ChuckB
Expedition Leader
Hello all,
As the title suggests I'm doing some research on the possible purchase of a used truck. I caveat everything that I say following this sentence with the fact that I have never owned a pick-up truck and know next to nothing about the "Big 3" when it comes to their various iterations. As you can see from my signature, I have been a Land Cruiser guy for a while now. However, despite what some people might say I know they are not the end-all be-all vehicle that some people profess. I fully appreciate all vehicles and their strengths and weaknesses. Having said that I plan to own at least one LC for the rest of my life :ylsmoke:. I'm also not going to tout the Toyota or die mentality otherwise I would clearly not be in the Domestic forum.
A little about me:
I'm in the Navy. I have a wife, twin 1 year old girls and 2 dogs. We like to surf, mountain bike, travel and just be outdoors in general. We are trying to instill very early on in our girls a sense of travel and adventure. We have already taken them on several trips and so far they are traveling great. Now that we have survived the first year of twins we are looking to get out more, do some camping and explore this great country.
I know that our LC could probably tackle about 90% of what we want to do. However, it is the other 10% that has brought me here. I never would have thought prior to twins that I would call a 100-series LC small. But pack in 2 car seats, 2 dogs (80lbs and 35lbs) and try to wedge in a double-BOB jogging stroller and you run out of room VERY quickly. I forgot to mention the LC is currently my wife's DD and soccer mom stock with the exception of the fact that I removed the running boards. I did manage to get it offroad once before the twins were born...
My DD is a Saab which was my wife's car until it died on her twice (once in the middle of an intersection) while she was pregnant and I was on deployment. I'm not going to deal with that car too much longer so I've started looking at our next vehicle.
My plan as it stands now:
I would like to have a vehicle that I can DD, tow with on occasion (more on this subject in a minute), drive cross country and camp with my family. Basically, as close as you can get to a go anywhere do anything type of vehicle. I know up front there will be compromises and I'm not looking to take this next vehicle across the Rubicon or anything like that. I would like to be able to get down some trails to do some off the beaten path camping or drive to the top of the 14ers in Colorado for example.
Towing - I was fortunate enough to fulfill one of my bucket list items and buy my dream car about a year before we found out we were having twins. That car is a '96 911 (993). Not the most practical car but my wife has refused to let me sell it even though the rational side of me has tried to sell it twice since having the twins. She is definitely a keeper!!!
Being in the military we move quite frequently so I would like to be able to tow this car when we move and ship the LC to our next duty station. Maybe one day I'll be able to take it to a real track and I would like to tow it there as well.
Another bucket list item I would like to fulfill when I retire is buying an FJ40 to take with us around the country as we travel. This is quite a ways down the road...
Camping - I'm very interested in a slide-in pop-up or hard-sided camper to add to the mix as well. I have no experience with them, but they look like a good place for young kids and to have a comfortable place to sleep and hang-out in bad weather if necessary.
So you can see how this is snowballing outside the limits of what my LC is capable of accomplishing.
If you are still with me, thanks for reading this far about a complete stranger! That's what makes this a great forum!!
Below is the initial list of what I "think" I want as a basis to start from:
- 4x4
- Diesel
- Manual tranny
- Manual t-case
- SFA
- Avoid all the 07+ diesel emissions requirements
- Enough space for 2 adults, 2 kids (currently, maybe 3 eventually), 2 dogs and all our stuff.
I generally subscribe to the keep it simple philosophy. I have no loyalty to Ford, Dodge or Chevy. So whoever can provide me with the best combination of the things I desire and be as reliable as possible is that I want to go with. When the aftermarket is concerned I have no problem saving my pennies and buying a quality product. I want to do it right and do it the first time.
I thoroughly enjoy researching this stuff and so far my research has led me toward Dodge. I have already subscribed to every Dodge thread on this forum that relates to the type of build I'm looking for. I'm a little OCD sometimes. But, I fully acknowledge my noobie status on this subject. I'm looking for the vast experience of the ExPo forum members to help guide me. Maybe a Ford or Chevy is the right answer??
Thanks again! Looking forward to hearing your opinions/advice and learning about trucks that I don't have a lot of knowledge on.
