Barring something happening to our current truck or coming across a very good deal on a different vehicle, the plan is to take our truck and set it up with a medium-sized pickup camper. Beyond just throwing the camper in the back we want to take some steps to account for the duration and type of trip and the potential for difficulty in being away from the American repair and supply system.
Today, we will talk about some of the upgrades and items to add:
- Truck
- Limited Slip Differential: Probably won’t follow thru on this one but we don’t have 4×4. It is feasible to replace the rear differential with a limited slip version. Given the weight of the camper on the rear axle, this would be almost as good as 4×4. If it was a couple hundred dollars, we would probably go for it. From what I can find, we are looking at $1000-1500 and we will still probably have pretty good traction with the weight of the camper on the back, so this probably won’t be changed.
- Vehicle Repair Manuals. Both english and spanish versions. Far easier for them to track down parts if they have the part numbers and there is no guarantee the mechanic will be fluent in english.
- Suspension upgrades: The idea is to get a moderately sized camper, so these shouldn’t be needed. We may look into adding air bags for the rear axle or upgrading the springs. Based on reviews from some other folks doing the trip, I am leaning toward springs if we need to upgrade. With all the dirt road driving, the airbags eventually wear thru and they are not available south of the border so repairs are difficult.
- Tire pressure monitoring system: Not sure on this one yet. They are becoming more economical. By giving us early knowledge of an impending flat, we can hopefully pull over swap out the tire and just have a minor repair as opposed to getting stuck in a narrow spot in the road and totally destroying the tire and possibly the rim.
- Locking fuel caps and lug nuts.
- Ignition kill switch: Another one I’m not sure on. Keep the truck locked and hopefully with it being an old scruffy truck it won’t be a problem.
- Front License Plate: Some countries assume you should have one. Not sure if Michigan would issue a second one. There has been a suggestion to get a fake one that matches made up.
- Spare parts and maintenance items: This one will be a balancing act. We want to avoid difficulty finding replacement parts but we don’t want to take a second drive train due to limited storage space.
- Brake Pads
- Oil and Filters for at least 1 extra oil change
- Spare fuel filter
- Fan Belt and tensioner arm
- Transmission fluid
- Head/Tail Lights
- Fuses
- Alternator
- Tires:
- Standard US pickup truck tires are hard to find the further south we get. One couple that did it recommended switching to 7.5×16 or 8.25×16 wheels as these are what most of the mini-buses use. If the busses use them, they must be available.
- Two full size spare tires, One on the standard mount under the rear and another mounted on a rear bracket.
- A can or two of “fix-a-flat”. It’s compressed air in a can with sticky goop that hopefully will seal (at least temporarily) a leak. Good for if we get a flat in the middle of no where, so we can make it to a repair shop.
- Misc Add Ons:
- Front Mounting Rack: We already have a generator and this will allow us to run the air conditioner even if we don’t have access to 110V AC. But we need a place to store it. A front mounted rack should do the trick. Just need to make sure we can secure if from weather and being “borrowed”.
- Small AC Air Compressor: The little 12V units are next to useless but not sure if we want to give up the storage space for a small 110V AC compressor.
- Tow Strap
- Winch & Land Anchor: The land anchor could simply be one of our spare anchors off the boat. useful if there are no trees or other solid objects to attach to. The winch could be as simple as a manually powered come-along. This would make a small, inexpensive option. As long as it is rarely used, it should be adequate.
- Sun Shower: We already have one of these on the boat. It’s basically a black bag with a hose coming out. You set it out in the sun and after a few hours the water is quite warm. We may want to rig up a shower curtain enclosure that mounts to the truck so we can shower outside if in an isolated area.
- Safe bolted to the truck: This is another item we aren’t sure on. It would take up a lot of space and we don’t plan to take a lot of valuables with us. It may be better to find some hiding spots.
- Spare fuel jugs probably mounted at the back. We will need at least one for the generator and possibly a second for diesel. We have pretty good range with the truck so the diesel one should be optional.
- Swivel Wheel Trailer: Probably won’t follow thru but this is an interesting idea if we feel we need more storage space. This is a specialized trailer. It uses swivel wheels like the front of a grocery cart, only larger, pneumatic and they don’t wobble. Rather than using a ball type hitch like a normal trailer, there are two attachment points on the rear bumper that act like a hinge. The advantage is, it acts much more like a part of the truck. When you back up it can’t jackknife.
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