2000 Mile Baja Bronco Adventure

[Jefe]

Sounds like the maroon Bronco got the worst of it. Broke a driveshaft, blew a tire, fried a battery, small carb issue, and lots of little bolts rattling

Several Broncos went 2,400+ miles without an issue. All 11 Broncos crossed back in the States under their power. The nearly stock Stroppe Bronco completed the trip with ease. They did lose one front shock which was original to the vehicle. How impressive is that!

The white Bronco: I had very minimal issues with my rig and was VERY happy how strong it ran. The constant rattling down pothole filled highways, washboard roads, and rocky terrain knocked my driver window off the track and I spent more time taking my door panels off to fix the door knobs and window track than anything else. I had to replace one u joint (which I had in my parts tub), replace the rear pinion seal (which the guys in the Baja Sur Bronco Club delivered to the hotel in La Paz), and fix one loose wire connection to the kill switch I installed 2 days before the trip. Other than that, I was issue free for 10 days of 8+ hours of pushing my Bronco hard.

I run a 351W with Explorer EFI, Explorer serpentine with Saginaw pump, 3.5 inch suspension lift with Wild Horses 11 pack leafs and Bilstein 5100 shocks. I have a ZF5 transmission, D20 transfer case, and 35” tires. The only thing I might have changed was to go with an adjustable shock so I could change it on the fly. We carried a good deal of wait with spare parts and supplies so rear sagging was a common issue (mine wasn’t too bad). I got pretty good gas mileage. The day that some were concerned with getting to San Felipe on fumes, I still had 3.5 gallons left in the tank.

They brought 400 Bronco coloring books and crayons to pass out during the trip

We handed out coloring books, stickers, and matchbox cars to kids all along the trip. They were all so excited. I gave my last coloring book away about 200 feet from crossing back into the US and the little boy was so excited.

San Felipe hotel view

 

[Jefe]

The last update!


1,200 miles across the country in 13 mins:


Tons of photos and videos:

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1...?key=V0h0cWs1SVliZnNWYmptZHE3SmFHcF83SzN0YjZ3

iCloud Photo Sharing

Beach driving:

iCloud Photo Sharing


- 2,403 Total Miles Traveled (Yuma to Yuma)
- Covered 435 Miles of Dirt (For comparison, the 2015 Mexican 1000 did 512 Miles of Dirt to La Paz)
- Crossed the Peninsula 6 times
- 4 Vehicles rode the trailer at various times
- Visited 6 of the remaining 8, 17th/18th century Missions along the El Camino Real
- Replaced 1 set of U-Joints
- Replaced 2 drive shafts
- Replaced 1 tire(plugged 2 tires)
- Replaced 1 set of shocks
- Replaced 2 batteries
- Replaced 8 fuel injectors
- Replaced 1 fuel pump
- Replaced 1 clutch master slave cylinder
- Replaced 1 rear pinion seal
- Numerous fix and go repairs

Baja Bronco Diaries Day by Day(click the bottom to expand):

Day 1 – Saturday, May 5th

We started out the day with a meeting at our parking host in Yuma. We were scheduled to depart at 08:30, but Drew needed to pick up a master cylinder for the Balloon chaser so we didn’t get away until about 9:15. Better in Yuma than in Baja. As soon as we started getting close to the San Luis border crossing, I realized I had significantly underestimated the traffic that would be headed South. We ended up sitting in heavy traffic for about 45 minutes, waiting to clear the Border. In the meantime, the Yuma desert temp was rising and was quickly closing in on 3-digit temps. Several Broncos were starting to see their temps rise, and I opened my heater valve to help with ours. Prior to departing, I had told everyone that we would turn right just past the crossing. However, my GPS had “flipped” it’s direction screen and I just followed the line – which sent me left instead of right. I knew better, but I still followed that stupid line. Of course, several others followed which put us headed in the wrong direction is some extremely crowed and congested streets. I looked for a place to turn around, and one of our Herd made a U turn in the middle of the busy street. That caught the eye of a local cop just looking for US citizens, and it cost him $100 cash right then and there. The rest of us had formed up on a side street only to learn that one of the CO vehicles had vapor locked right at the border crossing and they were loading it on the chase trailer. We finally got everyone on the S. side of the border, headed in the right direction and we took off for La Rumorosa with one of the herd on the trailer. About 20 miles out of San Luis, I missed a turn, so we ended up making a U turn. During that U Turn, the MN Bronco died. The initial troubleshooting looked like a fuel pump. The CO Bronco healed itself on the trailer, and swapped places with the MN Bronco. We made it to La Rumorosa, but were running a couple hours behind. While fueling at the Pemex, the MN apparently healed itself on the trailer also, and we unloaded it so they could hit the 75 miles of dirt with us. We stopped several times along the way because one Bronco or another had some issue, but we would always end up just moving on. We then got the call on the CB that the Greenwood Bronco out of CO was down. Looked like a clutch slave cylinder, so that got it a trip on the trailer. We kept pressing on toward Ojos Negros on a typical Baja washboard, dusty road. The terrain began to change, and we ended up in Piney woods. At some point, we got separated from our chase team and the Greenwood trailer. I decided to keep the herd moving, knowing that the chase guys could find their way to Horsepower Ranch. It was pretty slow going on that 75 miles of dirt, with continuous stops for one reason or another. But we finally rolled into Horsepower Ranch close to 8:00 pm – about 4 hours past our planned arrival. Fortunately, the folks at HP ranch had food waiting, and we enjoyed salad, beef brisket, mashed potatoes, tortillas and chips w/salsa. And the beer was cold. The Chase team pulled in about an hour after us. Everyone spent a little time inspecting and, in some cases, repairing some items on their Bronco. It was a fairly chaotic first day in Baja for the herd, and things didn’t go as smoothly as planned – but it’s Baja. That’s what it does.


