Packing a family a 4 into a jeep or 4runner

[tommyp]

I am struggling with this right now. Family of four one almost high schooler one late elementary. I was thinking about a JT and looked at one today but really it is probably too small for 4. Taking two vehicles would be great but my wife is not interested in driving off road and I wouldn't trust her to. Once my oldest can drive than two trucks will make sense. We had a 4dr tahoe our last major trip and it was ok but off road not ideal. I would like to be able to do somewhat challenging moab trails.

- Really don't want to tow an offroad trailer but that may have to happen. thought I would be able to get away without one with the gladiator.
- Want something low CG. Ran into having to get into parking garages on trips and the Tahoe was just about the max on 33's with roof rack.
- Want outside storage. Didn't like not having a bed to store stuff wet tent or whatever.
- Security?? with a glad fridge would go in the bed and hopefully be reached through the slider. Trailer? leaving at campsites would have to probably leave wife too.
- Emergency sleeping. many times we would come into camp late and just recline the front seats and sleep with 4 this ain't happening. will probably go rtt so that may be easier but when windy/thunder and lightning seemed better to be inside than ontop or outside.

So I may still consider the Gladiator but living out of one with 4 is probably going to be an issue until the oldest gets his own truck in a couple years and beating on a $40k plus vehicle seems crazy.

I just can't find anything ideal it seems like huge tradeoffs.

Full size truck even bobbed and shortened is not going to be great off road and tall with 37's.
midsized like toyota is still going to be small inside, no solid axle less ability for larger tires.
Jeep or gladiator - small inside - small bed - would probably need a trailer and all that entails.

I can fab pretty much anything full shop with lift.

 

[nwoods]

Looks like you want one of these:
https://www.automobilemag.com/news/torus-praetorian-overlander-4x4-bus-info-photos/

 

[nwoods]

I packed a family of 4 for long distance (week long) trips in my Land Rover LR3 and also in my Jeep LJ Rubicon. I preferred using a trailer with the Jeep, but it wasn't essential, it just made things a lot easier:

I will say that that though it was the least capable, it was by far the most comfortable, was our first gen Nissan Armada:

 

[tommyp]

I packed a family of 4 for long distance (week long) trips in my Land Rover LR3 and also in my Jeep LJ Rubicon. I preferred using a trailer with the Jeep, but it wasn't essential, it just made things a lot easier


I will say that that though it was the least capable, it was by far the most comfortable, was our first gen Nissan Armada:

Yeah, Wife and I are both teachers so we can take off for a month or so at a time in the summers. So we end up being out for a while. The last trip was just me and my oldest and we were fine but I am concerned if we are all on board.

LJ/trailer would be fun but I want rear seats with head rests. Back doors are pretty much a necessity with 4.

I am coming to the conclusion that an offroad trailer is going to be a necessity with anything I choose. I was trying to find a way to run just a single rig but if we bring bikes it just turns into a mess. Bikes could easily go on a trailer. We are in VT so the drive out west is usually full of random city stops that makes me worry a bit. Stopping at St louis to see the arch and BBQ where do you park with a trailer and have it be somewhat secure. We used a parking garage last time but that is probably a no go with trailer. I guess it will just take more planning but not having a trailer makes doing things on the fly and parking lot easier.

I guess I just have to think about going from base camp to camp with out being as mobile as we were in the past. With most of the wheeling happening without the trailer. I just worry at some sites that we will come back to no trailer unless we leave someone there.

 

[vtsoundman]

Minimize your HF (hassle factor). If it sucks or is annoying, the novelty/joy will wear off in a hurry. Setup/pack up time and HF must be minimized...it will fall on you to make this an easy, fun process until folks have learned their roll/how to help.

It really all depends on you/your family's proclivities - if you *think* you need a lot of gear to be comfortable, a Jeep or 4runnner is not going to be much fun. The reality is that one needs very little gear...

