Baja Peninsula - In what has been described as one of the most demanding off-road races in the world, the famed SCORE Baja 1000 has crowned champions every year for 30 years. Testing man and machine in some of the harshest terrain on the planet this off-road race is the ultimate testing ground for the most technologically advanced performance parts ever developed.

Only two months ago, the famous Dodge "Desert Tank," equipped with the best in performance parts, successfully supported the winning team in Class 21, as they risked their lives in search of off-road racing's most coveted championship, The Baja 1000 Championship!

But the story goes much deeper than racing around on the Baja Peninsula for some 50 hours in support of a championship winning team. Last October, we were contacted by BFGoodrich's Motorsport Support Team for the invitation of pre-running the 2003 Baja 1000. Using sophisticated electronic tracking equipment and testing numerous radio communications spots through the elaborate maze of mountains, valley's and beach locales, this was not an easy assignment.

The task at hand was to assist in defining the actual Baja 1000 race course and provide exclusive communications testing for the elite BFGoodrich Motorsports Support Team. By our standards it was just another trip to the Baja Peninsula, but to others it was a wild adventure.

As most WAM followers know, The Dodge Ram Desert Tank is a well-equipped Cummins Diesel powered 4WD truck that has way too many aftermarket performance parts to detail. Let's just say the this truck has been re-powered by ATS Diesel Performance of Wheatridge, Colorado and packing 500 + horsepower and some 1100 ft pounds of torque to the rear wheels, it's a firing breathing maniac. We stop this beast with EGR high-performance cross-drilled rotors with NASCAR tested brake pads. And to hold up to the massive amount of power and torque, the ATS Diesel Performance Stage IV transmission is built around the strongest input shaft available, ATS Diesel Billet Input Shaft!

Some may scratch their heads and wonder, "Why is the Desertbull telling us about his truck performance once again?" The reason is simple. With all that horsepower and torque, extensive braking performance, you have to have the suspension to be able to handle all the upgrades.

Welcome once again, T-Rex Engineering. We featured T-Rex Engineering in the installation article months ago. Branded as the finest performing solid axle suspension ever designed for the Dodge Ram Truck. T-Rex Engineering has engineered and produced what is already known in tight circles as the most innovative high-performance solid axle suspension available to the general public. The T-Rex Engineering Suspension System is race inspired technology built using 6061 T-6 Aluminum Solid Billet. Fitted with King Nitrogen Charged Performance Shocks, this system takes the abuse no other system could withstand. We have extensively tested the T-Rex Engineering Suspension over 5000 of the most demanding brutal dirt miles on the Baja Peninsual during the past six months and it has withstood the ultimate test of endurance and harsh use.

	The Baja Peninsula has many different options for the adventuresome public. Whether you're into off-road or collecting rocks, or both, it's there. The trick is how to survive and return to the wilds of the concrete jungles that most of us live in. Face your fears and Live Life....

Well here we were on Day 1 of this pre-run trip and it wasn't long before we were in the dirt. Seven long days later, and I was still in the dirt on the Baja Peninsula. Covering over 1800 miles in 7 days of off-road travel, we traveled some days for 16 hours in the dirt.

From washboard roads to nearly grown over two-track in the deepest gullies imaginable, we criss-crossed the Baja Peninsula calling out to each other on the radio, "Can you hear me now?"

A couple different runs to tell you about articulate why the T-Rex Suspension performs so well. The sun was setting and we had just left the fish camp at Punta Canoas with a cooler full of fresh lobster. Knowing that the plan was to meet up with the other crew members in a few hours, we spoke via Satellite radio to one of our crew who was low on gasoline. Of course, we run the Dodge Ram Cummins Diesel retrofitted with a monster tank, we decided to make the run to the nearest fuel location on Mex Hwy 1 for our friend. Heading out of Punta Canoas you encountered some of the nastiest silt beds in Baja. However, feeling kinda strained for time and knowing we had hours of travel ahead of us, we put the hammer down to see what the T-Rex Suspension could really hold up to! Damn, better than we thought. Traveling at speeds up to 45 miles per hour in the deep silt beds with knarly ruts the Desert Tank plowed the way through the engine sucking dust. As we approached La Fortuna the road turned to sandy washboard and this is where we really lit it up. With the hammer down the cornering around the turns was like we never experienced previously. The T-Rex Suspension sucked up the worst of bumps on this tame road and we could drive as fast as needed. In fact, while nearing the 70 miles per hour mark, we blew by what later was determined to be a Mexican Army Checkpoint. Normally, they have the checkpoint manned and marked, but in this remote location the soldiers were off in the bushes and all they heard was the roar of the Dodge Ram Cummins.

By the time they actually hit the road on foot, we had blasted by them at 70 mph! Of course, 25 miles later we encountered their friends who were way more serious because we had missed the last checkpoint. After a brief search of the Dodge Ram, we were on our way!

Through Santa Catarina and headed towards Mexico Hwy 1, it was again hammer down. The front end of the Dodge Ram equipped with the Cummins Diesel is a heavy beast. And ladened with the Reunel Stainless Steel Winch Mounted Bumper, this beast weighs more than anyone should know about. So the fact that T-Rex Suspensions has dialed in their system to be effective in the dirt, is truly amazing! Don't get me wrong...we run this truck as hard as possible 99% of the time!

