keeping it ugly

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sandcruiser said:
We did everything we could to avoid *driving* at night. I have lived in CR for nearly 8 years and I still avoid driving at night if possible. Crossing borders? God help you.
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I avoid driving at night in the states!



Just skimmed through your trip report, need to read it later. Nice pics, cool cruiser!

How do you like living in Tamagringo? Of all the places in Costa Rica that I visited, that town was my least favorite. I did enjoy the orange cruiser day trip.... a highlight of our honeymoon. Who are those guys? Costa Rica offroad?
 
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LaOutbackTrail said:
I wish I was able to go on that Belize Expedition that no one but you went on (from ExPo). I'm going to attempt it this or next year, but either with just the family or with a couple friends in another truck. Hope to do a route through Belize and Guatemala. But I'm just down for traveling south of the border.
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I am thinking of a trip down sometime earlier this spring to check out things in Belize, Guatemala, Honduras and Costa Rica. Not for sure yet, but thinking about it.
 
cruiser_guy said:
I am thinking of a trip down sometime earlier this spring to check out things in Belize, Guatemala, Honduras and Costa Rica. Not for sure yet, but thinking about it.
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I've sold my Xterra and trying to sell a motorbike to fund the build of an 80s 4runner. Good mileage, reliable, and good offroad.

Do you know of any good jungle routes in Belize? I'm wanting to go to the Caracol ruins, for sure. You know, mud, logs, snakes and jaguars.
 
LaOutbackTrail said:
Do you know of any good jungle routes in Belize? I'm wanting to go to the Caracol ruins, for sure. You know, mud, logs, snakes and jaguars.
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We had a guide take us to the Caracol ruins in our truck and we came back on a little used trail. I think he wanted to see just how far I could/would go. It started/ended right at the sign for the Pine Mountain Reserve (I can't recall where the other end is exactly). The guy at the booth was surprised we popped out there!

There are also jungle routes north of Tikal in Guatemala but you will need to get permission from the park to proceed past the gate. We drove only as far as Uaxactun, about 20km north of Tikal. If you are brave and have the tires and weather for it you can drive all over up there.

I take it you're not into a trip early this spring?
 
I thought my 80 series would stick out too much in Baja the first time I went down...then I saw what some gringos take down there...huge, flashy lifted pickups full of every toy imaginable, towing another $100K worth of trailer or junk...talk about excess....

Anyways, I like my rigs to at least appear to be "local traffic." Low key, as much a possible is a good thing....plus, you don't look like a tool.

-H-
 
Hltoppr said:
I saw what some gringos take down there...huge, flashy lifted pickups full of every toy imaginable, towing another $100K worth of trailer or junk...talk about excess....
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Those are the folks who make it safer for the rest of us!! Anyone who's looking to make a "hit" will hit them first :) .
 
Thanks.
Tama is a fine place to live. If I were in Costa Rica for a week or 10 days, I'd prefer to spend some time enjoying other areas as well. But for living, Tama offers a nice mix of good surf, some infrastructure, some forest, a gringo community, easy access to the rest of the country.

It ain't perfect, but neither was the place that I left to come here.



LaOutbackTrail said:
I avoid driving at night in the states!



Just skimmed through your trip report, need to read it later. Nice pics, cool cruiser!

How do you like living in Tamagringo? Of all the places in Costa Rica that I visited, that town was my least favorite. I did enjoy the orange cruiser day trip.... a highlight of our honeymoon. Who are those guys? Costa Rica offroad?
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How about tossing another grenade in the thread? I've been advised that having a HAM in the truck for local wheeling and long distance expeds is a good idea for a number of things, biggest being for emergencies. I'm taking my General exam next week and considering getting a multi-band HF rig (70cm, 2m and 6m) and keeping the radio out of sight...but what about the antenna? Of course have it be removable for overnight. But does that fall in the "gringo bling" category? Will an HF antenna on the bumper or roof break the "keep it ugly" credo? Or is it worth the risk?
 
EOE_overland said:
How about tossing another grenade in the thread? I've been advised that having a HAM in the truck for local wheeling and long distance expeds is a good idea for a number of things, biggest being for emergencies. I'm taking my General exam next week and considering getting a multi-band HF rig (70cm, 2m and 6m) and keeping the radio out of sight...but what about the antenna? Of course have it be removable for overnight. But does that fall in the "gringo bling" category? Will an HF antenna on the bumper or roof break the "keep it ugly" credo? Or is it worth the risk?
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My truck looks like a rolling radio station! I've had the HF antenna tuner bolted to the underside of the front bumper for 3 years (nice and close to the antenna) and no one has even seen it. I have a multi-band ham radio tucked away inside (I won't tell you where on a public forum). The 70cm/2m antenna is on the roof and the HF antenna is on the front bumper. The way I look at it, any potential thief won't know who you might have just called! They have no idea what the range is or anything. I wouldn't put it in the "bling" category. I don't think it would be a highly desired item to steal. Not like chrome rims or nice tires or fancy stereo/CD etc.

