The Family Daily Driver ExPo Rig Thread!

[dstock]

Family Vehicle... Check... With the LC I have no reservations concerning safety or reliability when traveling on or offroad with my family.
Daily Driver... Check... On average the LC is driven over 300 miles per week just on the 405 (arguably the worst traffic in the nation).
Expo Rig... Check... We have yet to go on any expeditions, but everyday is an adventure in our family.

After a year and a half of ownership, ~20k miles, and many awesome memories made... Our LC continues to exceed our expectations as a family vehicle.

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I have to say I love my JK Unlimited, but your rig looks fantastic!

 

[2025 deleted member]

Not the daily driver but it is the Family Get Away From the Crowds Rig.

Clean and simple, that is a nice truck.

 

[Bretthn]

Our WJ has been great so far for my wife, 4 year old daughter, and I. We have not been on any cross country multi night adventures yet but it has been comfortable for my daily commute and weekend adventures. I still have a lot in mind for it!

 

[T.Low]

2nd vote for modified Astro van to carry the family and all the toys camping. (OK, all the toys are mine except one of the white water boats is my wife's and the Radio Flyer is my 8 month old daughter's. )

The girls sleep downstairs, I get the loft all to my self.

 

[Big_Red]

Not the daily driver but it is the Family Get Away From the Crowds Rig.

Who is the manufacturer of your topper? I just made the switch from an Xterra to a Frontier, and have been considering that type of topper. Thanks.

 

[HighPlainsPhotographer]

I guess it depends on how many kids, dogs, cats, moose, rhinos, etc you are trying to stuff in your vehicle and where you want to go. For us, with three kids, on most road trips, it is hard to beat our diesel Excursion. Great fuel mileage and plenty of room for the hoard and all of the junk we tend to pack.

Having said that, we are shopping for a Disco 1 for a little more off road oriented adventure. With my grown kids and x-wife, we had a few Land Cruisers over the years, an FJ80 is hard to beat.

 

[bigwapitijohnny]

Originally, I had a 1998 Toyota 4runner. It was fine for the flat states of Midwest, however, it struggled immensely on hills towing my Outlander Sherpa II.

My wife's DD is a 04 Sequoia with a V8. Much more power didn't even know the Sherpa II was back there. I considered buying her a new vehicle and ExPo'ing (is this a word?...) it, however, I decided to get a new DD for myself. My wife was still content with this vehicle...

Due to the changing needs of my family, I decided to go bigger. I considered a 100 / 200 Land Cruiser, however, I liked the utility of a pickup. So, I pulled the trigger on a 2011 Toyota Tundra. Mileage is better than my 4runner with / without my Sherpa II.

Plenty of room / power ~ bring on the hills now...

Regards,

BWJ

 

[Inyo_man]

We've been very happy with our 2002 Mitsubishi Montero.
Whether overlanding, backcountry exploring, or daily driving, this rig has met all our needs.

 

[sanyi83]

i personally prefer my 1999 f250 with the powerstroke. endless torque ( can get almost an extra 150 hp and 300ft pounds of torque for under a grand), great fuel milage enough room for the kids and my boxer, plenty of cargo room, and it takes us wherever we want to go. fit 35's with just a leveling kit, diesels will keep running even if the body rotted off the frame around it, and well diesels are just cool! lol

Do you have a shell on your truck? I have a boxer as well and have my first kid on the way. I am thinking that wife, kid, and dog in the backseat of my quad-cab dodge 2500 might be a big tight. I normally let my dog stay in the cab as he is spoiled but a shell might not be a bad idea.

 

[2025 deleted member]

Its always easier to upgrade the rig when you tell your wife "its for the kids"!

Originally, I had a 1998 Toyota 4runner. It was fine for the flat states of Midwest, however, it struggled immensely on hills towing my Outlander Sherpa II.

My wife's DD is a 04 Sequoia with a V8. Much more power didn't even know the Sherpa II was back there. I considered buying her a new vehicle and ExPo'ing (is this a word?...) it, however, I decided to get a new DD for myself. My wife was still content with this vehicle...

Due to the changing needs of my family, I decided to go bigger. I considered a 100 / 200 Land Cruiser, however, I liked the utility of a pickup. So, I pulled the trigger on a 2011 Toyota Tundra. Mileage is better than my 4runner with / without my Sherpa II.

Plenty of room / power ~ bring on the hills now...

Regards,

BWJ

 

[AA1PR]

My Choice

I had to vote for full size

but like so many others this is a personal opinion, what works for me, not for you...

I am disabled & had to have a vehicle that I could easily sit in for durations, safely enter & exit

I tested jeeps and other makes & models and liked the seating comfort of this one best,if it bothers me to drive it , it is no good for me

we only have 4 in the family & it seats 7, so the rear seat houses all of my camera gear & the cooler when we go places the rest goes in the thule or if the kids bring their mountian bikes we drag the m416 with us

I am also not going on jeep trails & doing any serious off roading, so it is capable of all we ask her

here she is a few years ago before it transformation

more recent pic

 

[Butch1979]

[video=youtube;3QLdpnWEi-w]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=3QLdpnWEi-w[/video]

We just moved to a 2007 Sprinter van from our 100 series Landcruiser. The lack of 4x4 was the tradeoff for an unbelievable amount of space. The van was built by Morehead Design Labs.

 

[ChuckB]

Great thread! I'm just getting started in the family arena.

We are currently using a 100-Series Land Cruiser which we owned prior to kids. It was just me, wife and 2 dogs. Now, its me, wife, twins (14 months), 2 dogs and one new baby on the way. I never thought I would say this, but the Land Cruiser is getting small REAL fast. For those of you that don't know, a double B.O.B jogging stroller is huge . Adding a third child in a car seat is going to be interesting.

I'm a diehard Land Cruiser fan and the 100 is the wife's daily driver. Needless to say, it will be driven until it is physically and monetarily not possible to keep it on the road.

I however will need a new daily driver in the next year or so :ylsmoke:. I'm doing some research and have narrowed it down to a Full Size Truck, Excursion, E350 Van or buy a trailer to go with the Cruiser. Easy choice right??

It's great seeing what others are doing to give me some ideas to work from. I hope to contribute in a meaningful way in the future.

 

[vicali]

Voted!

What works best for our family;

Wife and myself, 2 years old son, and 6 month old daughter, plus our Chocolate Lab.
Plenty of room for gear in the back, boat on top, and can tow our trailer to camp.
Driven daily it's not too terrible on gas, comfortable on roadtrips and offroad fun.

 

[steelheadbum]

Diesel 4x4 van!! Wish I would have bought one sooner, seats 7,sleeps 4,.can carry/tow everything. I'm 37 and have been in the automobile industry for 19 yrs I've owned and driven just about every type of expo rig/daily driver from Tacos,Land cruisers, rovers,H1, Cherokees,Wranglers 2drs/ 4dr JKs, rangers, explorers, Diesel Excursion,diesel/gas Crew cab trucks, hell even tried a Porsche cayenne,(never a vw synchro).
Nothing has ever had the versatility of my E350!
From this

To this in minutes

Buck

The Redneck Mexican
2002 E350 7.3 PSD 4x4 8inch lift pop top conversion....