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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64743
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Our First Baja Vehicle... 1965
When my dad heard about the great fishing in Baja, off the beach he had to go! When he was told he needed a Jeep to get to those beaches, he was sure
that was a deal maker, as he had a wife and a 7 year old boy to bring along and a little Jeep would not work for a family. The friend informed him
that Jeep made a station wagon that had 4 wheel drive and could fit the bill! That was maybe the fastest vehicle purchases my dad ever made?
Kaiser-Jeep Corporation magazine add, 1963:
We did a lot of traveling over the old roads of Baja in the Jeep from 1965-1968. Our first trip was to Gonzaga Bay in 1965, south from San Felipe. In
1966, we did the peninsula run from Tijuana to Cabo San Lucas (800 dirt miles then). In 1967 we went to L.A. Bay, via Gonzaga and Calamajue. Other
trips included several to Nuevo Mazatlan on the gulf and San Antonio del Mar on the Pacific, both for surf fishing. We also did the Ensenada-San
Felipe drive (only 10 miles were paved, in '67)
At Alfonsina's...
At Nuevo Mazatlan (Agua de Chale)... before the trees were planted, Luis had built these tall cabanas we pulled into.
The Jeep had the Rambler V-8, automatic transmission and air conditioning. It took everywhere and rarely a problem... I remember it not starting due
to vapor lock on the grade north of Comondu and a Mexican man and son drove up in old Willys wagon, opened the hood, amazed by the size of our engine
and all the other stuff, and got us going. Seeing other vehicles on the road to La Paz was rare back in those days.
My dad traded the '65 Jeep for a 1970 Wagoneer (AMC had just bought Jeep and added their little logo to the tailgate). Sadly, that was not a good buy
and he soon traded it for a '72 4WD Chevy Suburban (he liked lots of room for packing gear). It lasted only a couple years before he changed it for a
Ford wagon, his last car.
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wessongroup
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wessongroup
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Barry A.
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Registered: 11-30-2003
Location: Redding, Northern CA
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My "1st" Baja vehicle was my friends 1949 Chev 1/2 ton 2-wheel drive pickup with a 4 speed tranny, 6 cyl eng., and big balloon tires. We figured if
the Mexicanos could do it, so could we!!! Covered a lot of territory in Baja Norte with that pickup, and got stuck a lot.
We then graduated into a 1945 Army ambulance, 4x4, 4-speed tranny, 6 cyl engine--------it was slow, noisy, and sucked gas like crazy, but it got you
there. My friend that bought it surplus could not drive (never learned how, and had no interest) so for Baja he sometimes got me to do the driving,
as well as others. Fun, fun!!!!
Barry
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David K
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So cool... any photos Barry???
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Barry A.
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Location: Redding, Northern CA
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No. Back then all pics were, and are, on slides, and never converted to digital.
Barry
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rts551
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or Black and whites. Those Army surplus Dodge Power Wagons were popular back then. My father and friends drove one to La Paz in 1951. (back could be
filled with lots of 5 gallon cans.)
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David K
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Location: San Diego County
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Those pics above were converted from slides... I did a few and I have a lot more, specially from my first year going to Baja on my own when I was
16... The highway was just completed (bummer, I wanted to drive to La Paz on dirt when I turned 16), and I took photos of my trips, made them into
slides to share with others, and now they got packed away when we moved in 2013. As soon as I find them, I will get them converted to digital and
share. I did drive from El Crucero to San Felipe, which was all dirt and with the old Gonzaga grades, the toughest Baja main road.
[Edited on 1-2-2015 by David K]
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chippy
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I had the same genre Kaiser/Jeep pick up when I was 19. The problem with mine was the over head cam 6 cylinder crap motor. The 4 speed manual in 4 low
could out crawl any of my friends Fords and Chevys at the time (when the motor was running:mad.
[Edited on 1-3-2015 by chippy]
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Barry A.
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Quote: Originally posted by chippy  | I had the same genre Kaiser/Jeep pick up when I was 19. The problem with mine was the over head cam 6 cylinder crap motor. The 4 speed manual in 4 low
could out crawl any of my friends Fords and Chevys at the time (when the motor was running:mad.
[Edited on 1-3-2015 by chippy] |
As I recall our engine in the Dodge Army Ambulance was a flat-head 6 cyl. and was bullet-proof, at least it was while we were abusing it-------but
pathetic power---------the low speed tranny made up for lack of power most of the time. Going over the horrible grades to Gonzaga was a challenge as
even with granny-gear it still did not have enough power and scared us to death. Those were the days-------------------
I can't recall if it had "A-Trac"-------we never could figure out what all those buttons on the dash were for, and since it was "Army" we were afraid
to push any of them. (Boom??)
Barry
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David K
Honored Nomad
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Location: San Diego County
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Now now Barry, you know that A-TRAC is near and dear to my heart and only on certain models of 4WD Toyota and Lexus vehicles! 
I even had a badge made...
INFO for anyone wondering:
A-TRAC (Active Traction Control) is a system that utilizes the ABS brakes and spin sensors at each tires to stop a spin when traction is lost and
matches the rotation to the other tire on the axles...
