Central + South America trip in a row ... camper truck or class B RV???

[Flyhight]

Hi everyone,

my name is Yann, a 39 y.o.french frog living in Switzerland for the last 16 years ... but with some taste for change

I'll be crossing Central and south America ... for an approximate period of 3,5 years (yes, I know... lol) starting around April 2017 somewhere between California and Texas (depending where I'll find the best option for a vehicle and gear) then head to Mexico,...

Here's the plan:
- Baja California (and sandy beaches)
- Mexico
- Belize
- Guatemala
- El Salvadore
- Honduras
- Nicaragua
- Costa Rica
- Panama
-------- RORO--------
- Columbia
- Venezuela
- Brasil
- Uruguay
- Argentine
- Chili
- Peru
- Equador
...lot of difficult roads and remote accesses are to be expected.

I'll hit the road with a mid-size co-pilot dog (blue heeler), all the necessary stuff and a fair quantity of windsurf and surf gear
- 2 windsurf boards (2.50m)
- 1 surfboard (1.70m)
- 6 sails
- 3 masts
- 2 booms

I'll be living in my vehicle all along the trip. I'm pretty adventurous , but I suspect a minimum of comfort to be necessary for such a long trip:
- inside (warm) shower
- enough room for sport gear to be safely stored (inside or external large roof locker)
- 1 queen bed + 1 spare bed
- solar panels and all the necessary stuff to live remotely for up to 1 month.


I'd like to access remote places where wilderness and virgin spots are. Reason why I thing a pick-up truck with a descent height is THE option

So here's my question for you, foxes:
I'm wondering should I go for a pick-up + camper truck?
+ 4x4 abilities = access to remote places
+ increased handiness (or maybe not at all with the camper...?)
- higher on wheels = less comfort during long highway trips?
- less inside room
I'm currently looking at a 2008 Lance 915 truck camper with 1995 Ford F-350 XLT. Ford truck has 65,336 miles on its 7.5 liter 460 engine.

... or a class B RV?
+ more inside space to fit sport gear
+ more comfort on the long distances
- restricted access to remote places
- less handiness
I'm currently looking at a V8 Ford E350 Majestic with twin wheels on the back (2007) ... which looks big enough for my gear and myself.


I'd be happy to hear about your opinions about the subject and maybe what you'd go for should you be in my case ?
Detail... forget about Earthroamers and other dream expedition vehicle .... I have a total budget of 25 000USD for the vehicle/house


Would Gas or Diesel make such a difference that I would take it into consideration?
Availability looks the same and it seems like total distance won't allow me to hit the break-even point.

Thanks for your helps & have great day!

Yann

 

[Ozrockrat]

Hi Yann I sent you a PM with an option.

 

[back woods]

Diesel will get twice the mileage as a 460 gas. I vote truck camper with a 7.3idi or powerstroke. Easy to remove a truck camper to go drive around or go on supply runs. A diesel will get 15-17mpg loaded and 20mpg empty. A 460 will get 8-10mpg loaded and 12mpg unloaded.

 

[Flyhight]

Hi Ozrokat,
thanks for your PM, your truck looks great! But I'll need more comfort for such a distance and timing.
Good luck for your sell ;-)

 

[Flyhight]

Hi Back woods,
thanks for your valuable input!
Sharp & clear ... as I like :sombrero:

 

[::Squish::]

Awesome trip,

We are brand new to the truck camper game, so take what I say with a grain of salt.
I'm also a former product designer and traffic safety researcher.

We just spent the last year and half trying to figure out what we were looking for, for a far less ambitious trip.
We ended up with a 2000 Ford F350 supercab 4x4 with the diesel, and a Bigfoot 1500 truck camper.
We feel like it's a better set up for us, and much safer when compared to traditional North American style RV

I suspect that an North American truck camper like a Lance or Bigfoot might not make it the distance without a fair amount of maintenance needed
The constant rocking you will experience will challenge the construction of even the best camper (same if not more of an issue with an American style RV) plumbing lines, electrical lines and just the wood structure of the beast will be taxed.

But then I've only been in South/Central American roads in Mexico and Ecuador.
I suspect they are a decent representation of roads in most places.

Rigs in your price point are getting up in age, truck campers are not well made to begin with, so there's a chance there will be issues out of the gate. Leaks being the first thing, and malfunctioning equipment being next.
So really inspect any one you see, or enlist help stateside if you need someone to check it out.

For me...

I would make sure to get the all weather package, a couple of solar panels and convert the house batteries to 6 volt if there's room.
Something else, I'd check into propane rules in each of the countries, to make sure I can get it, and the hardware is the same as what's on the rig. or to have converters to hook up to their filling systems if needed.

Truck campers function with propane, hot water, stove, furnace and fridge. without propane the functionality of the rig drops off precipitously.

I wonder about draining the black tank, and I'm thinking of a composting toilet in our rig for that reason alone. (however these suckers cost $1,000)

The fellow we bought our set up, from went to Baja with it frequently, and we are tempted to go back, I did find that with stiff swaybars and worn out shocks the rig rocked a lot even over mostly well graded US forest service roads.

 

[Flyhight]

Hi Squish, thanks for your help.
You can't be newer to this game than I am ...:sombrero:
You mentioned many interesting points I'll have to care about,
Many thanks for your help!
Have a great day.

Yann

 

[getout]

We've never lived in ours and our family situation is different than yours, but we just switched from a Class B to a truck and camper (not entirely by choice....the trans died on the campervan).

What we had:
1991 Ford Falcon Campervan with a 351
+Easy access to everything, all the time...even while driving
+Decent amount of storage space under the bed in the back
+Super compact, easy to park anywhere
-Not 4x4...got stuck in the sand and snow on multiple occassions
-Fuel economy...got about 12mpg...and was really slow - a newer van would do better for sure
-Tiny bathroom/shower, not much of a kitchen
-No legit seat belts for everyone (we've got 4 kids)


What we've got now:
2000 F350 Crew Cab Long Bed Diesel w/ 11' Lance Camper
+TONS more living space - separate shower and toilet space, lots more kitchen, better dinnette area
+Ability to drop off camper and take truck around
+4x4
+Seat belts for everyone, lots of room in the cab
+Has a generator....really only if you wanted an AC off-grid
+You can always buy another truck without losing your entire house
+Lots more power
-Fuel economy not as good as I was hoping - we're getting about 13mpg loaded
-Not as much storage for the "big" stuff (boxes of outdoor gear, etc.), but there is more "living" stuff storage (drawers, closets, etc.)
-Not as manageable "off road" - does dirt roads fine, but it's a lot wider with less of a turning radius than our campervan had

It sounds like you could get away with less truck and less truck camper and still be ok.

I wish I knew more about parts and service available in South America to help you more there, but I don't. Someday maybe!

 

[oldnslow]

These folks have been through South America in an RV. They have some good advice in their blog:
http://www.travelin-tortuga.com/Travelin-Tortuga/our-vehicle/rv-systems.html

 

[Joe917]

The big question is budget.
It may be better to buy in Europe and ship from there. That way you can live with the vehicle at home for a while and work out all the bugs.
Good places to start:
http://www.mobile.de/?vc=Car&dam=0&con=NEW&con=USED&subc=PRE_REGISTRATION&mk=&cn=&z=&ml=&p=
https://www.seabridge-tours.de/html/verschiffung.php?language=english
http://www.silkroute.org.uk/equipment/choosevan.htm
RoRo North to South America will cost more than Europe to North America by a considerable amount.