You can get places off road and have a storm cut you off from the way home, and from pals who want to come help recover your truck. Use good judgement. If you notice truck overheating, that isn't a flakey gauge, the coolant can turn to slush with enough wind chill headed down a valley. Friend had to stop and pull carpet out to stuff in front of the radiator.

I always figured that Ice Road Trucker stuff with big rigs slid off the mountains was all staged, now I know it was behind the WalMart in Grand Rapids....

 

The LR3 has NONE of the problems of the earlier models, overheating issues dont happen unless you blow a radiator hose or are low on coolant.
They dont blow head gaskets, they just run, the biggest issue with them is a weak battery and water in the fuse box.
The odds of blowing a radiator hose are very low.
Totally different animals than what you're used to.
Same with the MKIII Range Rover, tons of electronics but stupid simple to repair.
The coolant will not turn to slush with the engine running, the heat from the engine will keep that from happening.
As long as your coolant ratio is correct you'll be fine.
A piece of cardboard bungeed to the grill will work as a radiator muff, thats what I used when I drove truck.
Running with the transmission in a lower gear to keep the engine RPM's up will also keep the engine warm.
Park with your back to the wind.
He'll be fine, you guys who live in the south worry to much.
You guys wear parkas when the temps drop below 50, we wear shorts and t-shirts until the temps are in the 30's.
As soon as it hits 50 in the spring all the girls break out their bikini's and lay out in the sun, no lie.
Drive past any college on a 50 degree sunny spring day and you'll be rock hard looking at all the T&A outside the dorms.

 

The LR3 is a huge POS let me tell you, no way it can hold up to the rigors of a city in Alaska and the occasional trip to the back country.

 

Heat from engine will work - if your coolant mix is correct as you stated. I even had that happen to me in Atlanta in a Dodge pickup with 6 cylinder engine and radiator from 400 V-8. On a real cold day, at about 70 mph, the temp just started rising. As you say, cardboard saved the day for me. Not enough engine and too much radiator.

The friend I spoke of was one of three field engineers travelling between two cites in AK, went down a valley where it was -50 ish plus wind chill. Nippy by any standards.

 

Might as well jump on the band wagon here since Im currently working in Seward which is just afew hours away from Anchorage.

One great thing about up here is the road workers dont use much salt on the roads, i forgot exactly what they use but its easier on the vehicles so you wont have to worry about your vehicle rotting out. The roads here are well maintained and paved. Sure there are rugged places all over but Anchorage and Seward are well maintained as far as roads are concerned.

Make sure you have full coverage car insurance and you may wish to consider adding higher coverage in case your vehicle gets victimized by vandalism, hits a moose or bear or possible flood damage. Locals will warn you about certain sides of Anchorage where the gangs hang out and vandalism is high so try to avoid parking in those areas. When you get here, talk to the locals and take in all the info they give you because they are very resourceful people and very hearty.

Make sure all your lighting is up to date )Headlights, fog lights, tail lights) and nice and bright because when it does get dark here you will appreciate the innovative lighting technology applied the the HSE trim LR3. Also I noticed several warning signs on the highway between Anchorage and Seward that say to leave your lights on at all times while driving, even during broad daylight.

Make sure your air suspension is in good shape, if any faults or cracks go ahead and replace them now cause you dont want your air suspension to fail while your up here.... plus you may need to use the feature if theres ever any flooding. We have had minor flooding in last month or two and tons of rain. But if your hanging out in middle of Anchorage you should be fine. But there is a harbor near by.

Take every bodies advise and change all your fluids with the correct recommend fluids. Get a excellent set of All terrain tires that have a winter/mountain ratting or a good pair of winter tires. If you get studded be prepared to remove them shortly after the snow because law says its so.

You really dont have to go overboard with stuff but a good engine block heater would be a nice additional though i expect a HSE LR3 would already have it on board. Most important thing of all to have in your vehicle is emergency gear for YOUR SAFETY!

Extra clothing, hoodies, jackets, gloves, boots
Blankents
Flashlights and batteries
Roadside hazard lights and flare gun
emergency siren
premium jumper cables
extra jumper cables
full size spare tire
fix a flat
maps of the area
extra cheap cell phone fully charged and extra cell phone batteries
shelf food that wont spoil (cans that can be opened without can opener)
water and more water
matches, lighter, water proof matches, flint stick
rope
Health/medkit
etc

sounds like alot bout you can get all that stuff cheap online plus they have large emergency packs that have all the stuff you need including food for a week! The main thing is your safety and many layers in case your vehicle breaks down. The highway between Anchorage and Seward is a Flood and Avalance zone so ......

Best luck to you

 

I'm thinkin' for the cost of Spike flying in the fluids and parts (FedEx is good, but it does have a price) you could buy some and take it with you. Some of the specialty fluids cross over to GM and Mercedes, and there may be those dealers around.

Moose have a mind of their own.

 

How cold was it that day do you remember Buzz?

 

About +5 - +10F, 225 slant six pushing rad from a 400 V8, and probably wrong coolant mix.

OP asked about -60F. Record for Fairbanks is -66F, but Al Gore has arranged for it to moderate. It is not like that all the time in winter.

My original reponse was that 50/50 premix was good to -34, and a higher mix would take you to lower temps. You can park with fanny to the wind, but wind can shift. And use a non-carboard muff. And survival stuff, if you plan on being places where friends can't come get you.

Must admit I'd like to visit there in any season. Coldest place I've ever driven was Green Bay in January. Drove around fine in the rental, but could not figure out why they had a small pipe sticking out of snowbanks at corners. Then I saw that that it was a ten foot piece of 1 inch pipe strapped to the fire hydrants, and the drifts covered all but about a foot of the pipe. Glad I don't live where you do. And I guess AK is out, as it is dark a lot there in the winter, and I'm skeered of the dark.

 

I used to live Leadville Co. Twice as high as Denver and twice as cold. I remember it snowing on the 4th of July once. Lots of Subarus and normal passenger vehicles. They plowed all the main roads. I think a stock well maintained LR3 would have no problem there. I do remember a few diesels that needed to warm the block and fuel. But you should be fine.

Good luck to you. Id love to go.

 

They have 4ft flags on all the fire hydrants here and if there is one in your yard it is your responsibility to keep it clear of snow.

I have never ever heard of coolant slushing up inside the radiator with the engine running.
When I drove truck I gelled up a few times, thats when the fuel gets cold enough to get really thick and not flow to the engine and the engine will starve of fuel and can stall, usually they will still idle so you can have some heat until help arrives.
Even with tank heaters this can happen, I always carried a spare fuel filter and filter wrench so I could change the filter when this happened, because thats where it gels, inside the fuel filter.
Not fun changing a fuel filter at 3am on the side of the expressway at -20*F and wind chills another 10* below that.
And this was before cell phones too, so if the truck would not re-start you were a Popsicle.