1450 Ranger
- Thread starter exp24
- Start date
blue oval
Member
- Joined
- May 17, 2022
- Messages
- 60
I forgot I had a tab open with the live stream, just switched over in time to watch him hit a cactus and bicycle it. The stream cut out but looks like they're stopped with a flat.
exp24
Active member
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2023
- Messages
- 108
Ajones880
Active member
Hell yeah! Congratulations
DesertGoat
Well-known member
nice! congratulations.
How was the rally, generally? any issues?
How was the rally, generally? any issues?
exp24
Active member
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2023
- Messages
- 108
What a memorable race! We left San Diego on the morning of 4/27.
The first stop was the Chaparral crossing; through NORRA, we registered all the vehicles to make the crossing smoother. The border agent has a list of vehicles provided by the race. As he checks his paperwork, he is missing multiple pages, and we are not on the list. He threatens me that I may not cross and must turn around. All this is in Spanish, and I'm speaking English. After a few minutes and me not budging, he asks me to pay $100 to pass; I look at him and say no; he finally gets frustrated and says, leave, and on we go.
We made it down to Ensenada for lunch, and the tech was flawless with no issues. We had five guys, including myself and my co-driver, with two trucks to complete the race. Sunday Morning, we started in Ensenada and headed to San Felipe for 172 miles; we ran one pit stop and had no issues the first day.
Day 2- San Felipe to Bahia LA for a total of 255 miles had some challenges; the course had a sand wash that went up an abrupt sand hill, fine for SxS's and lighter vehicles; as we approached, we saw multiple cars stuck on the mountain and waiting to go, we make a run at it and make it halfway and was able to reverse down and reset. Knowing we were stuck, we had to wait almost 2 hours for a recovery team to show up and pull us out. We had to fight through the dust the rest of the stage from all the slower cars that passed us.
Day 3- Bahia LA to San Ignacio, a total of 290 miles, had miles of silt at the beginning of the race; cars were packed up and stuck left and right. Somehow, we managed to pull through the silt and not get stuck. We had some close calls with other vehicles and terrain in that section, which was my most stressful and nerve-racking time driving the truck.
Day 4- San Ignacio to Loreto, a total of 210 miles. This was a straight shot and limited access to pit services for the day. Knowing that we wanted to take a more conservative approach, 10 miles into the race, everyone is stacked up in the dust on a fast road; as we approach to pass, a huge rock appears, and we hit it on the passenger side, blowing the front wheel apart and putting a dent in the rear, we immediately veer off course and think we are done for the week. We both jump out and assess the damage. We get to work changing both passenger tires and cap off the front brake line due to the bleeder screw breaking off on the caliper. As we assessed the damage, we noticed the beam took a good hit and followed the destruction into the driveshaft, and the 3rd member skid plate was wasted. We replace the driveshaft and check the rear end, and off we go in 30 minutes of downtime. Knowing we had no spares and brakes on three corners, we took it easy for the rest of the race. That night, we found a driveshaft shop to repair the drive shaft and replace the rear hub, as both needed to be tightened from the impact.
Day 5- Loreto to La Paz, total 295 miles. At this point, we were leading the class from the second-place Armada Prerunner truck, which got stuck in the silt on day 3. We had no issues and ran a clean race with two pit stops.
Day 6- La Paz to San Jose Cabo, a total of 155 miles; we had a 24-minute lead over second place and started ahead by three positions; we wanted to drive smart and not have any mechanical or course incidents, they passed us at the halfway point and were on the gas! We both had a clean race with no issues, as they finished in front of us by a few minutes. Officially, we won by 18 minutes and only had 1:30 penalties for the week.
The course had every type of terrain imaginable: sandy, rocky, tight single-track on the side of mountains, water crossings, beach roads, very fast lake beds, and tight, slow technical sections. Driving through small towns where locals are out cheering you on and seeing people in desolate, remote areas giving you the thumbs up was a highlight of the race. There was a lot of carnage from vehicles stuck, mechanical, and wrecked in the terrain. Our goal was to finish, and we exceeded the expectations. Thank you to my buddy Scott Kell for helping me get the truck together and calling out six days of racing, Javie and the guys from Vildosola Racing for their support, and Ian and Steve for coming down and making this a memorable event.
Plan is to take a few months off and assess the truck and complete a full prep for next year's NORRA 1000!
The first stop was the Chaparral crossing; through NORRA, we registered all the vehicles to make the crossing smoother. The border agent has a list of vehicles provided by the race. As he checks his paperwork, he is missing multiple pages, and we are not on the list. He threatens me that I may not cross and must turn around. All this is in Spanish, and I'm speaking English. After a few minutes and me not budging, he asks me to pay $100 to pass; I look at him and say no; he finally gets frustrated and says, leave, and on we go.
We made it down to Ensenada for lunch, and the tech was flawless with no issues. We had five guys, including myself and my co-driver, with two trucks to complete the race. Sunday Morning, we started in Ensenada and headed to San Felipe for 172 miles; we ran one pit stop and had no issues the first day.
