Anyone familiar with L.A. / Longbeach area? I'm looking for some info

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

coax

coax

Joined
May 16, 2008
Threads
50
Messages
752
Location
Bend, Oregon
Hi All,
I'm looking for a bit of information/help on the Longbeach area so posting this in a few of the SoCal clubhouses (forgive the cross posts).

I'm in the final stages of planning my trip to south america (whoohoo) for which I am going to ship my car from California directly down to Chile and spend 6 months in the Bolivian desert and Argentinian/Chilean andes.

Later this month I need to deliver my 80 series to a warehouse/loader North of Longbeach and am a bit nervous on the area it is in. I've never been to that part of the state so not sure if this is justified or not. Are any of you familiar with the area just south of 91 and east of 710? Seems like about the boundary of Long Beach and Compton? Ok to drive an expo looking vehicle in that part of town?

Was thinking of going early morning (start of business whenever they open, probably 8 or 9) so wouldn't be hanging out there for any longer than it takes to hand over to the loaders. Then I'll be flying out later that evening from LAX.

Only other option I could think of besides driving in would be to hire a tow truck to drive it in??? But lots of hassle to do that if not necessary.

Mostly just curious if anyone has local info that may help this go more smoothly :)

Thanks!
Corey
 
Corey - posted a reply to your thread on Rising Sun. I guess from CO Mountains, how long are you willing to drive day 1?

I've done Orange County to Grand Junction in one day no problem, and that's towing my offroad trailer with the 80. Speed limit no issue for you in CA not towing. It's techincally 55 w/trailer here in the PRK. Nevada, AZ, Utah, CO not an issue.

The Long Beach area itself isn't bad until you get just north into the San Pedro area and then some of it can be hit and miss.
 
Thanks guys. Brent to answer your question I'll definitely break the drive up into a few days. Partly because the cruiser likes to go about 65 max, partly because I want to try and time my arrival to the warehouse in the morning and still be alert enough when I get there to make sure it all goes smoothly. I'll probably try and either go really early before rush hour or post-9am. Probably will depend on where I end up sleeping the night before.
 
Haha yea 65 is about what my cruiser likes to do. I have the extra-gutless engine, 4.88's and 33's, some vibes from the front driveshaft, and a clapped out steering box :D I may try to do 2 days and stay sunday night in San Bernardino, seems like there are some budget type motels south on 215 near where it intersects 10. Suppose camping would be easier to keep an eye on the vehicle but arriving after dark might be an adventure in finding a site.
 
I mean no disrespect when I say this, I promise. Growing up in this area I have never understood the fear people from other states have of LA. The area you are talking about does a lot of international shipping. I used to drive into Hawthorne to pick up vintage lambrettas and ducatis all the time, and this was when I was in my late teens and early 20's. You will be fine. I wouldn't leave the vehicle on the street overnight, but only because Murphy's law dictates it will get messed with prior to your trip. If you want to camp, you have san bernardino and angeles national forest all over the place. If you plan on doing the salad and the altiplano, your rig should hold up find in our local hills:) With that being said, I am major jealous of your trip. I have been to suramerica several times, and have a degree of separation between lostworld luis/lacy, and want more than most anything to overland down there. Have fun, and be safe.
 
pjskinner said:
I mean no disrespect when I say this, I promise. Growing up in this area I have never understood the fear people from other states have of LA. The area you are talking about does a lot of international shipping. I used to drive into Hawthorne to pick up vintage lambrettas and ducatis all the time, and this was when I was in my late teens and early 20's. You will be fine. I wouldn't leave the vehicle on the street overnight, but only because Murphy's law dictates it will get messed with prior to your trip. If you want to camp, you have san bernardino and angeles national forest all over the place. If you plan on doing the salad and the altiplano, your rig should hold up find in our local hills:) With that being said, I am major jealous of your trip. I have been to suramerica several times, and have a degree of separation between lostworld luis/lacy, and want more than most anything to overland down there. Have fun, and be safe.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback! Yes reputations are funny things, that's why I wanted to get some first hand information from people who are(or have been) actually there. :) Better to base decisions off this than rumor and such. From what I gather it seems like standard precautions but should be OK.

I suspect I may pass on the camping in the Forest Service just due to lack of time and probably opt for a quick hotel room in San Bernardino or something on the way into town. I'll get plenty of camping in down in SA :) I've been following Lost World for a while now. Would have been great to meet up with them but I think they are done down there (at least for now?) I was down in Chile/Argentina/Peru about 10 years ago and have wanted to go back with a car ever since. Missed bolivia that time due to strikes and such, so very much wanna hit up the high deserts there!