Day 2 – Horsepower Ranch to Punta San Carlos (Solo Sports)

We started the day with a nice breakfast at HP Ranch, followed by a tour of their facility where they are rebuilding several early Broncos. Pretty cool stuff. We then hit the road, heading South. We left the Greenwoods and their Bronco with our chase team, in hopes of getting a new slave cylinder in Ensenada. If they found one, the could install it and catch up with us later down the road. As we headed South, the Forrest Bronco blew up their driveshaft. My spare was in the chase truck with the Greenwoods, but fortunately the Loewens had a spare so the swap was made. Not too far down the road, the Forrest Bronco shredded a tire and the spare was mounted. Because of the slow pace, I made a command decision to cut out some of the dirt we had planned for the day. My #1 goal was to keep us off the roads at dark and make each destination together. We made it to Camulu for lunch, and our chase truck driver and the Greenwood Bronco caught up with us, after being repaired and was running great. We told them to grab some lunch and they could catch up with us at La Lobera (the Seal Hole). We made our way to the seal hole, grabbed some photos and just as we were leaving the Greenwoods drove up in their now running Bronco. We were all together again, and headed South. Not to long after our cutoff for SOLO sports, my Bronco just died. I was pretty confident it wasn’t anything big, so we sent most of the team on to SOLO while a few of us stayed back to repair my Bronco. It turned out it was a bad Mega Fuse holder for the EFI system. Phil bypassed the fuse and we were off and running. It was a VERY long dirt stretch to SOLO, taking nearly 2.5 hrs. We made it just before the sun went down. We had some cold drinks, nice tamale dinner and settled in for a night of glamping on the edges of the Pacific Ocean. It was pretty cold, but Joan and I got lucky and found a tent inside of a wooden building which blocked most of the wind. I don’t think the tents were a big hit, but it’s and adventure. Another adventurous day in Baja!!

Day 3 – SOLO Sports to Bahia de Los Angeles

It was a rough night sleep for most. In tents, on the ground, no shower, with the wind howling made for a tough night. However, waking up to the view of the Pacific almost made it worth it. Fresh coffee, pancakes and sausage for breakfast and we were off. We staggered the start back to hwy 1, and told people to go at whatever pace suited them. This worked out great because the route that took 2.5 hrs the day before, was just 1.5 hrs today! The only Bronco incident was with Bill Drew’s hood pins. They both broke loose, so he ended up ratchet strapping and zip tying his hood down. So Baja. So Baja. Knowing we were entering the most desolate stretch of Baja, we backtracked to El Rosario to top off for fuel, turned around and headed South. SOLO set up a table and let us make some box lunches, so we stopped about 100 miles down the road in Catavina to eat. There is a really nice store there (that and a hotel are the ONLY things there), so we ate our lunches under the shade. Somewhere along the way, the Hallstrom Bronco started acting up again. We ended up trailering it into BOLA with what we think is a problem with his fuel heating up (He’s injected). With roughly 50 miles to go before we hit our destination, I started hearing a whining noise in my Bronco whenever it was under torque. We rolled into BOLA only to find out the gas station didn’t have enough fuel for all of this. That was a big deal, because we needed everyone full in order to make the destination the next day. We ended up trying to fill Broncos with auxiliary cans, but we were still a little short. I decided to alter the route out of BOLA, and head off at the San Borja Mission and we would fill up in Jesus Maria. That route turned out to be a LOT of fun! After dinner, we diagnosed my Bronco as having a bad rear ring and pinion. We put it back together, filled it with fluid and decided to push to La Paz where I can probably get a new one. Worst case, it blows and I move ahead in FWD only. When we rolled into Las Vientes hotel, I was VERY pleased with what I saw. This was a terrific location, right on the beach with a huge bar and pool area. The owners (William and Rosy) were terrific and we had a buffet dinner that seemed to please everyone. We also all had our share of adult beverages – some more than others! ;-) Onward tomorrow toward San Ignacio.

