toylandcruiser
Expedition Leader
There is tons of aftermarket support
Aftermarket support is kind of irrelevant. Plenty of stock trucks running around with zero aftermarket parts.
Advice on budget family camping vehicle (Sequoia, 4runner, LC, Taco? Domestic?)
- Thread starter TFin04
- Start date
There is tons of aftermarket support
Aftermarket support is kind of irrelevant. Plenty of stock trucks running around with zero aftermarket parts.
calicamper
Expedition Leader
Ran my sequoia 100% stock with BFG rugged t/a's stock size, we did a Gwagen guest trip a few yrs ago just north of the Rubicon. The Sequioa was bigger than the G's and almost too big for the trail. The only weak spot with the Sequoia is lacking rear locker. We covered mud, rock and steep trail wash breaks. Worked great except the rocky off camber cross up where we lacked locking rear and had opposite corners spin. Took two attempts to get through that spot. Power is plenty, I would say its way over powered for trail use. Its tuned to be a soccer mom stop light dragster like all the other full sized v8 suvs. 4runner is small as in really small compared to the Sequoia. Sequoia has nicer high speed emergency handling than the 4runner in a big way.
justcuz
Explorer
Same in my neck of the woods. I try to get out in the forest or desert once a week and rarely see a Sequoia off road. Most around here lead the soccer Mom life. Nice alternative to a Land Cruiser IMO, especially the 1st generation, due to size.
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fireball
Explorer
Our family wheeling camping expedition rig is a 99 LC. My wife DDs a 06 Sequoia and she used to drive a 99 4R. The Sequoia is really great for your intended use. It's not great at hard core wheeling, but has tons more room than the LC, has more power and would be better for towing. It is not as nice a vehicle as the LC, but given your needs and budget the Sequoia is a great option.
Thanks for your help guys.
I've also found that a V8 Jeep WJ is well within my budget, and may split the size gap between a Sequoia and 4runner. Found some 2002-2004 Jeep's, nicely featured with 100-120k miles for $5000-6000.
I've owned a 2wd XJ in the past, but that was my extent of Jeep knowledge. I'll look into these a bit more.
I've also found that a V8 Jeep WJ is well within my budget, and may split the size gap between a Sequoia and 4runner. Found some 2002-2004 Jeep's, nicely featured with 100-120k miles for $5000-6000.
I've owned a 2wd XJ in the past, but that was my extent of Jeep knowledge. I'll look into these a bit more.
p nut
butter
I owned a ZJ in the past, which wasn't any bigger than my 4Runner (in fact, I think it was smaller). I'd have a hard time believing a WJ would be the answer. Maybe a Commander would be a nice in between size.
calicamper
Expedition Leader
For sure not larger than the 4runner. Sequoias in nicer shape and lower miles can be found for less than most 4runners. The 4.7v8 is a great engine. It does have the timing belt / water pump service at basically 100k
Okay, Jeep may be a nonstarter. Sequoia still seems to be leading the pack. Spoke to my wife a bit more tonight (as this project started with us buying a used truck for house chores and has become a family camper-mobile instead), and she likes the idea of hitting the dunes and camping back on some two tracks, of which Michigan has a lot of. I showed her some drawer kitchen setups and she really liked them too.
I think I'll continue the focus on full size SUVs ala Sequoia, Expedition and maybe Tahoe's. You guys have been great, this site is an excellent resource.
I think I'll continue the focus on full size SUVs ala Sequoia, Expedition and maybe Tahoe's. You guys have been great, this site is an excellent resource.
calicamper
Expedition Leader
Keep in mind rear seat bench width is key regarding kids seating options. We easily seat three across comfortably. The deep cut rear doors gives you easy reach to the 3rd row. My daughter sat 3rd row pass side for several yrs. I could lift her into her seat while standing at the door. That was the negative with GM and Ford couldn't reach via 2nd row door.
We ran with half the 3rd row left out, and either had the dog crate strapped next to her or just gear etc. Today we rarely use it Gramps passed away so 99% of the time I'm in the Subaru given we dont need seating for 5.
We ran with half the 3rd row left out, and either had the dog crate strapped next to her or just gear etc. Today we rarely use it Gramps passed away so 99% of the time I'm in the Subaru given we dont need seating for 5.
Good to know. I don't expect to use the third row at all, I just want the room after I remove it.
rezkid
New member
I'll throw in my .02 and another vote for the Sequoia. I was in a similar situation about 2 years ago when we picked up our '06 Limited.
