Well I made it official that my wife and I are going to be moving to Anchorage for my job next summer! I am going to finish up my education this winter before making the move (for my job that I accepted this past Friday) next summer. Of course my JK will come with us . We are both really looking forward to it since we both enjoy outdoor activities (I enjoy hunting and fishing and my wife enjoys gardening). I welcome any advice or input that locals have.

 

Well welcome in advance. I have been here in Anchorage for the past 2 years and absolutely love it. A lot of ppl up here have block heaters and such but in Anchorage I dont think they are too necessary as it doesn't get too cold (-20Fgive or take a few). I would recommend a nicely siped tire for the snow/ice (but no different than PA). It is light like 20+ hrs. in june/july and dark for the same in december/january. I take vitamin d supplements in the winter do to the lack of light. Just my 2 cents.

 

One of the nicest differences is we don't have stop signs at the end of the highway on-ramps.

 

My current house has a detached and unheated garage (making winter oil changes and vehicle maintenance very chilly) so I am hoping to get a house with an attached garage when I move, making a block heater even less necessary . As far as tires go, I am actually looking forward to wearing out my stock tires so I have an excuse to get a decent set of tires. Do the roads get icy enough to justify a separate set of (studded?) snow tires in the winter or would standard Goodyear Silent Armors or Goodyear Duratracs do the job in the winter? I have heard that they don't salt the roads up there (to keep the moose away from the roads) so I get the impression that during the winter the roads could get fairly slippery...

 

Even if you do have a heated garage, a block heater is still good to have. Reason being is if you plan on leaving your rig outside when you are at work, it could be out there for 8 hours at -20. Many businesses have receptacles in the parking lots for that reason. Your engine will love you for it anyway.

Roads get very slippery. It's just a matter of preference as many people run studs. I put studs on both my kids' cars, but my wife has all wheel drive and no studs and I don't run them either on the jk. Good soft rubber snow tires make a big difference, so the Goodyears may be fine for you. Again.........it's a matter of preference. Remember........the winters are LONG, so it can get VERY old after awhile of white knuckling on ice day after day, month after month.

 

I am not in Alaska, but living in Montana it is extremely cold as well -30 and -40 but not as long as Alaska. My TJ was an X and I had nothing but problems getting up my driveway and around town sometimes. The Rubicon has had not one issue in the around town, off road, or even my driveway which is up hill and is a roller coaster ride. Wheels are not siped and do great. All things mentioned in other post are all great recommendations and will help improve winter drives. As for heated garages I just have one thing to say HELL YEAH!!!!!

 

I weep when I hear a Jeep drive by with studs on. I have chains for just in case but no highway driving. Last thing I want to do is tear the lugs off my tires. I don't go faster than 15-20mph and they worked great last year for those two days of Anchorage on Ice.

 

So there aren't too many days of ice precip in Anchorage? If not I am thinking that I may get a set of Duratracs (for better snow traction than the stock SR-As) and call it a day. I don't mind a day or two of white-knuckle driving, but here in PA we commonly get ice over night but then combination of salt on the roads and rising morning temps cause it to melt by 7 or 8 AM so all you need to do is wait an extra hour in the morning. I was worried that similar weather might hit Anchorage but then since the roads don't get salted and if the temp doesn't rise enough in the morning that it could make an icy morning commute a very common occurrence.

Thanks again for all the help so far

 

There isn't normally a lot of ice, breakup (spring) is the worst time for that. Last year we had a lot of rain in November and one week we had a cold snap roll through. There were over 300 accidents reported on Monday, Tuesday they closed the schools but the roads were tolerable. I made it most of the way to work before I slapped the chains on only to find out they closed the base Monday but didn't notify half of it. I had the stock Rubicon MTs and had them siped. They worked really well the rest of the year. I have the Goodyear MTRs with kevlar and I'm looking forward to seeing how well they handle.

Ruts are the worst part of the roads, I bounce in and out of them constantly. In the winter with snow and ice, if you hit a rut wrong you'll end up 90 degrees one direction.

 

MTR's handle fine up here