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

[chorky]

I like how you have some similarities between both JT's! And jealous of that garage space!

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[Turnswrench]

I like how you have some similarities between both JT's! And jealous of that garage space!

Stick with what you know combined with redundancies. ?

I'm so very thankful for a garage, especially with the weather like it is out there.

 

[Turnswrench]

Aux fuel tank update:

We've officially run through our first full tanks of fuel. I had to fuel up sooner than I wanted due to the bad weather. We didn't want to risk not having enough fuel to idle for hours if the highway got shut down.

515 miles with 70 more to go according to the computer. Computer said we averaged 16.4 mpg. Math said we did 16.6. Keep in mind it's winter in Alaska. So we remote start, use 4wd, etc.

I'm very happy with the increase in miles between fill ups.

Theoretically, we might see 600 miles to a fill up in the summer. ?

 

[chorky]

Aux fuel tank update:

We've officially run through our first full tanks of fuel. I had to fuel up sooner than I wanted due to the bad weather. We didn't want to risk not having enough fuel to idle for hours if the highway got shut down.

515 miles with 70 more to go according to the computer. Computer said we averaged 16.4 mpg. Math said we did 16.6. Keep in mind it's winter in Alaska. So we remote start, use 4wd, etc.

I'm very happy with the increase in miles between fill ups.

Theoretically, we might see 600 miles to a fill up in the summer. ?

Oh man that's awesome!! Best part is in summer you can plan your trips more around fun and less around how close the next gas station is. Probably one of the best upgrades to do really, since it's pretty easy to plan a 500 mile trip without a gas station stop. Mine surprisingly arrives tomorrow! I'll be curious to hear how yours does after a winter in Alaska - they use salt up there I think?

 

[Turnswrench]

Oh man that's awesome!! Best part is in summer you can plan your trips more around fun and less around how close the next gas station is. Probably one of the best upgrades to do really, since it's pretty easy to plan a 500 mile trip without a gas station stop. Mine surprisingly arrives tomorrow! I'll be curious to hear how yours does after a winter in Alaska - they use salt up there I think?

Mostly gravel and sand. They've introduced brine in the major cities.

I'm pumped to keep after it. Glad yours is almost here ??

 

[chorky]

Mostly gravel and sand. They've introduced brine in the major cities.

I'm pumped to keep after it. Glad yours is almost here ??

I would have expected more salt there but maybe not since most probably are better at winter driving. I just found on Thursday out here the pass 1 hour to my west uses 100% rock salt and no sand, town 1 hour to the east also uses 80% rock salt and 20% sand, and everywhere in between is a 50% salt (mag chloride) concentration. Upped from 30% last year. Further east and north is just more salt - this is not supposed to be in the rust belt either. I'm really unhappy about it especially considering the closest place to wash is an hour east. So basically, whenever I go to town, I'm screwed with letting the salt eat away until my next trip to town maybe 1 or 2 weeks later. Thinking I'm going to file a complaint, maybe legal action, with the state. I rarely see vehicles older than 5 years around here. Idaho is even worse though.

 

[Turnswrench]

I would have expected more salt there but maybe not since most probably are better at winter driving. I just found on Thursday out here the pass 1 hour to my west uses 100% rock salt and no sand, town 1 hour to the east also uses 80% rock salt and 20% sand, and everywhere in between is a 50% salt (mag chloride) concentration. Upped from 30% last year. Further east and north is just more salt - this is not supposed to be in the rust belt either. I'm really unhappy about it especially considering the closest place to wash is an hour east. So basically, whenever I go to town, I'm screwed with letting the salt eat away until my next trip to town maybe 1 or 2 weeks later. Thinking I'm going to file a complaint, maybe legal action, with the state. I rarely see vehicles older than 5 years around here. Idaho is even worse though.

Salt is awful. I grew up in the salt belt, it wrecked everything. The trade off with sand/gravel is rock chips and cracked windshields ? Our blue Jeep windshield is currently cracked. ?

 

[chorky]

Salt is awful. I grew up in the salt belt, it wrecked everything. The trade off with sand/gravel is rock chips and cracked windshields ? Our blue Jeep windshield is currently cracked. ?

I wish they would just use nothing. let people drive around on chains. But then the trucks can't go 95 and cause all the wrecks... ?

 

[Turnswrench]

The wife was out of town, so the white Jeep was parked at the airport this week. She's home now, so back to projects!

Today the Midland GMRS setup went in, same system as on the blue Jeep and mounted in the same place.

I chose not to route the antenna wire around the windshield. I believe it would have caused more harm than good. Instead I put it through the existing firewall grommet.

 

[Turnswrench]

Playing around with a bed switching setup for the white Jeep. We're getting close to having it how we want. The proof of concept is working, so a couple things to clean up and can finalize the install.

It's a 6 gang Auxbeam. It'll control the KC hilites cargo lights that are mounted inside of the RSI Smartcap, the KC hilites that are under the truck for proximity lighting, and a 12v port that I'll be installing in the bedside blank plate.

 

[Turnswrench]

Going to run with this for a while. It's working well and didn't take up any space of concern. I was going to mount this all under the bed but decided against it. Keeping it all accessible and dry was the right move.

The red switch is there to act as Acc power to prevent battery drain. When or if we add a house battery, I'll convert this all over from the main battery.

 

[Turnswrench]

Whelp.

The white Jeep has a transmission pan leak. Dealership ordered parts since under warranty. Fingers crossed they don't cross thread the bolts...

They managed to warn me about my mods. ?

It has 2,400 miles and is a daily driver. Oh well.

We got dinner. Not too often are both Jeeps out together.

 

[mx5red]

Whelp.

The white Jeep has a transmission pan leak. Dealership ordered parts since under warranty. Fingers crossed they don't cross thread the bolts...

They managed to warn me about my mods. ?

It has 2,400 miles and is a daily driver. Oh well.

We got dinner. Not too often are both Jeeps out together.

You got dinner at a Vape Shop? I guess those two go together…

 

[mx5red]

Aux fuel tank update:

We've officially run through our first full tanks of fuel. I had to fuel up sooner than I wanted due to the bad weather. We didn't want to risk not having enough fuel to idle for hours if the highway got shut down.

515 miles with 70 more to go according to the computer. Computer said we averaged 16.4 mpg. Math said we did 16.6. Keep in mind it's winter in Alaska. So we remote start, use 4wd, etc.

I'm very happy with the increase in miles between fill ups.

Theoretically, we might see 600 miles to a fill up in the summer. ?

I’m curious, what is winter gas like there? Is there a different mix/rating than some lower 48 states?

 

[chorky]

Whelp.

The white Jeep has a transmission pan leak. Dealership ordered parts since under warranty. Fingers crossed they don't cross thread the bolts...

They managed to warn me about my mods. ?

It has 2,400 miles and is a daily driver. Oh well.

We got dinner. Not too often are both Jeeps out together.

Have you inspected the leak yourself? Mine had the same - 'trans pan' leak. It was not the trans pan. Fluid was red - trans fluid is supposedly neon green on these. It ended up being the transfer case input shaft seal. What a mess. They had to split the transfer in half apparently and resealed it with RTV. Screwed up a bunch of stuff in the process.

I would second guess if its truly the trans pan.

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