A funny thing happens when diesel fuel drops below -30 degrees Fahrenheit: It turns to jelly. So when Icelandic 4x4 conversion specialists Arctic Trucks began prepping a fleet of Toyota Hilux pickups for the longest polar expedition in history, they had to find a new fuel source to cope with the frigid climes. JET A1 fuel with a few additives not only fit the bill, but is the only fuel available in Antarctica, allowing the team to cover some 70,000 km (over 43,000 miles) in four months.

A total of 10 Hilux trucks were used as support vehicles for Extreme World Races, setting up fuel and weather stations, and providing support to skiers, three film crews and an assortment of scientists between November 2011 and February 2012.

Arctic Trucks' Emil Grímsson tells us that, "Before starting this season, our vehicles had covered over 80,000 km on the [Antarctica] plateau, driving in temperatures as low as -56 degrees centigrade, and found safe routes through the dangerous crevasse areas using Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR)" mounted on the front of the trucks.

The Arctic Trucks crew outfitted each Hilux with heavy duty suspensions to handle 3,300 pounds of load capacity, moved the rear axle back over 6 inches, the front suspension nearly 2 inches, and upgraded the fuel tanks to 74 gallons on the 4x4 models and a whopping 211 gallons on the specially-designed 6x6 trucks. Beefed up auxiliary electrical systems joined an on-board air compressor, Webasto heaters and heavy-duty winch – all mounted up front – while custom, hand-cut tires sized 44 inches wide and running an ultra-low 2 to 3 psi of air pressure give the tires a footprint that's 17 times larger than standard rubber.

Just as impressive as the modifications is what Arctic Trucks didn't change: the 3.0-liter D-4D diesel engines and the attached transmissions. The powertrain is completely stock, save the upgraded fuel system.

But how do you get fuel in one of the world's harshest environments? And just as importantly, how do you transport it?

An Ilyushin II-76 commercial airliner dropped 448 barrels of fuel in eight-barrel bundles onto the Antarctic Plateau, and the eight-man team loaded them into the pickup beds and trailers using winch-mounted cranes. But that poses yet another problem.

"We were faced with a conflicting decision," Grímsson told Wired, "The more you load the vehicle the harder it is to drive in snow and the more fuel you use."

Despite all these challenges, Grímsson's team managed to get its fleet of Hilux trucks to both the Magnetic North and South Poles over the course of four months. That alone is a feat unto itself, with Grímsson admitting that, "the biggest hurdles is to prove [the truck setup] works."