Shout out to all the BC Mud folks!

[fireball]

Gentlemen,

I wanted to give a quick shout out and heartfelt THANK YOU to all the awesome folks I met during my recent trip to BC to pick up my BJ74.

In mid December I found the 74 on a dealer in Vancouver's website. A few quick emails starting off with Jason @Cruisin' put me in touch with Ciaran Wilson who did an initial inspection for me. The truck checked out clean and I started making plans with Jason and Ciaran to build some armor and do some maintenance work to make sure the truck was ready for a cross country adventure.

Jason got the truck outfitted with a custom front and rear bumper (awesome!), sliders and skid plate. Also was nice enough to let me use his shop to put together a quick and dirty 2x8 sleeping platform in the back. Here are some photos of picking the truck up back on Feb 11th.

All washed up and clean at Jason's shop:

And outside my airBnB host house getting all my gear organized!:

 

[fireball]

Got to meet a bunch of folks at the club meeting on Feb 12th, which was also my first chance to get a couple miles on the truck driving from Chilliwack to the EBI Shop. Being in a foreign country, in a new truck, having never driven RHD before I am sure Jason was a bit nervous to ride shotgun with me!

There was a bit of false advertising going on - I went to the meeting with the hopes of running into these gals: https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/coastal-cruiser-meeting-feb-12-be-there.836523/ but alas, it was just a bunch of dudes sitting around drinking beers and talking about Land Cruisers I did get a Coastal Cruiser's calendar and a t-shirt out of the deal, and got to talk to some great folks so no complaining. Perhaps those girls only come to the summer meetings?

Action shot, typing this post on the laptop, CC calendar in the background!

 

[fireball]

Next up was a club run with some of the famous (infamous!) members. Many thanks to Norm and Greg and Darrell and Ciaran and Jason who patiently waited for my slow little rig to bounce up and down the trails. Nice folks, good scenery, nice families and overall lots of fun times!!! Got the first few nicks on the front bumper and skid plate, had to give them a proper test while still under warranty

 

[fireball]

At the end of the day Ciaran was nice enough to stick around and drive up the road with me a bit further, help set my winch line and help find an awesome camp spot for the evening.

View from 20 mile bay campsite catching the sunrise:

On my way back down the mountain:

This was to be my last day in BC as I had an appointment on Sunday down at @justdifferentials to get my suspension kit installed. @Greg_B was nice enough to show me his truck and his gorgeous 40 tucked safely away in the barn:

Then one last stop to meet up with a member of the BC4wd community who had a set of the 16x6" OEM rims I was really jonesing for. Here is the driveway swap in progress:

After that it was one last sushi dinner outside of Vancouver, then a lovely sunset drive down to the Peace Arch border crossing where the Canadian portion of the trip would officially end. Here I am at "impound", i.e. customs, waiting on the customs folks to verify that the truck was indeed built in 1989, 25 years or older, and legally able to enter the USA:

 

[fireball]

After crossing customs I then spent a few days in WA having the suspension setup installed, new tires fitted and blasting around the Wenatchee National Forest, some cool hiking and driving along the Olympic Loop, then down the WA coast and into OR.

The truck is now in Portland, getting some last minute touches (rear locker, u-bolt flip kits, AC repair). My buddy @Crusha, also a Pennsylvania guy, shipped his 80 series out there and are trucks are awaiting us to fly out later this week to pick them up and head through Oregon, UT, Moab, etc and then finally back home. We've got about 17 days blocked out for this. Should be some great times.

Bought the truck with 31s, then swapped for 29" on the OEM 16" rims, now with ARB lift and 255/85/16 BFG MTs:

The national forest, plus a bit of cautious solo snow wheeling:

This is taken somewhere in Olympic National Park, probably near the Hoh Rainforest:

And lastly, a little beach driving down in long beach WA. It's a far cry from it's home in Japan, but the same salty ocean water it crossed a few months back:

 

[fireball]

That's all for now. Thanks again to all the awesome folks I met along the way! Everyone was super nice and helpful and this has been a great little adventure so far.

I've already got a few local folks to commit to Cruise Moab 2016, and know that is on many of your radar as well, so hope to see you guys again soon!

 

[perrobravo]

Awesome! Great story and trip. Looking forward to part 2.

 

[AJAEbj42]

It was great to meet you as well, fireball! Best of luck and safe travels on the next chapter of your adventure!

 

[Scalp]

Great to meet you, Ben, and we look forward to the trip description ahead.
~Bill

 

[Cruisin']

Thanks for the update, Ben. Looking forward to the next chapter.

...And it wasn't that scary riding shotgun in your first RHD drive. You settled into the groove pretty quickly. Besides, I was too busy navigating and acting as a cupholder to be nervous!

 

[fireball]

Ah yes the 74s current achilles heel, the lack of any semblance of proper cupholders!

Every Rose has its thorn.

Incidentally, the latest chapter of the trip was completed today after spending a few hours at the licensing center then to the local customs agent then back to the licensing center. I now have a Pennsylvania title and a proper license plate and it is only 1 PM!

The worst part of my trip was that a planned stop to DS tactical to pick up a scepter diesel can was unsuccessful due to some knucklehead (me) not confirming their hours. If anyone at anytime would be willing to ship me a diesel scepter can and siphon/funnel I would happily PayPal you the funds in advance and some extra to purchase yourself a case of beer! Those things are either used and beat to crap or go for an absolute mint down here in the states.

 

[cruiserpilot]

Ironic, I had 3 new ones sitting in my truck about 10 blocks from there. Sorry I didn't see this earlier.
Enjoy your trip home.