Day 4 – Bahia de Los Angeles to San Ignacio

Started the day with a great breakfast at our hotel, overlooking the Sea of Cortez. It was pretty windy, but that’s BOLA. The Hallstrom Bronco was off the trailer and we were going to see if just cooling down helped. I poured 5 gallons of fuel from my can into his truck so he could take off with us. When we were heading out of town, the other Pemex looked like it was open after we were told they would be closed. We drove in, and they were able to fill all the Broncos with fuel. After some internal debate on the route, I decided to stick with the Northern route out of BOLA, with a stop at the San Borja Mission. It was a GREAT route. As we were pulling out of Bola, the Hallstrom Bronco just wasn’t running right so he turned it around to load it up on the trailer. We would meet them at the Pemex in Jesus Maria. The road to the Mission starts about 15 miles out of BOLA and is good section of dirt. Rough in spots, fast in others, it gives a great representation of the NORRA race course. When we arrived at the mission about 20 miles in, we found some folks from Germany who were in an adventure vehicle. Very nice people who were just hanging out. The caretaker (owner) of the mission was there, and he provided our group with a great tour of the place. Built in the early 1700’s, it’s a pretty amazing structure. We decide to take off and eat lunch in Jesus Maria. When we arrived, the Hallstrom Bronco had it’s fuel tank out and they were replacing the fuel pump. There was a taqueria right there and we were told that fresh fish had just arrived, so several in the group had some Baja Fish Tacos. Several of the team helped get the Hallstrom Bronco back together, but that didn’t fix his problem. We took off for San Ignacio, and the Hallstrom Bronco would meet us there on the chase truck’s trailer. About 5 miles outside of San Ignacio, we went thru a military checkpoint. I gave them a few beers and cold water to let our group pass with stopping everyone. Baja. Past the checkpoint, just a few miles, someone shouted on the CB that my Bronco was smoking. I stopped and spotted a leak in a low pressure power steering line. About 10 minutes later, we were rolling. A couple of folks on this trip should be professional pit stop guys. As we drove into San Ignacio, I decided to bypass the hotel and go into the square to see if there were any kids there to hand out coloring books and toys. There were plenty, and we also decided to grab some ice cream. We then headed off to our hotel where people quickly popped their hoods to do some maintenance prior to our departure in the morning. A few guys from the Colorado Classic Bronco club where working on the Hallstrom Bronco when I went to bed. We’ll see how that went in the morning. Overall, A good day in Baja.

Day 6 – San Ignacio to Loreto

We started with a group shot in front of San Ignacio mission, filled up and headed South. Stopped at Mulege to tour their Mission and got a great view of the river from a platform behind the mission. We then proceeded South to Playa Santispac on Constitucion Bay. (1st beach on route). Water was spectacular, and we ended up just sticking around there for several hours. We ate lunch at a little restaurant on the beach, and Chris and Jeff had an old school drag race on the beach. We headed for Loreto at about 3:30 and settled in for an extremely hot ride to our hotel. About 2 hrs later we rolled in, and I was 100% exhausted. The heat and winding roads took their toll on me, but Villa del Palomar was a really nice sight to see. Spectacular location to spend 2 nights of our journey in.