We've traveled with a family of 3 and a 90# St Bernard mix in a Jeep JKU. We did a 7wk, 11,000 mile trip around the US on secondary roads in the middle of winter, with a 2 month old. For that trip, we stayed in small mom/pop hotels instead of camping. For other long trips (up to 3 weeks, we camped).

It can be done, but shuffling everything around gets hold in a hurry. Everything needs a home and out of footwells and out of the way while driving/in transit.

We did 1-5 for a while. it was ok, not great. Not going to lie. I started to really dislike the hitch rack - PITA for rear access. I added a swing away mechanism, but it still sucked. Made roadside food stops a major pain.

Some like #6, but I'm not a fan of running heavy/lots of gear on a roof.

1) cargo rack high in the rear cargo area - separating gear reduces HF. Huge piles of gear sucks.
2) small fridge, small packs, small bags everything has a home
3) think like a hiker/backpacker
4) no hard shell storage
5) hitch rack with external storage (theft is very rare - park accordingly).
6)roof rack for light gear.

Then we moved to a small trailer...a total game changer.

Increased the comfort for all the passengers and improved the dynamics of the Jeep. We still uses the cargo tray for kitchen/frequently used items. Food, drinks, cooler started in the back... everything else went into/on the trailer.

Made it easier to stop for quick meals during the drive, was nice to leave it at base camp or when exploring.

Small trailers off-road are fine - you're not going rock crawling/hard trails with a full load of people and gear anyways. Besides, it's not as fun for the passengers to be slammed tossed around for hours on a trail.

In the years of off-roading/camping/overlanding with the trailer, it has not been an issue for us.


Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

 

[Smileyshaun]

Get a rocket box for most all the bulky camping supplies up on the roof and keep the food and most needed items in the cargo area

 

[NatersXJ6]

Yeah, Wife and I are both teachers so we can take off for a month or so at a time in the summers. So we end up being out for a while. The last trip was just me and my oldest and we were fine but I am concerned if we are all on board.

LJ/trailer would be fun but I want rear seats with head rests. Back doors are pretty much a necessity with 4.

I am coming to the conclusion that an offroad trailer is going to be a necessity with anything I choose. I was trying to find a way to run just a single rig but if we bring bikes it just turns into a mess. Bikes could easily go on a trailer. We are in VT so the drive out west is usually full of random city stops that makes me worry a bit. Stopping at St louis to see the arch and BBQ where do you park with a trailer and have it be somewhat secure. We used a parking garage last time but that is probably a no go with trailer. I guess it will just take more planning but not having a trailer makes doing things on the fly and parking lot easier.

I guess I just have to think about going from base camp to camp with out being as mobile as we were in the past. With most of the wheeling happening without the trailer. I just worry at some sites that we will come back to no trailer unless we leave someone there.

If I was in your shoes, and wanted something to wheel for exploring, I might just drive a full-size truck and tow a stripped down Jeep just for the trails.

 

[tommyp]

If I was in your shoes, and wanted something to wheel for exploring, I might just drive a full-size truck and tow a stripped down Jeep just for the trails.

This is a real possibility. I could bring wheel my sammy. I need to find some sort of land out west or just move it out there to a storage area. Having to travel from VT sucks for all of this. Hardly any land here open for wheeling. I had a buddy in Co springs and family in grand junction but my buddy passed and family moved.

I will figure it out at some point. thanks for all the help everyone.

 

[SlickRope]

If this is just for the Rubicon what about buying a used WJ and building that? It's got good room for four people and still has the solid axes and good after market. Also, they seem to be more comfy for longer trips. I've only done the Rubicon once (in a TJ) an I know that trail is always changing, but you might have to move to a truck.

 

[gatorgrizz27]

I’ve been working on this as well, 2 kids in car seats and the stuff they require does eat up a ridiculous amount of space, considering I’ve been able to live out of a backpack for a week. My situation also requires that the car is easily packed and unpacked, as most of our trips will be weekends and I’m not going to waste half a day getting ready. Fortunately I have a Land Rover LR3 which has about the most cargo space and off road ability there is in a package.

