Baja 1000.....who's goin'?

[PBR]

i ended up with 5 people in the hd towing down the trailer queen! i think i will be at borego most of the day/night friday in rory's bronco. my brother will be on the pacific side in my bronco.

[TCM GLX]

Right on Ollie!! I plan on being at Borrego mid day friday! Will look for you down there.

[TCM GLX]

t minus one day! Looking forward to it!

[BRETT FREDRICKS]

Leaving in 20min. headed for BajaMar then prerunning to SF, then the General party tonight and tech thurs. If your in line at tech come by and check out our CLASS1RACING.com car and sticker girlz.

everyone stay safe!

[BajaBronco13]

Tony, Yikes, me, Andy and a Jeep XJ just passed the first toll booth North of Rosarito. Can't wait to get to Ensenada.

[BajaBronco13]

Here is some pics from our Baja excursion so far:

Tony and Brian as we cross the border into TJ:






Driving down Highway 1:







More pics to follow.

[RyanDS650X]

They updates are awesome, im sooo jealous! Keep em coming!

[TCM GLX]

What a race!!!!! Updates, video and pics manana!!!

[yogib]

Bummer Vosses didnt have too good of luck.Lost a rearend about 40 miles in.The replacement was about 60 or so miles away.fixxed it and then about 125 or so miles in the tranny took a dump.And the replacement was along ways away.I was hoping to see them battle with Andy,Bj,and Gordon and others.Next year.

[flyinbronco]

Well I hope all those that went down have made it home safe.

I'm sorry I couldn't meet up with you guys at Tacos del sol. We had to get going to meet the rest of our group in Ojo's at 1 pm and headed for San Felipe from there. I did run into Will at contingency though. Good to see you again.

My friend Tom and I went down Monday morning crossing at Tecate and ran the compadre truck trail into Ojos. Just as we are coming into town my Bronco dies. Hop out and pop the hood to check it out. Everything looked OK but then I see the Optima battery. Its all bulged out and making a crazy hissing sound. Luckly I carry a spare and get them swaped out. This was not the engine problem though. I cycle the key a few times but I can't hear the fuel pump run. We did a quick check of the fuses and the relays and all were good. So we determined its the dang fuel pump again. Once again I'm digging into the spare parts bin for the back up fuel pump and with the tank over 3/4 full it was fun getting the tank out and the new fuel pump in. The problem was I had bashed in the skid plate and the tank at the fuel pump and it must have starved the pump and over heated it I guess. Well after an hour and some change we are back up and running.

We jumped on the course at Ojos and headed out. Due to our late start we only made tres Hermanos by dark so we set up camp there for the night.

The next morning we took off again down the course. We topped off with fuel in Heros and went back to the course for the run up the summit. This was my first time there and wow what a tough section it is. Bowling ball size rocks everywhere. We made slow but steady progress and made the top around 11 am and decided to have our lunch there. While we ate a few bikes stopped on their pre run and we hooked them up with some cold water and chatted a while. One said there's a few trucks behind them and one is a new Raptor. Now don't get me wrong the Raptor is a very capable truck but with its rather low ride height I'd never attempt this in mine. Sure enough a few minutes later here they come just creeping along. Brand new model in black all scratched up with a few dents in the skid plates but its making it.

After lunch we take off down the hill carefully trying not to smash up the fuel tank but we did get a few new rock rashes. We finally reach the bottom and we start pushing up the speed. Tom is in the lead and we are making good time when he stops with a problem. Seems he hit a big half burried rock with the bottom of his drivers side beam while at full compression. The diff is leaking bad and the left radius arm is bent pretty good. It was a hard hit.
We pressed on again with me in the lead now and I'm crusing along pretty good until I hear a loud banging under the back of the Bronco. Oh gez now what. I crawl underneath to find a broken rear shock mount so I pulled out the shock and we pushed on towards the lake bed. We decide we've had enough for the day and head for the highway to San Felipe.
I'm just 4 miles from town when the truck dies again. No reason to go through the whole process of diagnosis. Its the fuel pump again. (and before you ask Steve, yes it was a Motorcraft) Tom tows me into town to John's Casa and we head for the parts store. Luckily the have one but the repair will have to wait til morning.

