Awesome 
. Thanks for sharing!
. Thanks for sharing!Sponsored
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Alaskan Bound - Delivery Road Trip Home in Two New Mavericks
I see a Jeep in your profile. We moved from Duluth to Alaska in November 1984 in a mid-'70s Cherokee. Great trip.
The OP's post and yours bring back a lot of memories, including Jeep repairs in Edmonton and a dog running into the woods who knows where. By a pure stroke of luck the Montreal Canadiens were in Edmonton the night we stopped and I got into the locker room to see a couple of rookies I knew (Chris Chelios and the late Tom Kurvers). They both had had their hair sheared by Steve Schutt's horseclippers ... a rookie tradition.
Wish we had spotted at Liard Springs, but I was driving hard to get to a new job and didn't plan on that day in Edmonton.
This has me itching for a trip if my Mav ever arrives. Would like to go up the Al-Can and down the Cassiar. On the Cassiar in '93, we had our 13-month-old son in the middle of the front bench seat of a Dakota. Spent one night in a logging camp pull-off ... not a lot of room to stretch. And the pooch was in the car we were towing.
Thanks, folks for the memories.
Interesting trip for sure and brings back some memories when I was a field engineer I spent time traveling MN as well as other places in the midwest.Mavericks Ultimate test
It’s been interesting yesterday and today. The mavericks have been put to the max test's that are possible for an urban/cross country/freight hauler. In one day, in 10 hours every northern road condition I have ever experienced happened. Bright sunshine, flat smooth roads, straight, steep, curvy, uphill, downhill, perfect flat straightaways, hard pack, frozen glare ice, deep slush, heavy whiteout march wet snow we shouldn't have been driving in at night on mountainous roads, snowing so hard I considered rolling down my window to look for the edge of the road. In every condition the maverick surprised me. I didn't experience any slipping at all except once when I hit a puddle of 6" water on top of ice on a curve. I didn't have to react the truck seems to catch itself automatically. I think it had something to do with tow haul mode and transfer of power to a slipping wheel.
I only had my heart in my throat one time. The truck didn't know it and made the blind uphill curve in extremely heavy snow without a hitch. I was expecting a loss of control, but it never happened.
Our plan at the beginning of the day was to get to Ft Nelson and stay overnight. With good roads we decided to push past to a favorite stopping place on the Alaska highway, Liard hot springs. The navigation app told us it was two hours from Ft Nelson. What it didn’t tell us was that a storm front was moving in, the trip was almost all on hardpack rough road, night was going to drop on us much sooner than we liked, and Canadian big haulers seemed to be coming around every bend. What started out as a two hour run for the hot springs turned in to a 3 ½ hour nightmare. My son had trouble seeing me ahead of him to gauge where the road was going to turn. I actually think he was doing more adjusting without a load than me. I never felt there was any pushing or swaying caused by the trailer at any time. One guy at a lodge who has been looking at the Mavericks was amazed to see how large a trailer we were pulling.
It's a 7’x16’ double axle which weighs 1250 pounds rated to 5500 lbs. It is loaded with a total gross weight of about 2500 pounds. Once we distributed the weight properly to get a tongue weight of about 350 pounds and tensioned it to 750-800 on the tongue gauge it acted like it was part of the truck. I did run cruise control on the good sections. Canada has km/hr so I set it to 100 (approx 65 mph) and let it roll. Luckily there is a huge space next to the brake pedal to fully extend my left leg.
The run to Liard Hot Springs late at night was worth it. After crashing into bed, I don’t remember falling asleep. I got up at 5 to go get a bottle of water from the truck. Luckily, I did because I had forgotten to turn the lights off. I wasn’t worried because I could use the accessory charger kit I got as an add-on. I didn’t need it. Two hours later the truck started easily.
Very early, we were the only people catching a soak in the wonderful outdoor hot springs. The moose were there before us. Since the air temperature was 21F you had to tolerate a little bit of freezing on your feet and changing to trunks in the freezing open air. Once in the water you just say AHHHH! Same difficulty getting out. I don’t think my wife would have appreciated the novelty.
