I have been out of the rock crawling/offroading game for about 8 years. got into dirt bikes and dual sports, due to budget and parking space. well my wife never got into riding, and we had our first son at the beginning of the summer. I would like to do more outdoors adventures as a family rather than me just taking off on the bike and leaving them alone. I do a lot of solo riding anyways because of my work/school schedule and most of it is during the week. anyways, looking to get back into the back country adventures in a truck or car. i do have a few questions though.
in my teens and early 20s i had a 73 bronco, that quickly turned into a crawler, and i took it all over utah. pig power, linked suspension, huge tires.etc. not looking to go that extreme. i have an 06 toyota single cab pickup that has been amazing as far as dependability and functionality. like every other old toyota i have had.
to the folks with kids in car seats and extended cabs, does it work? how about older toyota xtracabs?
the obvious choices seem to be jeep XJs, and 4runners. if i can find an FJ60 in my budget that would be awesome. ive also been eye balling some of these subaru builds and adventures....im the guy who had the odd ball bikes and cars growing up. just to be different, so the subarus are speaking to me...lol
has anyone with 2 adults and a kid in a car seat gone the extended cab route and immediately regretted it?
subaru owners buy them and quickly realized they should have gotten something else?
anyone get an SUV and find out they could have survived with a truck?
my adventure plans are going to start in southern california, and hopefully slowly expand from there. id like start traveling around off highways, on backroads, service roads, and as many dirt roads. nothing hardcore. but i think 4x4 or AWD would be a plus due to some road conditions and weather.
my plan is to sell my current dual sport and most of the gear. hopefully leave me with roughly 5-6k to work with towards this vehicle. it will not be my primary vehicle, it will be our third spare vehicle. so im guessing, depending on what the car comes with spending 3000ish on the purchase of the car and remaining bucks for clean up, maintenance, and adventure mods.
so my list as of now sits at
jeep XJ
toyota 4runner
toyota extended cabs...maybe??
subaru AWD of some sort
FJ60 if found in good shape
any vehicles to add? remove? small families have any advice? those who have been there and done that?
also what is a good source for back country maps or GPS tracks? i have some small area maps for the san diego area, but is there something more inclusive? maybe a state map or website similar to www.dualsportmaps.com but for full size vehicles?
thanks for any input you gurus can send my way. i dont know how i survived in my teens with my bronco. i remember going all over creation on some of these dirts roads, not know where the go what is at the end of them. i just drove, i just found these places, or know people who knew. it is crazy how little planning i did and had some of the greatest adventures out there. not that i want to plan, it seems so much harder..lol
in my teens and early 20s i had a 73 bronco, that quickly turned into a crawler, and i took it all over utah. pig power, linked suspension, huge tires.etc. not looking to go that extreme. i have an 06 toyota single cab pickup that has been amazing as far as dependability and functionality. like every other old toyota i have had.
to the folks with kids in car seats and extended cabs, does it work? how about older toyota xtracabs?
the obvious choices seem to be jeep XJs, and 4runners. if i can find an FJ60 in my budget that would be awesome. ive also been eye balling some of these subaru builds and adventures....im the guy who had the odd ball bikes and cars growing up. just to be different, so the subarus are speaking to me...lol
has anyone with 2 adults and a kid in a car seat gone the extended cab route and immediately regretted it?
subaru owners buy them and quickly realized they should have gotten something else?
anyone get an SUV and find out they could have survived with a truck?
my adventure plans are going to start in southern california, and hopefully slowly expand from there. id like start traveling around off highways, on backroads, service roads, and as many dirt roads. nothing hardcore. but i think 4x4 or AWD would be a plus due to some road conditions and weather.
my plan is to sell my current dual sport and most of the gear. hopefully leave me with roughly 5-6k to work with towards this vehicle. it will not be my primary vehicle, it will be our third spare vehicle. so im guessing, depending on what the car comes with spending 3000ish on the purchase of the car and remaining bucks for clean up, maintenance, and adventure mods.
so my list as of now sits at
jeep XJ
toyota 4runner
toyota extended cabs...maybe??
subaru AWD of some sort
FJ60 if found in good shape
any vehicles to add? remove? small families have any advice? those who have been there and done that?
also what is a good source for back country maps or GPS tracks? i have some small area maps for the san diego area, but is there something more inclusive? maybe a state map or website similar to www.dualsportmaps.com but for full size vehicles?
thanks for any input you gurus can send my way. i dont know how i survived in my teens with my bronco. i remember going all over creation on some of these dirts roads, not know where the go what is at the end of them. i just drove, i just found these places, or know people who knew. it is crazy how little planning i did and had some of the greatest adventures out there. not that i want to plan, it seems so much harder..lol