Expedition: Baja Enduro - 2/18/22- 2/22/22, who is in❓

[Krlos]

Having been to one of their trips I can tell you they are professional and friendly. You won't regret it. And yes, accidents happen and having a team with you that knows these trucks and what can go wrong with them helps... You'll have a blast.

Thank you very much AlexT , can you please explain what was the best portion that you liked on your run with them

 

[mattl600]

Awesome mattl600 , I’m totally new on this event, any advice on radio, gps and mounting brackets. I’ll be riding a GEN1.

Well I went with this rugged radio with external VHf antenna. Going to install it this week.

Rugged M1 RACE SERIES Waterproof Mobile Radio - Digital and Analog

Not afraid of water, not afraid to race, not afraid to perform! The Rugged M1 Professional Mobile Radio is built to endure offroad racing's harshest environments. Designed from the ground up, the M1 is IP67 waterproof, and it's all-aluminum chassis protects vital circuits from Radio Frequency...

www.ruggedradios.com

I ended up picking a lowrance GPS system. If you’re looking for something let me know as I have a new iPad mini with leadnav I’ll be letting go.

 

[Krlos]

02OCT21: RAPTOR RUN at Altoona FL, 18 trucks attended, 16 made it. It was a very good run nice group…

 

[AlexT]

Thank you very much AlexT , can you please explain what was the best portion that you liked on your run with them

I liked the whole trip honestly. Had a good group to run with so that makes things better overall. Most participants were experienced and level headed so save some mechanical issues everything was dealt with successfully. Other than that, the organizers are friendly and professional and you can do it at your own pace with no pressure. Due to circumstances I ran sweep and I was more than happy since I usually run sweep in other trips when I can. But there were parts where I would "chase it" and other parts I would take photos and shoot videos with the drone.

 

[Krlos]

Thank you, I love SWEEPING reminds me when I use to do OFF ROADING im the US ARMY. Of course less stress and more fun, thank you for the input, safe off roading

 

[BlueSCrew19]

I am signed up for the Enduro run with EXO and it will be my third Baja run with them (I did an Overland trip in May, and just got back from their latest run in September). I'm new to this kind of off-roading, but happy to answer any questions about what gear I brought (and what I wished I had) to each of these runs. The overland trip is definitely slower paced and more family friendly: my 70-year old father and 7-year old son came along. The faster runs are insanely fun, and surprisingly accessible for a mostly stock truck, but I wouldn't recommend bringing kids

 

[mattl600]

I am signed up for the Enduro run with EXO and it will be my third Baja run with them (I did an Overland trip in May, and just got back from their latest run in September). I'm new to this kind of off-roading, but happy to answer any questions about what gear I brought (and what I wished I had) to each of these runs. The overland trip is definitely slower paced and more family friendly: my 70-year old father and 7-year old son came along. The faster runs are insanely fun, and surprisingly accessible for a mostly stock truck, but I wouldn't recommend bringing kids

Nice. I’m excited !

What type of things did you wish you had ?

I’ll be running a 2020 raptor fox 3.0 all around with deavers / bumps / traction bars SVC UCA and tie rods.

 

[BlueSCrew19]

I definitely wish I had more suspension! I went on both trips with just Deaver +2 leaf springs and RPG bump stops. The back end of the truck was very well behaved, but the front skid plate took a beating because I just didn't have enough clearance/travel in the front. Hitting the front skid plate doesn't seem to damage the truck much, but my low back wasn't happy about it. After the overland trip in May I ordered the Icon suspension kit with shocks, springs and 37" tires (I'm keeping the RPG bump stop kit just to save some money). That is what the EXO team runs, and they have nothing but good things to say about it. Due to Covid that hasn't come in yet, but I'm hoping it's ready to go before the Enduro trip. Your setup sounds good, and should let you take the bumpier trails a lot more quickly and comfortably than I could. I was told, by multiple EXO members, that they discourage people from doing after-market tie rods. Apparently the weaker tie rods help save more expensive upstream components, and they are easy to fix/replace when they get bent.

I was using a fairly simple tie down system in the back of the truck to hold my jack and second spare. The latest trip to Baja completely destroyed that system, so now I have an SVC rack in the back of the truck. That is another thing I wish I had done before the last trip, as it would have saved me some aggravation.

I used an iPad with LeadNav for the overland trip in May, and then switched to a LowRance Elite FS 7 for the latest trip. I found the LowRance easier to use, and definitely easier to see, but I think either solution is fine. The EXO team all uses LowRance, so you're on your own for tech support if you use LeadNav, but that never came up for me in either run.

I have a basic Icom radio with a GJ motorsports third brake light and antenna mount. That combination worked perfectly on both runs.

Finally, I've been slimming down the list of things I bring on these trips. I brought a full Zombie-apocalypse load out for the first one, and still too much stuff for the second. You start and end most days near convenience stores and gas stations, so it's easy to get basic stuff like food, water and ice. Next time I'm going to bring just enough food for a few lunches, some water for emergencies and basic recovery tools: jack, plasma rope, tow strap, shackles, shovel, sockets, gloves. If you need more than that, EXO has a chase truck.

