Tina Turner

[SteveG]

Ha! I'm a firm believer that every ride should have a female name. I'm a working musician and my money from gigging helps to fund the off-road hobby/obsession. Tina Turner was hot as hell in '89 and she was tough as nails. Figured it was appropriate. I'm flattered by the official name change and can't wait to pick her up. I've already spent countless hours and a bunch of money plotting out the rest of the build. Gonna be fun.

On a side note I got a tune up and fixed the exhaust manifold on Xena Warrior Princess today (aka the Bajamobile). The driver's side was literally cracked in half. Made a huge difference. She's getting all prettied up and ready to sell. I've had a few bites, but nothing serious yet. It will be very very hard to let her go, but hopefully she goes to the right home. I'm most likely gonna throw some SE VENDE signs on her and head down for NORRA tech and the start this weekend. If ya see us, please say hello.

What kind of music? Where can we find it?

[SC150]

We try and keep it pretty old school. The cover stuff we do is mostly late 60's early 70's stuff (Neil young, Dylan, the stones, the band, etc). The original stuff falls along the same lines. We re finishing up this bands first ep right now. If I have enough to drink one night I'll post a link to some of our stuff. It's a fun way of balancing out the monotony of the day job and making a bit of extra cash.

...If we ever hit it big I'll be building a stretch bronco and moving to baja. Fingers crossed.

Picking up Tina next week. Can't wait. Somebody please find a buyer for my truck so I can drop this thing off with Cho for the cage...

[ChaseTruck754]

so I can drop this thing off with Cho for the cage...

Can't wait to see this! A good thing only getting better!

[cypher]

Why not?

[otter]

Well she is now a fully functioning 4wd and is California Emissions legal. She is ready to be delivered. She is ready for her new Ike!

[Rmc]

Hahaha!

[otter]

Hey Dustin,

Would you like to insure this Package? Also do you need a tracking number? haha

Mr. Mcfeely's speedy delivery!

[otter]

And she is gone

[cypher]

I think Dustin scored on this deal! Delivered? What a princess...

[otter]

Yeah. He almost killed us on the test drive..haha.

[SC150]

I was preoccupied. That stop sign was insignificant...

Got her home and cleaned up. Very happy with the purchase. Gonna take care of the registration stuff on Monday and then throwing the seats in. Heading down to prerun the 500 next weekend.

[yikes]

Now that's baller status right there.

[otter]

I was preoccupied. That stop sign was insignificant...

At least we both know it will lock up 35's on pavement at 50! haha

[ESHALLBETTER]

Hey, if you deliver vehicles I'll take the excursion off your hands!

[otter]

Haha. Not going to happen. Took way to long to find a clean 7.3 for a decent price.

[C H O]

Got to see this beast in person, such a rad truck! Can't wait to do some baja trips this summer!

[otter]

Got to see this beast in person, such a rad truck! Can't wait to do some baja trips this summer!

After following your builds for a few years and watching the amazing work you put out. This comment means more than you can imagine.

It's only going to get better when you start throwing some tube work at it!

[SC150]

Just got home from some prerunning for the 500 and the initial shakedown with the new rig and I couldn't be happier with the maiden voyage. Tina's a big softie.

Here's a brief rundown:

We lost the low pressure line on the power steering pump on our way to the border which was a little hair raising (see: smoky). Got a new line and clamps on her and kept trucking. The truck ran flawlessly after that for the rest of the trip. For being a handful on the street, she boogies in the dirt.

I went down with the crew from Giant Motorsports who are gonna be racing Geoff's Sportsman truck. They had some transmission problems with their Bronco, so we weren't able to get as many miles in as we'd hoped but were still able to do Santo Tomas to race mile 230 (150 miles of race course). We had a good, mellow crew though, and it was a low stress affair. We figured it was better to call it then to push our luck on the last leg to Mike's which we had heard was pretty damn nasty.

I was lucky to have my good friend who's a hell of an off-road driver riding with me. We switched off driving a bit and he put her through the paces and got a real good grasp of the truck's capabilities. The stretch of course we ran offered up a good range of terrain so it was perfect test run. He was hammering on her, and she kept right up. Definitely very very comfortable to ride in.

This little run did give me a good idea of what upgrades will have to be made.

The truck definitely doesn't like being loaded down. The preload will have to be adjusted before trips based upon how much weight is gonna be in the truck. There was a significant difference in handling when we had a fourth person in the car. I think bump stops on all four corners will also have to be added. The 2.5" shock out back held up surprisingly well, which was awesome. I was expecting them to be nuclear hot, but they did great.

The steering definitely leaves something to be desired. Right turns a a piece of cake, but the body roll when turning left can get pretty gnarly. I'm wondering if a single swing steering set up will help to correct this. It seems to want to push through turns sometimes. It's fine for the cruising around that I'm doing down there most of the time, but when it comes to pushing her a bit harder, I feel like it'd be worth the investment. I'm gonna lower the ride height an inch or so when I get bumps. I think the lower COG will help.

Creature comforts will be gettting dealt with before I head back down for the 500, starting with the fixing of the power door locks, windows and the pass side door handle that broke off. The AC needs some loving too. I think the compressor might be shot. I tried loading it up with a can of the Kragen DIY refill but it wouldn't take it.

I'm also gonna have to hunt down any and all leaks into the cab. The interior has a fresh new coat of authentic Baja silt which I attempted to deal with this afternoon to no avail. The fumes were also pretty bad inside the cab. The exhaust dumps straight down underneath the truck. I have to figure a way of having it dump out elsewhere. Not sure if it's possible with the suspension configuration.

All in all, it was a great first run. She felt equally adept at eating up whoops, plowing through the silt in 4x4, and cruising at 70 on the highway. The cantilever set-up was a hit with anyone who actually noticed it. Keeping the space inside the cab is soooo nice. I don't think I'd have the room I need with any shocks poking through.

Here's a couple pictures for proof. Can't wait to head back down.

[Rustbucketracer]

Cool write up Dustin, hope to see it in person soon. Let's get the Bronco's together some day.

[Rmc]

No real big complaints for putting her through the pase's. sounds like your happy with the buy overall and that's a great compliment to otter. How long are the rear shocks? Is a dual rate set up an option for the occasional added weight? Bumps will help a ton too I think.