Family of 6 Touring / Camping - Keep LC100 or Buy Excursion? (2 Viewers)

[Beck]

We thought we were being careful. Prophylactics don’t always work and we went from 2 kids to 4. We had twins …. They do look like Dad.

I currently have an ‘06 100 with 168K and have grand plans of teaching my kids about the outdoors in it, and the joys of not being attached to a damn screen in suburbia. I want to show the kids the Western National Parks in a proper camping way, take them to Baja for beach camping / fishing, and do many more local state park / fishing trips as often as possible. I REALLY want to do some mild off-roading on these trips. Alpine Loop, mountain passes, White Rim Trail, and the like. Nothing too crazy, but I want to get somewhat remote.

The wife and my two “older” kids (2yo and 3yo) already like camping.

I would LOVE to do it in my 100, even though it has some rust from the previous owner’s neglect. I have wire wheeled, needle scaled, and oiled as much as I can every Fall.
The Land Cruiser has gotten under my skin, and I treat it better than my own organs in some ways.

Accomplishing these goals would mean buying an “overland” trailer to carry all the crap we can’t fit in the 100. We all know that a family of 6 comes with a boatload of crap. I’m thinking of western trips when our youngest twins are 3-4.


That’s the long backstory and buildup.

Do I squeeze everyone in the 100 with a RTT and plan on buying a sleeper “off-road” trailer?

OR

Do I buy and build the cleanest 7.3 or, more likely, 6.8 V10 Ford Excursion? ——- due to cost.
Excursion with mild lift, 35s, front bumper with heavy duty winch, roof rack, huge RTT w/ annex for future cots when RTT is too tight due to child age.

Excursion Pros:
- No Trailer needed to haul the crap.
- Can fit the 4kids comfortably up until they’re adults
- Way more room for supplies, etc.

Excursion Cons:
- It’s not a Land Cruiser. Not as reliable, and not as downright fun.

- Don’t want it as my DD. Would probably sell my 100, and buy a good used previous gen Tundra for DD….. in addition to buying and building an Excursion over a few years. Previous gen tundra = 40k for low mileage with options I want.

- Very Heavy
- Tighter, slower, and less capable in the trails I have described. BUT is it less capable than a 100 with “overland trailer”?

- Would need to build a garage at the nearby family farm, or extend my current garage to house the built Excursion. I Don’t want to leave it outside for any extended period of time. Cost? $10-20K?

If you’ve read this far, you probably have the same amount of brain damage that I do.

What do you think?

Use my 100 / buy a clean 100 and build/ buy an off-road trailer? Pay to house the trailer somewhere / build the garage out.

OR

Buy and build a clean Excursion?
Build the garage and buy a truck for DD.

Unfortunately, I think I’ve already talked myself out of a Pinzgauer 712K due to top speed, cabin noise, and remote parts availability. That would be incredible though.

Thanks guys. Sorry for the absurd novel. My mind is just mush after thinking about this for months.
I appreciate any insight you can offer. Here’s my 100 currently.

 

[Rhetoric]

Don't love all your wife and kid-bashing talk, to be honest. Congrats they look like you and your wife isn't cheating I guess? Did you maybe mean to post that stuff on a Ford forum of unhappy dads?

Good luck with an Excursion. They're just getting older, more expensive to purchase, and more expensive to maintain. They were never amazing in the first place. Have you looked at more modern vehicles like the Expedition Max? How about a Quigley 4x4 van? You could also build a trailer from some ex-military units for a lot cheaper than finding a clapped out Excursion.

You might need to adjust what you do as a family vs what you do with only a subset of your kids if you can't find a perfect vehicle fit. The young ages with reverse-facing convertible car seats make it hell in almost any vehicle besides a mini-van.

 

[Beck]

Thanks for the reply. I Love my wife and I love my kids. Jokes / self deprecation don’t always come through in text. However, I will definitely search for the unhappy Ford dad’s forum. That has to be good entertainment.

You’re right about reverse facing car seats being a pain. I don’t plan on doing anything too remote until all the kids are forward facing.

I’m looking for a 10-15yr setup for the whole family.

