2WD Commuting Into Anchorage (Wasilla, Willow: sales, insurance, to buy)

[ozarksaints]

moving up in a coupla weeks and totalled our 4WD Cummins a month or so ago, so my only other truck is an old 2WD Chevy diesel...I'll be commuting all the way from Willow to Anchorage....should I spend the money to buy another 4x4 truck or will the 2WD with the right tires on it be ok on that stretch of road? currently have 33" Kumho off road tires on it

also, now that I think of it....how's day to day winter life driving old diesels up there? I spent 4 winters in Minneapolis, and had a few people in MN that used to live in Anchorage tell me that it was warmer in ANC by a bit...still hard for me to believe though!

thanks for the help!

[warptman]

Can't you get the insurance money and buy a new Dodge? Sell the 2wd.

[AADAD]

The debate rages on. Bottom line you will be safer in a 4WD vehicle. Willow is a ways..........you know this right?

[AADAD]

........and buy here if you elect to buy. no sales tax.

[ozarksaints]

Warpt...man I wish...liability only...it was an old 1st Gen...great mechanically, but old ugly and rusty, didn't have much 'insurable value'....but in hindsight....

Aadad...yeah, don't like towns much less cities, so I got used to commuting into work a long time ago...do ya just mean 4wd is 'safer' meaning that it's a safer bet ya won't get stuck...or that it is actually more safe? in MN the road crews were on it before the first flurry hit damn near and they salted the **** out of it so ya really didn't need 4x4....my understanding is that y'all just throw gravel on it or something like that? how is driving on that? and from what ya said about the 'debate'...does this mean some people argue that ya don't need it or what exactly did ya mean?

thanks!

[AADAD]

This subject has been debated before. Many think that 2WD is just fine and put heavy weight is the back of their truck. Others myself included go with 4WD for reasons typical of substantial winter driving. From Willow it is a 2 lane road some parts with a sudden ditch on one side. The road carries a permanent bed of ice in winter, depending on conditions can be glare ice. Road crews here means the Troopers and tows when people hit the ditch. Plows hit the roads about 6 am. Safer means that you will be able to negotiate the variable conditions in winter easier with a competent 4WD. People who I work with who live in Willow have options like staying here in Anchorage if weather hits hard.

[stiffnecked]

If I was communting from Willow I'd buy a Subuaru Outback. All wheel drive all the time. Very reliable and efficient.

[Moose Whisperer]

IF you were just going to be commuting only within the Anchorage bowl (not up on the hillside), then yes I would say you could get by with a 2WD. However, for the commute you are describing I would say it would be crazy not to buy a 4WD or AWD.

And yes, Anchorage winters are probably more temperate on average than Minneapolis - Anchorage is after all a costal city. Anchorage usually spends the majority of the winter in the high teens or low twenties, with only occasional cold snaps below zero (and also occasional warm spells with temps in the thirties and even forties). The main difference between Minneapolis is the winter up here is much longer - snow typically lasting from mid October to early May.

Of course interior Alaska is a completely different story!

[warptman]

I'd go with a 4x4 for the commute. It sits higher and there are a lot of moose on the road between Willow and Wasilla and a lot of collisions between car/truck and moose. I wouldn't want to hit a moose with a Subaru or in anything.

[AADAD]

I think Stiffnecked gets the prize on this one. Hate to admit it but the AWD and the low center of gravity provided by the Subaru is superior to a typical 4WD even my 4Runner.......however anything where you require sheer off road power is another story.