We're in Baja!

[scatter-SMB]

My Norcold quit on Hwy 395 up in the States, not in the dirt, so don't know what caused it to crap out. I'll have to wait till we get back Stateside and have it looked at. Still under warrantee, but Norcold won't do a house call to our place in Baja. Bummer....

Veg Hed, we'll be here all thru January and February. If you run down the best (east) side thru Puertecitos and Gonzaga, stop on by. PM me for directions. We love company.

 

[scatter-SMB]

Whoops, forgot to answer the other questions.
On extending the breathers, you just find the hose on the top of your axle tube, buy some more hose of the same I.D. (but much longer) and run it up to the highest and most water resistant place you can find. The filter goes on the upper end of the hose. Putting it inside of the rig is not the best of ideas, as you will get some oily fumes out of it.

The mission deminimis is refering to is the short lived one in Calamajue canyon and there's very little to see there. The one Veg Hed is refering to is probably Mission San Borja. Deminimis and I didn't go there as he wanted to find the turnoff to the Green Door road on the way south out of L.A. Bay on the way to Francisquito. The San Borja mission is definately worth a visit. It's made out of stone and is in good shape and is being slowly restored. Also some warm springs and rock art nearby. Neat place.

The road is being paved south of Puertecitos and it's good road for about six miles south of town.

Coco hasn't been at his place for around six months that I know of. Last I heard he was losing his other leg, but I don't have and for real info. When deminimis and I were there, his place was closed up. Usually there are friends running it, but not this time.

 

[Jammyauto]

For filters I use VW aircooled bug fuel filters. They are 1.00 apiece and work great. Sorry no picture at this time.

 

[Veg Hed]

The mission I was thinking about is San Borja...Great road from 5 to the BofLA road...That's sad to hear about Coco's corner...He is quite a character and it is a great place to get a cold can of Pacifico...I should be down there in the next couple of weeks but heading to Loreto area first...

 

[deminimis]

Ah, we almost made it down there before we thought we'd better start heading North. In Mecca now. Will drop off the Sporty at Freedom Ford at 8AM to get the oil issue fixed (likely oil injector seal, I hope, otherwise its $1K for a rear main seal). Will spend our down time at Sportsmobile drooling (if someone will come pick us up).

 

[deminimis]

At home now. Leak was a bad high pressure oil line. Had Ford place change fuel filter too. Runs like crap now. Will spend the day figuring out what connection on the wiring harness they missed. Aggh.

Folks at Sportsmobile were awesome. Well worth the trip over to Fresno. Was thinking of moving on to a big F-450 dulley and camper. After the SMB visit, I remembered why I went with a SMB.

Baja trip advice: the Baja map for our gps was worth its weight. We never needed the 10 gals of diesel or the 10 gals of potable that we carried out back. We needed a better air compressor, a locking air chuck and a set of deflators more than anything (other than good wheel bearing grease that is also good chassis grease). Glad we had paper air filters as easier to clean and keep using. Bottled beer is still way better than canned. Even in the desert, you can and should be a beer snob.

 

[deminimis]

Daughter made a friend in San Fransiquito:

 

[deminimis]

Wanted to again invite all SMB owners along during an off-road Baja trip planned for mid-October. Vehicles will be bikes, buggies/bajas, and SMB(s).

 

[yvrr]

We needed a better air compressor, a locking air chuck and a set of deflators more than anything (other than good wheel bearing grease that is also good chassis grease).

I came to some of the same conclusions after our first trip to Baja and replaced our small portable air compressor with an Extreme Air. As for locking air chuck, we bought an #AU160 from

http://www.getagauge.com/inflator.cfm

with a locking chuck rather than the dual foot chuck (an option if you call them) and it works well. Whenever you stop inflating, the gauge will show the correct pressure. If you over inflate, you can press the lever only half way to deflate a tire. (They didn't have the digital model at the time.)

