Baja november alternative fuel exp

[Nullifier]

Ok guys my good friend Mike Lokey owner of Lokey Crosslander & 4X4 is planning this. We are scheduled to depart Tampa Nov 9th and head out for the Baja 1000. He is buiding a brand spanking new Chevy crew cab witht he diesel in it. It will be fited with conversion to run veggie oil and have a filter system on board to refuel. There are a bunch of sponsors getting on board with this. Rock krawler is coming down to install there new chevy desert running kit for example. Coverage of the build can be followed on truck universe. There is another network talking about going to make a 6 episode serieos out of the trip.

Fortunetly I will be going. I will be driving the yoda and another landrover will be caravaning as well. Once out west we will be hooking up with campa trailers and them meeting up with a few of the race teams in ensenada. We will get to do some prerunning and then help with some crew stuff during the race. Our baja ride will take us down to lapaz and then back to ensenada on the actual 1000 course.

After that we will motor back to tampa. all in all it will be about 8000 miles in eleven days. here is Mikes new web site and his outline for the trip.

http://www.lokeytrucks.com/



Bolt on Baja
Dust or Glory?

Project Overview:
Can a production vehicle with the right combination of production aftermarket parts and accessories be capable of completely supporting four crew members needs over a 7,000+ mile 11 day expedition, including running the Baja 1000’s most difficult off road terrain twice, without compromising on road performance and without depending on fossil fuel.

Project Purpose:
The projects purpose is to build a truck and trailer that can comfortably and efficiently support four crew members on an extended expedition in multiple environments, ranging from the most extreme off road conditions to the most mundane highway driving environments. This should all be achieved without sacrificing performance in one arena at the cost of another and the unit must be totally self sufficient. To determine the success of the build we will send four crew members from Tampa, FL to La Paz, Mexico and back. Their observations and success in navigating from Florida to Arizona will test the units road worthiness; then the trip from Arizona to La Paz Mexico via off road GPS navigation, including the Baja 1000 course twice, will indicate the off road worthiness of the unit.

Truck Build Objective:
To build a truck using primarily production or bolt on parts that can withstand the punishing conditions of the Baja 1000 without sacrificing its ability to be a realistic daily driver that is comfortable, practical, efficient, and stylish. It must be at home equally serving as a Baja 1000 pit crew truck running full speed in the deserts of Mexico to catch up with and repair a Trophy truck; as it is pulling a large boat with four passengers to a fishing tournament 200 miles out of town. It must be more efficient, more powerful, and more comfortable than stock. Finally, it should not require one drop of petroleum based fuel, have less impact on the environment than it did at the start, and look great at any valet line.

Trailer Build Objective:
The trailer must be able to handle the same environments as the tow vehicle and be able to provide support in the form of food, water, and shelter for the crew as well as equipment and tools for the truck without dampening the tow vehicles performance significantly. It must be built of equally durable material and able to transport a realistic supply of necessities for both crew and truck over an extended expedition in any environment.

The Test:
The test will be to survive a ten day round trip expedition from Tampa, FL to La Paz, Mexico following the Baja 1000 race route and back. The truck and trailer will run all highway miles until Arizona where it must navigate below the US border to Ensenada for the start of the Baja 1000. The truck must complete the Baja 1000 race route from Ensenada to La Paz on the way down and navigate a new route using both on and off road trails on the return trip. Finally, the truck must return to Tampa, FL to conclude a trip of roughly 7,500 miles; of which 3,000 miles on road and 3,500 miles off.