Day 2- San Felipe to Bahia LA for a total of 255 miles had some challenges; the course had a sand wash that went up an abrupt sand hill, fine for SxS's and lighter vehicles; as we approached, we saw multiple cars stuck on the mountain and waiting to go, we make a run at it and make it halfway and was able to reverse down and reset. Knowing we were stuck, we had to wait almost 2 hours for a recovery team to show up and pull us out. We had to fight through the dust the rest of the stage from all the slower cars that passed us.
Day 3- Bahia LA to San Ignacio, a total of 290 miles, had miles of silt at the beginning of the race; cars were packed up and stuck left and right. Somehow, we managed to pull through the silt and not get stuck. We had some close calls with other vehicles and terrain in that section, which was my most stressful and nerve-racking time driving the truck.
Day 4- San Ignacio to Loreto, a total of 210 miles. This was a straight shot and limited access to pit services for the day. Knowing that we wanted to take a more conservative approach, 10 miles into the race, everyone is stacked up in the dust on a fast road; as we approach to pass, a huge rock appears, and we hit it on the passenger side, blowing the front wheel apart and putting a dent in the rear, we immediately veer off course and think we are done for the week. We both jump out and assess the damage. We get to work changing both passenger tires and cap off the front brake line due to the bleeder screw breaking off on the caliper. As we assessed the damage, we noticed the beam took a good hit and followed the destruction into the driveshaft, and the 3rd member skid plate was wasted. We replace the driveshaft and check the rear end, and off we go in 30 minutes of downtime. Knowing we had no spares and brakes on three corners, we took it easy for the rest of the race. That night, we found a driveshaft shop to repair the drive shaft and replace the rear hub, as both needed to be tightened from the impact.
Day 5- Loreto to La Paz, total 295 miles. At this point, we were leading the class from the second-place Armada Prerunner truck, which got stuck in the silt on day 3. We had no issues and ran a clean race with two pit stops.
Day 6- La Paz to San Jose Cabo, a total of 155 miles; we had a 24-minute lead over second place and started ahead by three positions; we wanted to drive smart and not have any mechanical or course incidents, they passed us at the halfway point and were on the gas! We both had a clean race with no issues, as they finished in front of us by a few minutes. Officially, we won by 18 minutes and only had 1:30 penalties for the week.
The course had every type of terrain imaginable: sandy, rocky, tight single-track on the side of mountains, water crossings, beach roads, very fast lake beds, and tight, slow technical sections. Driving through small towns where locals are out cheering you on and seeing people in desolate, remote areas giving you the thumbs up was a highlight of the race. There was a lot of carnage from vehicles stuck, mechanical, and wrecked in the terrain. Our goal was to finish, and we exceeded the expectations. Thank you to my buddy Scott Kell for helping me get the truck together and calling out six days of racing, Javie and the guys from Vildosola Racing for their support, and Ian and Steve for coming down and making this a memorable event.
Plan is to take a few months off and assess the truck and complete a full prep for next year's NORRA 1000!
Attachments
WW_RANGER_X
Well-known member
So cool, congrats!
Dirtracer 406
New member
- Joined
- May 9, 2024
- Messages
- 2
Nice race recap, gotta carry all the spares you can when in Mexico
Sounds like you did.
Sounds like you did.
exp24
Active member
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2023
- Messages
- 108
The Second half of the adventure was after the race; we stayed in Cabo until Monday, and my wife flew in Friday for the weekend. And we were able to enjoy ourselves after a long race week and days leading up to the race. The drive back we broke it up to 3 days to make it enjoyable. Left Monday morning and only wanted to drive during the day, we stopped in Mulege and stayed right on the water; the second day, we made it to San Felipe and stayed at Pete's camp and tent camped on the beach.
Attachments
DesertGoat
Well-known member
nice dude, what an accomplishment.
so would you do it again?
so would you do it again?
exp24
Active member
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2023
- Messages
- 108
Yes, we are planning on getting the truck prepped for next year. It was a adventure, with endless memories. It's a lot getting everything together, so moving forward that will probably be our one race for the year.
Dirtracer 406
New member
- Joined
- May 9, 2024
- Messages
- 2
Clint. You don’t miss racing the MORE series. 4-6 races a year!
Always preppen the truck thinking about a next step to get reddy
Always preppen the truck thinking about a next step to get reddy
exp24
Active member
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2023
- Messages
- 108
After taking a few months off, we got back into getting the Ranger torn down and assessed the damage. On day 4, we hit a massive rock in the dust, grenade the front wheel, and blew the tire. The rear wheel had a huge dent, but the tire was still good. Bent the front I beam, and the 3/4" radius arm bolt, 9" skid plate is toast, 3rd member is ok had it inspected. The drive shaft looked like a twizler, East county dive shafts is building a new one.
Attachments
Last edited:
exp24
Active member
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2023
- Messages
- 108
Complete tear down on the rear, all new uniballs and rod ends. New sway bar: A couple of the splines were missing, new fluids and filters for fuel, transmission, and gear oil. Shock rebuild. Last thing, complete rebuild of the hubs, bearings, races, and seals. The rear is almost together and then prep the front. The goal is to have it together in January.
Attachments
exp24
Active member
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2023
- Messages
- 108
My YouTube channel, plan is to live stream the next race.