I leave the HF antenna behind most of the time because of the size of it and because it is easily and quickly removed.
 
canucksafari said:
It might be worth checking local laws in each country you plan to go to regarding VHF and HF. I remember something about this from a course I took. Although, it is not likely that in many places your average police officer would be aquanted with HF and VHF regs.
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Very true!! I was never asked about the radio even at the stupid inspection in Nicaragua. They did see it though. I have not made as much use of the radio as I had hoped, probably as much my lack of knowledge as anything else.
 
cruiser_guy said:
I've had the HF antenna tuner bolted to the underside of the front bumper for 3 years (nice and close to the antenna) and no one has even seen it. I have a multi-band ham radio tucked away inside (I won't tell you where on a public forum).
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I won't ask about the super-secret location ;). Good call on the tuner. Any issues with it getting wet?

canucksafari said:
It might be worth checking local laws in each country you plan to go to regarding VHF and HF.
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I'm not sure about you Canuckians, but we Yanks have a reciprocal deal with Mexico. Though I do believe the Mexican authorities require some kind of temp permit (and fee?) to transmit on land and water. But we'll leave that to the Electronics forum.
 
EOE_overland said:
Any issues with it getting wet?
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I'n not interested in getting in water that deep thanks!!

EOE_overland said:
I'm not sure about you Canuckians, but we Yanks have a reciprocal deal with Mexico. Though I do believe the Mexican authorities require some kind of temp permit (and fee?) to transmit on land and water. But we'll leave that to the Electronics forum.
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We have the same ham radio agreements that the US does (at least I think we do).
 
sandcruiser said:
Mexican bandits aren't likely to want 22re.... Toyota is pretty uncommon there, a newer Hilux or Cruiser might be of interest, but not so much the older 4runner, in my experience.

In the rest of Central America, that's like a rolling parts store.

Ok, not really that bad, but there are parts (motor) that are widely desired and reasonably common. More so than a Cruiser.

If you said "early 90s" 4runner, I'd be more worried.
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What's the deal with older 4runners?
 
Matt16 said:
What's the deal with older 4runners?
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Anything based on that platform is VERY common in Central America and potentially up for theft.
 
IMG_1096.jpg


My new adventure vehicle. Quite capable stock. Got some mods coming. I plan on covering a route in Mexico soon... from the mountains near Monterrey as far south as I care to go... So many things to see in that area..

This, being part of the route....
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Its a dirt route, these pictures taken on the western side of the mountain range, I hear the farther south and east you go, the muddier it gets.

I think my first step is going to be Monterrey to Ciudad Victoria on all dirt. That itself might take a week in the trucks.... Two days on a bike though. :p

SORRY, that had nothing to do with keeping it ugly, just travel in general.

OH, but I may do a nice Zebra paint job to my truck....... keep it ugly, and fun, and flashy.
bundu_2007.jpg
 
Just got back from another Baja adventure in the 70. No issues with my Yaesu 7800 and external antenna (I turned it off at checkpoints). However, I had to be pretty forward about the Lowrance Baja 480C NOT being for sale at one checkpoint North of Gonzaga Bay.

Note to self...turn the fancy electronics off at checkpoints.

-H-
 
LaOutbackTrail said:
OH, but I may do a nice Zebra paint job to my truck....... keep it ugly, and fun, and flashy.
bundu_2007.jpg
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What are the tires you have on there and what size are they? They look very similar to the old bias ply I use to run on my 4x4 some 30 years ago. All the loggers ran the same tire. I think they were Firestone. They were the best tires I ever had for standing up to sharp rock and sticks.
 
canucksafari said:
What are the tires you have on there and what size are they? They look very similar to the old bias ply I use to run on my 4x4 some 30 years ago. All the loggers ran the same tire. I think they were Firestone. They were the best tires I ever had for standing up to sharp rock and sticks.
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That isnt my truck, but if you click on the link in that post, you can see a pretty good build on the truck...

But, to answer your questions, the tires are Michelin XLV... i think.
 
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