6 foot or 8 foot bed in Mexico

I've had my 3500 long bed all over Baja, extra length is no problem, remember every little town is serviced by a Bimbo truck, the size of a UPS truck. I had one following my Jeep on a dirt road doing 50 mph. When I bought my Dodge the 2500 came with a 10.5" rear diff. the 3500 had 11.5" plus of course the overload springs

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.

Why? Only difference I see is the extra leaf spring and not planning on carrying that big a camper. Don't they ride rougher? Appreciate your knowledge as I have none except what I read.

As a 2500 owner myself of a 2005 Dodge I would say...maybe. In certain years of diesel trucks that literally was the only difference. I didn't see in your first post if you are looking at gas or diesel engines. The leaf spring difference only applied to the diesel engine truck, there were other differences for the gas engine 2500 that didn't include the higher capacity rear axle the 3500 had and possibly other things. Honestly I don't know the differences in the Chevrolet or Ford line up. All I am suggesting is that you check into it before you put down your hard earned money. Go for a ride in a Chevrolet 2500 vs 3500 if you can. I don't think there will be that much difference in ride quality and at the end of the day having the higher payload capacity is really more important to a truck camper owner.

Gas or diesel engine(yes, I know he didn't ask)? It's my understanding that if you get a diesel engine you may have some difficulty getting the Ultra Low Sulfur diesel fuel in Mexico for the newer trucks.

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 your original post/question was about long bed vs short bed I would add, Chevrolet use to have fairly small fuel tanks in their short bed trucks. I would check on that difference (I haven't looked into new truck specs in awhile). If you don't need a crew cab truck, I would get the long bed truck with extended cab. I too would be concerned with a full crew cab, long bed truck's turning radius. The Chevy crew cab long bed trucks we have at work have a large turning radius. If you have the option of test driving different truck configurations before spending $$ I highly suggest it.

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.

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.

Why? Only difference I see is the extra leaf spring and not planning on carrying that big a camper. Don't they ride rougher? Appreciate your knowledge as I have none except what I read.

MikeJinCO wrote:
We have been traveling in Mexico with truck campers for about 10 years.

First, I have never seen a 4wd road.


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.

Thanks for some great advice. You are a true Mexico travler, as am I. I never wanted a full-blown RV because it limits where you can go. But everything has its costs. You took a lot of time to write a reasoned answer. I thank you.

I do go offroad looking for hot springs and waterfalls and have done it in 2 wheel and 4 wheel vehicles in my 40 years of driving down there. When I am out on dirt roads, I just feel more comfortable with 4WD. Never got stuck in either but last year could not take a client to lake in Cuatrocienegas, Coah becasue of a washout. Always felt more comfortable in 4 wheel, but you are right - their actual value is rare. Went to a very high-end hot spring, Chignahuapan, PUE and had it rained just a little bit more would have been stuck there for a day or two.

Width would be the same with 6 foot or 8 foot. Planning ahead should become second nature, but so far i have not learned that. I agree, you just have to deal with some things when in Mexico and things always work out.

Since I make roadlogs and maps for other drivers, I kind of have to go everywhere. Thus parking at a Pemex and taking a taxi is a great idea for most folks, but for me to be able to tell people how to get into town, it just won't work. So this is making me lean towards the 6 footer.

WNYBob wrote:
Just watch the CG (Center of gravity), it should be in front of the rear axel!

Thanks Bob. But pretty sure a new HD pickup can handle the weight of any pop up camper regardless of the particular location of its cg.

The truck isn't any wider than the camper. The large Bigfoot is 8' 1". I have had to tuck the mirrors a time or two. Most of the main streets are wide enough, you just have to be careful not to head into any tight spots intentionally, you'll find yourself in enough of them unintentionally.

My point is to plan your rig on how you would like to live and adapt to the conditions as necessary. However you figure it out you will run into problems, you just have to deal with it.

The European travelers provide the best examples. We have seen several French truck campers built on the Toyota Hilux(the 1980's version) small diesel truck. They live mainly outside. The Germans on the other hand have these huge MAN 4wd trucks with 24" truck wheels and monstrous tires and custom built campers that have a ladder to get into them. These are built to go across Mongolia and the Sahara.

My wife did a blog of our very eventful winter at patbickeljones.blogspot.com

MikeJinCo, so you have taken your dually to Mexico? It seems the width of the dual rear wheels would aggravate the issue of the tight streets and maneuverability. I have thought about going to a dually due to the stability and safety if you happen to get a blow out on the highway but wonder about the increased width in Mexico and Central America.

I drove an older long bed Dodge with not the best turning radius compared to the near ones down there and managed just fine, but it was an auto which was kind of nice, my truck now is the same but a manual.

A regular cab long bed sounds like a pretty good option in either dually or single rear wheel provided there are only two passengers.

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.

every time someone mentions 250/2500 these posts come out.sheesh.nobody asked.its getting old.

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

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