Alaska Megaadventure Summary

[katanapilot]

We just returned to Atlanta from a nearly 8 week journey in our Oliver E II.  An amazing experience overall and I'm really happy with how the supercharged Tundra and Oliver performed.

A few highlights -

• Days gone - 52
• Miles traveled - 12.430. Drove the Alcan, the Steese/Elliott/Dalton to Arctic Circle, Glenn. Taylor, Richardson/Edgerton/McCarthy, Top of the World and a few others.
• Fuel consumed - approximately 1200 gallons (mostly) premium gasoline
• Oil consumed - less than 1/2 quart (love those Toyota V8's)
• U.S. National Parks visited - 10 (7 in Alaska)
• States/Provinces traversed - 11/3
• Oliver sightings - 6!
• Wildlife spotting - too many to count
• Costco's visited - 22! Some more than once. (Saved enough on fuel to pay the annual Executive membership fee)
• Flat tires - 0! (Had two spares each for truck and trailer). Glad I carried extra fuel though, as the fuel station at the Yukon River (Dalton Hwy) was out.
• Oliver issues - two touch LED lights, one water leak at water pump (very loose flexible hose). Thankful for the double hull and drains.
• Tundra issues - two divots in windshield.  Supercharger drive coupling is going bad (known issue), but made it home for repair here.
• Memories - a lifetime!

Now for a week of cleaning and maintenance on the Tundra and Oliver. Highly recommend this trip if you can spare the time and expense.

[Mike and Carol]

Sounds like a great trip!  Post some pictures when you get time.  Mike

[Rivernerd]

Thanks for the report.  It is on our "bucket list." 

I have heard there is lots of gravel road on that route.  Any rock chips on the front of the Oliver hull?  Did you install any protection in that area, such as 3M paint protection film?  If so, how well did it work?

[MnM]

Second the vote on hearing what you did to protect your Ollie as we are buying ours in FEB and very much expect to do a similar trip!

[Katjo]

Sounds like a wonderful trip! Would love to see some photos.😃

[katanapilot]

4 hours ago, Rivernerd said:

Thanks for the report.  It is on our "bucket list." 

I have heard there is lots of gravel road on that route.  Any rock chips on the front of the Oliver hull?  Did you install any protection in that area, such as 3M paint protection film?  If so, how well did it work?

There are a lot of unimproved roads.  We contemplated installing either the 3M film or Rhino Lining color coded to the Ollie.  Both were expensive ($1300-1500). We decided to wait and see if the Rock Tamers on the Tundra did the job.  The only chips I've seen so far (haven't cleaned the Ollie yet) are on the exterior basement door.  They would have come from the Ollie tires and not the Tundra - so installing mud flaps (like John Davies did I think) - might prevent some of that.

If there are a lot of chips on the front of the Ollie (and I don't think there are) - we will either repair them, install the Rhino lining or just make sure they are coated so water doesn't penetrate beneath the gel coat.

I'm not convinced the rocks are as big of a problem as you may have heard.  I would always slow down and move to the far right whenever being approached from the opposite direction and most other drivers seemed to do the same.  One of our windshield chips was from a Mercedes SUV driver towing an aluminum trailer (won't say what brand but it rhymes with jet stream;) going full speed.

As to pictures, I will work on that when I get caught up from being gone for 8 weeks.  First world problem, I recognize...

[Southbird401]

We did the same trip this summer. I installed 3m clear vinyl on front lower panels of the Ollie. They got pitted and had several small holes. It was impossible to clean them. I pulled them off at home and no damage to the trailer. Suffered one rock crack in the windshield that I had fixed and a couple rock scratches. 
Averaged 15.1 mpg on F250 power stroke over 10,500 miles.  Oliver towed really well and no need for the antisway hitch. 
The main problem we had was the Truma water heater went out on day three. Despite extensive discussions with both Oliver and Truma, I was unable to get it fixed. I did get a new circuit board sent to a campground and that did not fix it. Neither did a new propane regulator.
I recently took it into a Truma authorized service facility here in Southern California and they had to replace the water heater, it was a total loss. We did splash showers using a pot of hot water. It actually worked well and saved on water use and grey tank capacity. 
Overall a great trip. The Yukon and Alaska are beautiful and impressive. It was truly an adventure. 
 

[Galway Girl]

We're heading up to Alaska this summer - 2023.  Here's the map of our route.

I see Costco's in Fairbanks, Anchorage, Prince George BC.

Any tips on Diesel along the routes we show below?

Craig - Hull 505

[Ollie-Haus]

Wow that looks like a real adventure! We would have to drive almost as far just to get to your starting point. Some day, hopefully soon. 🍻

[Geronimo John]

6 hours ago, Galway Girl said:

Any tips on Diesel along the routes we show below?

Our trip started and ended in Houston.  If fuel prices this year are like last year.....  Bring a really big wallet.

That said, our trip was worth every penny and was OUTSTANDNG!    

GJ 

[Jim and Chris Neuman]

Katanapilot

Great trip!  How was hauling the Oliver into McCarthy?  Boondocking or camping along the road east of Chitina?  Started in once and quickly decided the road would quickly reduce our old stick and staple trailer into it's component parts.  Backed out with my tail between my legs.  Heading back to AK next year and thinking the Oliver might be up to it.

[katanapilot]

5 hours ago, Jim and Chris Neuman said:

Katanapilot

Great trip!  How was hauling the Oliver into McCarthy?  Boondocking or camping along the road east of Chitina?  Started in once and quickly decided the road would quickly reduce our old stick and staple trailer into it's component parts.  Backed out with my tail between my legs.  Heading back to AK next year and thinking the Oliver might be up to it.

We did not take the Ollie to McCarthy.  We left it at the campground in Glenallen and stayed at the lodge in Kennicott.  The lodge is pricey, but it was a good experience.

The trailer probably would have been fine, but we did not want to risk it based on reports of the condition of the McCarthy road.  I'm not sure where you would camp along the way - maybe others will weigh in on that.