Respect the 40

[samatulich]

While working on installing the locking rear diff, I would take the occasional break to work on other upgrades to the 40. My brother scored a brush guard for the cruiser and had a winch plate made up. He had also pulled some wire for the auxiliary lights on the roof rack. I spent the first three days in Alaska working on these projects. I got the brush guard bolted in place and finished up the wiring for the roof rack lights. I spliced into the head light high beam circuit to run power(+12v) to a toggle switch mounted on the dash. The toggle switch activates the relay which in turn supplies the 4 lights mounted on the roof rack with 12v from the battery. It turned out pretty slick. By the end of the third day the 40 had an ARB airlocker, brush guard and working auxiliary lights on the confer roof rack, not bad.

Bench testing the lights

With the 40 ready to hit the road, my brother had a few things to address on his 80 series. It was 2300 and we were back out in the shop. Checking fluid levels and tearing the dash apart. We needed to get his stereo working as in connecting via Bluetooth to his phone. It was Wednesday night and we were heading to Dawson City, Yukon Territory first thing in the morning. I was going to drive the 40 and he and his girlfriend would be in the 80. By 0100 we were closing down the shop.
A few hours later I heard him up and about. I got dressed and packed up my duffle bag. Loaded the cruiser with what was necessary for the next 5 days. There was a softball tournament in Dawson that weekend we were playing in and had about a 14 hour drive ahead of us. Both rigs were on the road by 0630. Other than my speedo cable not being properly hooked up, we got out of town slowly began to make our way towards the boarder.
Here we are getting the speedometer cable hooked up.

Once we had the cable working we were on our way to Glennallen, AK.

 

[samatulich]

Not sure why the pictures are posting like they are. Frustrating!

 

[samatulich]

On our way to Glenallen

Glenn Highway

We made it to Glenallen, fueled up and headed for Tok, AK. Here we are stopped for some road construction.

From Tok we continued on to Chicken, AK. This is where the driving became a lot more fun. The highway becomes peppled/graveled/paved/dirt/rough/dusty...

After visiting Chickens local watering hole and souvenir shop, we headed for the US/Canada boarder crossing and the "top of the world" highway.
Just a bit dusty.

 

[Honger]

A Poster !!

So... There was just something I really loved about this picture from your trip. I also have been wanting to add some shop decor to my new garage. Anyway I came up with this poster and I think it turned out great! (Hope you don't mind!)

View attachment 2053056

(I had my 13 year old son stand next to it for some size perspective)

I know it's hard to see, so:

Vehicle Info is in the top left
Both Driver's IH8MUD usernames top right
Departure city and date with arrow to Destination city and date, with total hours and mileage below
Used the IH8MUD dark theme color scheme

I love this. Great looking poster and I too love this pic.

You should make a series of these based off trip reports on MUD... people (like me!) would buy these for their shops!
@hecrod did an amazing trip with great photos... as have many others.

Just a thought.

 

[tls3601]

What is really great is that you are having a great Adventure right here in the good ole USA! Who ever said you had to travel to a 3rd world country to Overland???? Keep the pics coming brother

 

[samatulich]

We pulled over at one point to play around with the air lockers on both rigs. The 80 is triple locked, pretty fun to see the difference in performance between an open and locked differential.

This was also the when we experienced one of our first hickups. The front locker began to leak air and would not stay engaged. We didn't look into the problem, just continued on our way toward the Yukon Territory.
Here we are, the last stop before the boarder crossing. This is a good place to cache anything you may have that is not legal in the foreign country...

Here's why, the Canadian boarder agents are a real piece of work

We made it into the Yukon Territory and the Top of the World Highway, another 100+kilometers to go to get to Dawson City.

 

[reddog90]

Awesome adventure again.

 

[Honger]

View attachment 2102033

Absolutely love this shot of the 40 and 80 together...

 

[samatulich]

The drive along the Top of the World Highway was awesome. Both rigs were smashing along. Weather was great, not any traffic on the road. We just kept plugging along, one kilo at a time.

Had to stop and refuel with 35 kilometers to go. The check ball siphon is the way to go, quick, easy and not a drop spilled.

Making our way on down to the Yukon River, jump on the ferry and welcome to Dawson City.

After 14 hours of driving and just shy of 500 miles we made it to Dawson City, YT.

 

[White Stripe]

What is the border agent doing? Checking your tire or something?

 

[samatulich]

What is the border agent doing? Checking your tire or something?

That’s my brothers 80. My guess is the agent is writing down the license plate number.

 

[GEMatulich]

You're welcome on that speedo cable. I think it should be mentioned how annoying it would have been to drive 1000 miles without the main gauge. we spent 20 minutes screwing with it before it worked. easy fix, just annoying. I cant wait for the next chapter. I may have some pic on my phone to add.

