6 foot or 8 foot bed in Mexico

dadwolf2 wrote:

Mexicomike wrote:

dadwolf2 wrote:
Not sure about the long/short bed for Mexico but if I was you, I would get the 3500 instead of the 2500.


You also said, I don't plan on carrying that big of a camper. Here is a fact: Myself when I had a pop-up camper(Dodge 2500), and 2 other pop-up camper owners (Chevrolet 2500's) all added helper springs of some sort to our trucks. Unless you plan on getting something like a four wheel camper, even pop-ups when fully loaded get heavy. In fact my hardside isn't that much heavier than the pop-up I had.

Generally speaking, a 3500 isn't that much more $$ than a 2500 and it comes with a higher payload capacity. Truck campers are 100% payload. A 2500 is fine at towing, but in my opinion, virtually anyone who is looking to get a new truck should go straight to the 3500 series if they can. I can't think of many owners where a truck camper owner said, gee, I have too much payload capacity! If you currently had a 2500 and didn't want or couldn't afford to get a new truck, then your 2500 plan with possible upgrades is understandable.

Since you haven't got your camper yet, from what I've read the width is going to be important to you. Something like a Northstar camper's 7' or a Lance 825's 7' 2" width might be what you need?

Good luck with your final decision, I imagine there are a lot of interesting places and people in Mexico to see.

Thank you very much for your observations and the time you took to put them together. I had thought of a 3500 but they are hard to find on the lots to compare, but maybe now with your thougts in mind will search one out.

The diff in price is a tad under $2,000. I was surprised that I could not find the size of the brakes, as I thought surely they would be heavier duty. Chvey makes an 8 footer in couble cab in 1 ton and both 6.5 and 8 in the crew. I really don't care much for a crew cab either.

Gas definately. You are absolutley right - ULSD fuel cannot be found in Mexico. There is a page warning people about this on my website beacuse there is much misinformation about it on the web.

That being said, anybody got gas mileage figures for 2500 vs 3500? Ultimately it costs what it costs, but I like to factor in as many variables as possible before spendin $40K on a truck.

Is a 3500 just plain tougher? It has 3/4 of an inche less ground clearance.

Glad to hear you are positive on Mexico. I have been driving there since 1968 and writing books and roadlogs about it since 1982. So I agree with you 100%. I drive about 4-5,000 miles a year. I just have not driven anything larger than a Suburban or my old Dodge 1500 with the 4-Wheel camper on the back.

And yeah, I was thinking of a 4-Wheel camper but would probably start out with a used, whatever I can find, popup until I can find one. I just like the idea of a popup. Seems that most weigh about 2,000-2,500 wet, which would be in 2500 payload range of 3274-3388.