Road Trip to Alaska-Coffee Table Book Finally Done-thanks Cody Cole!

[taxspeaker]

This is the final set of pictures.
The first one is the interior driver's seat view. There is a solar panel in the front dash that has 2 USB ports to keep the GPS charged and to keep the cell phone or radio speaker battery charged. The GoPro on the inside window in the previous set of pictures is charged from the solar panel in the rear package tray. All solar panels worked today in testing and charged correctly.

The 2nd picture is of the interior seats. I bought a drink holder that fits between the console and passenger seat to hold the cell phone and a coke or coffee. On the console is an Am/FM/Weather radio hooked to an amplified speaker. You can't see it but there is also a hand held CB radio next to the drink tray. We may do a sat phone for 1 month-they aren't too expensive as long as you don't use actually use them and it will make my wife feel better.

The 3rd picture is of the box behind the driver seat with a fire extinguisher, first aid kit and assorted batteries and cables. I want to leave the back seat and passenger seat empty because my son is going to fly to Whitehorse Yukon and ride with me to Fairbanks, and just for more room.

The 4th picture is of the fully packed trunk. It has everything I could come up with except I will also have 2 1-gallon water jugs and I have now thrown an empty 5 gallon plastic gas can in there. There is still room for a sleeping bag and clothes.

Wish us luck. I have decided to do the test drive alone rather than a chase vehicle because that's how the Alaska trip is going to play out as well.

[Arnie Cunningham]

Go for it! 

[charge69]

It's going to be an epic trip and it looks as if you are very well prepared.  My guess is all the spare stuff and tools are going to be just going along for the ride!

I will be looking forward with great anticipation to the daily progress reports and pictures!

[thehemikid]

Bob, something I hope you want need,  but back when I used to do more car & parts chasing, I would have a rolled up ~6' section of clear carpet runner for if I ever had to crawl under on wet, dirt, or gravel.

[Rubberduck]

Oh man, this will be a nice trip.

I did a similar thing in 1996. I started in North Carolina for a 11 week trip. I come from Germany.
A rental car was way to expensive for 11 weeks. So I deceided to buy an old clunker at a car auction.
I only wanted and cheap car with a V8 in it. I got a ´84 Crown Vic for $ 650,-.
Drove all the way across the USA to Montana. Then Alberta, Northwest Territories, Yukon  and finally to Alaska.
Don´t miss Jasper and Banff N.P. in Canada. And also the Denali N.P. in Alaska. Skagway is it worth too.
From there I drove all the way via British Columbia to Vancover. Then the costal Highway No1 to California.
Next was Nevada, Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, Texas and all the way back to North Carolina.

That was the best trip of my life. It was about 20000 miles.

I´m happy for you.


Mario

[taxspeaker]

Thanks for comments and suggestions. I like the carpet runner idea and hope to not have to use it even though I may get one.

Here are the results of the test run yesterday-fully loaded as if ready to go to Alaska.

243 miles round trip with 1 stop at Flying J truck stop at turn around point. Average speed about 65 mph-speedo is reading about 6 mph faster than actual according to GPS and I drove about 72 per the speedo. Mileage 13.58 which was right in line with expected.

Broken parts, oil leaks, water leaks, oil consumption or problems of any kind-NONE everything was ok and all systems are go for June 22.

Some things I learned:
1. Take a roll of paper towels to check oil and if needed for messes.
2. Take a box of trash bags-didn't need them but many uses,
3. Hand held AM/FM radio is crap and boredom will set in. My original AM radio works fine but I am thinking about buying one of those modern AM/FM jobs that look original-has anyone bought one and do they work ok?
4. Handheld CB is crap. I have a magnet roof mount antenna but I think I will move the CB to the emergency box rather than use the antenna.
5. The front solar panel was fantastic and ran the GPS the entire trip without using its own internal batteries. The front solar panel has a 2nd USB out plug I could use for the phone if needed.
6. The tail mounted GoPro took over 1,500 pictures my son tells me and worked flawlessly. I am curious to see the results of the boring 240 mile drive in rural southern indiana.
7. The inside mounted GoPro-even with all the checklists this dumbass forgot to turn it on. Next time.
8. Fatigue, butt or back soreness-not an issue. Frankly the car drove like a dream.
9. Rubberneckers-lots of them. The best one (I hope Ryan has it on the GoPro) some guy passed me with his wife or girlfriend hanging out the passenger window at 70mph taking a cell phone picture with a very loose shirt! Literally dozens of honks, waves, thumbs up, yelling, etc. At one point 2 guys in an old beater Toyota pulled beside me at about 60 mph and revved up their ricer-I just shook my head at them.
10. As Brennan says above-at our one stop we were immediately in car discussions-that's fine and fun and it will break up the trip. We stopped for about 15 minutes for restroom, soda and just to let things cool down.
11. I have not determined that anything needs to be fixed other than maybe doing that temporary radio replacement-again I would like comments if anyone has bought one.

