Modifications and advice for extreme cold

Scout425

Scout425

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Joined
Nov 22, 2018
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50
Location
Fairbanks, AK
I am moving to Fairbanks AK this winter and looking for advice on modifications to help the old gal survive Alaska temps. I figure I need an oil pan heater and battery heater (looking for recommendations on brands). Currently looking into getting remote start (no experience with adding to a manual). Also looking into adding some kind of hardtop insulation and replacing the worn out carpet/insulation. Working on sourcing stock rims to run studded tires on as well.

Any input or additional items would be appreciated.
 
Block heater, full doors, hardtop, hardtop headliner (Hot Heads brand), seat heaters, and a good ice scraper for the window. A set of dedicated snow tires such as Blizzaks would be a nice addition as well.
 
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I'll forewarn you as I travel to AK often for work...your rig will never warm up enough to defrost windows but luckily nearly all retail facilities have plug in posts. The suggestions so far are great because you need to stay warm and because of the extreme cold the heater can't keep up. I'd also recommend a radiator cover which goes against nearly everything all of us know and understand but the locals in AK run them for a reason.

Also if you don't want to downsize tires or mess around with a spare set I tried Grip Studs last winter and these work awesome. You can also take them back out pretty easily so you can keep your same tires for the summer months. There are other brands as well and Amazon offers them but these guys tell you which studs are best for which vehicle so I went with them. I even ran them on my track loader for plowing this winter and my driveway is about 3/4 mile long and steep with ice...it worked flawlessly.

https://www.gripstuds.com/1000_Tire_Stud.php
 
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Talk to @NDSpeed since he was stationed in Fairbanks for the past few years. There are a few other folks who live in AK that might be able to offer some advice.

@Blackjack is down south of you but has a lot of experiance so I'm sure can offer some help too.
 
One thing I can say is make sure you have some good anti freeze. I’m up in maine and I was working in northern maine one winter where it gets really cold like -10 for weeks in a row. Anyways one morning I started my jeep and my heat didn’t work because my -35 anti freeze was slush It was -40 with the wind chill overnight. Also a great battery like a agm or gel cell. The windshield not defrosting is also a pain. If someone has a remedy for that I’d like to hear it!
 
One of the other things to look into is a cold weather cover for the grill on your Jeep. As Wtrask said his anti-freeze turned into slush. If the wind is blowing on your radiator all night it might only be -10 but with wind chill it can be colder.

I know this isn't a JEEP but it shows what a winter front looks like.

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Some people just put a piece of cardboard in front of the radiator.
 
Fluids fluids fluids. Synthetic oil in the diffs, antifreeze needs to be good for at least -60f. Engine oil is a little trickier because if you have not been running synthetic switching often leads to leaks. Block heater, battery pad, oil pan (tranny pan if you have an auto) with solid wiring (many put a metal plug box to run all the heater plugs to a common point and an arctic grade extension to plug in with.

Using a winter front is a good idea. Alaska tent and tarp makes nice ones or just do the cardboard thing. If it were mine and I will be ruffling some feathers with this but I would convert to an electric fan. It helps with warm up times, keeping warm during long idle times (and there will be plenty) and with the deep water crossings you will get to experience up here.
 
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Blackjack said:
Fluids fluids fluids. Synthetic oil in the diffs, antifreeze needs to be good for at least -60f. Engine oil is a little trickier because if you have not been running synthetic switching often leads to leaks. Block heater, battery pad, oil pan (tranny pan if you have an auto) with solid wiring (many put a metal plug box to run all the heater plugs to a common point and an arctic grade extension to plug in with.

Using a winter front is a good idea. Alaska tent and tarp makes nice ones or just do the cardboard thing. If it were mine and I will be ruffling some feathers with this but I would convert to an electric fan. It helps with warm up times, keeping warm during long idle times (and there will be plenty) and with the deep water crossings you will get to experience up here.
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Thanks for the input. I knew you'd have some good idea or stuff that wasn't covered yet. It's been since the 80's the last time I was up there so I'm sure stuff has changed while some things seem to stay the same.

