BajaNomad - 36' RV - recommended or not recommended?

36' RV - recommended or not recommended?

fire - 8-30-2019 at 12:19 AM

Hi everyone! I am considering purchasing a 36' rv and driving it down to Baja... too big for the corners? Please let me know your thoughts, and if you have driven something similar to baja (La Ventana area). Thanks

LancairDriver - 8-30-2019 at 12:37 AM

I have driven a 45ft RV towing a Jeep on hwy 1 as far as La Paz many times with no problems. Be very careful meeting 18 wheelers on the narrow road, you could loose your drivers side mirror if too close to centerline. Stay out of the small towns with narrow streets driving the RV as a general rule. The RV is a very comfortable way to camp on the beaches of Conception bay or many other accessible places with all the comforts of a nice hotel.

norte - 8-30-2019 at 07:16 AM

If a 36ft RV is new to you I would not start out going to Baja..instead of losing your mirror, you are more likely to take someone else's or worse. Seen a few of these.

[Edited on 8-30-2019 by norte]

RnR - 8-30-2019 at 07:31 AM

Quote: Originally posted by fire

Hi everyone! I am considering purchasing a 36' rv and driving it down to Baja... too big for the corners? Please let me know your thoughts, and if you have driven something similar to baja (La Ventana area). Thanks

A 36 ft RV is not too big for the corners of Hwy 1. Bigger rigs drive that highway every day.

The real question is your comfort level and skill/experience in driving that size of rig on a two lane highway. And only you can answer that question.....

There are many 'big rig' RVs in La Ventana every winter. We have driven a truck/trailer combo that measures 57 ft OA to La Ventana and back for 12 years. The drive is stressful in some areas but very doable.

Don't know where you are currently living in the US (or Canada) but there are roads in the US that are similiar to Mex 1. Some of the levee roads in the Sacramento Delta can be a carbon copy of Mex 1. Twisty, narrow, no shoulders, heavy truck traffic, etc. -- Go practice.

SFandH - 8-30-2019 at 01:13 PM

Quote: Originally posted by fire

Cross at Tecate and make sure you know the route through Ensenada and in the vicinity of La Paz. You don't want to make a wrong turn in urban areas. Spend the nights in safe, designated RV parks. Don't drive after dark. I've never driven a rig wider than 8 feet and would be nervous about it, but plenty of people do it. IMHO, it's the width, more so than the length, that's troublesome.

LancairDriver - 8-30-2019 at 02:31 PM

Here’s an example of what you will be looking at coming at you with inches separating you from the oncoming. Don’t crowd the centerline too much or slip off the shoulder on the right side. Like was suggested in the other posts, practice and gain confidence of your handling capability’s before driving in Baja.

62DF0280-721B-46A0-BD7A-03FE448ED01F.jpeg - 33kB

62DF0280-721B-46A0-BD7A-03FE448ED01F.jpeg - 33kB

Lee - 8-30-2019 at 03:34 PM

Quote: Originally posted by fire

You don't provide much information. Like, are you buying your first RV? Have you driving down the Peninsula before? Might have missed that.

If this is your first RV, things depend on how confident you are on the road. It helps to know Baja.

Drive a 31' Class C and have had my driver side mirror side swiped by a gringo caravan driving North. This was North of S.I. checkpoint. No one stopped. Couldn't find a mirror in Santa Rosalia or La Paz. I was driving blind on the driver side. At the La Riviera RV park in Loreto, I met a Class A (40'?) driver who had lost his mirror too.

Adjusted the new mirror close in. The a$$hole that hit me was white haired, towing a 5th wheel, going too fast down hill, crossed into my lane, couldn't slow for the curve. Inches from a head on.

If you are fearless and an exceptional person, I say go for it. If you are new to RVing, and Baja, I would have to say no, drive Baja in a car first, then venture out.

Good luck on your adventure.

del mar - 8-30-2019 at 03:44 PM

I bet those semi drivers aren't thrilled to see gringos in their mobile mansions coming barreling down their way either!

fire - 8-30-2019 at 10:22 PM

Thanks for this pic! I just took it for a test drive today.. it felt like I was driving a house! Thanks everyone for your comments - highly appreciate

Quote: Originally posted by Lee

Quote: Originally posted by fire

fire - 8-30-2019 at 10:25 PM

Hi thanks again for your response. Ive only ever flown to Baja. I am Canadian.
I would say I am fearless, but not stupid (most of the time) - I can imagine myself slowing right down if I saw a semi approaching. Maybe I will bring a few spare mirrors with me just in case. Never driven anything longer that an suv+ hauling a 13' trailer before.

Quote: Originally posted by del mar

I bet those semi drivers aren't thrilled to see gringos in their mobile mansions coming barreling down their way either!

RnR - 8-31-2019 at 08:16 AM

Quote: Originally posted by fire

I can imagine myself slowing right down if I saw a semi approaching. Maybe I will bring a few spare mirrors with me just in case.