We now have taken everything out of the car and will detail it this weekend so we can do a car show or 3 in May and early June. I have talked to the website lady about getting the site ready for blogs, picture and video feeds, an interactive map and the ability to sell some T-shirts and stuff and she tells me about  mid-April.

[charge69]

WOW,  a really nice break-in run and, as far as people doing crazy things when they pass, you ain't seen nothin' yet!!  The carpet runner sounds like a great idea and it wouldn't take up much space or weigh much of anything.
No suggestions on the radio but, I don't think I would convert the original to modern stuff. Get yourself a boom box with a cd player and make do. I know it is a long trip but ... make a boom box work.
ALMOST 14 mpg isn't bad but a 2.73 rear might be a consideration. Probably make a big difference in MPG.
Waiting for the real trip and it looks like it will be awesome!

[taxspeaker]

Here is the first shot from the tail mounted GoPro leaving the shop for the test drive.

Also here is a link to the time lapse (1 minute 40 seconds) of the entire trip.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcVVwlGd-bk&feature=youtu.be

[70Sbird]

Best minute and 40 seconds I've spent all day!

[dads_69]

Hey, right on can't wait to meet up with you here. PM me & I'll give you my cell #. I'm in Wasilla,Alaska it's on your way to Fairbanks. It's 5 hrs from here, unless your driving a mopar, haha.

Mark

[AKcharger]

Video cool...but didn't see the chicks 

[taxspeaker]

OK the web site lady now tells me the www.superbirdnorth.com website is active. They figured out some GPS thing to always show where the car is via my cell phone-not sure how that will work when I am flying, but phone is off then!Rather than continue to take up this board I will be posting updates on there to avoid member complaints here. I did contact the Dodge dealer in Whitehorse Yukon to see about a car show but never even got a response. I am going to send them a letter too

[70Sbird]

Cool Idea for a website and following your trip, I just bookmarked it!

[1970Moparmann]

Pack your 9mm, baseball bat, and any other item in case you come across some whack job also....

[charge69]

Pack your 9mm, baseball bat, and any other item in case you come across some whack job also....

Bad Advice!  Do NOT pack any pistol or ammunition into Canada!  Your trip will be over in a hurry if you get caught!

A baseball bat and a glove is pretty good advice and I might even consider a fish-billy and a fishing pole.  Just do not get caught trying to bring a pistol into Canada.

[stripedelete]

Pack your 9mm, baseball bat, and any other item in case you come across some whack job also....

Bad Advice!  Do NOT pack any pistol or ammunition into Canada!  Your trip will be over in a hurry if you get caught!

A baseball bat and a glove is pretty good advice and I might even consider a fish-billy and a fishing pole.  Just do not get caught trying to bring a pistol into Canada.

Yes, no 9mm.   I prefer a claw hammer.  It can be effective from inside the car.  It Will leave a mark.  And it has a great deal of plausible deniability. 

[Hemi Runner]

OK the web site lady now tells me the www.superbirdnorth.com website is active. They figured out some GPS thing to always show where the car is via my cell phone-not sure how that will work when I am flying, but phone is off then!Rather than continue to take up this board I will be posting updates on there to avoid member complaints here. I did contact the Dodge dealer in Whitehorse Yukon to see about a car show but never even got a response. I am going to send them a letter too

Cool site. I'm really glad to see guys driving these things. You should have a great time on this trip! Good luck

[taxspeaker]

Thanks-never actually considered the pistol! The fishing pole is also a good idea-the hammer is right behind me on the floor while driving in case of a problem with the car.

Bob

[AKcharger]

people are friendly up there you'll be fine, just avoid Baltimore and St. Louis 

[1970Moparmann]

I'm a guy that likes to fly under the radar in most cases.   Obviously you don't want to pack a gun unless you have the 35 state concealed permit and then you can give to someone in the US before you go over the boarder.  