My wife's criteria were that it had to be comfortable for road trips and have a 3rd row seat for we we visited family. My additional requirements were that it had to be able to tow at least 5000lbs and be 4wd, with my preference being Toyota and $10k or less.
We looked at 4th gen 4runners and found them to be:
A. Too small
B. Finding one with a 3rd row seat in our price range was next to impossible.
C. Most expensive than a comparable Sequoia.
We also looked long and hard at '98-02 100 series but again finding one in our price range that wasn't trashed proved to be difficult. We did eventually find a very nice '99 for sale locally that we test drove, and that is were we ran into the other issue...it was just too small for what we intended to use it for. Which was saying something as this was going to be a replacement for my '95 4Runner that I had at the time.
It was then that we narrowed our search down to the Sequoia and then the hunt was on to find the "right" one. After several evenings of research I had narrowed my search down to '05-07's for the following reasons.
A. 4.7L w/VVT - more power for towing
B. 5-speed A750F transmission
In the end we found a '06 Limited ~2hr north of us for $10k, it had ~198k mi on it but it had a full service history from the 2 previous owners and had either been serviced at the original dealership it was sold at or a local toyota mechanic. Also adding to that were receipts that the timing belt/water pump had just been replaced with toyota/aisin parts.
So far it has never let us down, and we've put ~30k on it since purchase. That only failure that we've had so far is the dealer installed DVD player died about 6mo ago, but that's no fault of the truck. It is by far the nicest road trip vehicle I've ever driven, and eats up the miles easily, including two family trips to WI this year (1500mi one way) and several shorter trips to northern New Mexico (9hrs one way). Offroad wise it has easily handled forrest service roads in Southern Colorado along with making it over Cinnamon Pass in between Silverton & Lake City without much trouble, mind you mine is bone stock with the exception of some Toyo Open Country HT tires. All in all it has been the perfect rig for our needs and we plan on keeping it until it dies.
My wife's criteria were that it had to be comfortable for road trips and have a 3rd row seat for we we visited family. My additional requirements were that it had to be able to tow at least 5000lbs and be 4wd, with my preference being Toyota and $10k or less.
We looked at 4th gen 4runners and found them to be:
A. Too small
B. Finding one with a 3rd row seat in our price range was next to impossible.
C. Most expensive than a comparable Sequoia.
We also looked long and hard at '98-02 100 series but again finding one in our price range that wasn't trashed proved to be difficult. We did eventually find a very nice '99 for sale locally that we test drove, and that is were we ran into the other issue...it was just too small for what we intended to use it for. Which was saying something as this was going to be a replacement for my '95 4Runner that I had at the time.
It was then that we narrowed our search down to the Sequoia and then the hunt was on to find the "right" one. After several evenings of research I had narrowed my search down to '05-07's for the following reasons.
A. 4.7L w/VVT - more power for towing
B. 5-speed A750F transmission
In the end we found a '06 Limited ~2hr north of us for $10k, it had ~198k mi on it but it had a full service history from the 2 previous owners and had either been serviced at the original dealership it was sold at or a local toyota mechanic. Also adding to that were receipts that the timing belt/water pump had just been replaced with toyota/aisin parts.
So far it has never let us down, and we've put ~30k on it since purchase. That only failure that we've had so far is the dealer installed DVD player died about 6mo ago, but that's no fault of the truck. It is by far the nicest road trip vehicle I've ever driven, and eats up the miles easily, including two family trips to WI this year (1500mi one way) and several shorter trips to northern New Mexico (9hrs one way). Offroad wise it has easily handled forrest service roads in Southern Colorado along with making it over Cinnamon Pass in between Silverton & Lake City without much trouble, mind you mine is bone stock with the exception of some Toyo Open Country HT tires. All in all it has been the perfect rig for our needs and we plan on keeping it until it dies.
rezkid
New member
In town is right around 13-14mpg, hiway driving with the cruise set at 80mph and the a/c going full blast is 17mpg. With the 26 gal tank, range is right around ~400mi. Not horrible for a ~6000lb suv that has the front cv's turning all the time.
p nut
butter
I'm not calling bs, but how did you figure this? I can see 17MPG going 65, maybe 70, but exponential loss of MPG is well noted as you start going faster than that. 17MPG at 80 would mean you'd get 21+ MPG at 70.
rezkid
New member
Sweet spot perhaps for my rig? Gas milage at 65-70mph is a consistent 16.5-17mpg, and this is hand calculated not based off the overhead readout. Keep in mind that most of my driving is in West Texas which has very little variation in elevation in comparison to say Colorado or Utah which I'm sure plays a significant part. If most of my driving were in one of those places I'm sure I would be seeing lower mpg.