Alaska Cruiser Trek 2010

[Mace]

That gives me a great excuse to pick up a mini cam..

 

[Mark W]

I have thought about something like that. You still need hand held cameras going for shots of other rigs, scenery and out of vehicle stuff... not to mention any of your own rig

I guess if we had 5-6 cameras going in rigs and out of them also, we could edit together a pretty decent coverage of most things.


Mark...

 

[Mark W]

I came across some older hardcopy photos yesterday while cleaning the shop. Most are not from the trails we will be on for the trek. But some are very similar trails. I will see if I can get some scanned later and posted.

Mark...

 

[bigneily]

looking forward to seeing them mark...

 

[Ducks]

I'm thinking about saving my pennies to replace my front Aussie locker with an ARB. My question is about the ARB air compressor. I would mount it in the engine compartment, which I think is the common place to put it but what happens when fording rivers where the water goes over the hood? Can you plumb the compressor to a snorkel? Don't want to spend all that money on a selectable locker only to kill it within the first five minutes of the Trek.

 

[matt.mcinnes]

I'm thinking about saving my pennies to replace my front Aussie locker with an ARB. My question is about the ARB air compressor. I would mount it in the engine compartment, which I think is the common place to put it but what happens when fording rivers where the water goes over the hood? Can you plumb the compressor to a snorkel? Don't want to spend all that money on a selectable locker only to kill it within the first five minutes of the Trek.

My lockers have been rewired so that you can run the front locker without the rear been in, also the lockers can be engaged with the compressor turned off. So I can run the compressor up to pressure engage the lockers and turn the compressor off. This way the lockers are in without the risk of the compressor firing up, a slightly larger reservoir of air is advantageous.

 

[Mark W]

A compressor mounted on the fenderwell should not be a problem. Not like you will be turning it on during the out of the ordinary moments when it might be dropped under water in a crossing. There are miles and miles and miles of travel and only a few moments when you are in deep water

And setting it up similar to what Matt mentiones is easy and really the only smart way to do it. Once the arbs are locked the compressor does not need to be on.

Mark...

 

[Mark W]

As mentioned I came across some pictures taken through the years while I was cleaning out the office at the shop. and as promised I am posting some up here. Some of these are taken on the Trails we will see this time around on the Trek. Some are on trails we have run on other Treks, and some are on trails that the Trek never see's But all are representative of the varied types of conditions we expect to encounter in 2010.



This trail is miles of relatively solid mud and muck....

Intermixed with some nice sloppy spots

We may very well encounter a LOT of stuff like this spot that the moose buggy is winching my old pig out of here.

This pic has been seen before in years past, in Trails I think and maybe on rockcrawler. It is a good example of a medium depth river crossing.

this is a typical camp during the Trek. Spread out around any pretty spot that we like. Usually alongside a clear running stream or river.

I will post some more up over the next couple of days. I am having to scan these and try to clean them up a little.


Mark...

 

[PabloCruise]

Boy I love seeing pics of the Pig playing in Alaskan mud!!!

When is the last time there was a Pig on ACT?

 

[Mark W]

Sadly we have had only one pig take a shot art the trek. It was a heavily modified beast that one of our locals built. Finished hours before the Trek in a series of all nighters. Bad move. He had problems in the first few miles and the call was made to take it home instead of impacting the event for the group. It was the right call, but we missed having him along.


Mark...

 

[Mark W]

Here is an Alaskan Wart Hog relaxing between mud baths.

(no Pigs were injured in the filming of this... incident...)



Mark...

 

[PabloCruise]

Whoa! That concerns me!!!

 

[matt.mcinnes]

Whoa! That concerns me!!!

Thats just a little sleep over, bring on the mud and Simex's

 

[Mark W]

Concerns you? Doesn't bother me and that's my old rig laying there.


Mark...

 

[Ducks]

Should we bring chains for the ACT 2010?

 

[PabloCruise]

Concerns you? Doesn't bother me and that's my old rig laying there.


Mark...

I'm just a sucker for a nice looking Pig!

 

[Mark W]

The only damage was a 4 inch cut in the headliner from some of the cargo. the ground was soft and the roof rack wound up on a rotted stump with cushioned the landing and kept weight off the body panels.
We had her back on her feet in 5 minutes or less.

I had gone through a deep sloppy mudhole and the windshield was obscured with muddy water. I bounced coming out and it tossed the rig to the side just a little. The front tire caught a bank and over I went.


Mark...

 

[Mark W]

No *need* for chains Chad. If we get into stuff where chains are needed... with this many rigs we are going to be looking for alternatives anyway. If you have some and you have the room/weight capacity to bring them... they might be handy if we get into sloppy stuff. The trails that we know have a lot of bog and mud may be more than we can handle with this group. If so we will use other drier route anyway.

If you have Boggers and lockers, chains do not add much. If you have generic "MT" tires... they can help a LOT. IF you have room in the fenders to run them while bouncing and articulating.


Mark...

 

[Mark W]

This spot was doable real early in the season when it was still frozen solid underneath. As soon as it thawed... you hit it hard and just winched through.... Yep... there is a strap and we are getting ready to drag me out backwards... we had not learned yet at that point and I tried it a couple of times.

Mark...

 

[bkfj40]

After visiting Alaska, I can definitely tell you I will be back for an ACT someday...I don't know if I'm ready for that amount of mud, but my vehicle is getting closer.

I always enjoying seeing your rigs out and about Mark...