 

[hoser]

Tough call. Excursion is a great road trip vehicle for your family's size. Not a good daily driver.... like the 100. Myself, I didn't really like towing a trailer on trips. But great once we found our spot. A 100 with trailer is certainly more versatile. Trailer has very low maintenance.

I would probably lean towards 100 with trailer. You can pack the trailer ready to go. I would suggest renting a trailer and trying a trip first before you invest. A teardrop with an RTT could fit you all. Detach it an go wheeling. In a few years, you might want something bigger and more powerful. Swap the 100 for a Sequoia... trailer will be the same.

 

[saucebox]

Meh, the self-deprecation reads fine.

I don't know what the right decision is for you, but having done the reverse trip this summer...it feels like even an Excursion won't be near enough space. We took the LX and a single child back home to Birmingham this year and it was absolutely stuffed. First-child syndrome, I'm sure, and we have no idea what the hell we're doing (yet? ever?) but we somehow sacrificed a few things to get it packed and on the road.

Probably won't come as a surprise on a Land Cruiser forum, but I'd probably let it ride with the LC and just expand it as needed with a trailer. Storage when you need it, normal truck for the other 99% of the year. (Or maybe do a few trips, and re-evaluate from there.) Some of the Alpine loop would be a little hairy with a trailer (but you can always basecamp and then offroad separately), the White Rim would be just fine (slightly hairy in a couple of spots maybe?).

A supercharger is only like 6 grand. Much cheaper than building a garage.

 

[suprarx7nut]

100 with a trailer gets my vote. Keep the trailor-towing trails on the mild side and I think a trailer is fine. I view the trailers as a pain in the rear if the vehicle and campsite aren't the "reason" for the trip, but if the whole point is to just get out, relax and explore the trail and nature near your site, then I think a trailer setup with a bunch of kids would be great.

Also noteworthy, we've had more and more big families using and ADGU sleep setup with an RTT. You can definitely sleep your family in a large RTT and a convertible sleep system - once they're out of car seats.

I think the trick in your situation is to alter the "experience" to best suit the family and the gear you've got. You can show them an awful lot of outdoors with a station wagon and a couple ground tents. It's all various shades of icing on the cake beyond that.

 

[Bisho]

I think your 100 and a trailer would be fine on the trails, and can work for a 10 year window, but no way for 15. Your kids will be full size and the 100 is not a 6 full size people hauler. Of course that window will only last a couple years and kids will move out and you'll want the 100 again. I think in that window you buy another 100 and teach the kids to drive trails / caravan.

 

[Live to Ski]

what's his face from overland journal ranted and raved about his excursion.

It was modified for "overland" (overist) duties and it certainly has the payload. Not sure about the aftermarket support, though with the suspected massive #'s over the lc due to pickup roots, it would have a much larger pool of parts.

same goes for typical mechanic support. I have to really shake the tree to find any mechanics that I trust with the 100, even alignment shops that know what they are doing are rare.

the trails you mentioned are slightly above subaru friendly. the excursion can handle 90 - 95% of the trails the 100 works.

street/highway driving, that's another question (full disclosure, never driven an excursion).

though heresy, i lobby for the excursion for your scenario.

That's not my story, and I'm not sticking to it

 

[Beck]

Thanks very much for your help, guys. The comfort, room, F250 mechanic knowledge of the excursion is definitely appealing, especially for long distance trips. However practical an excursion would be for my uses, it is certain that I’d regret selling the 100.

 

[mp_cude]

The wife and I did the PCH years ago when I got out of the military, in a 100, a trailer and four kids. The boys were 3-10, we had a queen mattress and four twin mattress and a large tent, along with all of our other gear. It was an amazing and memorable trip. We had plenty of rest and enjoyed every moment taking our time…

Immediately after getting home we started looking for an excursion to make the same trips. We sold the 100 and simply couldn’t find a decent excursion anywhere. To this day I regret selling that 100 even though I have another and am going through that one to make it perfect.

@Bisho is right, you’ll want the 100 back. Excursions don’t infect you in a way like a 100 will. The driving is truly such a small part of the trip you’ll remember that in bits and pieces.

Fast forward, we have three more kids and still love to do the same kinds of things. So, it’s a trailer for the 100 and a Sienna trailing behind.