 

[bikersmurf]

Awesome to see more of your 40.

Air Locker(s) have been on my bucket list for 25 years. I was convinced I needed one and then bought new tires and was doing everything in 2wd that I usually needed 4wd for.

You mentioned what a big difference the locked dif made. Based on your new experience, do you think a rear locker is worthwhile/enough? Or are you ready to go out and buy another for the front axle.

If money didn’t matter, I’d buy both... but it does, and open difs and 2500+ lbs over the rear axle have taken me so far, I don’t know if it’s worth the extra stress on the birthfields to lock the front. If I’m never engaging the front locker, then it’s an expensive switch to show off... or hide.

 

[samatulich]

Awesome to see more of your 40.

Air Locker(s) have been on my bucket list for 25 years. I was convinced I needed one and then bought new tires and was doing everything in 2wd that I usually needed 4wd for.

You mentioned what a big difference the locked dif made. Based on your new experience, do you think a rear locker is worthwhile/enough? Or are you ready to go out and buy another for the front axle.

If money didn’t matter, I’d buy both... but it does, and open difs and 2500+ lbs over the rear axle have taken me so far, I don’t know if it’s worth the extra stress on the birthfields to lock the front. If I’m never engaging the front locker, then it’s an expensive switch to show off... or hide.

I only engaged the locker a few times in conditions that warranted them. Ascending a steep(not sure on the grade), loose rocky section of trail, that I attempted to get up without the locker. I was in 4-low and was spinning out and kicking up rock. I engaged the locker and the 40 began to crawl its way up. Next I engaged the locker as we navigated the mud holes, and again, I was able to drive through without having to mash on the throttle. I also made it through the mud without the locker engaged, but I was following the 80 and we were mashing. I used the locker a time or two more on the trip in other slippery conditions, and I felt more in control of the vehicle and situation with it engaged.
The land cruiser can go so many places with open diffs and good tires, that’s why I respect the 40.
Locking the rear has been on our list (@GEMatulich and I ) for a number of years, and this was the summer to do it. That being said, I will just wait and see where I end up going with the 40 and whether or not a front locker is necessary. I agree, no need in having a expensive switch to show off. I am glad that I used the locker and that it worked when I needed it(for the most part).
So, in summary, I did notice a performance increase with the rear locker engaged and I am going to wait on locking the front.

 

[samatulich]

Continuing on with the story, we are now in Dawson City, YT. We were in town for a softball tournament over the long weekend (Labor day). Having never been to Dawson there were a few things I need to experience, the first was a toe shot. Drink it fast or drink it slow, you must kiss the toe.

Wash it down with some wild turkey

That's a human tow for those of you who were wondering. Story says it was from a lawn mowing accident, and that others had been used before, some were swallowed, others just straight up taken. Now it'll cost you $10K if you attempt to even get out the door with the little guy.
We called it a nights after a round of toe shots and a long day of driving.
The following morning we spotted a few cruisers.

And this one

There were other 70 series spotted in town, we just didn't get any pictures of them.
We spent the weekend playing ball and checking out the town.
Here we are on top of the dome, over looking the city of Dawson. It was a bit smokey that weekend, but a great view of the area otherwise.

We played good ball and took second place in the tournament. Between the northern lights, dancing girls at the casino and competitive ball, it sure was fun. I'll do my best to get back there next summer.

 

[bikersmurf]

I only engaged the locker a few times in conditions that warranted them. Ascending a steep(not sure on the grade), loose rocky section of trail, that I attempted to get up without the locker. I was in 4-low and was spinning out and kicking up rock. I engaged the locker and the 40 began to crawl its way up. Next I engaged the locker as we navigated the mud holes, and again, I was able to drive through without having to mash on the throttle. I also made it through the mud without the locker engaged, but I was following the 80 and we were mashing. I used the locker a time or two more on the trip in other slippery conditions, and I felt more in control of the vehicle and situation with it engaged.
The land cruiser can go so many places with open diffs and good tires, that’s why I respect the 40.
Locking the rear has been on our list (@GEMatulich and I ) for a number of years, and this was the summer to do it. That being said, I will just wait and see where I end up going with the 40 and whether or not a front locker is necessary. I agree, no need in having a expensive switch to show off. I am glad that I used the locker and that it worked when I needed it(for the most part).
So, in summary, I did notice a performance increase with the rear locker engaged and I am going to wait on locking the front.

In the early ‘90s, with the stock motor, I easily walked up “Locker Hill” as it was called by all the locals. A longer, up to 100% grade hill, with loose gravel, a few stumps on the way up, etc.

The Jimmy owner with us tried it slow, tried it fast, and in between... after 6-8 runs, he never got further than half way (even with an LSD out back.

