Island Jim
Active member
My wife and I just returned to Vashon from a month long 4600 mile trip to Baja in our 2014 high roof 2500.The only problem we had with the van was the stock continental tires which failed before we got to the border at 15000 miles. Big chunks of rubber were peeling off the two front tires. We stopped at the Hollywood Mercedes dealer because we were visiting our son in the neighborhood. They were not a help at all, telling us the tires were dryrotted and needed replacing, I think we knew that, but they couldn't get us in for a week and wouldn't pay anything for replacement. We called around and found a set of Michelin LTX defenders in San Diego for the right price so drove cautiously South, tire problem solved. We crossed the border at Chula Vista, very easy, took about 20 minutes. The toll road to Ensenada is excellent, fast and smooth, also the shopping in Ensenada is easy, even a Costco for those who like that. Once you head South the road becomes much more challenging, narrow, winding, potholed with fairly aggressive drivers. We took our time, drove only during daylight and did fine except one incident which is another story for a later time. We spent three days driving south to Bahia Conception where we hooked up with our Canadian friends camping in their Promaster conversion. We filled up with ULSD in Jesus Maria just before entering Baja south. There is only LSD available in the South. We were turning around in Loreto so had to use only two tanks of LSD and had no problem with fuel on the trip. Our favorite campgrounds were centered around Mulege. There are five or six beaches on Bahia Conception where the camping is great,paddling and fishing excellent and the people are very friendly. Camping is about five dollars a night which includes a Palapa for shade if you are early enough. Low key vendors come each morning with fruit, vegetables, tamales, shrimp, water etc. all delicious and cheap. Most of the people camping on the beach are Canadians or Americans with a few Europeans about. Mulege is a great stop for a meal out, a little culture and a chance to interact with more locals. Our favorite beach in the area was Escondido or hidden beach just south of town. Escondido had a narrow steep and rough trail to it which kept the big rigs out! We stopped at many more great spots which I will talk about in another post. I will also post some pictures after we edit them.
We were very happy with how the van and it's systems worked. I did have to manually shift my V6 a lot but don't find that to be a problem, lots of fourth gear hills in the Baja. A stove you can use outdoors is very useful. I had a fixed two burner propane stove inside and a single burner portable propane stove which got a lot of use. Our friends had a Camp Chef Everest propane stove which could be used inside or out, very good choice. Water was no problem, there were shops that sold purified water for 10 pesos for 5 gallons in every town. You need to purchase the bottle at first fill then just exchange them when filling up again. We gravity filled our tank which worked but was a pain, our friends use a 12volt pump to transfer from bottles to their tank which was a much more elegant solution. We both carried our sea kayaks on the roofs using a after roller to get them up and down. This worked well but did mean we had to get on the roof to pull them up and down and to secure them. We both used Thetford curve port potties which worked well. Lots of out houses or dump stations available. Our Truck fridge tf65 was on the whole trip and worked perfectly. We had 300 amp Lifeline batteries charged by a Sterling b2b charger and never got below 82% soc.The Baja is a great place to visit in your van, we can highly recommend it, just don't be in a hurry!
We were very happy with how the van and it's systems worked. I did have to manually shift my V6 a lot but don't find that to be a problem, lots of fourth gear hills in the Baja. A stove you can use outdoors is very useful. I had a fixed two burner propane stove inside and a single burner portable propane stove which got a lot of use. Our friends had a Camp Chef Everest propane stove which could be used inside or out, very good choice. Water was no problem, there were shops that sold purified water for 10 pesos for 5 gallons in every town. You need to purchase the bottle at first fill then just exchange them when filling up again. We gravity filled our tank which worked but was a pain, our friends use a 12volt pump to transfer from bottles to their tank which was a much more elegant solution. We both carried our sea kayaks on the roofs using a after roller to get them up and down. This worked well but did mean we had to get on the roof to pull them up and down and to secure them. We both used Thetford curve port potties which worked well. Lots of out houses or dump stations available. Our Truck fridge tf65 was on the whole trip and worked perfectly. We had 300 amp Lifeline batteries charged by a Sterling b2b charger and never got below 82% soc.The Baja is a great place to visit in your van, we can highly recommend it, just don't be in a hurry!
