Family of 6 Touring / Camping - Keep LC100 or Buy Excursion? (1 Viewer)
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We went from a 7.3 Excursion to a 100 and space is tight! I miss all of the room we had in the X. It’s only 2WD and for sale now. I disagree that an X won’t infect you the way a 100 does. At least a diesel one does anyways. But, my advice is get something newer. They really are getting old. We’ve spent over 5k on repairs for the X recently. The extra space in an Expedition or Suburban is fantastic. I couldn’t imagine only having a 100 series. We have two kids. When we take our pop up camper out we are packed full in both. Keep us updated.
This is what I was thinking. I own a LX470 and a 2nd gen Sequoia. The Sequoia is capable, comfortable and has a lot of room inside.
I REALLY wish they made a long version Sequoia. That would be the answer. They’re just not long enough. Hardly any room behind the 3rd row. My friend just bought a Capstone one and he’s thinking about trading it for a Suburban.
I highly recommend the 100. We are a family of 5. We’ve done several trips out west from Tennessee going on ski trips, Moab and Silverton, Yellowstone etc. On another trip we went out to Tahoe, California coast up to Oregon, Washington in a Ford f25O crew cab with a truck camper in the bed. We all prefer the 100 over the Ford. Is it easy all the time…no. But if we wanted easy we’d all just stay home. My mom’s cousins rode from California to Arkansas and back in the 1960’s in a Ford model A in the rumble seat.
We as Americans have gotten soft. It goes by fast. I say pile in and go!
Agree as others- maybe daily something more practical and keep the 100 for trips.
I recently purchased a roof top bag- this allowed me to put the dog I. The 3rd row and diaper bags/ pack and play behind the 3row seats with all luggage on the roof.
This was pretty slick for our recent road trip
I recently purchased a roof top bag- this allowed me to put the dog I. The 3rd row and diaper bags/ pack and play behind the 3row seats with all luggage on the roof.
This was pretty slick for our recent road trip
I would always prefer a trailer with a tent over a RTT on the vehicle.
Driving with a trailer isn’t as bad as a lot of people make you believe.
And it gives you the freedom to setup camp and still be able to use the car to explore the surroundings .
Driving with a trailer isn’t as bad as a lot of people make you believe.
And it gives you the freedom to setup camp and still be able to use the car to explore the surroundings .
dogdaysindurham
SILVER Star
This is the dream (trailer with RTT). The RTT always on the vehicles is a pain that I have to live with.
I have used a this hitch mounted Thule hard shell box, when I carried 6 people plus 2 dogs before.
Just haul the kids on the roof rack. A little practice and duct tape, and they'll be fine up there.
Eventually.
Eventually.
Your ultimate goal is to get them outside. You already have a very capable adventure vehicle that can fit the crew you have and with a little creativity you'll do fine with the 100 to get you to your destination. No since in starting over with a new vehicle, and one you might not even like after the fact. I'd rather be limited by my desire to explore and not by the vehicle.
Or nice RV/ Coach and flat tow the 100….. this is my goal when my kids are older.
Size/towing capacity aside, for those who have first-hand experience, how would you rank the reliability of the common full-size trucks? (Say if I can live with any shortcoming like mpg, interior rattling, and just need AWD/4WD enough for fire road/camping offroading, but do not want to be stranded 
. So solely from reliability pov )
If we give well-maintained 100/200 series 100 points; 90 for the Sequoia. 10 points for Range Rover and 20 for BMW X7/Mercedes GLS, 30 for Grand Cherokee ...
What about 2010+ model year Nissan Armada, Ford Expedition/Excursion, Chevy Tahoe/Suburban, GMC Yukon etc.
. So solely from reliability pov )If we give well-maintained 100/200 series 100 points; 90 for the Sequoia. 10 points for Range Rover and 20 for BMW X7/Mercedes GLS, 30 for Grand Cherokee ...
What about 2010+ model year Nissan Armada, Ford Expedition/Excursion, Chevy Tahoe/Suburban, GMC Yukon etc.
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I vote Excursion with 7.3 (because you already know you don't wanna be the guy who buys a V10 because you cheaped out on the purchase). You have all the room, all the power, solid front and rear axles, infinite after market, bulletproof drivetrain, etc. We love to be snobby about our 100s, but let's be honest, the X is significantly more truck. Especially by the time you put in 4 diaper fillers, you and your wife, gear, the dog you don't know you're about to rescue yet, one or two friends once your kids get to grade school age, and the copious amount of cooler/fridge space that you'll need for hauling around all of these bodies (ya know, for the alcohol and apple sauce). Also, why not try to minimize the amount of time you spend climbing on top of your roof for everything you'll need at camp, since your entire cabin is full of people? Sounds miserable, IMO.