The next day we swap in the fuel pump after banging out all the dents again. Note to self. Gotta build a better skid plate for the fuel tank cause this is ridiculous. With all the practice this trip we've got the swap down to under an hour though. I then take off the rear shock mount and take it in for repairs. $30 dollars later its fixed and we get it back under the Bronco.
Its now after 2 pm on Wednesday and we decide to abandon our pre run and just head for the beach house in Ensenada to meet up with the Moss Brothers and the rest of the team. I wanted to keep going but felt kinda whipped and didn't want to push my luck any more. Don and Ken were counting on us to chase on race day and I can't let them down.

Our assignment for race day was to be at Laguna Salida as our first visual. From there we hustled out to Morelia Junction for another visual and from there we ran down to the bottom of the course and waited at BFG pit 3 for the race Bronco. Ken had two flats at the begining of Matomi wash so we took the flat tires off and loaded the one spare we had on the truck after BFG did the fuel dump. We paced the race Bronco north along the highway keeping in radio contact with them. About half way back to Borrego Ken says they have front axle problems and we need to check it out at the pit. Turns out they lost the spider gears in the front axle so we pitched in with the rest of the crew to swap out the entire front axle and sent them off for the coast, our chase duties complete at 3:30 am Saturday.

The Jeep may have won the war but we did win the 2009 Class 3 Championship bringing the total to 7.

Total chase Bronco carnage. 1 Optima battery, 2 fuel pumps, 1 rear shock mount

Total Baja F250 carnage, 1 left side beam, 1 left side radius arm

Race Bronco carange, 1 radius arm, 3 flat tires, 1 set front spider gears, and a steering shaft.

[steveG]

The Bronco took a beating, Rick! Maybe it's time to cut an access panel for the fuel pump! Send me some pics of where your shock mount broke. Where did your mount break? I broke two before I stumbled on one of John's (used).

[flyinbronco]

Originally Posted by steveG

The Bronco took a beating, Rick! Maybe it's time to cut an access panel for the fuel pump! Send me some pics of where your shock mount broke. Where did your mount break? I broke two before I stumbled on one of John's (used).

Yeah she did but it was a tough course too.

The first priority is to add some more rear spring. With my camping gear and chase equipment all packed in the back she just squats too much. I'm gonna try to add a leaf or two to the spring pack.

I'm thinking about cutting an access hole but Im going to build a skid plate that will support the weight of the truck. It's at the top of the Bronco to do list.

My rear shock mount is similar to Autofab's but because I run a longer shock out back I have brackets that extend up under the back seat off of the cross bar. John warned me that the brackets create extra leverage and it would break. It held up for over 5 years of some big abuse and I'll be redesigning a replacement soon. In the mean time the Baja fix worked well for the remainder of the trip.

[Philofab]

Don't forget the skid plate will add more weight... are you running a 2.5 or 3.0 spring in the rear?

Originally Posted by flyinbronco

Yeah she did but it was a tough course too.

The first priority is to add some more rear spring. With my camping gear and chase equipment all packed in the back she just squats too much. I'm gonna try to add a leaf or two to the spring pack.

I'm thinking about cutting an access hole but Im going to build a skid plate that will support the weight of the truck. It's at the top of the Bronco to do list.

My rear shock mount is similar to Autofab's but because I run a longer shock out back I have brackets that extend up under the back seat off of the cross bar. John warned me that the brackets create extra leverage and it would break. It held up for over 5 years of some big abuse and I'll be redesigning a replacement soon. In the mean time the Baja fix worked well for the remainder of the trip.

[flyinbronco]

Originally Posted by Philofab

Don't forget the skid plate will add more weight... are you running a 2.5 or 3.0 spring in the rear?

I'm running a 3" wide spring.