Day 7 – Loreto

Free day today, and people went fishing, stand-up paddle boarding, scuba diving and sight-seeing. We opted to take a shuttle into town and walked around to just relax. Found a great little out-of-the-way spot for a light breakfast, then headed to the mission. Loreto is probably my favorite town in MX. It’s big enough that it has what you need, small enough that it doesn’t have traffic, very clean, right on a beautiful part of the Sea of Cortez, and the people are super friendly. Our chase guys found some local's who came out to work on the Hallstrom's fuel issue. Turns out they had about 4 bad injectors, so they got them all replaced and are running again. Our resort is really nice, but they nickel and dime you to death – and they have some weird obsession to know your room number. Ask a question to the staff, and the first thing out of their mouth is “room number?”…. weird

Day 8 – Loreto to La Paz

We got off to an early start, and headed to the San Javier cut-off just S. of Loreto. Just after filling our tanks in Loreto, my brakes when completely out. A quick look showed that my fluid for the rear had all leaked out of the MC. I’ve got a slow leak at the proportioning valve, so I just filled it up and we took off, making sure to add fluid along the trip. The road is all paved now, up to San Javier. We actually took a heading N. before we got to Javier, and headed to Comondu. (note: gps file was incorrect with turnoff location. It was 1km past the gps marking). The road to Comondu is a super cool dirt trail that takes you through the mountains, and has a little of everything. The big payoff is the view coming into Comondu. The lush green tropical village just seems to pop up out of nowhere! When we got into the village and parked, Eck’s Bronco decided it needed rear U-Joints so he replaced those. He needed a pinion seal also, but that had to wait until La Paz. Everyone just dug out snacks and made that our lunch stop, which was ok by me. The Mission in Comondu was built in the late 1600’s, and still looks awesome! Pretty amazing. As we headed out of town, the Forrest Bronco dropped a driveshaft. This was the loaner they were running with while theirs is being rebuilt in Loreto. Drew and I removed the shaft and put the Bronco in FWD only, which is where he would stay until we hit La Paz and could get my spare driveshaft out of the chase truck. It was a long 3 hour drive to La Paz, but as we were approaching town we saw several Broncos on the side of the hwy. It was the Baja Sur Bronco Club there to meet us and escort us to our hotel. Once we hit the hotel, a few of us worked on our Broncos and then a large group met for a great steak dinner in the hotel. Long day, and I’m beat. But we experienced some really cool things today that will be stories we will remember forever. Baja.

Day 9 – LaPaz to Loreto

The day started early because I needed to put my spare drive shaft onto the Forrest Bronco so they could drive in RWD back to Loreto. I saw Rob in the lobby, and he offered to give me a hand. We made short order of that task, and grabbed some coffee. As we were pulling out of the Costa Baja parking lot, I heard Jim Basal yelling and saw him jump out of his truck. The Hallstrom Bronco was gushing fuel out by the main tank, and Jim ran to get the Bronco turned off. It turned out to be a badly cracked fuel hose, and Rob was able to do a quick fix and get us on the road. Disaster averted! We backtracked to CD Insurgentes (about a 3 hr drive), and took a terrific stretch of dirt to San Javier. It was about 45 miles of Baja’s best. Goats, donkeys, sand, broken down cars, water crossings, rocks, packed dirt. It had it all. When we pulled into Javier, Joanie (my wife) got permission for us to park in front of the 300 year old mission for a photo. It’s good to have a bilingual person in your Bronco with you in Baja! The San Javier mission is a beautiful structure. There’s also a huge 300 year old olive tree a short walk from the mission that was pretty cool. We hung out in San Javier and had a few drinks, some good conversation and gave out a lot of toy cars and coloring books to the local ninos. We then caught the paved road to Loreto where most of us grabbed dinner, and then headed to Villa del Palomar for the night. This was another really good day in Baja!

Day 10 – Loreto to Guererro Negro

We tried to get an early start because we had a lot of pavement to cover on our trek back to the border. All Broncos are still on the pavement. We pulled out of Villa del Palomar, and headed North passing thru the town of Loreto and on to Mulege. It was extremely tempting stop at Concepcion Bay again, but we pressed on. We hit Santa Rosalia about lunch time, and hit up Parisios Taqueria, right on the main drag overlooking the Sea of Cortez. The lunch took a while, but it was well worth it. Once we were loaded back up, we headed West back to the Pacific side of the peninsula. We passed back thru San Ignacio and on up to Guererro Negro. We decided to grab dinner before heading to the hotel, and ate at Mario’s just N. of town. Really good atmosphere and food. When we got to our hotel, the clerk didn’t speak English (not even a little) and told us we hadn’t paid. After getting my wife involved, and then making a call to the agent who booked our rooms, it was resolved and we got our rooms. I almost wish we hadn’t, because it was a pretty crappy little dump. Our lodging had been good to date, but this place was nasty. There weren’t options, so we settled in the best we could. I later found out that some local kids had come up in their car next to Eck’s Bronco when he was parked at the Pemex and spun out, peppering him and his Bronco with gravel. That’s the only issue we’ve had, and is so unnecessary. Overall, the town of Guerrero Negro is the only place on the Peninsula that throws off a bad vibe to me. I’ll be happy to not return. Even though the hotel had their own guard, we had arranged for a security guard just for our vehicles. I don’t think he woke up the entire time we loaded our Broncos in the morning! HAHA. Baja!