One photo shows us helping the fuel companies. Not too much though because the fuel economy has slowly been creeping up for both vehicles. Mine with loaded trailer is averaging 11.1 miles per gallon and the chase Maverick 30.1 miles per gallon. That’s with 400 lbs. of gas in the bed. We top off 50 gallons extra when we get the chance. Only once have we used all the spare gas between stops. Satellites don't work for Siirus radio or phone connection most of the road. we pinned the google maps location to our home page on the phone so it would show travel location and distances when satellite wasn't connecting. My son listened to prerecorded audio books. A set of Midland two way radios allows us talking while driving. Tomorrow will be the big push for home. Barring unforeseen circumstances, it may be my last posting. Thank all of you who liked following. It’s been a great motivation for me.
The lego Ferrari was in a lego store in the Edmonton mall.
Not trying to start an argument but are you sure the trailer only weighs 1250 lbs? In my experience, they are usually about 500lbs more than that for your size. At any rate good to hear the maverick is towing so well. I am curious if the Maverick holds 6th gear on level ground at 65 to 70 MPH?
- Thread starter
- #50
2 Mavericks to Alaska-Ending and a new beginning
What a great trip! Two Mavericks to Alaska successfully traveling cross country in five days from Minnesota to Alaska. Thank you to all who have been following. It motivated me.
Regrettably this is the last entry for these Mavericks. The trip was fun, mostly easy, and certainly interesting. Both trucks met and surpassed expectations. Kudos to the engineers and workers that designed and built these amazing trucks. These are achievements won by past and present generations in the hopes of better days through better ways even as the better things we now enjoy have come to us through the struggles of former years. It is fitting to borrow that phrase from the FFA (Future Farmers of America) creed since these trucks came from the heartland to a new frontier.
As we came out of the Rocky Mountains onto the flat straight roads of interior Alaska we felt more and more at home. Our second truck came in as handy fuel hauler. There are long stretches between gas pumps. Notice the milage sign on one of the refill stops. We modified a funnel to make it easier to pour from gas cans. It made the filling faster and easier with little to no spillage.
The Lariat in tow/ haul mode averaged 11.8 miles per gallon. I called the trailer manufacturer to verify the empty aluminum trailer weight at 1250 lbs. when we were recalibrating the weight distribution back in Edmington. My Minnesota farmer friend wanted to bet the milage would be under 10 with all the extra weight we were hauling. Proof is in the pudding. I could have made $1000. The Lariat dash photo was taken at 65 mph on cruise control running about 2100 rpm pulling the 7’x16’ double axel trailer. Don’t know what gear it was in, but this was normal and average for flat roads. Very easy ride. No sense of hard working or excessive strain at all. Going up hill the transmission smoothly shifted to the point it almost wasn’t noticeable except for the change in RPM. Seldom did I get over 4000 RPM. I never tried a hard acceleration until we arrived, and the trailer was removed. I was surprised how it could put you back in your seats. It is very easy to get a ticket since it doesn’t feel like you are going fast until you are over the speed limit.
The XLT showed an average of 30.3 MPG for the trip. Both vehicles improved in gas milage the further we drove. I did have the oil changed at approximately 1000 miles for each truck, not required but I prefer to err on the cautious side for a new break-in.
Overall I have zero complaints. The trucks are more comfortable than I expected. I got pulled into the 21st century with the learning curve on some controls with no regrets. What a pleasure to voice text, make voice activated phone calls, listen to people texting me, ask for information hands free, as well as control all the luxury features from the steering wheel. I confess it was several days before I learned what everything does. I didn’t even see the low gear in the middle of the shift dial until my wife pointed it out after I got home. I think Ford could have left the radial speed dial out of the dash because I seldom looked at it. It didn’t match the numerical speed precisely but who’s complaining.
