First and most importaintly; will a baja kombi be ok on a beach, in particular Stockton beach? (very soft sand). if not, the concept stops right
there.
if so, anyone in Newcastle (or sydney in a pinch) able to do the conversion?
and anything I should know about engineering a converted one?
I would be scared if I was in a Baja kombi on stockton. I know people have done it, but I wouldn't.
You'd be asking to either get bogged or have a roll over.
It depends on what you want to do with it......its not a buggy.....I havent been to Stockton but have seen a pic of a kombi there on the
beach......not in the soft stuff but I dont know how much soft sand there is to get through to the beach....
If you want to go jumping sand dunes, get a buggy.....if you want to carry a house full of stuff down onto the beach, get a kombi.......
when I was at stockton buggies and baja's were getting bogged, so I am assuming a kombi would be a little worse.
The main prob is the steep dunes. I had the car on some pretty big angles on the dunes, you'd have to be real careful in the kombi.
Then if you made it to the beach it's another prob. when I was there the beach was thin and sloping sideways. In one part I tried to go high and
the back slid off the ledge to the beach, I ended up going sideways then backwards off a steep ledge and landing almost in the water. I wouldn't
try it in a kombi. :o
hitch a ride around stockton next klubvwoffroad trip and make your own decision I guess :thumb
I would say it would SUCK...
Custom Bugs and Buses in Sydney do the conversion and have lifted one there from what I have been told. Maybe you should give them a ring and talk
them into bringing it up for a test drive.
Have a look at this website and do it yourself
http://www.baja.com/kombi/
We have for sale a front lifted beam for a bay window kombi
Really cheap if you wanted to do the conversion yourself 
Went for a little drive and have seen lots of baja kombi's up here in Brisbane
They look really really cool
Moniek
I have driven on stockton, I know what it's like. I used to have a Lada Niva (Niva again folks ) and took it on there often. I'm not worried about roling it (at least no more than anything else on
there).
The niva never got bogged, but often lost forward momentum. Obviously, i'd never take a baja anything where I took the niva, but if a baja kombi
drops to the axles on the first incline from Lavis Lane then it's out of the question.
Shame no-one on here has any first hand baja kombi experience 
| Quote: |
| Originally
posted by Secoh Shame no-one on here has any first hand baja kombi experience |
| Quote: |
| Originally
posted by Secoh Shame no-one on here has any first hand baja kombi experience |
LOL well, no-one had identified themselves as having owned a baja kombi, and all I heard was "i heard this" or "I saw a pic of
that" so it wasn't a big leap to think no-one on here had one 
yeah a buggy would be the go, but I'm renovating a house too and it's a bit too hard to lug lengths of gyprock around in one. if the kombi
thing is a no-go i'd put up with a baja bug for a while, as they seem to be relatively cheap when compared to a manx style buggy...
11cab, how well did it go in soft sand? nothing more embarrasing than needing a tow from a stranger...
No probs.
The biggest problem I had with my Dual Cab was the centre of gravity. The damn thing went so close to falling over all the time. I spent a lot of time
with wheels in the air.
I have owned all the cars that are in my Avatar......... I try not to drive our kombi through the soft stuff if I can help it because it lugs the
engine down with all the weight we carry, but it you are following existing tracks in the soft sand I havent had any problems......I only got stuck
once at Double Island Point a couple of weeks ago when crossing the blow to Rainbow Beach. I was heading to the boards when a 100 Series Cruiser came
flying up on my left then threw.....and I mean threw it sideways across the track in front of me sending a wall of sand twice the height of the car in
the air, and I'm surprised he didnt roll it jumping across the tracks. I had to stop not to hit him which meant it bogged down....but.....driving
back and forth, I drove it up onto the boards.....unlike the Mazda Tribute that got stuck before the rest of our crew got through resulting in having
to be towed out.
Graham
Thanks Graham! A mate bought a tribute last week and took it straight on the beach, road tyres and all. he said he needed a run-up due to lack of
traction on the bigger dunes but never looked like it was going to bog, so I guess a jacked up kombi with decent sized rubber would be ok, if driven
sensibly?
I'm not after a dune-jumper, just something that'd get all my fishing and camping crap on and off the beach in a bit of style
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:thumb go
the Kombi!
Haven't been here for ages and no longer have my Baja Bus, which is why the site Baja.com/kombi has been static for a long time.
Anyway, I'd would never have taken my bus on Stockton as even with the V8 it would sink easily, just too heavy. Maybe if you went in through
Anna Bay and straight on to the beach at low tide there wouldn't be a problem but geting through from Lavis Lane and across the dunes would be
near to impossible. Geting back even worse as there are a couple of big dunes that need crossing.
I've been on Stockton heaps of times in my Jeep and even then when it's been dry for a long time you need plenty of right foot and 4WD to
avoid geting bogged on the dunes.
Oh yeah, I still have my 62 Bug and plan on getting more active in the VW scene again.
Cheers
Steve aka Monsterbus
I'd have to concur with Steve above.
I took the arcive photos you see at the KlubVWOffroad site of the Baja Kombi at Stockton.
I had the opportunity to chat with the owner and he had come in through Anna Bay but said he has previously come in through Lavis Lane on a past
trip.
He had a serious kit and said if the inner dunes are really dry and sand blown it's really hard going and you have to be smart about where you
want to go and why. If its fairly packed - like in another cars tracks your right. Deviate from them and the power to weight just dosen't cut
it.
He was a surf head and came from Parra. The only reason he uses Anna Bay enterance is because its less congested and smoother on his lady and freight
- I.e. Surfboards.
Doin it for dune cruising would be worth it. Get a Baja or if you have to, resort to a buggy.
Just wanna beach fish, visit the wreck and camp overnight - Get the Kombi for sure.
Bronze.
thanks everyone! By pure opportunism, I bought a baja bug (details in the general forum) so that settles that.
Dads building his kombi with 36inch tyres and torquey turbo diesel engine and diff-lock which he reckons will get him ANYWHERE. But he will have a electric winch if he gets into trouble. Cant wait til its finished.:bounce
so how is the 36" diesel powered monster going ?
Yeah, I've been checking back occasionally on this one, 36's on anything is impressive let alone a Kombi. Believe me I know how much work would be
involed. Is he planning on 36's on the front as well??
Cheers
Steve
I'm waiting to see this one too.... on the rear I can understand, because I've seen kombis with 35's, but on the front as well? I figure it could
be done, now I want to see someone do it!!! 
Got any pics of one running 35's on the rear. That'll tide me over until this one ith 36's is done
Cheers
Steve
any news on dads monster diesel baja bus
hehe :P
whoa. old thread...
hey seagull. check the bottom of this page
http://www.drive.com.au/Editorial/SearchResults.aspx?k=range+rover&cg=1&ps=0
there's meant to be a couple of bushranger items/vids
here's one on egay
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Land-Rover-Bushranger-buggy_W0QQitemZ4646377626QQcateg...