Buy a sienna, keep the 100 and forget the Ford

 

[Fairgame]

Have you considered purchasing a robust caravan? There are some awesome options out there and no need to set up camp.

 

[Bisho]

I think the Excursion is almost double the 100 (slight exaggeration, maybe). I can't say I've seen one on anything more than a forest service road. I'm sure they are out there, but I have a similar vintage F-350 and I would not look forward to taking it where I take the 100.

If your sticking to Forest Service roads, the Expedition is actually a better choice. Surprisingly it has more room and more towing capacity than an Excursion, and its definitely more comfortable. We had a 2008 EL and it was a great truck when I sold it at 260k miles. Not a serious offroader, but a great road trip to gravel roads / camping vehicle.

 

[ClassyJalopy]

My vote would be the second Gen Sequoia. Damn near bullet proof trucks with space for 6 adults! If you can find a 2019+ in your budget, you will also get all the fancy active safety systems too!
A decently set up Sequoia will do a lot of trails you are talking about and can be built up into a pretty serious wheeler with aftermarket goodies. It won't be a cruiser, and won't be as nimble but will allow you to postpone the purchase of a trailer for a few years too!

 

[Tigerstripe40]

Wait for the youngest to turn 5, then buy a second Land Cruiser.
His and hers matching Land Cruisers and spread the kids/gear between the two rigs.

Rent a nice RV in the interim.

 

[Trapper50cal]

2 Cruisers, 2 RTT's and a glamping tent....that way if two of the kids are having trouble getting along, you can swap passengers. Plenty of storage between the two.

 

[Exiled]

Or you get a nice offroad trailer and you run an RTT on the truck and an RTT on the trailer, and then you split the kiddos up. Or get one of those cool trailers that have sleeping quarters inside and the kitchen behind the back hatch, then add an RTT to that. You can sleep with the older ones on the RTT and mama and the babies can sleep inside. You can keep the 100 since you already have set up the way you want and that's way cooler than driving an Excursion around as a daily driver. Just my $0.02.

 

[Sean9421]

2 Cruisers, 2 RTT's and a glamping tent....that way if two of the kids are having trouble getting along, you can swap passengers. Plenty of storage between the two.

This sounds like the best idea... Until you pull into the gas station. I cringe thinking about fueling 1 100 for a long trip, imagine doubling it?

In all seriousness, splitting up the family into 2 vehicle on a family trip would take away a lot of bonding time. Towing a trailer off-road sucks. If I were in your shoes (and I've considered this with only 2 kids) take a look into the sportsmobile classics with a penthouse. They have the same engines as the excursions if you're looking for 7.3 or v10, can seat/sleep 6 without a trailer, and can probably handle all the trails you listed. They are kind of pricey, but if you're toying with the idea of buying an excursion, building it, building a garage, and then a tundra dd, you may come out spending less just buying a dedicated camper and using the 100 to dd.

Only other advice I can give you is you and your wife better start sleeping in separate beds, because your choice of vehicles are dwindling fast. Any more kids and you guys are getting into BIG money rigs

 

[willyroo]

Accomplishing these goals would mean buying an “overland” trailer to carry all the crap we can’t fit in the 100.

(yes that is a bucket hat on the snorkel)

3 generations in a hunjy - a trip to Cape York in 2016. The 100 series is a fine daily driver, it fits a family, and...

...gets you to places like Eliot Falls that only a proper 4WD can take you to.

 

[LostAfrican]

Stick with the cruiser.
We did the Baja with 4 little dudes without a trailer:

(waiting to board a ferry across the Sea of Cortez)

And later a Covid NW loop to Mt Rushmore and down the Pacific Coast with a trailer.

(Mt St Helen’s, WA)

Totally doable. We still have both the cruiser and trailer and all 4 kids.
Kids camp in a Gazelle tent while we Trailer Top tent it.

We have also been beach camping in MX with and without the trailer.

 

[zgfiredude]

1. Why the Ford bias?
2. What about a similar vintage Suburban?
3. But the best approach is either keep the LC, or go the Sequoia route. The Gen 1 Sequoias share the same drivetrain as the 100, and some of them came with second row buckets......which offers separation for two of the kids!