Hi, Scout425! Welcome to Fairbanks!
I’ve lived in Fairbanks almost 23 years, and 29 years in Alaska. I bought my first Jeep last fall, so my Jeep experience is only this past winter. All my cars have been standard transmission, while my wife prefers her Suburbans with auto everything.
1. Block heater- don’t get aftermarket. Mopar only. My factory installed block heater works great. Wait until you get here to find a 3-1 plug. Local stores sell arctic grade extensions that won’t be brittle and break in the cold.
2. Oil pan pad heater - Full synth 5-30 in winter was fine without a pad heater this past winter for me. Even if you didn’t use full synthetic in your Jeep, switch to it. You can’t always plug in when extremely cold. A small pad heater is a good idea, though (I have one in a box with plans to install it).
3. Transmission heater- Never have done this on any of our cars, including the Burb with notorious 4L60e. I let my Jeep warm up for 5 minutes before going anywhere.
4. Battery- I‘ve always used standard lead-acid batteries. They last about 5 years. A low output pad heater under the battery and a simple battery blanket is good and won’t cook your battery. Some people prefer a trickle charger. All that’s needed is one of these methods to keep the battery from freezing, which tends to happen to older batteries or discharged batteries.
5. Auto Start - There is an excellent local shop that specializes in auto-starts, Auto Trim Design. I’ve never had one on my manual tranny. It can be done, though. However, you will need to engage the e-brake and be in Neutral. The e-brake will freeze if there is any water contamination in the e-brake system. I never engage the e-brake in extreme cold after operating the vehicle and then letting it sit. So, I’m not sure if an auto start is worth it.
6. All synth fluids - Great plan for the to-do list. I didn’t change my fluids this winter, so I let my TJ warm up for 5 minutes. My plan is to replace fluids this summer, since my TJ hit 100K.
7. Tires - I bought a set of Blizzaks this winter, which are fantastic! (Thank you, Costco for having 235/75 R15 in stock). Blizzaks are the most popular tire in Fairbanks over every other tire, summer or winter. They are the perfect combination for snow, ice and extreme cold. After it snows, don’t expect a plow truck to clear the roads immediately and don’t expect to stay home. The roads are rarely salted, so the ice on the road stays on the road. There is a local shop that has new rims and a variety of OE Jeep rims in steel and alloy. Prices are about $50-75 each. If you can find good rims for less, save yourself a hefty shipping fee and buy before you arrive. I just bought BFG AT-KO2 for summer as well as the Spring-Fall seasons with occasional snow, such as today.
8. I put some Gorilla Tape on my grill inserts and installed them. It worked so well, I had to cut slits in the tape to increase air flow. I‘m not sure if I prefer the look of the OE grill inserts or cardboard on my Jeep, though. At least the cardboard is generally acceptable on a grill front. Not so sure about the grill inserts.
9. Heat - I have the 2.5L, which gets to operating temp quickly and gave me heat all winter. I have an insulated hardtop from Patriot Fastbacks. I was warm all winter and took my gloves off after about 10 minutes of driving. My vinyl seats were ok. I’m researching seat covers with seat heat As an option. Seat heat is not on my needs list, though. You will want to seal up and insulate your pan. That’s on my summer To do list, since my feet had a cold breeze all winter.
10. Here is the most important way to prepare your Jeep for living in Fairbanks. Live in the hills;-) It’s 10-20 (or more) degrees warmer in the hills due to temperature inversions. It will be -45 in North Pole, -40 in Fairbanks, -30 at my house and only -20 at a friend’s house higher on the hill. More common is temps to run -10 in town and above zero at my house. (BTW- all temps in Fahrenheit
Of course, you will need to winterize your Jeep just the same but wear and tear from extreme temps will be much less.
11. I bought an outdoor smart plug that is programmable (Feit). I programmed it to switch on at 0400 if the temp is less than zero. I saved a lot on the power bill.
Well, that was longer than I expected. I hope I covered most of it. I’m happy to help when you get here, too!
