[Sorry if TLDR, but here's the full Monty discussion]
Right now we have a 75th Anniversary (2021) Power Wagon on 35s with an AT Summit buildout (see Insta feed for pics), a 2013 Land Cruiser (Mud Avatar image), and a 2004 LX 470. And three kids and a dog. We wanted more space than the 200 which the Ram certainly gives, but it's not a perfect solution. At least not for our missions. The truck can handle five of us for short trips by maxes out on longer ventures. Yeah, we could pack less stuff but the truck gets full fast. To solve that we've been running a two-vehicle (Ram + 200) convoy but that's sixteen cylinders to feed and I don't get to sit next to my wife. $200 fill-ups for the caravan add up.
We operate in three modes: mode 1) me + dog (or + one kid). mode 2) full family + dog. mode 3) full family + kid friend + dog. The only way I can solve all three of those is with a third-row SUV plus a trailer. With something like an
Xpedition Voyager we can sleep two on top of the 200, two inside the trailer, and 2-4 on top of the trailer. And without the need to have a ground tent (which then require cots/sleeping pads, etc.). My current game plan is to reconfigure the back of the 200 to skinny up the drawers and allow the semi-permanent rear seats to stay in place. When solo, the drawers stay in and it's just the truck. For all other missions its truck + trailer, either with or without drawers depending upon pax count.
The other big consideration is trail presence. I live at 4,200 ft in the Deschutes National Forest. Mountains and forest service roads abound. My most common trip is to find a peak on a map and try to figure out how to get there. The 200 works great in that mission. The best sites are the ones hardest to get to. The Ram often fails due to width or turning radius. A tight turn-around for the 200 on a shelf road is a no-go in the Ram, requiring a long back-up. Not the end of the world but time consuming. And to be fair, this problem would be compounded with a trailer, but when it's the whole gang we're going to known spots. Recon missions are just me and the boy or me and a buddy. And turning the Ram is compounded when in 4WD. Those published turning circles are for 2WD. Try locking your center and doing tight turns. Same for any other SUV or truck without a center diff. This ended up being a bigger deal for my use than I had imagined. ATRAC and full-time 4WD are much more practical in real-world use than F/R lockers and the swaybar disconnect in the Ram.
And not to get off topic, but the base LX 600 is essentially a two row LC 300. No AHC. No third row. Very similar to what we had with the 2020 Heritage. And at 'only' $88k priced very similarly to the outgoing Land Cruiser. We'd definitely consider that over the new Sequoia if it had row numero tres. You need to move up to the $96k price point to get a third row in the LX 600, diminishing the value proposition for us. Most likely, we'll re-home the Power Wagon, keep the 200 as the 'Overlander', keep the 100 as the 'mule', and then eventually put a new Sequoia in a stall as the family mover. Captains chairs in the middle are another big win for the Seq.
Lastly, the 2004 100 (or 'The Mule' as we fondly refer to it as) has found great service as the 'get it done' rig. Ski bus. Home Depot hauler. Dump runs. Whatever. It's big and (relatively) light. And with 172k on the clock it's not a show queen. Nice to have one horse that can be ridden hard and put away wet. Often times literally on both.
I will say, the Ram is incredibly nice to ride in. Quite. Smooth (at least for a 3/4 ton). Fantastic audio system. Great seats. Etc. The engine is definitely less refined (as is any pushrod mill) and there's also the need to disable MDS with every trip to save the cams (read up on 'Hemi Tick'). But the 'Zed-F' 8-speed is a jewel of a trans and I've had only a single problem in 24,900 miles which was to replace an $8 outside temp sensor. On snow, the 20" extra wheelbase and extra weight make it super stable. Mountain pass travel in any weather is a non-event. I cross the Cascade range summits 60-80 times a year (!!) (30-40 round-trips). Add in 20+ ski days last year and my life is a lot about frozen road time. I've really appreciated the Ram for this. Not that I've ever had a problem with the 200 (or the 100) in the snow, it's just a more 'hands on' experience with a smaller SUV. Capable, but a bit more user participation required. Where sometimes I can feel the 200 getting a little loose, the long Ram drives white roads like it's on dry. Which is true for any other long-wheelbase vehicle. And the AT3W 35's seem perfect for the size/weight of the truck.
In an ideal world we'd have many vehicles, each an expert in their own domain. The real-world doesn't allow this. After living with the Ram for the last 18 months I'm just not sure the things it's really good at has the best alignment with what we need to ask it to do. I think if I were to draw a Venn diagram showing the overlapping circles of our mission needs with the two trucks the 200 would have more shaded area in the middle. Not a perfect solution, but possibly a better solution. Jury is still out, but that's where we're leaning right now.