Thanks again for the feedback!

Corey
 
Thanks for the feedback all, got the truck dropped off yesterday morning without any issues. Stayed the first night in Green River, second night spend in a cheap hotel (due to sun night prices) at Primm, then left about 6:15am mon morning and drove into town. Traffic wasn't really that bad at all. Went 210->605->60->710 and had no problems. Neighborhood was just fine actually, not sketchy at all. Dropped my car full of stuff and the keys at a warehouse and hope it shows up in Chile in 6 weeks :)

Thanks again!

Corey
 
If in Valpariso coastal port near Santiago, I know a few folks in Santiago. There are a few guys on this board from the Santiago area as well that'd offered to take me wheeling in the Andes, but never was able to take them up on the offer.

If you are a wine drinker, the Carmenere in Chile is very good and not something we get in the states much. Pisco Sour too is a local drink to Chile and Peru. If you haven't had one, do so!

Have a blast on your adventure.
 
Brentbba said:
If in Valpariso coastal port near Santiago, I know a few folks in Santiago. There are a few guys on this board from the Santiago area as well that'd offered to take me wheeling in the Andes, but never was able to take them up on the offer.

If you are a wine drinker, the Carmenere in Chile is very good and not something we get in the states much. Pisco Sour too is a local drink to Chile and Peru. If you haven't had one, do so!

Have a blast on your adventure.
Click to expand...

Sweet! Yep shipping into Valparaiso. I'll fly into santiago and then probably take a bus to Valpo and do a spanish class refresher for a week or so. Any contacts you have would be great! Not sure how the schedule will work out but suspect I'll head north first and then U-turn after meeting up with a few friends and then back down the Pan American so would be passing through/near Santiago twice. Not much of a wine drinker but good tip and I'll keep a lookout. I can throw an extra bottle in for ya on my way back if you want :)

Last time I was down there I bought two bottles of pisco to bring back in my carry-on. One broke in the bag in the airport! Had to run to the bathroom and wash the bag out in the sink along with the glass bits. It still stunk horribly but nobody said anything on the plane.

How long were you down there for?

A few pics from my trip from Denver to LA:

Fog over Trail Ridge.
VDmai9dnPBBNhLDGqKi-4SlCFxvlJpA0HP4B7KW10AU=w1303-h977-no


The new RTT.
IMG_0675.JPG


IMG_0678.JPG


IMG_0682.JPG


Being loaded into the warehouse
IMG_0686.JPG
 
Last edited:
I told ya it wasn't bad! Im glad you made it safe, and i wish the same for your rig. Please keep us in mind when you are adventuring and occasionally post a picture. South America is my second home... Hope to do a semi-retirement there someday. I do have a question for you... It looks like you have a cargo box and an RT up top. I've yet to see a RTT that skinny.. please, what is it? Thanks!
 
Let me see if I can find the contact info for the mudders in Santiago.

I used to go down there twice a year for a couple of weeks at at time on business. That's over tho!
 
pjskinner said:
I told ya it wasn't bad! Im glad you made it safe, and i wish the same for your rig. Please keep us in mind when you are adventuring and occasionally post a picture. South America is my second home... Hope to do a semi-retirement there someday. I do have a question for you... It looks like you have a cargo box and an RT up top. I've yet to see a RTT that skinny.. please, what is it? Thanks!
Click to expand...

I'm glad you were right! I had visions of the most sketchy part of the trip to SA being dropping the car off in LA. Glad it wasn't bad at all.

As for the Tent, its a home brew. The only production tent I could find that was that size (2'x8') instead of (4x4) is the Overcamp by Autohome. It is expensive, doesn't look that sturdy, and is horrible colors. I figured I'd try my luck and build one. I did a quick build thread on expo just now. Check it out and let me know what you think. Its gonna get some good use here shortly!

http://www.autohome-official.com/en/products/fabric-roof-top-tent/overcamp/overcamp-roof-tent

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/130839-Homebrew-RTT-Build-Completed

Brentbba said:
Mud member in Chile is user name TEPUI. His profile says he hasn't been active since 2013 tho.
Click to expand...

Cool thanks! I'll shoot him a PM and see what happens. If not no big deal. I'll probably post up on some of the forms down there as well.
 
holy crap, that is awesome. i think I'm resourceful, creative person, but that right there is above my pay scale! I read your comments regarding improvements you would make, but even without doing so, that is impressive work. i hope it serves you well down there. Take care, have fun, and be safe!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom