Is the Speed ready for Baja? Rick Brown is, in his #14 El Jefe. Rick's been going over every detail, ensuring he is ready for an upcoming 10 trip through Baja Mexico. I know a lot of you guys that watch the channel love Baja, and are looking to build your El Jefe's in a similar fashion. It was cool to see the work Rick has put into getting ready, his El Jefe has pretty much everything. And being the lone ranger Speed owner, he had to be extra prepared!

Transcription:

(0:09) Hey everybody it's Nick, welcome back to the channel Chupacabra Off-Road. Back here in Lake Havasu with my buddy Rick Brown. Rick is in the first batch of Speed cars, he's got number 14, and Rick has probably the most pimped out, the most customized Speed UTV that exists right now. Rick is all about going to Baja, he's got a big trip planned and he's going to be the first to do it. I'm really excited to see how the trip goes. Rick, if you want to introduce yourself, talk about the trip you got coming up and then kind of how that leads to your riding and how you decided to build up your number 14.

(0:35) I'm Rick as you said. We're going to Baja, we got about a 10-day trip coming up, at least a thousand miles or so. I think we're going to pretty much be the first people out in Baja because these things are running for their money and see what they're all about. To make it comfortable for a long trip I took the back seats out. I needed to fill the toolbox somewhere, so in order to put the toolbox in there I had to take all your crap out first. We put somewhat of a shelf right here and as you can see, there's a quick release pin right here. He's cool to cut out, pull this pin up, toolbox slides out, you don't have to remove your stuff up here. When you're done, put the pin back in, the cotter pin, and you're done.

(1:16) We needed extra fuel for our long ride so I put two three-gallon cans, which is six gallons total. A little ratchet strap on top for safety. I had to put the spare axle somewhere, so we made a nice mount here. This is our RPM Motorsports mount right here. We use our mount in conjunction with our custom mount right here. We have an extra tie rod right here, we have two bearings with bearing carriers already mounted and ready to go. They're all sealed right here, they can't get dirty. You have a problem, you just pop it out, throw it in, put the old one back in there. On the other side we have an additional cooler rack that holds two ice chests.

(1:58) Alright Rick, so Baja, big rides, building this car for everything. Starting off with the front, you had a custom mount made. I've talked a little bit about how I'd like to have my dash set up, but it looks like you had a custom mount made for your GPS, you want it right in the center.

(2:07) Yeah, so I wanted it right in the center so we could both see it. Eventually I think I'm going to put a second GPS on that side, but for now I think the Lowrance is the way to go. I also put a round steering wheel because the other steering wheel, I just wasn't used to it. I like the other steering wheel, but I didn't want to have to get used to the car and the steering wheel at the same time. I think eventually I might go back to your steering wheel because you can see the gauges a little better. For comfort, I actually had a inch and a half spacer right here for the steering wheel to get a little closer to me because I felt like I was stretched out a little bit. I also added an inch and a half seat riser here so I can see above the GPS a little better. I'm a tall guy and I think it's perfect, but for shorter people you could put an inch and a half, maybe two and a half inch spacer, whatever you want, make different sizes.

(2:54) I'm excited to sit in and see how it feels. Rick and I are pretty similar in height, where you six two?

(2:57) Six two, yep.

(2:57) So you would think maybe we wouldn't need it, but you do sit so low in this vehicle.

(3:01) Yes.

(3:01) A little more visibility of the rocks would help and for everyday driving, I'm curious to see how you like it at the top. Clearing the GPS, you can see how the GPS makes a tremendous difference. I love it and I'm a tall guy. It's comfortable the way it was before, but just a little creature comfort. For long drives, we drive thousands of miles, I don't want my arms to be stretched out so much. Kind of bent in a little better and there's so much headroom, even with the stock roll cage. I can imagine easily I have clearance and I'm a tall guy.

(3:25) That's a cheap fix if people want to add that. I don't think it's something difficult. I think anybody could pretty much do that. You want to take a picture or not?

(3:33) Just curious, you didn't do the additional digital display. Is that something you think you might add or you're just thinking maybe another GPS?

(3:36) I was gonna do that, but I think another GPS. I think I'll go with the Garmin so I have a zoomed out version and I could look at the trail and terrain at the same time. I like the Lowrance for following a trail, it's a little faster, you know, you could read quicker. The other thing I did too, I put a battery switch in there so if you're playing music your battery won't die. All you have to do is kill the battery switch when I'm parked and then it plays off one battery. When I want to start the car, put on two batteries and it draws out the battery underneath the passenger seat.

(4:00) Very cool, really cool, so you'll never have a dead battery issue.

(4:07) I don't think it necessarily needs an extra battery, but if you're playing the tunes like I do and have a few beers, you forget to turn it on and you have a dead battery. It happens to everyone.