You WILL see semis coming at you. Just grit your teeth, focus on the road straight ahead, and stay in your lane!

The straight sections are not the problem areas. Watch out for the tight curves and DO NOT get into a tight curve at the same time as a semi. Their trailer will off-track into your lane and will side swipe the rear end of your RV. Slow down or even stop ahead of the curve and let the semi come on through, first. You will almost always get a quick wave of 'thank you' from the semi driver.

Saw a 'big rig' RV come into La Ventana a few years ago missing the last ten feet of the motorhome siding on the driver's side. Nothing but the wall studs left and a fully 'open air' bathroom featuring a toilet with a view! The rig was in the campground for a few weeks with a blue tarp stapled to the wall studs. Probably had to screw plywood over the damaged area for the trip north.

SFandH - 8-31-2019 at 09:20 AM

As the above photo that LancairDriver posted shows, there are sections of the road where there aren't shoulders. So you have a narrow two lane road with nowhere to go to the right without getting into deep chit, possibly a wreck. Definitely slow way down when trucks and buses are approaching.

There are fewer trucks on the road on Sundays.

From jrbaja

David K - 8-31-2019 at 09:26 AM

DSCF0034 copy.jpg - 26kB

KasloKid - 8-31-2019 at 10:01 AM

Having towed a 5th wheel many times to La Paz, my suggestion would be to practice, practice, practice being very comfortable in knowing exactly where your passenger side wheels are at. You will be exercising this skill many times throughout every day.

The majority of the road has improved in width, but there are still a few sections that are only 18 feet wide... = 9 feet per lane.... no room for error when meeting oncoming traffic, as evidenced by the pic that David K posted with the boat trailer!

My biggest problem came with meeting caravans of RV's, thankful for the ones that had already lost their mirror. For the oncoming RV that was evidently nervous about where his passenger wheel was because he was straddling the center line, I eventually developed a technique of holding my drivers side wheel on the center line till a couple of seconds before meeting the oncoming vehicle then move over to the edge. A game of "chicken" but it worked.

I also learned to place my wheel just over the center line when coming up to a blind corner and there was an antsy driver coming up fast behind me that obviously was going to pass me close to the corner. I'd move over just before the corner. I learned this due to being run off the road by an antsy semi driver... he pulled out to pass before a corner and met another semi coming at us on the corner. I bailed and we all survived.

I've lots of stories but with sharing a bit, I hope to instill a sense of acute awareness while driving a big rig. As well, they don't stop on a dime like what you're used to driving... you have to add a whole bunch more time to execute a full stop.

Most trips were uneventful, but there were a few that gave me the "white knuckle syndrome"

If I caught up to a caravan, I'd hold back till they pulled off for fuel. A group of 20 RV's is way too many to attempt passing.

Did you know that if you catch up to a slow moving Mexican vehicle and they turn their left signal light on, it means one of three things: They're signalling it's OK to pull out and pass him, they're actually going to turn left, or they forgot to turn their signal off. It's up to you to figure it out. On that topic, I learned never, never to signal left if I wanted to turn left to a driveway just prior to an upcoming corner... had a guy that passed me only to be forced off the road by an oncoming semi... from that point on I turned my 4-way flashers on.

Having your own home with you while travelling is a comfort that we enjoyed for many years... I wouldn't trade them for anything!

[Edited on 8-31-2019 by KasloKid]

HeyMulegeScott - 8-31-2019 at 10:53 AM

We take our 36ft RV down to Baja. Like the others have said it's not the length but the width of the roads that can be scary.

If you take it slow and don't try to drive too much in one day it's doable. Once you make it to a place Conception Bay and pull right up to the beach it's pretty awesome to have an RV.

The Church's Baja Camping guide has some great info and suggestions for stops - https://amzn.to/2HBopso

Alm - 9-2-2019 at 07:30 PM

Quote: Originally posted by fire

Hi everyone! I am considering purchasing a 36' rv and driving it down to Baja...

First of all, what "rv"? Motorhome is one thing, trailer or 5-er is another.

With MH you can see where the crumbled right edge of the road is, relatively to your wheels - you DO want to be as close to the right edge as possible. With trailer or 5-er you can't see it, no amount of fancy extended and oversized mirrors will help because the rig is much wider than your truck.

Also, trailer/5-er is more difficult to maneuver than MH, there is more swaying when oncoming big rig blasts you with an air shockwave. There are means to minimize this, but still...

I suggest you try this newly purchased rig of the size that you didn't have before, somewhere on better roads, before taking it to Baja. Or, if you must do it, - go REAL slow. This will give both you and oncoming car more time to respond, and there will be less chance to slip off that right crumble edge too. You will NOT always see oncoming big rig in time, if you drive fast. There will be crests and blind curves.