I'm sure that I can speak to almost everyone on this site - awesome idea, we will be following you on this amazing journey, and hope you have a safe trip!   I hope you have a bunch of "check in" points so the DC.com guys can get a case of whipass out in case we need to!!  

This is a journey of a life time and hope that your trip goes without an issue!

[wingcarenvy]

Very cool! I just did two short road trips in my A12 Bee one to Vegas for the Mopars at the Strip and a second one to Spring Fling in Van nuys Ca. I put just over 1000 miles on it. You guys will have a great time! 

[taxspeaker]

Down to about 4 weeks now from the short pleasure trip to Fairbanks and Anchorage. I have been reading "MilePost" which is a guide to the Alaska highway with great interest the last few days and it reminded me to check a few more things like the windshield washer system and cigarette lighter element-both of which are fine and functioning.

Here is tonight's update from the www.superbirdnorth.com post. I have put several other posts over there but figured the mechanical issues might be of interest here-I don't want to bore everyone with some of the other stuff. On a positive note I have now talked with MetroDodge in Whitehorse, Yukon and they have offered me full use of their shop for any needed mechanical repairs I need to make-very very generous offer. I am still desperately looking for a car show to attend somewhere along the trip. I will be taking a bunch of SuperBird North T-shirts and baseball hats to give away to selected interested folks and thinking about some bumper stickers too. I will have a scanner app with me to scan in any contact info, and I am taking one of my old "Hemi Yes" license plates from my old CHarger to post in the Milepost Forest way up at Watson Lake Yukon. I have also decided if the car is running well I am going to drive it an extra 200 miles from WHitehorse down into Skagway Alaska if the trip doesn't seem to much. I have driven that road before twice and the scenery is incredible although the mountain pass scares me in the Bird. If I can do it I want a picture of the Bird with a crusie ship behind it, the SKagway sign and the glaciers all in one shot. My son suggested that I try to show the Bird's VIN in a few of the pictures to prve it really did the trip-good idea but I am not sure how to do it-I suppose vehicle registration would work just as well with car in the background

Here is the update:
We had to move the Superbird this weekend to a new home at our house with the sale of our shop. In the move we have found a small oil leak which I will investigate this weekend. Hopefully just a minor thing as a result of last weekend's oil change. The Brad Penn 20w50 synthetic oil is a distinctive green color and was hard to miss on the floor of the shop, so I want to look a bit further.

After reading a book or two about the trip that have been recommended to me I tested the windshield washer system and found that one of the nozzles had rusted through from 35 years of non-use. New ones should arrive Friday and will be installed this weekend.

On Sunday we pre-packed the Bird for the trip. It now has all the extra parts, tools and safety gear loaded, the front dash solar panel is back on and ready to plug in to the GPS. The passenger side vent window will have an interior always on GoPro camera plugged in to the secondary solar output via a long USB cable. In the back seat I have an auxiliary Goal Zero power center which can provide needed backup power for any 12volt or 110 volt item for a day or so in an emergency. In the back speaker deck we have mounted a second solar panel that will charge the backup battery for the tail mounted GoPro.

I have a short list of things I still need that I will pick up this weekend and load: box of trash bags, bug spray, paper towels, a good knife, a small medical kit, a road atlas and a sleeping bag. There is still enough room in the trunk for my roll-on suitcase even after a late addition of a small pup tent and a couple of other things.

My son Ryan is once again re-doing the tail mount for the GoPro out there so that it is easier for me to unhook it at night for safety, battery change and data dump.

We have had one significant improvement in plans. I had planned on using my IPhone for pictures, but I wanted more. Ryan has decided to fly in to Fairbanks or possibly Whitehorse and bring his drone and GoPro to film the car in various spots on the drive. He also has given me some strict orders for picture requirements!

Thanks to everyone at www.dodgecharger.com for the many suggestions-what a fantastic group of guys,  MetroDodge in Whitehorse Yukon for the offer of their shop and the Indiana State Police for the travel advice and phone numbers. More to come!

[1970Moparmann]

Looking forward to following your awesome journey!

[AKcharger]

When are you going to be in Anchorage again, perhaps we can meet for lunch? I'll be there through June 22nd

[taxspeaker]

Looks like Anchorage on the 29th with luck but more likely on the 30th of June