Day 11 – Guererro Negro to San Felipe

The day started good as we all had a nice breakfast at a cute little coffee shop in Gurerro Negro. It’s about the only thing I like about that town. We started heading north, but the Forrest Bronco was having some issues. We ended up stopping about 4 times for the Bronco and decided it was time to put it on the trailer. We continued on to the Chapala cut-off, and to CoCo’s corner. I’ll be truthful. Most in the racing community view this place as something sacred, but I’ve never really understood why. It actually sort of creeps me out a little, but we stopped and got the pic. The road from the cut-off to San Felipe will drive you nuts. Very rough dirt for the first 30 miles, then turns to brand new pavement and you think you have it made. Then it throws you to dirt again, back to a pot hole filled blacktop and back to a good road. It really took a toll on the Broncos. But a lot of the Broncos had a good time getting in touch with their inner Robby Gordon. They are becoming Baja veterans. We stopped for a photo along the Sea of Cortez, planning a fuel stop at Puertocitas. Unfortunately, the station was closed (even though we called ahead and was assured it was open). That meant we were going to stretch the limits of any Bronco that only had their 23 gal tank. We found the worst gas mileage of the bunch when Mike’s Bronco rolled to a stop. He had a 5 gal can that he dumped, and off he went again. A few of the folks wanted to stop at the Valley of the Giants (giant cactus), which is a few miles outside of San Felipe. We split the group and some continued into town. Our chase truck was on fumes, so I followed them. Overall, everyone made it to the Pemex and Mike was the only fuel casualty. We made some reservations at a really nice place in town, and stayed in a terrific set of condos overlooking the Sea of Cortez. When we returned from dinner, a few were out doing some wrenching and shooting the bull. We stayed outside until about midnight, realizing our journey was almost complete. The last night on the peninsula was a good one.

Day 12 – San Felipe to Yuma

We took our time getting away, knowing we had a short trip to the border. All 11 Broncos were on the pavement, rolling under their own power. Uneventful trip to the Algodones crossing, but fortunately for us, Bill Drew had gotten some intel on the route to the crossing. My GPS files were taking an older route that had been changed, but not reflected on Google Earth. Thanks to Bill, we drove right to the crossing. We had a 45 minute wait, which isn’t really bad in my opinion. It gave people (namely, my wife), to get out and shop at the little stores along the line to cross. After crossing, we stopped to grab one last photo and say our goodbyes to a few who were headed their own way. The rest of us made our way back to the parking area in Yuma, which as so graciously provided by Junior (a friend of ToddZ’s). The trip was over. We all made it back under our own power and with no major issues. These old Broncos can still carry the mail, even in the harshest conditions. I love these old cars, and I’ve come to care deeply for the Herd.

 

[CSCOBRA03]

That's great to see you guys are using those Broncos like they should be used. That's a trip of a lifetime, what a awesome trip.

 

[SID297]

Who organized this trip?

 

[DriftwoodSVT]

Very cool thread. Thanks for posting!

 

[Snagged]

Great thread and a nice thing you did with the coloring books. Get them when they are young and they will grow up wanting a Bronco! That is how the Mustang got me, ha.

 

[Curt@injected]

Love it. Looks like my kinda trip.

 

[Jefe]

Who organized this trip?

The guys username is coachbarnes on www.classicbroncos.com but I can find out his name if you need it. He races in the Norra/Baja events yearly. They already have a ton of interest for the 2019 trip, possibly in October. They may do 2 groups though, one primarily on dirt and the other mostly pavement. The group of 11 was a bit much with down time and late nights getting rigs fixed. There is also talk of a larger group just doing the trip to Loreto and then heading back north after they depart. They want to make the La Paz trip a full 2 weeks so they have more down time. A week in a half in a 45 year old vehicle on dirt roads takes it toll.