(4:16) It happens to everybody. So other than that, in the back, let's go to the back of the car.

(4:21) Yeah, so you'll notice a lot of speed accessories already. Baja, you're doing 10 days, so what did you think about? Obviously we got the tailgate down, we got a 35, I can see the AGM of course with the top of the food chain here, the Milwaukee battery. The speed boxes, what'd you put inside your speed boxes?

(4:37) Speed boxes now, I haven't organized them yet, but the speed box has plenty of room. Right now I just threw a couple belts in here, some extra towels and rags or whatever. I'm going to organize these, put more tools maybe a cordless in. These boxes here, they're great because you can hold extra jackets, maybe some snacks and whatnot. I think right now I just put a spare jacket in there, tow straps, but plenty of storage in here. You could add all kinds of stuff. I think it'd be great for jackets, maybe some snacks or whatever. On the other side over here, I think it's a great spot. The oil cans fit perfectly in here, super snug. It's like almost like they're made for oil because it perfectly fits in there. I got a spare antenna, keep it here, extra gas nozzles and I have my cordless right here ready to go, pull it up, good, ready to go, nice and easy access there. I also got an extra rectangle and I might do the same and run with the tailgate down when I do a big.

(5:23) Yeah, this is what they call the California style, the tailgate down. It gives you extra space and this is the 35.

(5:26) The 35, it's perfect in there, I think it looks cool. I like your tail, but it also looks cool. For the extra room, I could put this here on the two sides. I think it's worth it, so you pretty much have everything that you need. You got your speed tool kit underneath. Cooler wise, you're probably gonna put it inside of the rear. We'll go to the other side of the car. Can you make it all day in one big oversized cooler? Are you thinking two small ones?

(5:46) Yeah, I have this designed now for two soft coolers, but you can definitely put one oversized cooler in there for sure and strap it down. For the way I like it, but I definitely have enough room here.

(5:56) That's a ton of space there. If you want to slide the seat forward, you have more storage here. You can put some trays down there or some jackers or whatever. There's definitely space down there and this is super light. The whole rack comes out and basically two bolts is basically just where your seat comes out. There's two bolts in the bottom, that's just it just friction fits in there. You pull it out, two bolts, I can take the whole rack out, probably take me five minutes. Two bolts, that's it. So if you want to take this side out, you can put a seat here and just take the axles out. You can leave that side the way it is with two gas cans and a tray, and you can have a third person right here. I don't like taking three people for long rides, so I'd rather have the beer space.

(6:26) Much better, we call it extra airflow. He's going to pick up too with the seats gone. Excited to see how the trip goes for me. As you can tell, he's not playing around. He does these big rides. You currently drive a Can-Am before you have the speed, so that's what you've used for the last couple years.

(6:40) You currently drive a Can-Am before you have the Speed, so that's what you've used for the last couple of years, at 210 amps a Razor, and I gotta say there's no comparison. You know, the Can-Am, you gotta buy the car, you gotta add about 100 grand to it to get even close to where this car is. We'll see longevity-wise how they run. Obviously, I got about 300 miles in here, no problems yet, but the true test is going to be Baja. We'll put it to the test for sure.

(7:01) The other thing I did, I added a bigger seat for my passenger, he's a little bigger guy than me. So there's two different size seats, you notice that. Is yours the standard or is that the...

(7:07) Standard, and then this is the extra-large tall.

(7:12) Yep, so you can put a bigger seat, switch them out, Robbie will sell you one, and then for bigger guys, it's more comfortable for sure. Other than that, it's pretty much bone stock. I did out of every accessory I think they pretty much had. I got the light bar, the window nets, the mirrors, stereo, yeah, pretty much everything.

(7:33) I did upgrade the brakes to the Wilwood because they put the 35s. Without the 35s, I don't think I would have switched, but I put the Wilwood on. I don't think it needs it. I do like a little more stopping power. Stopping power to me is about the same as a Can-Am or Razor, no different. The Wilwood does improve that, so I think it's worth the money. Safety is everything.

(7:49) I upgraded the springs to the Eibach springs. I don't think it changes the ride, but I just think that over time the stock springs are going to want to sag a little more. Eibach's a little better quality spring, so to me it was worth the investment to do it now rather than later. But ride-wise, I don't really notice the difference too much in spring, not yet.

(8:05) Other than that, the car is bone stock, just the way it comes. You know, you got cars dialed. The lighting is pretty much perfect, so we're gonna get some shots of Rick in action. Go have some fun here and do a nice little shakedown run before his Baja ride, since we're here. It's only about 90 degrees, so it shouldn't be that hot considering June, I'm counting my blessings. But Rick, thanks for taking the time to show me your car. Meet up and let's go ride and have some fun.

(8:27) All right.

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(11:04) Thank you.