1995 Pathfinder - our 9 day Baja adventure

[FUELER]

First of all,  big thanks to STEEEEVO for getting the Calmini front arms and rear coils to us so quickly!!!  My buddy wanted to lift his 95 so I referred him to Rugged Rocks.    He told me afterwards that he was very pleased with the good price, level of service, and fast shipping.

We installed the calmini 3" lift (with Bilstein shocks) just a couple weeks ago and figured, what better (or worse) way to test the suspension than to go down to Baja CA?

The Baja 1000 had just ended. Thankfully, all the race fans had already left but there was still race signage everywhere (go this way, peligroso, checkpoint, racers stop here, etc)   So we actually did a 400 mile portion (one way) of this years Baja 1000 road. (but we totalled over 1600 miles in Baja altogether!! with about 800 of those miles being off-road)

The weather was great in most areas we visited (with only San Felipe and Bahia de los Angeles being very windy).

Anyways,  here are the pics.




After you pass San Felipe and Puertecitos, this is the view from the highway to Bahia de Gonzaga.



Near Gonzaga, the freeway ends and the road turns to this:
 
 

These dirt roads were used for this years Baja 1000.   We averaged about 30-35 mph with a few bursts of 65+ when the road allowed for it - in comparison, Baja trophy trucks average about 55 mph with bursts of 100+   

There were nice sections and there were awful, nasty sections. This was a nice section.



This structure is the only remnant of the old mining town "los flores" near Bahia de Los Angeles.   There is a mine nearby called San Juan.    The walls were about three feet thick and it was nice and cool inside.





me



Well we made it to our destination - a tranquil beach with a population of 6

[FUELER]

And this is what I called "home" for 5 days
 

 
At one point, there was dolphins jumping out of the water - unfortunately no pics of that.

 

the view from my bed



no windows, no doors, no locks.   You don't need them out here.

I was waiting for thieves to rob us of everything we had, and cut our heads off, but they never came.  I must have been lucky!

(never mind the fact that USA California has a higher homicide rate than Baja California)

[FUELER]

 We were already tired from driving 10 hours straight.... helping a stuck Toyota Ta-slow-ma get out of extremely deep sand, using only boards and shovels (was way too far in the deep stuff to use a strap)  and then we tried to pass the Toyota Baja style,  and we got stuck ourselves and the Toyota owner ended up helping us....all we could do was laugh.... and then we split up and hit some mud at about 3am and got stuck AGAIN!
 



pushing did not help.  And the pictures did not do justice.   We were yanked out the following morning by a lifted and locked TLC.





moonrise on the sea of cortez



The federales planted drugs in our car, took our money and raped us.

Actually they were very nice,  drank beers with us, and they gave us a few Mexican flags as "regalos" (gifts).



Back in town,

Tecate girls make everybody happy




my favorite view of my favorite Baja town - SAN FELIPE !!!






So all in all,   Baja is a very dangerous place.  You will get robbed and murdered.  I hope none of you ever go there.  (I like to have the beach to myself)     Thanks for viewing my pics.

[gitarboyx]

i agree. baja is terrible. no one should ever visit! nice pics man. looks like you had a great time! i gota get on another surf trip down there!

[roastbeef]

looks like a ton of fun. i'll just have to live vicariously through your pictures though, i think my cars would call too much attention to myself just driving to there.

[FUELER]

i'd suggest some security measures like a fuel pump kill switch or an ignition disabler...

but its not like you'd be the only lifted truck there,    its normal to see $100k+ trophy trucks and sand rails all over the place and even unattended in town.   With no windows or doors.  In comparison, a lifted nissan is chump change no matter how much suspension work you've got.

 There's parts of San Diego and LA where you have to worry WAY more...

[gitarboyx]

my truck draws a lot of attention down there, everyones turning and looking, but if you're not parking it and leaving it somewhere itll be fine. like fueler said, theres places here i wouldnt leave it. granted when i was in baja i never stayed anywhere near towns.

[roastbeef]

yea, i understand that. i'm as white as can be, and i look like a cop. i'm 100% sure i'd get fawked with down there, or at least driving there.

[FUELER]

roastbeef,   you are clearly against going to Baja!  Whatever stories you heard or news show you watched must have worked well.    I'm not  lying when I say it's safer than San Diego.     Auto theft is worse in San Diego and Los Angeles,   than anywhere in Baja (with the exception of Tijuana).

We left the Pathfinder unlocked most of the time!
 
 And I gladly take my QX4 down there,   with a $2000 sound system,    i play it loud through town and then i leave it parked (would never do this in San Diego) and don't think about it twice!!!

Perhaps the pacific side is worse (Ensenada and Rosarito for example) but on the sea of cortez side,   everybody is relaxed and nobody is looking to mess with anybody.   They are on "baja mode".