Msand
Importer
Not mine, but super cool.
https://bend.craigslist.org/cto/d/2008-megacab-dodge-67-cummins/6711077454.html
https://bend.craigslist.org/cto/d/2008-megacab-dodge-67-cummins/6711077454.html
Dodge Ram with portal axles
- Thread starter Msand
- Start date
Jjackson410
Observer
that took some work to build..
Bubblegoose1
@PNWINFERNOPRO
************ truck
Am I the only one who finds this a bit strange?
"I built it to pull Jet-A fuel up a river in remote Alaska for a Heliskiing company"
"I built it to pull Jet-A fuel up a river in remote Alaska for a Heliskiing company"
shortbus4x4
Expedition Leader
You ski in winter and most rivers in Alaska in winter are not passable by a boat so I believe it was built to haul jet A fuel up a river in Alaska for a heli skiing company.
crazysccrmd
Observer
Not in the winter when the river is a solid frozen highway. It’s a common thing in AK to use the winter to move heavy loads and vehicles through areas that are otherwise impassable in the summer. Probably didn’t need to be built quite like this but the story is 100% believable.
Msand
Importer
The story behind what he built it for could possibly be incorrect, but he has built an absolutely amazing and capable rig. I've seen rigs like this up near Prudhoe Bay, AK weighing through channels to deliver pipe. Some of the Rig support trucks in the Yuk are built like this as well.
Scrappy4x4
New member
According to the owner it "Comes with 1000 "Gripstuds" that can be screwed into the tires for ice traction. They're $1.14each retail. I love them. Haven't needed them here in the lower48 (Montana & Oregon). "
That thing is a beast!
It's not strange at all. Frozen rivers really open up access to a lot of the interior in the winter. Alaska is not like Colorado or Utah or Nevada where it's relatively dry and you can access a lot of remote places with a lightly modified 4wd and good offroad driving skill. A lot of Alaska is muskeg which is challenging for even tracked vehicles to travel over in the summer. In the wintertime though, that swamp is frozen and you can drive right over the same spot that would've swallowed your rig in the summertime. That's why wintertime is the exploration season for the oil and gas companies around Prudhoe.
Pretty common for Crowley to make fuel deliveries to tank farms in the villages on the coast and along the Yukon and other rivers. Then in the winter that fuel will get delivered up the smaller rivers that aren't as easily accessible by barge. Especially if you run a heliski company that's only open in the wintertime. You definitely could take a small boat but it's easier to haul 10k lbs with a truck and trailer that'll drive straight up to your operation than get it there with multiple runs in a shallow draft river boat. Typically companies who are really serious about winter transport would use something like a CATCO Rolligon, not a pickup truck but I imagine this was a good solution for a smaller consumer like a heliski company. Still doable though and that Ram is definitely a cool rig!
https://randomcurrents.com/trucking-down-an-ice-road-in-bethel-alaska/