Alaska Bound Power Wagon

[CHILL907]

We’ve had the Power Wagon for a few months now and with a big move back to Alaska in the near future some items needed to be addressed.



First on the list was adding a block heater. There is nothing really sexy or cool about a block heater so no pictures.

Next up was some form of power management for the soon to be installed aftermarket electrical goodies. I ordered up an sPod Source with an AEV 6 switch bezel from CJC Offroad. Installation was very straight forward and so far I’m pleased with how it turned out.




There are some much cooler looking/functioning setups out there but I love the tactile feel of old school switches.

Next up I will be adding some lights from Baja Designs just as soon as all the bits and pieces show up on my doorstep.

 

[Wandering Yeti]

You had me at power wagon. I am a recent transplant out of AK. Have fun heading back. The spod looks interesting. Any trouble getting through the firewall?

 

[CHILL907]

You had me at power wagon. I am a recent transplant out of AK. Have fun heading back. The spod looks interesting. Any trouble getting through the firewall?

No trouble at all with the firewall. There’s a plastic plate on the firewall with two bolts that I removed, drilled a hole, added a grommet, fed the wire loom and called it a day. The plate is where you’d find the clutch pedal on the manual transmission trucks.

 

[JCWages]

My buddies live in Anchorage so I vist a couple times a year. I keep chipping away at my fiance's reluctance to move there. :) I love my truck but I would certainly consider trading it in for a PW if I lived up there. The size is less of a hinderance than were I currently live and it has all the right stuff, stock!

 

[Wandering Yeti]

No trouble at all with the firewall. There’s a plastic plate on the firewall with two bolts that I removed, drilled a hole, added a grommet, fed the wire loom and called it a day. The plate is where you’d find the clutch pedal on the manual transmission trucks.
View attachment 84375

Thanks for the info. About to pull the trigger on a power wagon, and the spod is probably 1st mod.

 

[TOUGHasNAILS]

Any plan for a fridge in the PW? Im thinking out transition to a PW and wondered if the battery would need to be updated to accomidate a fridge. Thanks! Truck looks great.

 

[CHILL907]

Any plan for a fridge in the PW? Im thinking out transition to a PW and wondered if the battery would need to be updated to accomidate a fridge. Thanks! Truck looks great.

I have no plans for a fridge. Currently we are running a canyon cooler and are pretty happy with it. We have an m101a2 trailer that we’ve been fixing up and if we upgrade to a fridge it’ll go in the trailer. Seems I recall somewhere in another forum someone setting up a house battery in the bed to run a fridge and misc electronics.

 

[CHILL907]

Got some lights wired up!
View attachment 84926
A-pillar lights are Baja Designs Squadron Racers on SDHQ a-pillar mounts

Amber fog lights are Baja Designs Squadron sports wired to the factory fog light switch and the clear ones are Squadron Pros on a separate circuit

Now I need to go find a dark empty road and get these puppies aimed!

 

[South Texas Overland]

Beautiful truck I have a 2009 Dodge 2500 and can’t decide if I should stick with Dodge and go for the power wagon or go to a mid size truck like the Chevy Colorado or Taco

 

[Steven Cassell]

Nice truck I had a power wagon my favorite run is the Denali highway in December before the snow gets to deep it's just unbelievable the beauty and wildlife at that time of year. Great truck for the great landView attachment C793AEBA-1B6F-4EE6-937C-9C4D191255FA.JPG

 

[Wandering Yeti]

Nice truck I had a power wagon my favorite run is the Denali highway in December before the snow gets to deep it's just unbelievable the beauty and wildlife at that time of year. Great truck for the great landView attachment 84972

Did you add airbags or stiffer suspension to handle the weight of the camper?

 

[Steven Cassell]

Did you add airbags or stiffer suspension to handle the weight of the camper?

Yes I added air bags

 

[Highyellow]

Subscribed.

 

[trovilcl]

Very nice buddy. I googled the SPOD controls, ant was like holy cow!! Those things are expensive. Glad to see other full size RAMs out there.

 

[CHILL907]

Very nice buddy. I googled the SPOD controls, ant was like holy cow!! Those things are expensive. Glad to see other full size RAMs out there.

While my sPod set up was far from inexpensive, it was the cheapest option they had and I’m very pleased with the set up. I’m not super knowledgeable with wiring but created my own sPod like set up on my FJ. It doesn’t look pretty but it works and I’ve had no issues. The big take away for me was time. I spent a few days cutting and stripping wires, mounting relays and switches, and other misc tasks. With the sPod I was done in under an hour. Both ways worked, but I’ll probably never go back to the home built setup.

 

[CHILL907]

Alaska bound has now officially Alaska made it!

 

[PNW EXPLR]

Hey, Glad you made it! Look forward to reading about your adventure.