I should first start out by saying I love my 100. Best vehicle I've ever owned. I've had it for about 70k miles, only left me stranded once and that was because when the PO did the timing belt they did not replace the water pump which I wasn't aware of (until I was very aware of it when it failed). I never thought I'd sell the 100 but I think I've taken it as far as I can in regards to a vehicle to camp out of on extended trips.
My current setup:
It sees a lot of use traveling and camping. In the past 3 months it's been to Downieville/Tahoe, Steamboat Springs, Southern Utah and Northern Idaho. Several of those trips were ~10 days.
In good weather I have very few complaints about my setup. It's when I get stuck in crappy weather for several days on end that I start getting jealous of people with vans or some kind of roomy camper setup that they can hang out in. On this most recent trip to Northern Idaho it rained on me for 5 days in a row and even got into some snow.
Often times it's just me and our older dog on long trips but frequently my wife will join and so will all of the dogs. We recently just got a new puppy and now have 3 dogs total, although one is very small but the other 2 are a bit cramped even with the rear seat pulled out and a dog bed back there for them.
Ideally I will end up with something as capable offroad as the 100 and about the same size for trails. I don't rock crawl with this thing but it does get taken on some very rough and rowdy roads and trails. Ideally whatever I get won't have a much bigger trail footprint than the 100.
I've been reading up on other setups and what I am leaning towards right now is a 1st gen Tundra with either a GFC or Vagabond camper. I think this setup would alleviate most of my complaints about camping out of the 100. It would give a more usable shelter in crappy weather, it would be a much bigger space for the actual camping area and would allow the dogs to spread out and have more space as well. Weather depending and with a fan I think it may be ok to have the dogs ride in the camper as well, I hear mixed things on this but have a friend who does it and says the dogs are fine as long as it's not too hot. It seems like the 1st gen tundra would not be that much bigger than the 100, longer maybe but I'm thinking about the same width? Reliability is a huge concern and from what I know the 100 and the 1st gen tundra are pretty even there?
Anything else I'm missing or should be considering? I have no interest in any kind of trailer, my hitch almost always has either bikes or a moto on it.
My current setup:
It sees a lot of use traveling and camping. In the past 3 months it's been to Downieville/Tahoe, Steamboat Springs, Southern Utah and Northern Idaho. Several of those trips were ~10 days.
In good weather I have very few complaints about my setup. It's when I get stuck in crappy weather for several days on end that I start getting jealous of people with vans or some kind of roomy camper setup that they can hang out in. On this most recent trip to Northern Idaho it rained on me for 5 days in a row and even got into some snow.
Often times it's just me and our older dog on long trips but frequently my wife will join and so will all of the dogs. We recently just got a new puppy and now have 3 dogs total, although one is very small but the other 2 are a bit cramped even with the rear seat pulled out and a dog bed back there for them.
Ideally I will end up with something as capable offroad as the 100 and about the same size for trails. I don't rock crawl with this thing but it does get taken on some very rough and rowdy roads and trails. Ideally whatever I get won't have a much bigger trail footprint than the 100.
I've been reading up on other setups and what I am leaning towards right now is a 1st gen Tundra with either a GFC or Vagabond camper. I think this setup would alleviate most of my complaints about camping out of the 100. It would give a more usable shelter in crappy weather, it would be a much bigger space for the actual camping area and would allow the dogs to spread out and have more space as well. Weather depending and with a fan I think it may be ok to have the dogs ride in the camper as well, I hear mixed things on this but have a friend who does it and says the dogs are fine as long as it's not too hot. It seems like the 1st gen tundra would not be that much bigger than the 100, longer maybe but I'm thinking about the same width? Reliability is a huge concern and from what I know the 100 and the 1st gen tundra are pretty even there?
Anything else I'm missing or should be considering? I have no interest in any kind of trailer, my hitch almost always has either bikes or a moto on it.