Question about RV'ing in South America

Go for it! There was a member of this forum back a few year (2005, I think) that got together a group of 5 RV's from here to travel down to the southern tip of Argentina and back, making a complete loop around the contenant and back. I was supposed to be one of those RV's but had mechanical problems before we left.

They spent about 18 months doing the trip and it was a complete success. The founding member was the wagonmaster and drove a 40' Class A. He also had his family with him, including a couple of home-schooled kids.

They did have to ship their vehicles around the Darian Gap, in both directions.

silversand wrote:

I cannot believe the disinformation I read about Unimogs, not the least tire prices.
And "prices in the millions" for the vehicles - also a gross exaggeration.

Reference:

1) Global Expedition Vehicles (GXV): you can get a GXV but not for cheap. The most extreme and luxurious lifting roof model, the Patagonia, sells for more than $500,000 (like $600,000+ here-->).

2) Globecruiser expedition vehicle, MAN TGA 6×6 platform, 783ci turbodiesel, $700,000 +++).

The above are the cheap extreme RVs, and not nearly the same size/interior space if you want to A/B size vs. amenities vis the OP's Class A

3) Action Mobil Desert Challenger (more in line with size/amenities of the OP's Class A): MAN-KAT military chassis (HX high mobility truck system chassis), all-wheel drive; starting at $1.8million US +++++).

* the above comes in a "Special" model, with more amenities that will go into the $2.5 million + range.

4) the smaller 3 axle units (probably way too small for the OP, because the OP is apparently used to a 30+ foot living unit, with his Class A), at substantially less expensive (between $1 million and $1.4 million): Atacama XXL; the Temet XXL; the Globe Cruiser 7100;etc; Trans Kalahari; etc; etc; etc; etc; etc....ad infinitum $1 million +

Now, tires:

You could buy some old and/or used (stale-dated) military G177, or 12R 22.5, or similar tires on E-Bay for $100 ~ $300 per tire. Or, you can spend $800 to $1300+ each for new. In the OP's case, the larger 6x6 extreme or 3x RV would use the Michelin XZL 395/85R20 46" tires, at $1200 to $1500 each (fore sale prices on E-Bay).

A out and out lie


The reality is, one could buy an Unmog U500 chassis new for ~$90,000 (and buld your own living unit), or buy an old MAN-KAT military truck chassis from places like Vermont Unimog, starting at $33,000 (up to $90,000+), and rebuild the engine, axles and truck systems and build a "living unit" for $40,000 yourself, but not many would go that way (life's too short). But the reality is: an extreme RV the same size and amenitied the same as the OP's Class A will cost WELL in excess of $1.2 million!

I hope this clarifies the entire gamut of costs for extreme RV purchase for my critic?

A look at the Unicat site will reveal that virtually nobody owns the million (($1-2M, not "multimillions") rigs except arab oil sheikhs who sell them after tiring of their toys after 2-3 yrs. Vehicles like mine (4.8m camper on U500 chassis) are cheaper, lighter, more maneuverable, and much shorter. No it is not like a big Class A inside. One has to make SOME compromises in life.
Isn't $13-1800 for a dealer new tire kind of far from $3000? I obtained factory fresh brand new 395s with NO aging signs, dated 2010 a year ago from a "surplus dealer" for $400 each.

Charlie

Thank you, one and all for your contributions to this discussion. I had been out of internet range for a few days and I came back to a lively chat.

First, I think I should mention that I will be towing a Jeep 4x4 for the hard to reach sites. Also, much of my trip is on a city to city basis. I checked the links - Thanks again - wonderful info.I had gone through the dutch duo blogs earlier and liked the maglander blog as well. I go off the beaten path (in the Jeep) if it is a day trip from where I am or on route.

Second, I don't underestimate the difficulty of this trip. I have had experience travelling overland from Eygpt to South Africa in one of those unimog expeditions. At this point in my life, a Unimog type unit will not work for me. My kidneys cannot take the beating. Having read some comments here, I will "ruggedize" the unit to a degree. The unit has a CAT engine (CAT service available everywhere) and Allison transmission. So far, I think HDuty shocks, oil and tranny coolers, re-routing the air intakes, and computer (ECM) upgrade are in order. I am not too afraid of tires. I will start with a new set. Anything else?

Finally, security. I am still not sure about this aspect of the trip. My nature is to believe in "goodness" of fellow humans. Maybe i am blinded but reading the blogs, i do not see any encounters that grievously threatened anybody. Anybody agree or disagree?

V

Monaco Montclair wrote:
This much I do know,my bro lives on the other side of Haiti,the dr. Never would I even think of doing that. Haveing been there twice. Anything out side the good old USA,chances are it might be a third world country. And the houses have bars across the windows, and not for decorations.in the USA u have rites, not in third world country's .and don't forget your passport, in case of a riot, the us embassy (by us law)has to let u in. If u can make it there. I just heard some of those places are opening back up, so u maybe in luck. Wow not me , I ll make another trip around the good old USA .in the good old USA it's all , happy-camping

Your answer on bars on the windows is way off. Sure they are for security, but did you know because of that very very few Mexican homeowners at all economic levels carry home insurance? Yes, it does exist and I have a homeowners policy. It cost me 120 dollars a year for full coverage and it works. My home was flooded and the foundation affected. The insurance company sent an adjuster, and a check arrived 10 days later. House fires are few and far between in concrete houses, so they are safe. What does your home insurance policy cost?

Check the FBI website In 2011, the rate of property crime was estimated at 2909 per 100,000 inhabitants. In 28 years, four neighborhoods and four houses I have never suffered a property crime and I don't live in an ex-pat gated community.

Based on the facts, maybe you should consider bars on "your" windows.

I've got a couple of lots of friends who have driven around the whole of the Americas for several years without the slightest indication of danger from the inhabitants. Moglander was mentioned and yes, they have had problems with mechanical breakdowns which they were able to sort out, but no danger from the people - just a lot of great memories. If you spend a lot of time reading the many blogs written by long-term travellers in SA, you will be hard pressed to come up with any sensible travellers having had major problems involving their personal safety.

Their Mog will be available next year - 33,000 euro if you are interested.

You will find that even a vehicle that size is pushing it on many of the minor roads across South America and something considerably smaller is likely to suit the conditions a lot better - albeit at the expense of a lot of living conditions and facilities that i regard as essential. Yes, I could take our Class A down there but I reckon that would be a recipe for a fair bit of wishing I hadn't. So, my solution was to buy a small 4x4 Iveco van done up as a camper with basic facilities, Certainly not ideal comfort wise, but will go most of the places I want to go and since I paid a throwaway price for it, that is what I will do if it gives any major problems. As a compensation for lack of luxuries, we will be renting apartments in major cities and using the vehicle to get well off the beaten track if required, but also to do one and two day trips around the major cities while we live in relative luxury.

As far as practical aspects of RVing in S America, be aware that many of the countries do not allow you to leave the vehicle there while you head off home for a break. Others that do only allow you a three-month TIP while at least one (Argentina) allow 8 months and at least one other allows 12 months and in both countries you can leave the vehicle behind as long as you don't exceed the TIP currency.

I guess we can continue to take it for granted that many Westerners are afraid of the unknown so will continue to exclaim out loud and very frequently how dangerous the rest of the world is and how they will never go outside of their own country, but we will continue to join the many Americans and Canadians and dozens and dozens of Europeans and Australians who are quite happy that there are still some places in the world that make it worth getting up in the morning to experience.

Oh yes, those huge expedition vehicles everyone dreams about might be OK for the wide open spaces of Saharan Africa, but the practicalities are that they are just a total waste of money for those travelling in most of the rest of the world. They are too heavy, too high and especially too wide and haven't the turning circle to be practical. They can't operate efficiently in many parts of the Australian interior because of their size and they certainly cant operate safely on lots of terrain in S America.

This much I do know,my bro lives on the other side of Haiti,the dr. Never would I even think of doing that. Haveing been there twice. Anything out side the good old USA,chances are it might be a third world country. And the houses have bars across the windows, and not for decorations.in the USA u have rites, not in third world country's .and don't forget your passport, in case of a riot, the us embassy (by us law)has to let u in. If u can make it there. I just heard some of those places are opening back up, so u maybe in luck. Wow not me , I ll make another trip around the good old USA .in the good old USA it's all , happy-camping

I cannot believe the disinformation I read about Unimogs, not the least tire prices.
And "prices in the millions" for the vehicles - also a gross exaggeration.

Reference:

1) Global Expedition Vehicles (GXV): you can get a GXV but not for cheap. The most extreme and luxurious lifting roof model, the Patagonia, sells for more than $500,000 (like $600,000+ here-->).

2) Globecruiser expedition vehicle, MAN TGA 6×6 platform, 783ci turbodiesel, $700,000 +++).

The above are the cheap extreme RVs, and not nearly the same size/interior space if you want to A/B size vs. amenities vis the OP's Class A

3) Action Mobil Desert Challenger (more in line with size/amenities of the OP's Class A): MAN-KAT military chassis (HX high mobility truck system chassis), all-wheel drive; starting at $1.8million US +++++).

* the above comes in a "Special" model, with more amenities that will go into the $2.5 million + range.

4) the smaller 3 axle units (probably way too small for the OP, because the OP is apparently used to a 30+ foot living unit, with his Class A), at substantially less expensive (between $1 million and $1.4 million): Atacama XXL; the Temet XXL; the Globe Cruiser 7100;etc; Trans Kalahari; etc; etc; etc; etc; etc....ad infinitum $1 million +

Now, tires:

You could buy some old and/or used (stale-dated) military G177, or 12R 22.5, or similar tires on E-Bay for $100 ~ $300 per tire. Or, you can spend $800 to $1300+ each for new. In the OP's case, the larger 6x6 extreme or 3x RV would use the Michelin XZL 395/85R20 46" tires, at $1200 to $1500 each (fore sale prices on E-Bay).


The reality is, one could buy an Unmog U500 chassis new for ~$90,000 (and buld your own living unit), or buy an old MAN-KAT military truck chassis from places like Vermont Unimog, starting at $33,000 (up to $90,000+), and rebuild the engine, axles and truck systems and build a "living unit" for $40,000 yourself, but not many would go that way (life's too short). But the reality is: an extreme RV the same size and amenitied the same as the OP's Class A will cost WELL in excess of $1.2 million!

I hope this clarifies the entire gamut of costs for extreme RV purchase for my critic?

I am not a fan of a rear engine vehicles (read rear intake for engine combustion and for cooling system) on dirt roads. They eat a lot of dirt. Think of it is a vacuum cleaner driving down the road with 6 large tires stirring up the dirt.

That dirt then passes over the hot rear axle, hot transmission and hot engine before having a fan force into the cooling package. Yes, side radiators are a little better, but still not designed for extended dirt road driving IMO.

Re "extreme RVs": $3000 each for tires is a gross exaggeration. Try $800 each for new XZLs from Vrakking Tyre.
I cannot believe the disinformation I read about Unimogs, not the least tire prices.
And "prices in the millions" for the vehicles - also a gross exaggeration.

Charlie

The Dutch Duo

....a great read! Thanks for the link, gtla.

I would also suggest to the OP to go over to Expedition Portal; there are several current South America truck expeditions underway as I write. You could (in all likelihood) communicate with those people real-time for up to the minute info and advice...well, forget up to the minute, I mean up to the second info.

This is a photo of a heavy RV (a Mercedes Unimog extreme RV) crossing a bridge in Brazil (read: with a heavy truck/RV, consider sticking to the main roads) from the expedition: Tread The World, here-->

This is the expedition (underway as I write) entitled: MogLander's Travels (an Mercedes Unimog 1300L extreme RV, 5.7 litre straight 6 diesel, 8 forward gears, 4 reverse gears, 365/80 R20 military truck tires at $3000 each) in El Tatio (South America) at 4300 meters (up in Northern Chile), from their Blog post of a few days ago, here-->

Cheers,

S-