Question about RV'ing in South America

silversand wrote:

Tony Lee wrote:
Lots of traps in this one too. For instance, can't buy an Argentinian registered vehicle in Argentina and expect to be able to get it out of the country.

VERY good point! This could make inter-country travel with a rented RV in South America nary impossible, or extremely inconvenient (unless the rental Co. has border-point agency representatives: probably not).

rented is different. For instance Andean rentals in BA - where my vehicle is stored - have a permanent arrangement with customs to allow their rentals into Chile and back and rentals in Chile have similar arrangements - but may not apply between other pairs of countries.

Tony Lee wrote:
Lots of traps in this one too. For instance, can't buy an Argentinian registered vehicle in Argentina and expect to be able to get it out of the country.

VERY good point! This could make inter-country travel with a rented RV in South America nary impossible, or extremely inconvenient (unless the rental Co. has border-point agency representatives: probably not).

The OP could also consider buying (or, renting?) an RV in South America & sellng on departure (I have seen several used Unimog-style RVs for sale throughout South America, so it wouldn't be a stretch to infer standard RVs being sold as used in South America, too ? Shipping a 30+ foot bus to South America from North America (say, Miami) won't be an inexpensive proposition ($9,000 to $17,000 each way??).

Lots of traps in this one too. For instance, can't buy an Argentinian registered vehicle in Argentina and expect to be able to get it out of the country. Transfer of ownership of a foreign-registered vehicle to another foreigner is technically illegal in many countries, and difficult to get around as well in many countries. Yes, everyone knows someone who has done it, but first hand accounts are thin on the ground.
Towing a toad?? That might provide corrupt police manning roadblocks with some interesting ways of adding to their low pay packets. Fire extinguishers, safety triangles, reflectors, etc etc are subject to random interpretation of the rules so towing will be a god-send for them,

He suggested strengthening the chassis with extra cross members and inner C channel bars in some spots. This will help stabilize the coach by reducing twisting/torquing.

Reading on C channel truck framing, this shape appears to offer the worst frame twisting resistance. Virtually every truck I see on the market is going (or, has gone) to hydroformed boxed framing front to rear (a much stiffer (stronger?) frame it appears. However, I am NOT a structural engineer. If your RV dealer knows of a reputable commercial truck upfitter, I would visit this upfitter (with your rig present) and discuss this possibility in great detail.

You probable have something like a "Workhorse" motorhome frame under your Class A ? If so, I would contact the frame manufacturer (Workhorse/Navistar) and discuss the hardening with them. This is their website: here-->

if you have a truck camper or a B plus rv with dually and switch to the single there is no longer an issue of where you drive in Mexico in terms of city or crossing bridges, right?

Gtla: when I do a search for "super singles", or supersingles + mexico, the only return is: mexican girls, beautiful mexican girls, meet mexican girls, mexican blonde super singles

....your guess is as good as mine :B

....would Mexican officials even bat an eyelash at a Class C (or B+) crossing the border and driving on their roads & bridges with a single rear tire arrangement? How would they know if your RV originally came equipped with dual rear wheels? _shrug_?

The OP could also consider buying (or, renting?) an RV in South America & sellng on departure (I have seen several used Unimog-style RVs for sale throughout South America, so it wouldn't be a stretch to infer standard RVs being sold as used in South America, too ? Shipping a 30+ foot bus to South America from North America (say, Miami) won't be an inexpensive proposition ($9,000 to $17,000 each way??).

silversand wrote:

I am not too afraid of tires. I will start with a new set. Anything else?

...you may want to consider what are called "super singles" as replacement tires/wheels on your rig (converting the rear dually tire set-up, if you have these, will reduce your potential for rocks getting caught between the dually tires, causing flat(s) or catastrophic tire failure). There is a nice Michelin super single called X one XDN2 tire (have a look here--> or, Goodyear G392 SSD DURASEAL (with tread puncture auto-sealing technology); or ).

Here's a guy (on RVnet) who actually converted his Itasca Horizon 39QD to rear super singles, with no apparent regrets: Link--> . And, this is his Thread discussing the details on swapping for super singles on his motorhome, here-->

....if you cut through all the myth and scare-mongering about super singles (the myths and scare mongering remind me of the discussions I read about in history books describing ancient debates vis flat Earth ~ spherical Earth!), this may be an interesting way for you to go. Anyhow, do your own due diligence !

S-

So if you have a truck camper or a B plus rv with dually and switch to the single there is no longer an issue of where you drive in Mexico in terms of city or crossing bridges, right?

If you are thinking diesel remember ULSD is not available in many countries. Assumed you motorhome is mid 2007+. you can get away with 10 tankfuls, but with much more you will end up with a clogged particle filter unless you manage to get it bypassed before you go..

Thanks again for the responses. The cost of the Unimogs is not an issue, the size is also not an issue. The issue is that they are not comfortable, as a driver and as a passenger. They have no / limited access to the living quarters when you are on the road. They are built to off-road. We don't intend to do that. For example, the used Unimog (Tony Lee's post) will end up being a very good deal. The wear and tear, shipping, mods and possible damage to my Class A will cost more.

Thanks Silversand RE: SuperSingles. I had no idea of this option. I will definitely investigate that option. Replacements would be a concern but not insurmountable. We expect to have some breakdowns. We expect at some point to have parts shipped from Canada / US. So we are stuck somewhere for some time while the rig gets patched - so what?

I was talking with my dealer and spitballing the idea of the trip. He suggested strengthening the chassis with extra cross members and inner C channel bars in some spots. This will help stabilize the coach by reducing twisting/torquing. Worth it?

V

I am not too afraid of tires. I will start with a new set. Anything else?

...you may want to consider what are called "super singles" as replacement tires/wheels on your rig (converting the rear dually tire set-up, if you have these, will reduce your potential for rocks getting caught between the dually tires, causing flat(s) or catastrophic tire failure). There is a nice Michelin super single called X one XDN2 tire (have a look here--> or, Goodyear G392 SSD DURASEAL (with tread puncture auto-sealing technology); or ).

Here's a guy (on RVnet) who actually converted his Itasca Horizon 39QD to rear super singles, with no apparent regrets: Link--> . And, this is his Thread discussing the details on swapping for super singles on his motorhome, here-->

....if you cut through all the myth and scare-mongering about super singles (the myths and scare mongering remind me of the discussions I read about in history books describing ancient debates vis flat Earth ~ spherical Earth!), this may be an interesting way for you to go. Anyhow, do your own due diligence !

S-

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...

OP: I think that you are on the right track, moving towards hardening your existing rig. It appears obvious that you will not compromise living unit size and amenities of your Class A, and as I carefully outlined in my earlier extensive list of extreme expedition RVs in my earlier Post, commissioning such a vehicle in the size you have currently, would mean a truck with at least 3 axles to accept a 30+ foot living unit, at a cost in the $1.2 to $2+ million range (for a new unit).

My critic (Charlie) is passionate about the Unimog RV genre vehicles, but as the OP has written, he isn't willing to compromise on what would be tantamount to a U500 sized truck (a Volkswagen-sized expedition truck {the base price for truck alone is in the $110,000 range, new) in the grand scheme of things!) with a pop-up camper attached to the chassis (or, what would constitute a living unit so small, it would perhaps offer only 20% of the living space that the OP currently enjoys; that cramped compromise he would loath I'll bet).

It would be very interesting to Post here how the hardening of your Class A Proceeds!

Now, to my critic:

Who would buy a $1 million, $2 million, 3 million extreme expedition RV? The market globally is potential huge (relatively speaking)!
In Switzerland alone, there WERE 283,000 households with a net worth more than $1 million (that statistic was 5 years ago; today, it is probably 350,000!). Among those resident families, 44% of them share the bulk of the entire country's wealth (that means 124,520 of those households could afford to buy 5 to 12 of those $2 million + 3 axle expedition vehicles EACH, and not even see a blip on their personal balance sheets. Let's say that the global market for these supposedly "...oil Sheikh affordable only..." extreme vehicles I calculate to be potentially 0.1% of the estimated 12,000,000 global multimillionaires in 2013 (I'm not even including the potential from the 1426 global billionaires in my figure!) is a staggering 12,000 likely/potential buyers. There are potentially hundreds of thousands of prospective buyers of lower cost small-scale used Unimog truck/camper combos Globally. There are tens of thousands of potential buyers of mid-sized Action Mobile brand truck/camper combos globally. There are perhaps 10,000,000+ owners of traditional RVs Globally with an initial purchase value of $100,000 or less (my estimation). IMO, the marketing effort done by the many manufacturers of Unimog-genre trucks upfitted to extreme overland RVs is pathetically lacking! Wealthy individuals are typically (statistically) in far better health than someone just getting by (like the middle class), and are very active into their 80s+, so inferring, age cohort in this case would have little to do with not being able to enjoy such a way of life.

That's all I have to say on the subject of this genre of RV, as the OP has clearly stated that he will be hardening his existing Class A; this hardening endeavor I remain highly interested in following :)