The 100 is great, but just for me and the Ms and one mid-sized dog, we're at max for comfort. There are guys like @hotdiggitydamn who get their whole crew (1-2 dogs included) in their 100 and it works, but IDK if Ryan could manage all with 2 additional kids.
I don't love your lack of personality, to be honest. I bet you're great around a camp fire.
100s are getting older at the same rate as Excursions. Believe it or not, time doesn't stand still for Cruisers.
The 100 is great, but just for me and the Ms and one mid-sized dog, we're at max for comfort. There are guys like @hotdiggitydamn who get their whole crew (1-2 dogs included) in their 100 and it works, but IDK if Ryan could manage all with 2 additional kids.
I don't love your lack of personality, to be honest. I bet you're great around a camp fire.
100s are getting older at the same rate as Excursions. Believe it or not, time doesn't stand still for Cruisers.
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jLB
Another one followed me home. Can we keep it?
Just another reminder - 4 kids and a camper trailer on K'gari (Fraser Island). Drop everything to 15psi in the soft sand and being a cruiser - it just *works*.
How is the reliability for modern (<10 year old) Ford Expedition? I heard from Youtube that the ones with 5.4L 3-valve triton motor have lots of problems and the mechanics did the highest number of engine swap on them than any other engines
. Are the latest generation ones likely better reliability-wise?
@Beck I'm in a similar situation with 3 young kids. We make it work but the LC is packed even for overnight camping. I can't imagine trying to squeeze a 4th kid in along with camping gear, etc.
I think the first step before deciding on a vehicle is to truly evaluate what you'll really be doing. Using myself as an example, I've had to tame my ideas of grandeur and overland/ camping trips to what's realistic with 3 small kids and my work schedule.
I don't think the Excursion is a bad idea. I grew up wheeling in full-size trucks and while not optimal you should be able to get and Excursion when you need it and probably some places you don't. I would only buy one with the 7.3 diesel. It's an epic engine and commands a premium for sure, but for good reason.
I think the first step before deciding on a vehicle is to truly evaluate what you'll really be doing. Using myself as an example, I've had to tame my ideas of grandeur and overland/ camping trips to what's realistic with 3 small kids and my work schedule.
I don't think the Excursion is a bad idea. I grew up wheeling in full-size trucks and while not optimal you should be able to get and Excursion when you need it and probably some places you don't. I would only buy one with the 7.3 diesel. It's an epic engine and commands a premium for sure, but for good reason.
I'll go a bit of a different route here and recommend focusing more on the camper and less on the rig. Tent camping with a family of 4+ (we're only at 4) is a big PITA in term so set-up time, convenience, dealing with rain, etc (and this is coming from a backpacker/bikepacker).
The easier way to camp with a big family is get a real camper. We have a TrailManor that's collapsible and weighs around 3K dry and 4K loaded. It tows great behind our GX470 at 65-70 mph and we've done multiple 700 mile days with it. All of our gear is inside the camper and the inside of the rig non-cluttered. Set up takes around 15 minutes at a developed campground, we then have heat/AC/propane/electricity/fridge/etc and the kids can roam the campground and make friends. You can leave for the day to wheel and then come back. A 100 could easily tow one of these. I initially wanted a off-road trailer but we settled on one of these and I haven't looked back. The beauty of the real camper is we literally camp 3-4X as much as we did with tents - it's a lot easier on all of us and the kids love it.
The easier way to camp with a big family is get a real camper. We have a TrailManor that's collapsible and weighs around 3K dry and 4K loaded. It tows great behind our GX470 at 65-70 mph and we've done multiple 700 mile days with it. All of our gear is inside the camper and the inside of the rig non-cluttered. Set up takes around 15 minutes at a developed campground, we then have heat/AC/propane/electricity/fridge/etc and the kids can roam the campground and make friends. You can leave for the day to wheel and then come back. A 100 could easily tow one of these. I initially wanted a off-road trailer but we settled on one of these and I haven't looked back. The beauty of the real camper is we literally camp 3-4X as much as we did with tents - it's a lot easier on all of us and the kids love it.
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