Big Dblue

Hey guys. Well i finished Airborne school and i received my orders and i am stationed at Fort. Richardson in Alaska. I am really excited about this new journey ahead of me. I have lived in TX all my life and i am a outdoorsman myself, i know Alaska will be beautiful. But i also want a nice Dodge diesel. lol Do yall know if there is diesel around the base? Is it more $$$ up there? Where would i buy the truck at? Should i wait and find out if i even need a truck there? Im really lost guys. Just wondering if yall could help me out?
Thanks guys.

Trapper.

bggrndodge

Well I live in Kodiak, AK and spend some time over near there. Yes there is lots of diesel and dealers, fort richardson is right next to elmendorf afb, Anchorage is right there also, you can get what ever you need but the price is gonna be a little more. If your gonna buy a new truck I would do it in the lower 48. I was over there last month and diesel was 5.09 but I think it has been going down. Hope that helps.

Jake

ian515

Oh you lucky dog you. you are gonna have a blast up there man!

to answer your questions, yes there is diesel around there, lots of it. and yes it is expensive. last I heard it was just coming down to somewhere between 4.66 and 4.90.

there are plenty of them for sale there, you shouldnt have too much of a problem finding one. especially if the dealers are offering the same deals there, as they are here.

now, about NEEDING one. if you are into the outdoors sports (and trust me, when you get there, you will be) and you start buyin toys like snowMACHINES (this is the name there, so get used to it ) and dirt bikes/ATV's, a diesel will be giving you better gas mileage when towing those said toys to Turnigan pass, and the valley (you will know those places well if you like that type of stuff). it snows...a LOT sometimes, so its nice to have the extra clearance to plow through it all. the truck being as heavy as it is, might get you stuck in some hairy places some times, but you should be allright. I got a bunch of buddies with big toys and winches there, so if you get stuck, let me know.

if you have any questions, let me know, I am AK born and bred. so I should be able to help!

oh, and be carefull of the bears, they are out in force this year!

you are making me jealous.....

edit----I said gas mileage...I meant fuel....sorry

Big Dblue

Ya i cant wait! i have been trying to find some on autotrader but cant seem to find many. Only 1. lol But idk. i might be better off with a Jeep rubicon or something. But i really want a diesel too. I have a brand new Honda with 26' mudlites and ss rims that i paid for while in Basic training. Could i store that up there as well? what is a zip code that i could use to find me a vehicle up there?

ian515

99503 is a midtown zipcode.

there are plenty of storage places around....but I would imagine there is something on base as well. if I remember right, Ft. Rich just went through a bunch of remodeling.

the alaska truck of choice for outdoor activities is the toyota tacoma (a lot will disagree with me), its light, agile, decent fuel economy, and you can mod the heck out of it. if you are looking to do some mods, let me know, I got a buddy who owns a company, and does some AMAZING work to toyota's

ian515

oh, and if you had moved a year earlier, you would have had a piece of the $3,200 check every Alaska citizen is getting. but dont worry next years PFD will be pretty sweet too.

Big Dblue

Ya i like the Yota's my brother has prolly one of the best looking ones i have ever seen. He bought when i came back from IRAQ. The Toyota dealershiped liked it so much that they started showing there customers pictures of it when he was done. Its an 08 4door tacoma TRD 4x4 with a 6' pro.comp lift 35' Toyo muds on 17' kmc rims. Its really nice he prolly put $8k in it. But i was wanting more power than look good and drive slow! Or a jeep if i cant find a dodge diesel.

Thanks for the zip.

ian515

you could always build something like this:



this is one of my buddies trucks, on one of the trails in anchorage.

Bark

Diesel is currently $5.25 at the station two miles from the refinery here in Nikiski. Gas and fuel are cheaper in the Anchorage/Ft Rich area. Where I live is about 60 air miles from FT. Rich and about 200 miles on the road.
Used to be better to pick up a car or truck down south and bring it up. Not so now. I would wait and get something after you get up here. For one thing the lemon lots (free parking area for vehicles for sale) on Ft Rich and Elmendorf usually wind up with some good deals. Also no sales tax in Anchorage.
Other thing is don’t get sucked into going into major debt over a vehicle. They love to loan money to newly enlisted guys because they know they can get your money. You will enjoy yourself a lot more getting a beater with extra snow tires and having extra money in your pocket for exploring AK. You don’t have to get a big truck and during the winter, I prefer a smaller car. They heat up quicker and handle better on the ice. Of course too small and they cant wade through deep snow.
I lived on Elmendorf/Ft Rich for 6 years as a dependant until I went in the service in 1973. I loved it.
I visited Ft. Rich about 3 years ago and it is really nice. They used to have a fantastic auto hobby shop.

Wow! You got me babbling

CTDinMT

There is diesel at both Elmendorf gas stations and both Ft Rich stations. Your going to love it there. I miss Alaska and WILL get back there, whether on orders or after I retire from active, but I WILL get back there!!!

ofcmarc

Plenty of Diesel to be had up here. Everything runs on it. In Fairbanks it's $4.95/gal Anchorage is probly $.10 cheaper.

As said before lemon lots are a decent place to find a used truck if you don't bring your own.

Big Dblue

So there are plenty places to purchase vehicles. Its almost time for me to report there (Sept. 6th) and i was going to buy here in TX. but my parents talked me out of it. How big are the towns there? Any cool places to go? what about a friday night bar happing? Im still a teen and i like to have a good time. Well thanks

Bark

Glad you didnt buy in TX. Lots of Dealers but you should take your time after you get up here and get a good used vehicle. Anchorage is the biggest town in the state (pop around 300,000 now) and there is a lot to do. Sorry you missed our summer. This time of the year I start looking forward to seeing snow again. Bar hopping I dont know about and I dont know how they handle being military but under 21 when it comes to drinking. Also, try and take advantage of the stuff available right on the base. Might seem lame but when I was in, I started going to just about every hobby shop and club on base. I even learned how to throw pottery in the Army.

ian515

depends on what you like to do. if you are under 21, it will be pretty hard to get into the bars. but the bars that are fun to go to are the Pioneer and humpys (my choice at least) bernies in the summertime is awesome. make sure you start getting into the beer called Alaskan amber. also start eating at mooses tooth, bears tooth and arctic roadrunner for awesome burgers...oh, now that I think about it, lucky wishbone is AMAZING. for burgers and shakes at least.

like stated above its rolling into fall, so start getting your winter sports stuff ready, if you like skiing, check out alyeska. there is still some good hiking to be had, flattop, the dome trail, crows pass, hatchers pass, all awesome places. Kincaid park is a great place to bike and hike, a lot of wildlife to check out. one of the first things you should do is buy some good hiking boots. if you like outdoors, you are gonna use them a lot. go to rei, or AMH. oh, and a proper rain jacket, and winter coat.

have fun man, give me a shout if you need anything at all!

kjp

This is the wife Hijacking hubby's username......

I am actually from Alaska and I miss it desperately, it is way too hot and sticky down here for me. Places you must go are as follows; Moose's Tooth and/or Bear Tooth, Snow City Cafe, Humpy's, F Street Bar, The Brewhouse, if you only go one place go to the Double Muskey up in Girdwood, it is expensive but amazing. Make sure you get down to Seward and go to the Sealife center and Kenai Fjords tours, corny but fun. If you can go Homer and go out with Rainbow tours. Go up to Fairbanks and swim at Chena hot springs. Oh and while you are up in Fairbanks drive the half an hour and visit the Northpole. Can you tell I am homesick? These are just the things I could come up with off the top of my head, but if you have any other questions just pm me.

Candice