll see you driving around, on a trail, or at a campground! Keep an eye out for Peanuts, my beagle Pippy, and my rpod!

This is awesome!! It looks like Megan and I have some catching up to do. Love your rig and pics. Last summer was tough indeed, it basically rained from 4th of July until September. I hope your health has improved and we get to run into each other. I owe Pippy some pets!!

 

[Bacstar]

This is awesome!! It looks like Megan and I have some catching up to do. Love your rig and pics. Last summer was tough indeed, it basically rained from 4th of July until September. I hope your health has improved and we get to run into each other. I owe Pippy some pets!!

Definitely was a wet summer at the end. I was done with my treatments, and was feeling much better. I decided to take a week vacation in september to take out the rpod, but as you noted, it was raining. I decided to just stay home; it wasn't worth de-winterizing.

It has been an active wheeling winter though, but I'm definitely done with snow-wheeling the Knik glacier run. Wonder how long it'll take to dry everything out though...which may delay things.

 

[Turnswrench]

Definitely was a wet summer at the end. I was done with my treatments, and was feeling much better. I decided to take a week vacation in september to take out the rpod, but as you noted, it was raining. I decided to just stay home; it wasn't worth de-winterizing.

It has been an active wheeling winter though, but I'm definitely done with snow-wheeling the Knik glacier run. Wonder how long it'll take to dry everything out though...which may delay things.

Done with wheeling to the Glacier this year or for good? We have been out there on a SXS in the summer, but not in the winter. What should I know about going out there?

 

[Bacstar]

Done with wheeling to the Glacier this year or for good? We have been out there on a SXS in the summer, but not in the winter. What should I know about going out there?

I have friends going out tomorrow. I think i'm staying home and just relaxing this time around. Looks like we got snow incoming too; it hasn't stopped us before. hehehe i've posted a few pics in other threads of us in a blizzard.

well... it' best to go with a group, especially someone who knows the way. Usually, there are groups going out every weekend, mostly in the mornings but we do night runs as well. I've gone enough times, and have enough tracks on GaiaGPS.com. However, i'm not confident enough to lead a group on my own. There are several Alaska offroading groups that send out notices or open invites. Here are a few i've got on my list:

Jeep'n Alaska | Facebook
Knik Glacier Trail Riders | Facebook
Alaska 4x4 Off-Road | Facebook

Send me a friend request on Facebook, and I can keep you posted. I'll send you an invite! It's always good to have a GMRS radio and some recovery gear. it's always nice to be prepared and is a plus when new people want to join up. it's getting kinda late in the winter now so trips to the glacier may start tapering off. Summer is coming though

 

[Turnswrench]

I have friends going out tomorrow. I think i'm staying home and just relaxing this time around. Looks like we got snow incoming too; it hasn't stopped us before. hehehe i've posted a few pics in other threads of us in a blizzard.

well... it' best to go with a group, especially someone who knows the way. Usually, there are groups going out every weekend, mostly in the mornings but we do night runs as well. I've gone enough times, and have enough tracks on GaiaGPS.com. However, i'm not confident enough to lead a group on my own. There are several Alaska offroading groups that send out notices or open invites. Here are a few i've got on my list:

Jeep'n Alaska | Facebook
Knik Glacier Trail Riders | Facebook
Alaska 4x4 Off-Road | Facebook

Send me a friend request on Facebook, and I can keep you posted. I'll send you an invite! It's always good to have a GMRS radio and some recovery gear. it's always nice to be prepared and is a plus when new people want to join up. it's getting kinda late in the winter now so trips to the glacier may start tapering off. Summer is coming though

Friend request sent

 

[Turnswrench]

Happy St. Patrick's day! The wife made us a delicious dinner while I chose the pour we'd have a long side:

After dinner, we had a few things for the Jeep. When we were cleaning the interior, we found a missing drain plug. While changing the air filter, we found a missing filter housing screw. They are missing no longer:

And the big project was the Midland GMRS radio setup. We wanted a decent comm setup. We'll fine tune the antenna and the location as we go. For now, it's working and pulling in signal. The antenna went on the bed rack, the radio went in the driver side footwell with self tappers into a brace, the electrical wiring was all pulled to the passenger side footwell and tied into Aux leads and a ground. We also bought the external speaker that we'll pack and use as needed.

 

[GobiGuy]

Nice build! You are very lucky to live in such a gorgeous part of the country/world! Congrats!

 

[Turnswrench]

Hooray for the weekend! Today, despite some icy conditions, the wife took us out in the Jeep for some errands. We ended up dropping into a brewery before heading home:

Once home, we tackled a few small projects.

First, wheel locks to prevent mischief:

Mounted a WaterPort tank on the front bed rail. This tank will serve as incidental water while out in the Jeep. We're still contemplating a second setup for hot water. But for now, this is perfect:

Lastly and not pictured, I loomed the comm radio antenna wire to help with wire protection.

This coming week we're heading out of town to help some friends move from MN to OH. Jeep updates will slow down a touch during that time.

 

[Turnswrench]

Today the wife and I dropped into Anchorage REI and picked up an open box 7 gallon Yakima Roadshower. I came up with my own mounting setup and got it on the rig. You can move the entire truck by pushing/pulling on the tank. It's not the sexiest mount, but it'll work. This puts us over 10 gallons of incidental water which is more than enough this coming season. Happy to find what we can within Alaska and for a good deal:

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