The ‘79 Bronco F/S owner was determined not to be shown up by an import. He kept at it, tried many different approaches, many different strategies, and then it ended with a bang. He blew the rear third mender... likely the pinion year. He was even more sheepish getting towed back to basecamp by said same import.

 

[kevos37]

Phase of the day " Give me a toe shot ".

 

[samatulich]

Time for me to wrap this story up.
We left Dawson City in the early morning and made it to Eagle River by 6 that evening. Another long day behind the wheel but everything went accordingly and it was time to switch gears. I had a friend flying up to the following morning and the two of us were going to begin the next leg of journey. This time we were headed north, north as far as one can drive in the state of Alaska. I'm talking about the Dalton Highway. An 800 mile drive was what we had ahead of us.
I picked my buddy up at the airport at 9am and we immediatly began to get what we needed for our trip. One item on the list was to pick up an electric winch for the cruiser. I went with a Come Up winch. The fab shop had already built a mounting plate, and I had the synthetic line and hook in the grage, so I purchased a "naked" winch. Got everything back to my brothers home and installed the winch and got all our gear ready for the drive the next day.
We left Anchorage around 11 that morning and made it to Fairbanks several hours later. We fueled up and purchased a few last minute items before heading out for the Dalton Highway. We reached the highway at last light.

We pushed on for several more miles before setting up camp alongside the highway.

We had roughly 400 miles to cover the second day if we were going to make it to Deadhorse, AK. We loaded up the 40 and kept driving north, over the Yukon River we went, passed Finger Mountain and crossed the Arctic Cirle and made it to Coldfoot in the early afternoon.

Coldfoot is the last place to get fuel until Deadhorse. We topped off, ate lunch and continued on. Another 240 miles to go, one mountain pass and miles of dirt road awaited us.
Driving through the valley with the Brooks Range towering above you was awesome. The cruiser was humming along, Atigun Pass was the next check point. As we ascended the pass was when we first had the clutch slip. Neither one of us said anything, but we both heard it. We made it up to the pass and pulled over for an obligatory picture and a breather.

 

[samatulich]

I rode shotgun on the way down Atigun Pass and onto the North Slope of Alaska. Passing pump stations, muskox and miles of tundra we headed north towards Deadhorse. The two of us had purchased our hunting license and tags to take advantage of the caribous hunting along the highway from this point on. So as my buddy drove I kept my eyes peeled, looking for the herds of caribou I had read about. We decided that we would camp outside of town, we just were not sure where. Once you are north of the Brooks Range, there are very few roads that take you far from the highway. About 60 miles from the end of the Dalton Highway there's a pullout that we figured would make a great place for our camp. We had the vantage point and could look for miles out across the tundra and spot game.

Our camp on the slope

Camp made a great place to start the day glassing

Over several days we spent time cruising up and down the highway, made it into Deadhorse a couple times to fuel up and check things out.

The end of the Dalton Highway, Deadhorse, Alaska.

 

[samatulich]

Overall we covered a couple hundred miles while we were on the slope. The hunting was tough, we saw hundreds of bou, but were not able to get within stick bow range of them. The tundra offers little cover and closing the distance was the challenge. Had a good time, met some others up there both hunting and traveling.

The road conditions were relatively great. The crews work on grading the highway constantly. We had to be careful when driving through the work zones as the gravel could be extremely sloppy. A few times I thought we were going to end up rolled over on the side of the road because of the wet, loose and deep gravel. Taking it slow was key, a test to ones patience.
After several days on the North Slope we packed up camp and headed south. It took us two full days to get back to Eagle River.
The last evening on the slope.

Again on the ascent of Atigun Pass the clutch began to slip. I would down shift and the cruiser keep on climbing.

The Dalton Highway is know for beating vehicles up and testing their road worthy-ness. The 40 proved to be as good a vehicle as I could have hoped for on this journey. I lost a license plate light and the bushings look toast. We continued to make our way south and pulled into Fairbanks late that evening. Decided to check into a hotel for the night, shower and clean ourselves up a bit. On the second day we left Fairbanks and made it to Denali. The mountain was not out, which was unfortunate. I was hoping my buddy would get to see it, but that was not the case in either direction. South of Denali is where we really started to notice the clutch slipping. Taking off from a dead stop was more or less rough. This was my first time experiencing a slipping clutch and wasn't too sure what was happening.
We pulled into a gravel pit to squeeze off a few rounds out of our .44's and the 45/70 that we took along for the ride. After shooting, I went to demonstrate how the rear locker worked. I engaged the locker, put it in gear and let off the clutch. Nothing happened, and we both began to smell the clutch. So after that experience we just put our heads down and crossed our fingers that we would make it the last 100 or so miles back to my brothers.
I gave my brother a call and told him what was happening. He hung up and made a phone call or two and by the time we pulled into his driveway, he had a clutch kit waiting for us at the local auto parts store.