At one time, I purchased deflators that can be preset to a certain pressure and spent quite a well setting them but found that they just didn't work that well. I then bought an EZ Deflator from the same company:

http://www.getagauge.com/4x4.cfm

This works well, deflates the tire quickly, and you can check the pressure as you deflate by sliding the collar back. However, it does take time to unscrew the valve core at the beginning and screw it back in at the end.

Most of the time I now use the cheap deflators you can get from 4WD shops since I learned that you can use a pressure gauge on them as they deflate the tire to check progress...

 

[jage]

I carry a couple of chucks, on occasion I've found this valve stem and that chuck don't work together and nothing is worse than not being able to get air in your, or a companion's tires.

 

[surfgeek33]

Will spend our down time at Sportsmobile drooling (if someone will come pick us up).

Deminimis,

We were at SMB West the same day with you and your family. My wife an I were there pretty much the whole day while our rig was being worked on. I saw a family with 2 children, I should have introduced my self to you. Maybe next time. Glad you got home safe! Were you able to get the legs for the Goucho?
:b5:

 

[deminimis]

Damn! Yup, got the legs (I had cut the other set too short). Did you notice the horns on my kids' heads? We tried to hide them under their hair, but it doesn't always work. Pretty sure Al saw them. Damn uncontrolable that day, but they've been cooped-up in a SMB for two weeks, so hard to blame them. Did you check out the parrothead's new SMB (the one for the West Coast)? Pretty cool.

 

[deminimis]

I carry a couple of chucks, on occasion I've found this valve stem and that chuck don't work together and nothing is worse than not being able to get air in your, or a companion's tires.

Funny, got caught up with various preparations for the trip, and went out and grabbed a crappy little pancake air compressor (110v) at the last minute. Just tossed the guage that came with it into the box-o-parts-n-tools. Later discovered it only went to 50lbs (thought I had another guage along, but didn't). To fill all four from 25 lbs (a good off-road Baja pressure in my opinion) back up to 75-ish would take nearly one hour. A clamp-on chuck would have saved my knees and made the experience less grueling. The hassle of airing up was such a concerned it kept me from airing down as often and as much as I should have. You may wonder how I came to the 25 lb determination. Had been running at 30-35. Ride was good, but found ourselves in some deep, soft beach sand one day when looking for a boondocking spot. Tide was heading back in and we were stuck (and a little worried). Lowered all four to 25, pointed toward the water where there was a nice rock area, and punched right out of the sand. Turned around on the wet rocks (dipping my rear tires into the surf), pointed at our outlet and punched right through the sand without the slightest effort (once the turbo spooled up). So, it seems 25 with my M/Ts was just about right and not too low to spin the tires on the rims or break a bead. Suspect I could have gone lower, but I've never gone so low with such a heavy vehicle that I didn't want to over do it. Anyway, getting a good air setup with several chucks, a powerful compressor, and good deflators, are at the top of my list right now (after I pay off all the associated costs of this trip first). :b7: Second: A Tundra 4.2 CU refrigerator (if I don't modify my Nevercold so I can recharge it).

 

[surfgeek33]

Did you check out the parrothead's new SMB (the one for the West Coast)? Pretty cool.

Yes I did. I think they are converting it to Veggie Oil. Did you check out the inside? That rig was the main reason we are really seriously thinking of converting our PH top to a Cruiser top. Anyone interested in a slightly used dark Gray EB Automatic PH top with a safari rack????? :a2:

 

[deminimis]

Scatter took this nice shot when we were boondocking at the south end of Bay of LA. So smooth you could water ski out there.

 

[AndrewST]

Anyone interested in a slightly used dark Gray EB Automatic PH top with a safari rack????? :a2:

To bad for me it's an EB, otherwise I was interested...
Good luke with the upgrade.

 

[jage]

Sawzall?

 

[AndrewST]

Again a topic going out of tracks...
Who knows, maybe I'll get back to Surfgeek33 if still available. I have already a few ideas. :f3:

 

[deminimis]

On the way to El Arco

Inside the church in San Ignacio

The Green Door Trail as it should be

The Green Door Trail as we found it :a6: