6 foot or 8 foot bed in Mexico
Used to truck camp in the 1980's with 6 ft. Dodge and slide-in popup (4 Wheel Camper). Now buying new truck and camper (again slide-in popup) for use mainly in Mexico. Want to know from others' person...
Forum Discussion
We have been traveling in Mexico with truck campers for about 10 years.
First, I have never seen a 4wd road. If it can't be driven by a 2wd Chevy pickup, small Nissan taxi of a bus there isn't a road. That includes a lot of the Copper Canyon back country where I wouldn't recommend going these days for security reasons. We have never seen a forest service or BLM type of road, people live everywhere there is a road so a taxi or bus will go there. We did get into some dicey mud puddles going to the top of Tamul Falls, but our Tracker made it thru ok and full size vans and trucks would be liable to get scratched up due to overhanging branches. This is once in 10 years.
Our first first camper was a Hallmark popup on a Ford F250-1999 shortbed CC that took three blocks to turn around. Since then a Bigfoot SB, Duramax Dually with a huge Bigfoot with slide and this year a older F350 LB with a Bigfoot 25-9.6 built to take to South America. The Duramax is our favorite and the keeper. The latest rig gets sold this year.
It's never really comfortable taking rigs thru towns, turning radius is not so much the issue as the width and space. The streets tend to be narrow with people double parked and buses everywhere. You just learn to adapt and remain very aware of everything around you and perpetually nervous. The Mexican are really very patient with large rigs around, its us who are not comfortable with decreased space.
The only thing a popup gets you is not having to worry about overhead obstacles, I've poked a couple of holes in campers (fiberglass is easy to fix)due to unseen or low obstructions.
The old Fords with 4x4 solid front axles are really an aggravation to drive due to the turning radius, made up for by the easy to get fixed if necessary 7.3l diesel motor. Other newer diesels after 2007 are more difficult and after 2010 good luck. South America actually has some of the newer diesels, but not so much Mexico and central America. All diesel fuel south of the border(few minor exceptions) is higher sulpher pre 2007 diesel fuel, never plugged a fuel filter tho.
The bottom line get what ever you like are comfortable in and don't try to meet anyone else's requirements or set yours too low. Mexico is really fairly easy to get around with bypasses around most larger towns. Getting any rig into a grocery/Walmart/Ccostdo parking lot can be tough to impossible. It is easy to park at a PEMEX gas station and pick up a taxi for a couple of dollars to get about anywhere, and they know how to get around town, most towns have poor signage and one way streets aren't necessarily marked. We love our big camper with the full wall slide, but always drive carefully thru towns, and for running around town and the countryside we have taken to flat towing a Chevy Tracker. This year we went to Mexico City for the first time where driving is almost insane and to Guanajuato and Zacatecas where we wouldn't even take the Tracker due to the very narrow, unmarked, one way streets everywhere, a $3 taxi will get you most anyplace. We drove the Panoramica perimeter road around Guanajuato this year, a 9 mile trip. Seven stops to ask for directions and 2-1/2 hours later we finally got around, and we had two maps. It does make for a good story.
Hope this helps-feel free to PM me
First, I have never seen a 4wd road. If it can't be driven by a 2wd Chevy pickup, small Nissan taxi of a bus there isn't a road. That includes a lot of the Copper Canyon back country where I wouldn't recommend going these days for security reasons. We have never seen a forest service or BLM type of road, people live everywhere there is a road so a taxi or bus will go there. We did get into some dicey mud puddles going to the top of Tamul Falls, but our Tracker made it thru ok and full size vans and trucks would be liable to get scratched up due to overhanging branches. This is once in 10 years.
Our first first camper was a Hallmark popup on a Ford F250-1999 shortbed CC that took three blocks to turn around. Since then a Bigfoot SB, Duramax Dually with a huge Bigfoot with slide and this year a older F350 LB with a Bigfoot 25-9.6 built to take to South America. The Duramax is our favorite and the keeper. The latest rig gets sold this year.
It's never really comfortable taking rigs thru towns, turning radius is not so much the issue as the width and space. The streets tend to be narrow with people double parked and buses everywhere. You just learn to adapt and remain very aware of everything around you and perpetually nervous. The Mexican are really very patient with large rigs around, its us who are not comfortable with decreased space.
The only thing a popup gets you is not having to worry about overhead obstacles, I've poked a couple of holes in campers (fiberglass is easy to fix)due to unseen or low obstructions.
The old Fords with 4x4 solid front axles are really an aggravation to drive due to the turning radius, made up for by the easy to get fixed if necessary 7.3l diesel motor. Other newer diesels after 2007 are more difficult and after 2010 good luck. South America actually has some of the newer diesels, but not so much Mexico and central America. All diesel fuel south of the border(few minor exceptions) is higher sulpher pre 2007 diesel fuel, never plugged a fuel filter tho.
The bottom line get what ever you like are comfortable in and don't try to meet anyone else's requirements or set yours too low. Mexico is really fairly easy to get around with bypasses around most larger towns. Getting any rig into a grocery/Walmart/Ccostdo parking lot can be tough to impossible. It is easy to park at a PEMEX gas station and pick up a taxi for a couple of dollars to get about anywhere, and they know how to get around town, most towns have poor signage and one way streets aren't necessarily marked. We love our big camper with the full wall slide, but always drive carefully thru towns, and for running around town and the countryside we have taken to flat towing a Chevy Tracker. This year we went to Mexico City for the first time where driving is almost insane and to Guanajuato and Zacatecas where we wouldn't even take the Tracker due to the very narrow, unmarked, one way streets everywhere, a $3 taxi will get you most anyplace. We drove the Panoramica perimeter road around Guanajuato this year, a 9 mile trip. Seven stops to ask for directions and 2-1/2 hours later we finally got around, and we had two maps. It does make for a good story.
Hope this helps-feel free to PM me