And Fairbanks is different than being in Anchorage as far as weather goes. My bff's sister lives in Fairbanks and I use to visit friends up there when I was stationed at Ft Richardson.

Good luck on your move and hope you enjoy the unique things about AK & Fairbanks.
 
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I looked at those and then ended using outdoor carpet with double foil sided bubble wrap insulation. I think it’s for HVAC or something. I got it at lowes. It made a huge difference with noise and insulation and you no longer get condensation that drips on me. The downside was that snow and ice doesn’t melt off the top of my hardtop very well like it did before. Just another option to add. I think I had under 50 bucks in it. Make sure you use the 3m super 90 adhesive.
 
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Wildman said:
Thanks for the input. I knew you'd have some good idea or stuff that wasn't covered yet. It's been since the 80's the last time I was up there so I'm sure stuff has changed while some things seem to stay the same.

And Fairbanks is different than being in Anchorage as far as weather goes. My bff's sister lives in Fairbanks and I use to visit friends up there when I was stationed at Ft Richardson.

Good luck on your move and hope you enjoy the unique things about AK & Fairbanks.
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Yeah Fairbanks is a whole other animal both Winter and Summer compared to here on the Kenai and Anchorage sucks in so many ways I quit counting.
 
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Thanks for the input. So far looking at:

Heaters
Block heater
Oil pan heater
Tranny heater (is this needed or recommended with a manual?)
Any videos yall know of on how to tie heaters together to one extension cord?


Insulation
I have some mylar blankets I may use in the doors and footwells.
Insulate heater core lines.
Hotheads liner. I have a Bulldawg hardtop, so I plan to make some calls and see how much modification will be needed to fit.

Misc
Fluid changes throughout once GA summer is over
Replace metal shift knob with less dense material
Better headlights (heated LED possibly)
Sourced some stock rims for winter tires. Ive heard that tires outside the wheel wells are illegal in AK. I would assume that chucking snow and ice in all directions isn’t well received.

I had a random thought to look into shrink fitting some thick plastic to the rear side windows. I used to do this to the house windows in Wisconsin to save on heating costs by creating an insulating layer of air.
 
I spent some time in AK, Get a block heater, appropriate anti-freeze, a radiator shield, good tires, etc, all good advice. Also, keep some appropriate gear in the jeep in case of breakdown. Get a 12 gauge shotgun and some slugs (bear, moose, assholes) you'll probably never need it but...
If you're moving there permanently and you've never been up there during an Alaskan winter, watch out for the dark, it can have some peculiar effects on the psyche.
Just a point of contention, The wind blowing does not make the temperature colder than it is. If it's 15degF and the wind is blowing 60mph the wind chill will be -11degF but the temperature is still 15degF. However it will feel like it's colder because there will be a faster rate of heat loss. Really. Look it up.
Good luck on the move, it's wonderful up there.
 
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The hard plastic knob on the gear shift lever can get very cold and uncomfortable. I would leather wrap the knob and I would probably either wrap the shift lever itself or put a piece of rubber hose on it.
 
Is there a preferred battery for life in Alaska? Everything Ive found recommends ACDelco, Odyssey and Optima. I know I’ve seen some negative reviews on Optimas lately.
 
Scout425 said:
Is there a preferred battery for life in Alaska? Everything Ive found recommends ACDelco, Odyssey and Optima. I know I’ve seen some negative reviews on Optimas lately.
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Stay away from Optima batteries. They USE to be great batteries but then they were sold and the plant was moved out of the USA.
I've had 4 yellow top batteries that went bad just past their warranty so no replacement. And that was over $800 in batteries.

Odyssey is one of the better AGM batteries now. Buy what you can afford but have the battery wrapped & a heated pad under it.
 
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