Both my son and I enjoyed the trip together. There is strong possibility the Lariat may be making the trip more in the future as we are contemplating spending time back on the home farm. We thankfully got back just in time for important things in life, my grandson’s third birthday party and tending my company’s booth at the annual home show in Fairbanks. I hate to give up the XLT but hopefully it will help pay for part of the trip. I know it will be a great vehicle for a lucky someone in Alaska.
What a great trip! Two Mavericks to Alaska successfully traveling cross country in five days from Minnesota to Alaska. Thank you to all who have been following. It motivated me.
Regrettably this is the last entry for these Mavericks. The trip was fun, mostly easy, and certainly interesting. Both trucks met and surpassed expectations. Kudos to the engineers and workers that designed and built these amazing trucks. These are achievements won by past and present generations in the hopes of better days through better ways even as the better things we now enjoy have come to us through the struggles of former years. It is fitting to borrow that phrase from the FFA (Future Farmers of America) creed since these trucks came from the heartland to a new frontier.
As we came out of the Rocky Mountains onto the flat straight roads of interior Alaska we felt more and more at home. Our second truck came in as handy fuel hauler. There are long stretches between gas pumps. Notice the milage sign on one of the refill stops. We modified a funnel to make it easier to pour from gas cans. It made the filling faster and easier with little to no spillage.
The Lariat in tow/ haul mode averaged 11.8 miles per gallon. I called the trailer manufacturer to verify the empty aluminum trailer weight at 1250 lbs. when we were recalibrating the weight distribution back in Edmington. My Minnesota farmer friend wanted to bet the milage would be under 10 with all the extra weight we were hauling. Proof is in the pudding. I could have made $1000. The Lariat dash photo was taken at 65 mph on cruise control running about 2100 rpm pulling the 7’x16’ double axel trailer. Don’t know what gear it was in, but this was normal and average for flat roads. Very easy ride. No sense of hard working or excessive strain at all. Going up hill the transmission smoothly shifted to the point it almost wasn’t noticeable except for the change in RPM. Seldom did I get over 4000 RPM. I never tried a hard acceleration until we arrived, and the trailer was removed. I was surprised how it could put you back in your seats. It is very easy to get a ticket since it doesn’t feel like you are going fast until you are over the speed limit.
The XLT showed an average of 30.3 MPG for the trip. Both vehicles improved in gas milage the further we drove. I did have the oil changed at approximately 1000 miles for each truck, not required but I prefer to err on the cautious side for a new break-in.
Overall I have zero complaints. The trucks are more comfortable than I expected. I got pulled into the 21st century with the learning curve on some controls with no regrets. What a pleasure to voice text, make voice activated phone calls, listen to people texting me, ask for information hands free, as well as control all the luxury features from the steering wheel. I confess it was several days before I learned what everything does. I didn’t even see the low gear in the middle of the shift dial until my wife pointed it out after I got home. I think Ford could have left the radial speed dial out of the dash because I seldom looked at it. It didn’t match the numerical speed precisely but who’s complaining.
Both my son and I enjoyed the trip together. There is strong possibility the Lariat may be making the trip more in the future as we are contemplating spending time back on the home farm. We thankfully got back just in time for important things in life, my grandson’s third birthday party and tending my company’s booth at the annual home show in Fairbanks. I hate to give up the XLT but hopefully it will help pay for part of the trip. I know it will be a great vehicle for a lucky someone in Alaska.
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Thanks for this. It's been great following your posts during this journey. I'm glad to hear your trucks performed so well!
You absolutely came through on the "assignment" from this group! Thanks for taking the time, especially taking and posting the pics. THIS should be the Maverick meet up...caravan to AK!
- First Name
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Pretty drive, watch out for frost heaves!
Rock chips and broken windows can be a problem though.
Dont ever do the Dalton highway unless you are prepared to trash your truck.
The ferry ride from Bellingham to Haines is a great way to drive part of the AK system. Absolutely beautiful in nice weather.
Rock chips and broken windows can be a problem though.
Dont ever do the Dalton highway unless you are prepared to trash your truck.
The ferry ride from Bellingham to Haines is a great way to drive part of the AK system. Absolutely beautiful in nice weather.
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