In essence locking the tires as a locking differential does, but with brakes and not gears inside the differential. As soon as you have moved ahead of
the poor traction, the tires rotate as normal open differential tires do. This allows easy steering on the trail, unlike lockers which make steering
difficult. It is like automatic lockers on all 4 tires, and only active when you need traction.
I personally found that having this system on all 4 tires, instead of a locker on just the rear tires gave me superior control and security to go
nearly anywhere, and beyond where any other stock, non-modified 4WD truck can go.
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DawnPatrol
Nomad
Posts: 357
Registered: 11-19-2013
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That vapor lock story brought back fond memories of a regular Rambler station wagon my dad bought in the early 60's
We vapor locked in about 105 degrees one summer near las Vegas...
As i remember we had to just wait a bit for the engine to cool off and we were off again...
That was the only problem I can ever remember about the Rambler as it was very reliable... I think it had a bad reputation back then?
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PaulW
Ultra Nomad
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Registered: 5-21-2013
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David, Thanks for the interesting details.
As an engineer it seems way complicated (as in German vehicles). While the ABS provides a portion that is used, but the brake portion is pretty
fancy. Compare ATRAC with a simple electric or air locker (and even the cable operated one) which accomplish the equivalent function. Now days the
select-able diff lockers have advanced a bunch and are mainstream on many 4x4s from the factory. (And GM 2wd pickups). Most are computer controlled
for the public (like ATRAC) and manual control for the experienced road guy. For me I like having all 4 wheels churning together for those hard
obstacles. I even have one one rig with a rear spool and boy does it work good. The ATRAC cannot do that. That means there are hundreds of obstacles I
have done that you cannot do. The best ATRAC can do is have 2 wheels with traction, not 4. That is quite a compromise.
Several companies allow driver choice between select-able diff locker front or rear to be computer controlled or manual (Raptor comes to mind).
PW
===========
David wrote:
INFO for anyone wondering:
A-TRAC (Active Traction Control) is a system that utilizes the ABS brakes and spin sensors at each tires to stop a spin when traction is lost and
matches the rotation to the other tire on the axles...
In essence locking the tires as a locking differential does, but with brakes and not gears inside the differential. As soon as you have moved ahead of
the poor traction, the tires rotate as normal open differential tires do. This allows easy steering on the trail, unlike lockers which make steering
difficult. It is like automatic lockers on all 4 tires, and only active when you need traction.
I personally found that having this system on all 4 tires, instead of a locker on just the rear tires gave me superior control and security to go
nearly anywhere, and beyond where any other stock, non-modified 4WD truck can go.
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Bob H
Elite Nomad
Posts: 5867
Registered: 8-19-2003
Location: San Diego
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David, I loved your photos, but that 1963 magazine ad is priceless !! "Also, I got...." 
[Edited on 1-11-2015 by Bob H]
The SAME boiling water that softens the potato hardens the egg. It's about what you are made of NOT the circumstance.
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JZ
Select Nomad
Posts: 10098
Registered: 10-3-2003
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Love the old pics.
Just took my two boys down for 9 days over Thanksgiving and 8 days over New Years.
I have probably 10,000 pictures from about two dozen trips down since they were 4 years old. Gonna do the first boat trip with my oldest this year
crossing from San Carlos to Santa Rosalia, down to Mulege and Loreto, maybe on to La Paz.
[Edited on 1-12-2015 by JZ]
[Edited on 1-12-2015 by BajaNomad]
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64743
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Hi Paul... you have to see it to believe it. The truck has a rear locking differential still, as did my other two Tacomas. The A-TRAC is better
because it auto locks all 4 tires. This is a no cost system on the TRD OFF ROAD models. It may not get as far in as easy as four wheel lockers, but it
works, and that makes me happy.
David
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Mexitron
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Location: Fort Worth, Texas
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There are slide converters for sale for around $60-$100 that you just hook up to your computer.
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Robertofox
Junior Nomad
Posts: 92
Registered: 10-19-2006
Location: Leucadia & Pta Chivato
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Mood: One more for the ditch !
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My first ride was a 1967 Baja Bug to go to San Miguel then the 1974 Ford F-250, then the 1970 VW Bus then in 1991 I stepped up to a 1986 Ford Bronco,
then the 1996 F-350 4x4 four door, then the F-250 Extra Cab and now the 2011 F-150 4x4 four door. Wow....What a long strange trip it's
been...(Greatfull Dead).
Happy Trails....
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64743
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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When I was 16, I took my first trip without parents along, driving my VW powered Baja dune buggy (Myers Manx with roof rack and side curtains)... Apr.
1974... To Gonzaga Bay with side trips along the way. A Baja 500 style loop.
Old road south of Puertecitos, was steep and rocky! 1974:
I repeated the same trip the next year
On the road to El Marmol... Apr. 1975:
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wessongroup
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 21152
Registered: 8-9-2009
Location: Mission Viejo
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Good "stuff" .. thanks for the time warp
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