Vehicle Selection

2006 Chevy Silverado LS 4x4 2500HD Crew Cab Short Bed

Off Road Trailer Selection

Campa ATT; Expedition Trailer with Safari Tent and solar panels


Truck Build List
Suspension:
· Rock Krawler; 8.5 Desert Race Suspension
· Radflo; 4” Bump Stop
Wheels:
· 5 American Racing Wheel 17x9 Chamber ATS Series wheels
· Trail Ready; will reinforced and convert wheels to bead locks
Driveline:
6 State Distributors; Front Drive Shaft
Tires:
· 5 Toyo Open Country MT Tires 37x13.5R17
Recovery & Protection:
· ARB Deluxe Front Bull Bar
· Superwinch 12.5 EP winch and 9,000EP winch rear
· Extreme Outback Products; Recovery Kit
· Pull-Pal; Recovery Anchor
· Off Road Only; X Line Synthetic Winch Line
· Advanced Air Designs; Power Tank and accessories
· Rock Krawler; Front Skid Plate
· Road Armor; Rear winch bumper
· PIAA; Rear lights
· Craftsman; Portable tool set
Performance:
· Edge Products; Juice with A2 Monitor and wireless camera
· Advanced Flow Engineering; Stage II Intake
· MBRP; 4” Turbo Back Exhaust
· ATS Diesel Performance; CO-Pilot Upgrade Kit
· MAG-HYTEC, rear differential cover and transmission pan
Navigation:
· Lowrance; Global Map Baja 480c
Exterior Accessories:
· 3 IPF. 900 series HID Driving Lights
· Bestop; Power Step Running boards and Supertop for Trucks
· Grippen; Billet Magnum Door Handles
· Wilco Products; Rear Tire Gate
· Suncoast Creations; Ram Air Hood
Alternative Fuel System:
· Golden Fuel Systems; Nomad Kit
· Bio Diesel Provided by Biodiesel Solutions; Fuelmeister II



Vendor/Sponsor Information:
Tow Vehicle
· www.chevrolet.com
· www.bobpulte.com

Trailer
· www.CampaUsa.com

Truck Build List
Suspension:
· Rock Krawler; www.RockKrawler.com
· Radflo; www.radflo.com
Driveline:
6 State Distributors; www.sixstates.com
Wheels:
· American Racing Wheel; www.americanracing.com
· Trail Ready; www.Trailready.com
Tires:
· Toyo; www.Toyo.com
Recovery & Protection:
· ARB; www.ARBusa.com
· Superwinch; www.Superwinch.com
· Extreme Outback Products; www.extremeoutback.com/
· Pull-Pal; www.PullPal.com
· Off Road Only; www.OffRoadOnly.com
· Advanced Air Designs; www.PowerTank.com
· Rock Krawler; www.RockKrawler.com
· Road Armor; www.RoadArmor.com
· PIAA; www.Piaa.com
Performance:
· Edge Products; www.edgeproducts.com
· Advanced Flow Engineering; www.AFEFilters.com
· MBRP; www.MBRP.com
· ATS Diesel Performance; www.ATSDiesel.com
· MAG-HYTEC, www.MagHytec.com
Navigation:
· Lowrance; www.lowrance.com
Exterior Accessories:
· IPF www.ARBusa.com
· Bestop; www.Bestop.com
· Grippin Billet; www.grippinbillet.com/
· Wilco Products; www.tiregate.com
· Suncoast Creations; www.SuncoastCreations.com
Alternative Fuel System:
· Golden Fuel Systems; www.GoldenFuelSystems.com
· Biodiesel Solutions; www.BiodieselSolutions.com

Media Coverage (as of 8/05)
· Speed Network; Truck Universe to cover build up of truck from start to finish www.truckuniversetv.com ; special video coverage of the trip.
· Carlton Ward Photography; To document the trip to Mexico and back www.CarltonWard.com
· Expedition Portal; Web coverage of the event while it happens live www.expeditionportal.com

 

[BajaTaco]

Wow, this is fantastic! :clapsmile

I am a little confused as to the Baja part. In the first part of your post, you mentioned pre-running and being on the actual Baja 1000 course. But then in the "purpose" section, you stated "It must be at home equally serving as a Baja 1000 pit crew truck running full speed in the deserts of Mexico to catch up with and repair a Trophy truck"

So, the truck will be used to pre-run the course, and be a chase truck during the race? Wouldn't that be two round-trips of the peninsula?

If there are 4 guys, are they all going to sleep in the safari tent?

And last but not least, it sounds like you are going from AZ to Ensenada via dirt roads? That will take a lot of time.

Regardless, it sound fantastic and super fun. The veggie oil is cool - too bad it won't work with animal fat. Plenty of that down south

 

[Robthebrit]

Thats pretty cool but is the challenge to simply drive that distance on veg oil or is the challenge to drive 7000 miles without using dino diesel? I have many friends who have old MB cars who have driven the last 100,000 miles this way would not dream of paying for dino diesel.

I assume they are planning on using waste veg oil and not fresh veg oil? I often use bio in both unimogs and I even tried SVO/bio mix and it runs fine. If it was more convinient I would do it all the time and if I did not live in the middle of the city I would make my own biodiesel. That being said, mine is a 30 year old engine and all mechanical injection and much more forving than a new engine. While I have tried bio in the cummins I have never put veg oil in it.

