The Southern California Toyota Land Cruisers is a Chapter of the International Toyota Land Cruiser Association. We are active in all fields which relate to our sport, off-road adventure. This includes active support for both TLCA and the California Association of 4WD Clubs that includes trail maintenance, political awareness, family outings, and just going out and getting dirty on a weekend having fun. Everyone is invited to join us, no matter what Land Cruiser you drive, from all terrain to mall terrain. Even if you drive something else, you can tag along, since we know you`ll upgrade to a Cruiser before long.
President = Katelin Petrulio (Newsletter) – Katelinapetrulio@icloud.com
Vice President = Patrick Goddard – patrickgodd@gmail.com
Treasurer = Jerry L’Ecuyer – jerry@tembotusk.com
Website = Chris Heron – cwheron@yahoo.com
Past President = Joe Roy – josephroy@cox.net
Club Run Coordinator = Marc Mason – marc.mason77@yahoo.com
Adopt-a-Trail = Kim and Jim Harlow – kharlow@kleinfelder.com
SoCal TLCA Club Dues and Trail Assistance $25.00/yr. Please fill out our Membership Application and submit it by mail (we can now accept checks, money orders, or cashiers checks) or to Jerry L’Ecuyer at a club meeting. TLCA Dues $35.00/yr. (Includes 6 Issues of Toyota Trails Magazine). CA4WD Dues $50.00/yr. (Optional, but we encourage you to join. Includes 12 issues of In Gear Magazine)
2025 President’s Message
While we were traversing Calico someone mentioned that I should probably introduce myself as your new Club President for 2025, so here it goes!!
My name is Katelin Petrulio (daughter of the guy who owns the dirt), I have been a part of this club since I was 3 years old and I own and wheel a 2nd gen 4Runner. My favorite club run is Truckhaven Thanksgiving Weekend, where I learned to drive everyone’s 40s when I was a little kid, and my favorite trail is the Rubicon Trail! I am not the tech head most of our wonderful members are, but I hope to carry on Joe’s presidential legacy and continue to bring more new and great things to our club! Thanks for your support!!
~ Madam President
January Club Run Report – Calico
SoCal TLCA’s first trip of the year was our annual run to the hills outside of Calico Ghost Town. The weather could not have been better and the run was well attended with SEVENTEEN (17) trucks!!!!
We had some 80s, 100 Series, 1st, 2nd, and 5th gen 4Runners, two 40s, FJ cruisers, our token Jeeper Joel, Dave’s brand new GX, and Larry’s new Bronco.
It was a great day! Despite so many trucks in the group, we stuck together for most of the day, including lunch with a great view of the valley, only breaking up at the very end of the day into “hard” and “easy” groups splitting at a fork in the trail. The “hard” group ran a more difficult section of trail up a waterfall rock obstacle, then wandered down to Wall Street, and the easy group took a fun bypass before heading out for the day. Check out the pictures HERE!
2024 Holiday Party!
We enjoyed another wonderful Club Holiday Party! Thank you so much to everyone who made this possible:
Jerry & Nohline for again opening their wonderful home to our club!
Marc Mason for making the catering arrangements!
Rich Petrulio for the raffle coordination, including purchasing many of the raffle items on behalf of the club!
Jerry & Brian of Tembo Tusk for donating such great raffle gifts (Skottle, Fire Pit, Cooking accessories, Wine bags, and other assorted TT swag)!
Robert McNamee & Ephraim Barcelona of Santa Margarita Toyota for T-Shirts, Caps, and other great Toyota swag!
Milestar Tires for a complete set of new off-road tires!
Club Meeting – Sunday, March 2 at 3:00 P.M.
Please don’t miss this meeting! We will also be doing a HAM radio operation tech talk with Dave, you don’t want to miss how to properly use your radio on the trail!
Thanks again to Rich for volunteering his Modjeska Canyon lot for our meetings. Directions to Rich’s property are as follows: The property address is 17336 Croatian St., Silverado 92676. To get there, turn off
Santiago Canyon Road on to Modjeska Canyon Road. Go just about 1/2 mile and turn right on Croatian. Go to the cul-de-sac and the property is on the left. There are no buildings, just dirt and trees. Since it’s an outdoor venue with no lighting, let’s meet at 3:00 PM. Bring your favorite camp chair, and your own food & drinks – just like we do on our club runs.
We are open to rotating locations, based on member preferences, as long as the location has sufficient space for members and rigs, is outdoors, and isn’t typically crowded on Sunday afternoons. Best wishes, and I look forward to seeing you on the trail or at upcoming meeting.
DUES REMINDER
If you haven’t already paid your 2025 club dues ($25), will you please get them in to Jerry (Jerry@TemboTusk.com)? A membership application can be found HERE. Thanks!
Great job Dat Tran for getting your article on the Big Bear-a-thon published in the September/October TLCA Toyota Trails magazine!
Click on this LINK for the article.
Calico – January 2025 – Photos
Holiday Party – December 2024 – Photos
Truckhaven Hills – November 2024 – Photos
Oceano Dunes – October 2024 – Photos
Big Bear A Thon – August 2024 – Photos
Adopt-A-Trail Scouting Run – June 2024 – Photos
San Bernardino Mountains – February 2024 – Photos
Calico – January 2024 – Photos
Club Sponsors
Club Membership
The SoCal TLCA is your Southern California chapter of the International Toyota Land Cruiser Association.
Our member’s four-wheeling interests range from roaming mild forest service roads to long-distance back country travel (overlanding) to hardcore rock crawling. Everyone is invited to join us! Naturally, we love our Land Cruisers, but any Toyota is a good Toyota. And even if you’re not currently driving a Toyota you’re welcome to tag along. We love to be out on the trail, so while we may kid you a bit in your choice of rig, we’ll always be glad to have you along.
For questions about the club, please reach out to Club President Katelin Petrulio at Katelinapetrulio@icloud.com, and if you’re on Instagram, follow us @socaltlca.
Dues are $25: Cover the cost of the website, email exchange, Annual Beach Party, Holiday Dinner, etc. After 15 years with no dues increases, at our December 2019 meeting the club voted a modest $10/year dues increase to ensure we are financially able to meet our club goals. All club duties will continue to be fulfilled on a strictly volunteer basis.
If you have not paid dues or want to update membership info, please click on the link below.
Download Club Application: SoCal Land Cruiser Club Membership Application
Other Information:
So Cal TLCA Instagram page:
https://www.instagram.com/socaltlca/
Visit the club’s page on IH8Mud
So Cal TLCA Facebook event page (any volunteers to keep this updated?):
https://www.facebook.com/events/2055929414458332
The 10 Commandments of Modifying an Overland Vehicle
