Baja TSE rig question

[tonychar]

My wife and I drive a 2019 ranger FX4 with 32" AT tires, stock otherwise. We are reasonably experienced offroaders and willing to bang the truck up a little as long as we dont break it. We'd like to follow the Baja TSE route in february and see it recommends a lift with 33" tires and occasionally a winch. we are curious how confident a recommendation that is? We have done some trails in death valley, moab, colorado which make similar recommendations but we seem to get through. we dont have a winch, but we have a come-along and dyneema rope and maxtrax (admittedly, none of which we have ever had to use yet).

so we are curious if someone could comment on how confident you are a modded truck is needed? we dont mind banging on our skid plates and frame/trailer hitch, but we dont want to be stranded in the desert.

and second question- if there are obstacles we just can't make it through are there sections of this trail that are committing in terms of not being able to back out or go in the other directions?

many thanks from a newbie couple-
tony and char

 

[OTG Ben]

Hey Tony,

Trails in Baja are extremely variable, as road maintenance is often left to locals. You should be able to do most of the route, but the section that is most likely to give you trouble is from Mike's Sky Rancho out to the Pacific Ocean. I'd recommend doing either an out and back to Mike's, or considering bypassing it altogether by taking the highway. The dirt tracks just west of San Felipe are also highly variable in nature. Depending on how some of those trails are running like Parral Canyon, they may or may not be driveable in a rig like yours. Again-- lots of options to bypass via pavement, but locals have a ton of trail knowledge as well

 

[tonychar]

Thanks for the reply. Will check it out when we’re down there, and probably just go for it and see what happens. I don’t know what that particular Trail is lake, but I’m assuming it’s not super committing narrow shelf Road with technical obstacles, one way, no way to turn around kind of thing? That’s really the only thing that would stop us giving it a shot anyways. If we get shut down and have to go back so be it.

 

[OTG Ben]

If you do make it to Mike's, I'd recommend you try and talk to anyone else present at the Ranch or trail and get an ideal of what's in store for you ahead. The trails west of Mike's do have a lot of narrow shelf roads with exposure, so it may be difficult to turn around, but it does look like there may be a new bypass to the left of the old concrete pad at the top of the hill that is suitable for stock 4x4s. Again, best to rely on local knowledge as the trail conditions can change dramatically from one season to the next.

 

[tonychar]

Sounds good. thanks again for the advice