With only 10 miles to reach the pavement, we entered the rolling hills west of Catavina, our destination. Not letting off the gas pedal and mashing it down on our own mission, there is absolutely no way we could ever push that truck through the brutal terrain as we did on the Baja 1000 pre-run trip! T-Rex definitely proved to be Baja tested and certainly Baja Proven. But this trip was far from over!

The following day was a long run through the soft sand beaches. The T-Rex suspension glided over some of those deep sand berms without problems. The race inspired shock technology developed by King Shocks softened our unexpected landing on more than one missed sand berm. Soon enough we were again running hard on the hard washboard on the famed "Gonzaga to San Felipe Road." This is the barren stretch of road that many travelers in Baja California have deemed the "worst" road in Baja. Running past Coco's Corner after our visit with the eccentric man of the desert, we put our foot down to the floor racing up the dirt road at 70 mph. The T-Rex suspension pounded on the washboard, but we comfortably listened to the Sirius Satellite Radio and drank Diet Coke without missing a sip. No more trying balance the Diet Coke while banging along the washboards of the Baja Peninsula! My partner said, "You could drink a Martini in this truck at 70 miles per hour on this washboard." Since I've never drank a Martini I couldn't confirm his assertation, but a Diet Coke in a can was no problem.

We made the run from Gonzaga to San Felipe in our own record time covering the 110 miles in 1:50:32. After several decades of traveling that section of road in Baja California through the thick and thin, that was the best time we EVER made in our lifetime. We beat our old personal record by over 45 minutes. No doubt due to the ability to bound over the rough terrain of the Baja Peninsula could we manage safely as we did. Supported by the Baja Proven, T-Rex Suspensions, we indeed arrived to our destination safely.

The Baja 1000 race day came only a few weeks later and it was not with unexpected surprises. The grand plan was to run support for the DP Racing Team, Class 21- 250 Motorcycle Pro, over the entire course of the Baja 1000 in near 16 hours. As part of the support team, the Dodge Ram Desert Tank was assigned some terrific tasks. Provide race support including gas, filter change, tire change and rider change at Race Mile 204. Then pick up the pieces and race 250 miles to the halfway point at Race Mile 450 at Lake Chapala off Mexico's Highway 1. Better planned than actually done! Reason being is that we were competing with the 280 Race Teams also providing support to their teams. Can you say "Holy Guacamole!"

The DP Racing bike came into the the Pits at Race Mile 204 and with world veteran racer, Joe Derosieur on the race bike we had a chore to get done in making it all the way to the halfway point. Low and behold, it was time for us to get off road and away from the hordes of slow moving support vehicles heading south in support of other teams. Loaded down with a spare motorcycle for parts, gasoline, camp gear and boxes of tools and miscellaneous gear, we were pretty heavy going down the dirt. More than once did we stuff the front end of the Dodge Ram Desert Tank into hole-after-hole and the T-Rex Suspension saved us each and every time. For sure you can believe that the awesome development of this solid axle suspension system saved our bacon and afforded us the chance to meet out race bike at Lake Chapala. When the road was slow we took to the dirt and then made it back onto the hardtop attaining fast speeds in attempt to beat our race bike to the Pit Zone. The Satellite telephone rang more than once with worried and anxious people on the other end wondering if we were going to make it to them or not.

Speeding down the highway we spoke with our other support crew via crackling radio. The anxious awaiting rider at the Pit Zone was waiting for his turn on the bike, but he couldn't go anywhere as we were carrying the new tires and rims for the servicing of the race bike. It was imperative that we arrived on time without any delay. Traveling just over 105 miles per hour in the Desert Tank, we saw the illuminated Pit Zone just off Mexico's Highway 1. During that last 50 miles, traveling at speeds over 100 miles an hour, the T-Rex Suspension paved the way on the pot-hole ridden old Mexican highway. We came into the Pit Zone hot sliding off the road and into the dirt over the 2 foot enbankment and found a spot between Robby Gordon's Pit Crew and various other teams. The radio sqawked and our race bike was only one mile away!

Fast and furious, the rider change and the servicing of the race bike went flawlessly. In what was only four minutes, the service was completed and the motorcycle racer was off into the darkness of the Baja Peninsula in search of his own personal championship.

The word came out six hours later that our racer had completed the race and captured first place in the world's toughest off-road championship, the Baja 1000!

Off-road racing pits man against the ravages of Mother Nature. Set in one of the most inhospitable regions on the planet Earth, its a team effort to succeed in such a win as the Baja 1000. Without the Dodge Ram Desert Tank setup with the latest in advanced technology such as the race inspired suspension technology by T-Rex Engineering, chances are that DP Racing perhaps may not have succeeded in capturing the elusive title of Baja 1000 Champions.

In fact, consider that T-Rex conquered the Baja 1000, because without their high-performance suspension technology utilized on the DP Racing Support truck, it would have been nearly impossible for our crew to get the fresh race tires, wheel and fuel to our racer in order to win the race of a lifetime. Many thanks to T-Rex Engineering for their continued support in assisting with the triumphs of DP Racing and Off-Road.com.

In our opinion, the suspension technology supplied by T-Rex Engineering is second to none on the solid axle Dodge Ram suspension.

Our adventures continue on the Baja Peninsula and stay tuned for our next segment with T-Rex Engineering as we detail the rebuild of the King Shock by T-Rex Engineering's own, Kent Kroeker as well as the install of a new set of springs as we test the spring rates on The Desert Tank.

Visit T-Rex Engineering at their interactive website where they have detailed the latest in Dodge solid axle technology. Check it out at TRexEngineering.com