I wish to take my disco up into canada this winter probably go with one other rover (lest I freeze to death when the disco dies) anyone have any ideas? Any prep/equipment ideas? I am from just north of buffalo so snow/ice driving is no biggy. Stock michelins (near new) a winch and some chains should do ok. anything else I should bring?

Northern Ontario, Labrador, Quebec someplace I could make it there and back (to philadelphia) in week-10days? Semi-offroad would be cool. Dirt roads etc. Anyone been up there? How far north can you drive in winter . . . maybe ice roads?

Ron

PS my wife thinks I'm nuts. she wants to go back to europe with my mother-in-law, needless to say it will just be me and the fluffy puppy in the disco.

Ron - you are my hero. you get portals for the series rig, and a winter-time road trip in the Disco. damn - I have some lernin to do!

i'm headed up to whistler BC with the family, but sans puppy in about 2 weeks. I'm hoping to find the white stuff up there, but it's still pretty early - even for this part of the country.

this winter I'm going to try wiping down my interior windows with some of the anti-fog wipes like you get for ski goggles. sounds silly maybe, but I worked close to the pass last winter and would scoot up for lunchtime donuts, drift busting, and light snow wheeling - seemed everytime I got above 2500 ft. my windows fogged to no end.

might think about investing in a pull-pal, or some kind of multi-headed ice-spike arrangement, if you don't already have one.

seems like a lot of folks forget about the basics when going out into cold weather. A couple cans of de-icer is a good thing, as is a bag of rock salt tossed in the back. speaking of which - I don't know if canada uses road salt . . . . how's that undercoating holding up?? anti-freeze been refreshed in awhile? bleed those brakes, and check your lines - you don't want any water in there.

forget any fantasy of wrenching w/ ski gloves . . . . i can't even chain up with those things on. Boring tip of the day - a tight fitting, plain knitted glove with a nitrile glove over it works pretty well for cold weather repairs or other mechanical goings on. and - i painfully remember every time i had warm hands and cold wrists . . . long johns are under-rated, IMO.

don't forget those eagles cd's -

cheers,

isaac

whats this, could it be? has mr. fain found his way over to the Pirate board?

Rain X Anti Fog - use the bottle, not the cheapo wipes.. the wipes will eat the tint off your ( my) windows - dont know about the bottle..

Bring the typical stuff for
summer (http://www.teampb.com/wheelinglist.shtml) and include:

spare thermostat
propane torch
tire chains
tarp

Are you planning to camp?

Here is a good map resource for Canada:

http://app.gov.mb.ca/

EvilFJ,

I live up here. In Ottawa, Ontario. Granted, it's not northern, but I do venture into northern quebec often. Winter in my opinion is one of the most fun, but most dangerous times to travel. Something as simple as a flat tire can be potentially lethal.

As far as different runs you can try, if you are really looking for adventure, Sean Stewart of TARC (toronto area rover club, www.roverclub.org) has been way far up north in his 88. I don't know him personally but he would be a good guy to get into contact with. Look at the pictures page.

If you are looking for a 10 day expe, you might be better off doing a few shorter trips than a long 5 day away, 5 day back trip. If you are 500 miles from nowhere you might die if a problem arises. It's that simple.

There are a great assortment of roads up here in the Papineau Labelle forest reserve up here that would meet your criteria, and they are close enough that if you get stuck you will be able to get help.

As far as gear, I'd bring a box of flares, at least one spare, chains, a 0 deg F sleeping bag you can crawl into if you get stuck, a CB, lots and lots of gas, firestarters, topo maps of the region you will be in, maybe a GPS and some other stuff. A small radiant propane heater, and a box of mittens. Get a whole flipping case.

I do some off-roading in the winter up here, not a lot, because I don't particularly like changing axleshafts when it's cold enough to hear your spit crackle, but when I do go off-road, especially when I'm with only one other truck, I have enough gear to keep me alive for a week. Stove, food, camping gear, clothes, stuff to light and keep a fire going forever, and build shelters and stuff. Some people say I'm kinda anal about this stuff, but I've been caught horribly unprepared and have the frost bitten fingers to remind me. Everytime they get cold I get a reminder of how much it hurts to freeze your hand. I can't imagine dying from it.

Off-roading in the snow can be a bit tricky. Snowmobilers own the planet in the winter. If it's not a snowmobile trail it's unpassable. So, you either end up on an unplowed road which is usually pretty easy, or hell terrain where you are winching all the time. Not fun when the powder's at the waistline.

One thing I would try and avoid is active logging country. Log truck drivers are legally required to be insane for the job. They drive in the middle of the road, with 20 tons of weight on their fully chained wheels and they motor. They don't care if there is no visibility, they just go. If you are on a log truck road you are sometimes required to have a CB in order to tell others that you are there. They usually just tell you to get the hell out of their way. I'v ebeen forced in the ditch by these guys (not in a rover though). If you must travel in log country, do it at night. They sometimes haul 24 hours a day, but at least you can see the headlights and pull over.

If you have any specific questions feel free to ask directly. I'm not a pro, but I'll try my best to help...