I am also keeping the cab of the truck free of loose items because they tend to fly around. We had all four wheels off the ground multiple times, and at least two wheels off the ground for long stretches of whoops, so anything in the cab tends to become a missile.

For both trips, the amber chase lights in the GJ motorsports third brake light would have been enough, as we weren't out after dark. I also have some fog lights on the front of the truck, but haven't had a chance to use them in anger yet.

So far the only damage I've sustained is to the outer CV dust boots behind the front wheels. They both blew out of their clamps on this last trip, so I'm going to need to get the CV joints replaced. The front skid plate looks like someone took a sledge hammer to it. I am stunned at how much of a beating these trucks can take without breaking.

 

[mattl600]

I definitely wish I had more suspension! I went on both trips with just Deaver +2 leaf springs and RPG bump stops. The back end of the truck was very well behaved, but the front skid plate took a beating because I just didn't have enough clearance/travel in the front. Hitting the front skid plate doesn't seem to damage the truck much, but my low back wasn't happy about it. After the overland trip in May I ordered the Icon suspension kit with shocks, springs and 37" tires (I'm keeping the RPG bump stop kit just to save some money). That is what the EXO team runs, and they have nothing but good things to say about it. Due to Covid that hasn't come in yet, but I'm hoping it's ready to go before the Enduro trip. Your setup sounds good, and should let you take the bumpier trails a lot more quickly and comfortably than I could. I was told, by multiple EXO members, that they discourage people from doing after-market tie rods. Apparently the weaker tie rods help save more expensive upstream components, and they are easy to fix/replace when they get bent.

I was using a fairly simple tie down system in the back of the truck to hold my jack and second spare. The latest trip to Baja completely destroyed that system, so now I have an SVC rack in the back of the truck. That is another thing I wish I had done before the last trip, as it would have saved me some aggravation.

I used an iPad with LeadNav for the overland trip in May, and then switched to a LowRance Elite FS 7 for the latest trip. I found the LowRance easier to use, and definitely easier to see, but I think either solution is fine. The EXO team all uses LowRance, so you're on your own for tech support if you use LeadNav, but that never came up for me in either run.

I have a basic Icom radio with a GJ motorsports third brake light and antenna mount. That combination worked perfectly on both runs.

Finally, I've been slimming down the list of things I bring on these trips. I brought a full Zombie-apocalypse load out for the first one, and still too much stuff for the second. You start and end most days near convenience stores and gas stations, so it's easy to get basic stuff like food, water and ice. Next time I'm going to bring just enough food for a few lunches, some water for emergencies and basic recovery tools: jack, plasma rope, tow strap, shackles, shovel, sockets, gloves. If you need more than that, EXO has a chase truck.

I am also keeping the cab of the truck free of loose items because they tend to fly around. We had all four wheels off the ground multiple times, and at least two wheels off the ground for long stretches of whoops, so anything in the cab tends to become a missile.

For both trips, the amber chase lights in the GJ motorsports third brake light would have been enough, as we weren't out after dark. I also have some fog lights on the front of the truck, but haven't had a chance to use them in anger yet.

So far the only damage I've sustained is to the outer CV dust boots behind the front wheels. They both blew out of their clamps on this last trip, so I'm going to need to get the CV joints replaced. The front skid plate looks like someone took a sledge hammer to it. I am stunned at how much of a beating these trucks can take without breaking.

Haha nice.

Yeah I’m about an inch higher than stock with an SVC frame cut front bumper so hoping I don’t take any real skid plate hits haha.

SVC rear bumper as well.

SVC bypass rack with 2 spares and 3 ton jack.

I have the new lowrance HDS-7 Baja I’m installing next week with an evil manufacturing mount.

Radio I went rugged RDM 50w dual band radio. Do I need to program channels ?

Also running a stage 2 goosetune with SVC FMIC. What’s the gas situation like ? 91?

Lights.. 3rd brake light chase lights. 30” adapt light bar with 10” lights in each side of that as well as lp4s on the a pillar .

 

[BlueSCrew19]

Great setup, you're going to have a blast!

They only use one channel (Weatherman), so no need to program. The gas stations we used had 91. The EXO guys mentioned that they have seen trouble with tunes out in the desert, so that may be something to watch out for. I am using the RPG mount for my LowRance and I have mixed feelings about it. It is rock solid, relatively easy to adjust and puts the LowRance exactly where I wanted it to see easily. The downside is that the 90+% of the time I'm not using the LowRance, it is hard to remove it. I'd like something with a quick-release that makes it easy to remove the device when I'm using the truck as a daily driver. It looks like the Evil Mfg. mount will have the same problem. I've heard people using BuiltRight and a RAM mount, and I may try that next.