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Funny you guys should bring up south america because that is why I started this thread- to gather info for our next expedition down there. We just finished a 12,000 mile road trip through Peru, Chile, and Argentina. We chose a 1997 toyota land cruiser prado with a 3 liter TD, due to that being a very common vehicle with possibly the most spare parts availability. Even then we had to import many parts from the united states due to the huge delays to get parts down there. For example, a large toyota dealershiop in the capital, Lima, of Peru did not carry a single heater core- for ANY make or model of toyota. We carried as spares: front unit bearing, front axle shaft,CV boots, starter, glow plugs, brake booster, air filter, fuel filter, all fluids the list goes on. Before the trip we had newish ball joints, and had to replace them mid trip because the previous vehicle owner replaced them with chinese parts on a quality level even lower than what one is accustomed to in the states.
I was trying to break a high altitude record on a moto so we had a ton of gear on the vehicle, it was way too small for all the gear, tools, parts. The volcano we used at for the record attempt, Ojos del Salado, was 160 miles one way from the nearest gas station or drinking water source. The logistics were pretty insane to be there- just food, fuel, waterwise. This is why I am going back in a gas engine. I want one fuel for everything- the motorcycle, the car, the heaters. Base camp that any car can get to is at 14000 ft. There are progressively higher camps all the way up to 20k. Our diesel would not start above 15k, and would barely run/idle above that, clogging injectors and smoking us out badly. New diesel are even worse- their emissions systems clog quickly. Gas engines run fine up there. Even carbureted without touching the jets run, and better than diesels.
All this to say that next time I'm not bringing a diesel. Another issue-the ford super duty basically doesn't exist down there- they have them in Argentina and Brazil but they are Fummins- fords with cummins. If one were to bring down a 7.3 powerstroke you have basically zero parts availability. If you bring a ford 6.2 gas super duty you would have to source parts from the raptor, which are not all interchangeable.
My next truck for south america therfore is probably going to be a F-150 3.5 ecoboost or 5.0 v8. That truck and those engines are what's most common in all countries, behind the Hilux, which is not available in the united states so it rules it out for me personally.
Speaking of breaking an F-350- my current truck is a 99 F-350 with the 7.3 powerstroke. Mine rattled apart and blew up in Death Valley on racetrack road- its some nasty washboards, I think about 40 miles or so. In south america out of 12,000 miles we did somewhere between 1500-2000 miles of dirt roads, lots of it bad washboards. I would not bring an older truck down there. I want an engine that has been proven in baja and the desert, that is why I think I will go for the 3.5 ecoboost. Its been abused by thousands in the F-150 Raptor, it exists everywhere around the world, and its got boost so that should help at 20,000 ft.
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