J-L

Sounds like my kind of vacation. I have plently of winter gear. Sorrels for the really cold and vasques for when I have to climb something and I have a billion pairs of gloves and the extreme parka and whatnot (plus I am naturally well equiped for cold). My normal trip partner wants to go to Mexico instead so I am looking for someone to travel with. I have two spare tires and will get some chains, it has a winch, will have some aux lights, and a 2in lift but its nothing fancy at all. I will see if OLVR or Toronto has a trip planned and maybe hook up with them. I really just miss snow. I was in hog heaven last year when I was in buffalo for the huge snow storm but otherwise I am suffering from winter withdrawl hear in philadelphia

Ron

PS frostbite sucks.

Hey Ron...

I'm a not-so active OVLR member. I don't particularly enjoy the stocker rover scene, but I know who likes these kinds of adventures.

If you want to set something up I have three friends that would definitely tag along if we were to go during reading week, in february, a disko, an 88 and my 109. If not I'd be interested in tagging along for an extended weekend or something. Cant' really take off from school for more than a few days at a time, but I do want to hit the road this winter.

I see you know your way around snow, pity Sorel has gone under, Glaciers (-70C) are my driving shoes for winter. Super boots. I've got three heater cores, two under the hood, and one in my aux heater which is right between the seats.

Were you planning on camping or doing the motel thing? I can't really see how you could sleep in motels in the winter. The are usually seasonal and closed.

Wonder how you sleep in a disco... ;-)

J-L

Sorrell (can't spell it but I like them) went under!

Sleeping in the disco would not bother me, my wife's disco has this really nice bed set up. A cot was modifed with shorter legs to mount to the top of the wheel well. Quite comfortable so I shall borrow it. The dog would liklely bug me but other than that its quite doable.

Maybe a long weekend is a better answer. I could make it to ottawa in a day and then we could go from there for a few days.

The only thing that will suck is the gas bill in canada. You guys pay through the nose. I wonder how the stock heater in the disco would function. I bet with a muff it would be ok, and it does not really matter, I mean with a parka anything near freezing is quite tolerable (I used to drive without a roof in winter :)).

Ron

have been here for some time, but only in lurk mode for quite awhile.

when i discovered that Check was out wheeling more than I was, I realized I needed to put my keyboard adventures to a rest :flipoff2: :flipoff2:

Ron - have fun on the trip. Sounds like a great time.

cheers w/ :beer: 's

isaac

Originally posted by evilfij
Sorrell (can't spell it but I like them) went under!



Yeah,

I heard that. Sucks.



Sleeping in the disco would not bother me, my wife's disco has this really nice bed set up. A cot was modifed with shorter legs to mount to the top of the wheel well. Quite comfortable so I shall borrow it. The dog would likely bug me but other than that its quite doable.

Maybe a long weekend is a better answer. I could make it to ottawa in a day and then we could go from there for a few days.

The only thing that will suck is the gas bill in canada. You guys pay through the nose. I wonder how the stock heater in the disco would function. I bet with a muff it would be ok, and it does not really matter, I mean with a parka anything near freezing is quite tolerable (I used to drive without a roof in winter :)).

Ron

If your stock disco heater doesn't cut it, I'm staying home. Where else am I gonna warm up?? ;-)

I'd probably be crashing in Valdez (my 109, named after the ship, not the coffee man) too. As far as gas, yes, it's a reality that fuel costs a lot up here, specially off the beaten track. If it makes you feel better, I get about 12 mpg.

If you were to show up here on a friday morning, or thurs night we could take off for friday and come back on the monday or something. It would be pretty nice, tons of time for exploring some really back-woods stuff. I've got tons of camping gear for food and stuff, so we would be totally self sufficient.

I'll put the word out for other interested parties. I'd like to keep the group small so we don't attract too much attention, and try and keep it to running and driveable vehicles. Summer's the time for "classic" rovers, winter is when reliability is king.

J-L

Originally posted by SeaRover
when i discovered that Check was out wheeling more than I was, I realized I needed to put my keyboard adventures to a rest :flipoff2: :flipoff2:

lol where do you think i have been lately? wheeling of course :D

found this kickass new place to go thats 20 mins from my house so now i am going pretty much every weekend. i am going saturday all day and sunday all day this coming weekend also, should have some good pics for your pleasures :D

even some mud if i dont chicken out of doing the PIT at the end of this one trail.

Handbuilt,

Email me off list and we can work out the details. My email address is my user name at yahoo.com.

I am game whenever you are (provided there is snow and it is cold).

Ron

Originally posted by evilfij
Handbuilt,

Email me off list and we can work out the details. My email address is my user name at yahoo.com.

I am game whenever you are (provided there is snow and it is cold).

Ron

edited- sorry run didnt know your reasoning. hopefully the spammers havent gotten it yet :D

ADAM.

THERE IS A THING CALLED SPAM.

They have to get the addresses from somewhere.

Now, if I were to post your e-mail address like this:

adam@pirate4x4.com
adam@pirate4x4.com
adam@pirate4x4.com


and a web crawler picks it up, you'll be getting the joyous news that some leper kitty cat needs an operation and you have to call somewhere in the pacific to claim your free vacation to Paris prize in order to save the kitty from eternal damnation.

I believe Ron doesn't give a shit about the kitty cat, or other shameless BS spam. That's why he doesn't type his e mail address in anywhere where it could be found.

d'oh! i understand now.

hey maybe thats why all of a sudden i have been getting a million emails a day in my inbox telling me i have won $10,000 :D

and here i thought i was just lucky :flipoff2: