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Hey all. I've been rather absent lately...life is busy. I did manage to sneak out of the country last weekend to play pit chief for the Von Dutch FJ Cruiser. It was a busy weekend...a last minute class change (class 3 to class 7) provided us with the opportunity to spend Thursday afternoon doing suspension work on the beach in Punta Estrella, where 4WD toyota owner magazine rented us a beach house. After tech on Friday, we had more work to do, but we had things wrapped up by midnight. A visit from one of the drivers friends from South Africa interrupted us for a bit, but it was a great entry (he was riding a moto in the race, and literally dropped in on us to say hi).
Saturday morning started with a wake up call at 4:30am. A quick cup of coffee and the pit crews for pits 1 and 2 headed out for Valle de la Trinidad. Pit crew #3 headed out a few hours later. Major delays at Ojos Negros, but finally got to pit #1 before the Trophy Trucks came through. Hours later, we finally make contact with our class 7 truck, which is limping towards us with suspected bent knuckle. Upon arrival, we confirm the damage, and one of the drivers heads off to find a new one. 20 minutes later, he comes back with a 2007 toyota tacoma owned by one of the other race teams. They give us the knuckle off of their truck, we give them the bent one off of ours, and we send the FJ on its way right at 8:00pm.
At 3:00am, the FJ limps into pit #2 with another bent knuckle and 2 collapsed springs (both front coil overs). So we call off our attempt as there are no repair parts available, and no time to install them and still get the truck to the finish line by 8:00am (20 hours after they started). I drove the race truck back to Punta Estrella via mex 3...and gotta say, that is a damn scary ride after being up for 24 hours and having a destroyed front suspension in a truck that you have never driven before. And talk about blind spots! Holy crap! That whole truck is a blind spot!
Upon arrival at the beach house, we turn it all over to the guys who are staying in Mexico for another day, and the crew from pit #1 showers, eats, and heads north for the border. A 2 1/2 hour wait at Tecate finally gets us back on American soil, and 8 hours later (stopping for food, gas, and plenty of leg stretching), I finally arrive in tucson about 9:30pm--41 hours after I woke up.
It was a great weekend, despite the problems. The eye candy running around was incredible...and every person I met was just as incredible. No one was in a bad mood, everyone was willing to help out anyone, and life was just plain good.
Anyway, 'nuff rambling...here are a few pics I managed to get between the wrench sessions on the truck....
A few more are here
Saturday morning started with a wake up call at 4:30am. A quick cup of coffee and the pit crews for pits 1 and 2 headed out for Valle de la Trinidad. Pit crew #3 headed out a few hours later. Major delays at Ojos Negros, but finally got to pit #1 before the Trophy Trucks came through. Hours later, we finally make contact with our class 7 truck, which is limping towards us with suspected bent knuckle. Upon arrival, we confirm the damage, and one of the drivers heads off to find a new one. 20 minutes later, he comes back with a 2007 toyota tacoma owned by one of the other race teams. They give us the knuckle off of their truck, we give them the bent one off of ours, and we send the FJ on its way right at 8:00pm.
At 3:00am, the FJ limps into pit #2 with another bent knuckle and 2 collapsed springs (both front coil overs). So we call off our attempt as there are no repair parts available, and no time to install them and still get the truck to the finish line by 8:00am (20 hours after they started). I drove the race truck back to Punta Estrella via mex 3...and gotta say, that is a damn scary ride after being up for 24 hours and having a destroyed front suspension in a truck that you have never driven before. And talk about blind spots! Holy crap! That whole truck is a blind spot!
Upon arrival at the beach house, we turn it all over to the guys who are staying in Mexico for another day, and the crew from pit #1 showers, eats, and heads north for the border. A 2 1/2 hour wait at Tecate finally gets us back on American soil, and 8 hours later (stopping for food, gas, and plenty of leg stretching), I finally arrive in tucson about 9:30pm--41 hours after I woke up.
It was a great weekend, despite the problems. The eye candy running around was incredible...and every person I met was just as incredible. No one was in a bad mood, everyone was willing to help out anyone, and life was just plain good.
Anyway, 'nuff rambling...here are a few pics I managed to get between the wrench sessions on the truck....
A few more are here
SWEEEEEET
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