The Online Magazine for Traveling & Living in Baja
New Stories - Subscribe for FREE - Advertise - Contact
Building the Perfect Baja RV for Rugged Adventures
Larry Buck of LBMaps has been traveling to Baja for years. He built
planes, cars and boats in is free time. Here is a tale of how he
equipped the ultimate Baja Explorer's Motor Home. For this
trip Larry has added his own PC/GPS mapping package. Now he knows
exactly where he is and never has to worry about forfeiting his "Man
Card" by asking for directions!
As summer winds down here in the Pacific Northwest, my mind starts to turn again to Baja. Time to dig out “Homey,” the motor home, and get her ready for yet another trip south. As I start to go through my check list, I am amazed at the changes and improvements I have made over the years. Hard to believe the old girl has not ended up in the scrap heap like so many of her siblings. I guess being stored in a dry barn during the 80’s and most of the 90’s helped.
When I first spotted her in the back lot of an RV dealer I thought she would fit the bill nicely. I was looking for an RV for our first driving trip to the southern tip of Baja. My method was to find a very inexpensive RV that I would not be too attached to. I figured if the worst happened, whatever that may be, I could leave the rig on the side of the road with the signed title in the glove box, fly my family home, and not be out a huge chunk of money. The first trip went off without too many problems, but I could see that a few improvements
needed
to be made. I sure would have liked a bit better mileage and I
needed more power so I could haul a big trailer with all the stuff I
would have liked to have along. The original 400ci V8 with an
auto transmission would only get 8mpg max and was pretty slow up
hills when towing a small car. What to do, what to do?
The Engine
I started doing some research and discovered that without too much redesigning the Cummins turbo diesel engine from a late model Dodge Ram would fit the early 70 chassis/body. I also wanted to change from the automatic to a 5-speed transmission, which I felt would be better for towing and mileage. I also discovered that these engines are very easy to “turn up” the power on. A larger turbo, exhaust, and injectors would be a nice addition. My decision was made.
Now
I needed to locate a donor truck. After a few months of searching, I
located a totaled 1996 Dodge diesel with a 5speed transmission.
After many details, the engine was ready. I pulled the old engine
and tranny and installed the new one. I had a new heavy-duty
driveshaft built to fit, and a new radiator for a late model Dodge
pickup.
The Exhaust
Since I had to install a whole new exhaust, it was a good time to upgrade to a full 4” system. I also added a 4” exhaust brake to help save the service brakes and add to safety. This is a turbocharged, straight 6cyl engine and there is only one pipe; the system is fairly simple, but large.
Intercooler
When the intake air is compressed by the
turbocharger it
can
be heated to hundreds of degrees. This hot intake air produces less
power because it is less dense than cool air. Hot intake air also
causes temperatures in the engine to become hotter than optimum.
This is where an intercooler comes in. The intercooler is like
another radiator that the compressed hot air goes through and is
cooled in before being fed to the engine; a real must for a high
performance turbocharged diesel. Fitting the late model intercooler
behind the grill of the 72 chassis was a chore, but well worth the
effort.
Click here to learn more about LBMaps and electronic maps for your Garmin GPS
Transmission
The transmission is a stock, heavy-duty NV4500
5speed from a 2000 Dodge Ram. I wanted to be able to cruise and
still have power when I need it, so I added an auxiliary 2 speed
transmission onto the back of the main box. This allowed me to split
the
5 gears by having a direct and overdrive in each gear. This gave me
10 different gear ratios to choose from. It could be shifted by a
switch on the shifter and could also be split-shifted. This has made
a great difference in hill-pulling performance when hauling a heavy
load. Also, my cruise RPM at 70mph is about 1700; right on the
torque peak for this engine.
Fuel Capacity
This
motor home originally had two fuel tanks: a 22-gallon and a
36-gallon. I added an additional 27-gallon tank for a total of 85
gallons. I can select which tank to draw from by using a switch on
the dash. I also added a 100-gallon tank on my trailer that can be
transferred while driving to any of the coach tanks with a flip of
another switch on the dash. This gives me a
whopping
185 gallons of diesel on board. Getting 14 miles per gallon, this
gives me a range of over 2500 miles. I can leave Seattle full and
arrive at my place in the East Cape without a single worry about
where I can find fuel. This has become one of my two favorite additions to my “Baja Rig.”
The Trailer
The trailer I have built has a small shed for all of the miscellaneous objects one would inevitably want to bring along. Also I carry a Suzuki Samurai, converted to VW turbo diesel power, 2 motorcycles, an 11ft aluminum boat, an 18hp Johnson outboard, two spare tires for the trailer and one for the coach, a full tool assortment and top chest, and lots of little necessities. I installed disk brakes to help slow down all the weight. This makes one complicated trailer.
GPS Navigation
This item is my second favorite addition to the
“Baja Rig”. The GPS has added a whole dimension to Baja travel that
I didn’t know existed. With my Laptop PC connected to my GPS, or my
GPS alone, I can follow along the map with pinpoint accuracy at all
times. No more wondering how long to the next town or turnoff. My
biggest problem was finding a GPS map of Baja; there were none.
There was only the basemap that came with my GARMIN GPS, and that
had extremely little detail. Well, I guess I’ll have to learn how to
write my own map. I think this was a far bigger brain twister than
the entire RV project. In fact, it just keeps going. The more people
use my map, the bigger the need for more information. I have had a
large number of people send me waypoints, paper maps, GPS tracks,
and other information. I just 
keep adding and adding. No
matter how much information you put into a GPS map someone will
always find something I can add to it. I have also discovered that
for many customers, having to use a PC to load maps is a problem.
They just want to have a hand held GPS with a Baja map. For these
people I have begun to offer a small handheld GPS with our Baja map
pre-installed. I have discovered one thing for sure, I love this GPS
mapping project. It just keeps growing.
Traveling Baja without a care as to where I can get fuel and always knowing where I am takes all the worry out of my trips.