As the title suggests I'm doing some research on the possible purchase of a used truck. I caveat everything that I say following this sentence with the fact that I have never owned a pick-up truck and know next to nothing about the "Big 3" when it comes to their various iterations. As you can see from my signature, I have been a Land Cruiser guy for a while now. However, despite what some people might say I know they are not the end-all be-all vehicle that some people profess. I fully appreciate all vehicles and their strengths and weaknesses. Having said that I plan to own at least one LC for the rest of my life :ylsmoke:. I'm also not going to tout the Toyota or die mentality otherwise I would clearly not be in the Domestic forum.
A little about me:
I'm in the Navy. I have a wife, twin 1 year old girls and 2 dogs. We like to surf, mountain bike, travel and just be outdoors in general. We are trying to instill very early on in our girls a sense of travel and adventure. We have already taken them on several trips and so far they are traveling great. Now that we have survived the first year of twins we are looking to get out more, do some camping and explore this great country.
I know that our LC could probably tackle about 90% of what we want to do. However, it is the other 10% that has brought me here. I never would have thought prior to twins that I would call a 100-series LC small. But pack in 2 car seats, 2 dogs (80lbs and 35lbs) and try to wedge in a double-BOB jogging stroller and you run out of room VERY quickly. I forgot to mention the LC is currently my wife's DD and soccer mom stock with the exception of the fact that I removed the running boards. I did manage to get it offroad once before the twins were born...
My DD is a Saab which was my wife's car until it died on her twice (once in the middle of an intersection) while she was pregnant and I was on deployment. I'm not going to deal with that car too much longer so I've started looking at our next vehicle.
My plan as it stands now:
I would like to have a vehicle that I can DD, tow with on occasion (more on this subject in a minute), drive cross country and camp with my family. Basically, as close as you can get to a go anywhere do anything type of vehicle. I know up front there will be compromises and I'm not looking to take this next vehicle across the Rubicon or anything like that. I would like to be able to get down some trails to do some off the beaten path camping or drive to the top of the 14ers in Colorado for example.
Towing - I was fortunate enough to fulfill one of my bucket list items and buy my dream car about a year before we found out we were having twins. That car is a '96 911 (993). Not the most practical car but my wife has refused to let me sell it even though the rational side of me has tried to sell it twice since having the twins. She is definitely a keeper!!!
Being in the military we move quite frequently so I would like to be able to tow this car when we move and ship the LC to our next duty station. Maybe one day I'll be able to take it to a real track and I would like to tow it there as well.
Another bucket list item I would like to fulfill when I retire is buying an FJ40 to take with us around the country as we travel. This is quite a ways down the road...
Camping - I'm very interested in a slide-in pop-up or hard-sided camper to add to the mix as well. I have no experience with them, but they look like a good place for young kids and to have a comfortable place to sleep and hang-out in bad weather if necessary.
So you can see how this is snowballing outside the limits of what my LC is capable of accomplishing.
If you are still with me, thanks for reading this far about a complete stranger! That's what makes this a great forum!!
Below is the initial list of what I "think" I want as a basis to start from:
- 4x4
- Diesel
- Manual tranny
- Manual t-case
- SFA
- Avoid all the 07+ diesel emissions requirements
- Enough space for 2 adults, 2 kids (currently, maybe 3 eventually), 2 dogs and all our stuff.
I generally subscribe to the keep it simple philosophy. I have no loyalty to Ford, Dodge or Chevy. So whoever can provide me with the best combination of the things I desire and be as reliable as possible is that I want to go with. When the aftermarket is concerned I have no problem saving my pennies and buying a quality product. I want to do it right and do it the first time.
I thoroughly enjoy researching this stuff and so far my research has led me toward Dodge. I have already subscribed to every Dodge thread on this forum that relates to the type of build I'm looking for. I'm a little OCD sometimes. But, I fully acknowledge my noobie status on this subject. I'm looking for the vast experience of the ExPo forum members to help guide me. Maybe a Ford or Chevy is the right answer??
Thanks again! Looking forward to hearing your opinions/advice and learning about trucks that I don't have a lot of knowledge on.
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