If you can run on veg oil at worst case you can fill up at any local supermarket! You'd get some funny looks in the middle of mexico outside a small store filling your truck directly from the cooking oil bottle!

Good luck

Rob

 

[flywgn]

Well, I have to say, Nullifier, that I'm a bit confused, also.

The Baja Mil Start will be a.m. of the 16th. Most, if not all, of the serious contenders will have done their pre-running before the 13th. If you're leaving Tampa on the 9th, you'll miss nearly all of the pre-running.

Are you hooked up with a team?

BTW, I think this endeavor looks awesome and I'll be excited to see how it develops, but I'm a little puzzled at the logistics.

Mind you, I'm no expert on pitting for the Mil. In fact, my three years experience barely qualifies me as a neophyte, but there seem to be some pieces missing here. Help me out. What am I missing?

Allen R

 

[RAM5500 CAMPERTHING]

I look forward to following this adventure! Sounds like it will be a blast! When the race gets closer, hit me up with a PM, we will be down there as well and i want to check out this rig!

We chased last years Baja Mil in a 05 Chevy Crew cab with 4 guys in it. I was the lucky guy (sarcastic) that did 99% of the driving! Anyway, the truck worked awesome and was very comfortable for 4 adults!

Good luck to ya!

Here are a few pics of our setup (rear suspension definitely could of used some airbags, but it still worked ok):

NOTE TO YOU AND SELF: The winding dirt Baja roads are very unforgiving in the middle of the night, even more so after a 1/2 a case of RedBull and being up for 20 hours straight!!

 

[Scott Brady]

Brian, thanks for the post!

Expedition Portal will be covering the trip, with a special section of the website dedicated to the event.

Too much fun! :friday:

 

[Nullifier]

Thanks Scott. Mike told me this morning that he spoke with you. We will be busy little bees down here with all the planing. I have to get with mike and take on the fine dining menu LOL. Eating well is kind of a hobby :friday: :1888fbbd: :chowtime:

So for those of you confused. We will be leaving on the 9th. Driving straight through so we should be crossing the border in tecate on the 13th. Be in ensenada on the 13th and hooking up with a few teams. We will take a few days before to do some final prerun stuff and set up plans on our support locations. After we get down to lepaz we will run the actuall course back up to ensenada. From there a straight shot back home. I'm sure there are a few variables that will change but at this point that is the general idea.

 

[Nullifier]

What kind of suspension is on that beast? nice truck!

I look forward to following this adventure! Sounds like it will be a blast! When the race gets closer, hit me up with a PM, we will be down there as well and i want to check out this rig!

We chased last years Baja Mil in a 05 Chevy Crew cab with 4 guys in it. I was the lucky guy (sarcastic) that did 99% of the driving! Anyway, the truck worked awesome and was very comfortable for 4 adults!

Good luck to ya!

Here are a few pics of our setup (rear suspension definitely could of used some airbags, but it still worked ok):

NOTE TO YOU AND SELF: The winding dirt Baja roads are very unforgiving in the middle of the night, even more so after a 1/2 a case of RedBull and being up for 20 hours straight!!

 

[flywgn]

...So for those of you confused. We will be leaving on the 9th. Driving straight through so we should be crossing the border in tecate on the 13th. Be in ensenada on the 13th and hooking up with a few teams. We will take a few days before to do some final prerun stuff and set up plans on our support locations. After we get down to lepaz we will run the actuall course back up to ensenada. From there a straight shot back home. I'm sure there are a few variables that will change but at this point that is the general idea.

Maybe I'm just obtuse, but your clarification has not convinced me that the logistics of this endeavor, however worthy, are well-planned.

You say that the team will be leaving Tampa on Nov 9. The race starts 0630h on Nov 16th (I corrected my earlier post in which I wrote the 17th.) with the motos going off first. Given that the last pit won't close until sometime on the 17th, you won't be able to begin your 'reverse-course' run until after that time. To make the ten-day round trip that you describe in your first post you will have only two days to arrive back in Tampa after driving the race course backwards to Ensenada. Wow!

In addition, you mention above that the team "...will take a few days before to do some final prerun stuff... ." Wow! ...again.

Are you sure you're not leaving October 9th????

Pre-running will begin October 13th, and as I mentioned earlier the serious teams will have completed their homework many days before November 13th.

I still like the concept of the venture and I honestly do wish you success.