Planning on using 5/16" aluminum for the skid plate and just a few pounds of steel for the supports. I'll find someplace else to shave off some weight like my rear bumper. Geez that thing weighs a ton.

[Philofab]

Originally Posted by flyinbronco

I'm running a 3" wide spring.

Planning on using 5/16" aluminum for the skid plate and just a few pounds of steel for the supports. I'll find someplace else to shave off some weight like my rear bumper. Geez that thing weighs a ton.

Wow. You mast have a lot of weight or drive way crazier than I do. I can imagine my F64s feeling soft. I don't think I've even come into the bump stop yet.

[flyinbronco]

Well lets see.

A large rubermade tote stuffed full of tools I can barely lift when loaded. Another large tote full of oil, atf, brake fluid, coolant. Another large tote with spare parts. Another large tote with camping stuff. One Ice chest full of food. Another ice chest full of precious fluids i.e. beer and water. Another large tote full of dry goods. Two small bags of clothes. Then hanging off the boat anchor of a rear bumper we have 10 gals. of fuel, a high lift jack, a floor jack, and last but not least a spare tire. Fully loaded and ready to roll its right at 5,800 pounds.
Try as I might I can't lighten the load much. My Boy Scout days remind me to be prepared for anything. Maybe I should sell the Bronco and use the F350 crew cab instead. Oh my gosh I can't believe I just said that. I hope the Bronco gods forgive me.

Now about that driving crazy comment.

Who me???

[Billy1911]

It was good to see Rick and Amber, Even good to see Greg even. Though he called me Jerry.Ollie I guess you were in my hotel Shawn. From Ryan Arcero racing was with us. Thought about ordering some drinks to your room. I honked and waved at all the broncos I saw I was in a gray dodge with 112 on it.

[yikes]

Originally Posted by Philofab

...or drive way crazier than I do.

Rick's a go-fast bada$$. Can't wait to see him in his own race rig.

[BRETT FREDRICKS]

JUST GOT BACK LAST NIGHT!
What a crazy week, we were prerunning the weekend before then came back on wed. Tech was crazy between 602 and 119 we had the boost monter and class1 sticker girls.
race day plan for both cars was to lay back and make it out of town safe but fast enough to get to the summit before any major log jams.
the plan worked for 119 and ran clear till 135rm when the car would not accell more thank 1/4 throttle. later at morelia junction pit we would put the car on the trailer. the main wiring harnes and ecu failed.
the plan didnt work for 602, marc broke a axle at 36rm and was down 2hrs.
I waited at morelia for 602 to clear. 602 came thru around 11 pm after replacing a drive flange at 177rm. I was then set to chase to the finish.
We ran along side 602 on the SF highway then beat them to borrego cause they broke the sway bar.
We took off from borrego and get the call that there low on fuel. We stop at the road crossing and fill with 5 galons. We pitted at baja pit before mikes repaired a limit strap bracket and fueled.
Then the wait started I had 602 doing the mike loop in 3hrs tops. they came out 7 hrs later at 710 am. running strong into valley T. 602 pulls in for fuel and to check the drive flange. 602 goes to pull on to the course and just revs. time to put in a new trans, 1hr later there on the road. I make the call to have our v8 4x4 explorer (with Ibeams) run out the course to llano colorado and then follow the truck from urapan to the finish.
602 comes thru the moutians at ojos we check the drive flange and hes off. next stop the pepsi stand then the water park were we stayed till 602 hit the pavement. Time to go party NOT hes out of fuel near the wash and no one in town knows the streets of Ensenada. they bum some gas right when we get there the take off down course we follow till the last exit at the wash.
230 pm finish we packup our race car and trailers and head home. I finaly went to sleep sunday at 130am. 43 1/2 hours later no sleep its all over with a super duty f250 that wasnt shut off for the whole race since the starter died the morning of the race.
see you all in baja.

[TCM GLX]

This one is for Yikes..... Sheila:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykp6u...ayer_embedded#