twice. Visited landmarks included where American aviator Carl Ben Eielson was lost, and the birthplace of Russian explorer Semyon Dezhnev. The northernmost point on the route was latitude 69°42′ North (Pevek). The easternmost point visited was longitude 169°40′ West (Cape Dezhnev). Temperatures reached and the team encountered whiteouts and a polar cyclone. An estimated of snow was removed from each of the vehicles on the following day. The vehicles were modified with front end guards along with front and rear utility bumpers, winches, safari roof racks, high-powered off-road lights and extra underbody plating for the engines. Two of the vehicles towed a dual axle utility trailer. Two were equipped also with caterpillar track systems supplied by Mattracks. The rubber track systems were only used when off-road conditions became too demanding for conventional tires. The rear stabilizer bar failed on both vehicles fitted with the Mattracks system. The vehicles were also equipped with gas stoves (to prepare food) and high-capacity auxiliary fuel tanks (mounted in the rear cargo bay) and sometimes run on poor-quality gasoline. Third generation (2007) In 2006, Ford introduced the third generation of the Expedition developed under the U324 program code name which was an updated version of the second generation Expedition, now using a new ladder frame architecture called T1, an evolution of 11th generation P221 F-150 architecture. Most of the improvements were mechanical in nature, and included a sheet metal refresh and redesigned interior with upgraded materials, as well as a new long wheelbase version, called Expedition EL in the U.S. and Expedition Max in other markets. The high-strength hydroformed fully boxed Ford T platform (chassis) was a modified version of the half-ton platform from the Ford F-150. The new T1 platform replaced the one dating to the original model, and provides 10 percent more torsional rigidity. T1 incorporates a four-wheel independent long-travel suspension system (first introduced on the second generation) with redesigned suspension geometry and an all-new five-link rear suspension with new rear lower control-arms. As with previous model years, the suspension system could be had with adaptive pneumatic air-ride springs. Ford's new 6-speed 6R75 intelligent automatic transmission with dual overdrive gears was introduced. The transmission featured push-button overdrive lock-out, electronic shift scheduling, adaptive shift algorithms and a mechatronic transmission control module (TCM) that would save adaptive shift data in keep alive memory (KAM). This safeguarded against complete data loss in case of a power