Have you already joined up with a race team, or teams, to support?

Allen R

 

[RAM5500 CAMPERTHING]

What kind of suspension is on that beast? nice truck!

No clue, was given the keys and drove it like i stole it "Exact Word Of The Driver We Were Chasing" he TOLD US to drive it like we stole it, so we sure did! Truck rode AMAZING until it was loaded, then it has the So-Cal lean as you can see. Definitely built for looks, but fun as hell to be on! :victory:

 

[Nullifier]

Maybe I'm just obtuse, but your clarification has not convinced me that the logistics of this endeavor, however worthy, are well-planned.

You say that the team will be leaving Tampa on Nov 9. The race starts 0630h on Nov 16th (I corrected my earlier post in which I wrote the 17th.) with the motos going off first. Given that the last pit won't close until sometime on the 17th, you won't be able to begin your 'reverse-course' run until after that time. To make the ten-day round trip that you describe in your first post you will have only two days to arrive back in Tampa after driving the race course backwards to Ensenada. Wow!

In addition, you mention above that the team "...will take a few days before to do some final prerun stuff... ." Wow! ...again.

Are you sure you're not leaving October 9th????

Pre-running will begin October 13th, and as I mentioned earlier the serious teams will have completed their homework many days before November 13th.

I still like the concept of the venture and I honestly do wish you success.

Have you already joined up with a race team, or teams, to support?

Allen R

Obtuse? well I guess if your going to drive this point home then maybe. Ok we might have to add a day if it makes you feel better :hehe:. If were anyone else asking I would say no we'll be back on the 20th no doubt lol.

I guess it doesn't matter when we get back. Trip is still being planed. This was just a rough outline! This thing has been thrown together very quick. It was talked about in the spring and a week before I left for my trip I got a call that it might happen. When I got back I was told it was definetly happening. Then I got mikes trip outline and posted it. We are having ameeting next week to cover all the logistics and such in more detail. I'll keep everyone posted.

 

[flywgn]

... I'll keep everyone posted.

Great! It'll be a grand adventure.

Allen R

 

[BajaTaco]

We are having ameeting next week to cover all the logistics and such in more detail. I'll keep everyone posted.

:lurk: :clapsmile

 

[outsidr]

Just happy to be here....

So I am the new guy to this site, but I am really excited to see all the + remarks about the our trip. I am Michael Lokey and to clarify a bit, the trips outline is loose on purpose. There are still sponsors and media coming on board that are keen to specific goals of the trip. To be quite honest this whole thing started as a vacation I was planning anyway and has turned into something much bigger and in many ways more fun.

As Brian mentioned, we will be updating our exact itinerary as commercial influences solidify. My ideal track would be to drop into Mexico in AZ then run to Ensenada directly along the most scenic back roads. Once in Ensenada I am planning to meet up with some of our vendors and wish them well, also get a chance to meet many of them in person for the first time.

I am not currently planning on supporting any specific team since our timeline is so short and we have so much ground to cover. I would like to drop in on the guys from Total Chaos around Loreto, Larry from Trail Ready up north, and the crew at Donahoe racing to mention a few who have been helpful in the planning stages of this trip. No doubt at some point if some one needs something and we are in the right place at the right time I would love to help.

The plan for my Chevy to start after the last Trophy truck so we are out of the way and wont be holding anyone up. The rest of our posse will be stationed along the course having fun. We do want to run the 1000 course down and possibly back up but I would rather run the east coast back up and perhaps the 500 route personally. Suggestions of places to go and not go or favorite routes are welcome. Especially from AZ to Ensenada. We are hoping to run more obscure routes where possible, if you have an idea please post here.

More to come later but with all the responses I thought I should post now. I will update my profile and avatar soon. Just happy to have found a group that appreciates this sort of thing. Most people as you know just settle for Disney Land. Sort of sad really. Btw, Boston Mangler, I am sympathetic been there and this time I better not have to be the guy stuck at the wheel. I do agree on the red bull too.

Finally, in regard to the WVO system, wait till you see the system that Charlie Anderson (Greasel, Golden Fuel Systems) is putting together for this truck, it will collect, heat, filter, and fill the main tank so animal fat will not be as big an issue. I am still planning on bringing a slew of filters though.

Keep the posts going and anyone who would like to join let me know.
Best Regards,
Michael Lokey

 

[BajaTaco]

Michael, welcome to ExPo and best of luck with the trip.

ROCK ON! :rockon: