I thought you told me you were going to interview a witness in cold foot for that big case your working on ?

Apparently, they only rent to companies they deal with on a regular occasion...although the big case theory ought to be enough to pay for any damage I might put on that truck!

So WHY would a rental company rent a 4WD rig and then tell people not to take them off of paved roads? Sheesh, may as well rent a Taurus.

I am following this thread as this trip sounds interesting and might be something I might do something similar to on my upcoming trip.

You've obviously never driven the Dalton Highway. Trust me, if you rented trucks, you wouldn't want customers who've never driven it, doing so with your rigs either.

Jeff

Dude you wouldnt have been able to come over to my house in Fairbanks being not able to drive off paved roads.

I can see where they are coming from though. We put the hurt on some of those trucks up north.

Because the Haul rd isn't like most other dirt roads plus it's about 350+ miles long and not real wide. When semis are going by you need to move over for them or your going in the ditch. There aren't a lot of gas stations or car repair shops up that way either.

So, why do they rent 4-wheel drive trucks? Do they allow their use on every thing except the Haul Road?

In the winter time, you need 4wd to get around up here, without it you might as well walk, it would be much safer.

I don't think it's just the haul road that is restricted, there will likely be a restriction on the Denali highway.

There are several hazards that go along with driving those roads. There are lots of areas where the fill isn't nicely screended gravel, there are larger rocks that end up in the fill, and some of them when a grader hits them get sheared to produce very sharp shards. So you have to count on flats and have multiple spares. The haul road sees heavy use with big rigs and they run every day of the week. Those rigs aren't doddling along either. Most of the road has no shoulder, so you can't just pull over and change a flat.

And if those rocks don't shred your tires, those big rigs will launch them through your windshield, so one can count on having to replace their windshield and perhaps headlights on every trip. Not only is there the expense of changing those items on the rental trucks, if their trucks are in getting repaired, they can't rent them out.

From what I see on my daily commute into town, many Alaskans have no business on the haul road, and that goes doubly for folks from the lower 48.

Probably the Elliot also. Is the far end of the Steese still gravel?

Hell, I remember when Geist Road was still gravel!

I remember when our Sen was gravel!