Moving somewhere ! Mabye Alaksa !

[Dubsb]

Hello everyone !

Well, my name is Nick, and my wife and I currently live in upstate NY. We are trying to figure out where we want to move once she graduates college, and my vote is Alaska ! I am a USMC Iraq vet, and I now own two pizza shops (www.Salvatores.com , the east Henrietta road location and Scottsville road location) and we are just tired of the way of life here. Over the next couple years we are hoping to learn as much as we can about ak, and hopefully make the right decision.

We think somewhere around Fairbanks would be great, which is what led me to your club. One thing I can't stand about being here is not having a place to wheel close by. We love camping and Rock crawling. How is the terrain up there ? Mostly mud ? How are the rocks ? Are there established trails allready ? Or is it mostly trail blazing ? U have watched some of the videos on YouTube, with kodiakdodge in them from pirate, but it seems to me that most of the terrain is access roads, and mud. Is that correct ? Or am I just not seeing the rocks ?

If you can't tell, I love my Rock crawling. My DD is an 07 toyota Fj cruiser with 35's (my pizza delivery recovery vehicle) and my trail rig is my 87 Toyota 4 runner. The 4 runner had it's little 4 banger in it, r151f turbo tranny and double transfer cases with rear 4.7's. The rear is Detroit locked and the front axle is an '83 front with an Fj 80 high pinion 3rd with an e locker. I'm running 4.88's and 35's on monster diamond beadlocks for now until I can build a real set of axles and run longfields with 40s. My truck is definitely built not bought as I have done pretty much everything from the motor rebuild to the sas.

My freind Travis and his family are also considering the move. He is running his 87 chevy k10 witch I'm sure will have tons under it shortly !

So there's a little about me and my rig. I really hope that on one of our trips up there during the next couple years we can meet some of you guys and mabye even catch a meeting or wrenching night, drink some beers and hear about Alaska from people that enjoy the same stuff as us!


Here is a link to my gallery, which has some pics of my rig, dogs, house and travis's family shop.
http://gallery.me.com/nick.pearl/100353

Can't wait to get out of here !!

Nick pearl

[TJVigilante]

Not too many rocks up here...most outcrop is really trashed or off-limits to motorized recreation in the Fairbanks area. Mud and dirt is the way it is out here. Best wheeling in my opinion is in the winter, if you can handle the temps. ;) For rocks in AK, your best bet is to check out the Anchorage area. www.alaska4x4network.com is a conglomerate of all the Anchorage clubs with some FBX added into the mix. I don't want to scare you away from the 'Banks but according to your interests, Anch might be more appropriate. The views are better too.

[wayne_l]

we do have rocks , but you have alot of mud to travel thru to get to em ! rainbow is a trail we like for the rocks .

i find fairbanks mud is alot drier and not as bottomless as southern Alaska . Southern Alaska has alot of water crossings , wich the depth changes hourly with the daily temp .

i have crossed water in the morning and it be barely up to the hubs ,have lunch on the Glacier and be over the hood coming back !

be ready for water proofing your rig we can find a hole just about every trip out lol ..

a rig with a good heater i think is a must .. up north folks get away with good driving and 33's on most trails .

down south floatation is where its at ! the crew i was running with, i was the small guy on 39.5 tsls .they on average run 46 inch AGs .
PSI is a sport all to its own down there . lots of awsome scenery big mountains and valleys to climb with mud and water on any flat ground lol .

fairbanks dont have the mountains but lots of hills outside fairbanks area and gold mine trails to be explored . the people in fairbanks/north pole are some of the best in the world ..
oh and welcome !

[Dubsb]

Well the more I hear I want to get outta here !! I can deal with mud, so long as there are rocks around !

So, here in Ny, most of the hard working people are sick of everyone taking advantage of us. It seems like no matter how hard we work, the gov't has their foot on our head. Everybody from the politicians, to the cops, to the gov't offices are crooked. How is this in Alaska ? Do the cops there have the "do as I say, not as I do" attitude ? Or are they like every other hardworking person there ? How are the property taxes and income taxes ? Do family businesses run well ? How big is corporate world there ?

These are the biggest reasons we want to get out of here. Will we find what we are looking for there ? Or while I just shut up and deal with NY ?

Thanks again for the insight !

[The_Ronster]

Well, family businesses are ok, but you have to deal with logistics (getting everything to or from Alaska) which can be a nightmare.

Cops are cops, good and bad no matter where you go. That being said, Ive never had a problem.

No state taxes here, just federal and depending on where you live city taxes. The mill rate is up and down for property and probably a bit more than the national average. The big difference here is utilities, they are expensive.

If you do decide to move you better get used to a much slower pace of life. I would suggest visiting before to take the big plunge, kinda like a date before the marriage...