I’ve found one of the Home Depot Husky rolling boxes fits perfectly in the back with a 45 qt cooler next to it and two ARB chairs between, along with one of the square 7 gallon water jugs. All the camping gear can stay loaded in the large box and be loaded straight into the car. I need to add some tie down loops and a net for the top of it to hold duffel bags full of clothes, and then the miscellaneous stuff can ride on top of the cooler.



I don’t think there is a table in there, we normally are at state park campgrounds, but I’ve also picked up a cassette toilet for the wife hoping I can get her to boondock more. With fuel capacity being an issue on the LR3, my plan is to fab some type of compact/high clearance swing away carrier for Jerry cans, a trash bag, and toilet on the back.

Front Runner’s rear floor footwell water tank looks like a good solution, and I’ve been building a 12v battery box power pack type deal that fits in the center of the floor. I do still need to make some type of platform for the dog to ride in the middle.

 

[Ghetto Fab.]

Small trailers off-road are fine - you're not going rock crawling/hard trails with a full load of people and gear anyways. Besides, it's not as fun for the passengers to be slammed tossed around for hours on a trail.

I know its been awhile and I thought I should update this thread. Actually ran across this thread again on a recent search of the yet again the same subject. Also, not picking on vtsoundman, but his post ironically is exactly the problem, I am going rock crawling/hard trails with my family. This is the only way to see places like the Rubicon, Dusy Ershim, and a handfull of Sierra high mountain lakes. If I want to take my family and have them experience these places, it means bringing one vehicle that is capable and all our gear has to fit in it for however long we are there. You can't just send the wife down to the grocery store for milk and eggs.

One of our favorite spots to go is Coyote Lake. Its a beautiful high mountain lake. It takes about 4hrs of crawling to get in there assuming you don't have any issues on the way. What's nice is that it is hard enough that most folks don't actually go all the way so its been relatively easy to find a campsite even in july and august, while everything down by Shaver lake is booked for the whole summer. The trail isn't the hardest trail by any means, but it has several tight sections. I can think of one spot in particular where a JKU on tons and 40s barely fits between the volkswagen sized rock on the left and the undercut econoline van sized rock on the right.

I did finally build a fridge slide which worked great for my dusy trip. I then built a shelf on top of that to help split the storage a bit and its worked out really well. The only thing I don't like is having to reach over the tailgate and crawl back under the shelf to get behind the fridge. The fridge is meant to go in a JKU or JLU and fit up against the back seat. In my 4runner I still have about a foot of space between it and the rear seat as an example of the storage space difference between a jeep and 4runner. The shelf has allowed me to stick all the bedding and clothes up top and get them off of the food containers. I can now stop on the trail and slide the fridge out or pull out food containers without unpacking everything else. I'm using a couple of Husky storage containers for storing food and camping equipment now.






I also built a roof rack for light stuff like chairs that can stay outside and don't weigh too much. I have an inflatable boat to bring this year and might stick it up top too.


I've dealt with trailers on the trail and I don't want to deal with that again. Too many bent axles. I think trailers are fine for easier trails, dirt roads, or most overlanding type trips, but not for rock crawling.

Kevin

 

[Ghetto Fab.]

It has always seemed odd to me that a JLU has 14" more wheelbase than my 4runner, but a foot less cargo space. Most new vehicles aren't much different though. Newer 4runners are wider which is nice, but they really maximized that seating area at the expense of rear cargo area. In addition, if you start looking at them, the rear overhang is less which cuts into that rear storage area also. Its not just the toyotas either, most of the jeeps are even worse as are the ford products. I actually like the new broncos as does my wife, but the rear storage area appears to be smaller than a jeep.

I was able to borrow a JT for a bit and test pack it.

That's everything we normally bring except clothes.

While it seems obvious that the JT bed should have a lot of space for packing stuff, I'm kinda stumped as to how to arrange it all efficiently for access while camping. Also, its all out in the open, rain or shine or dust or mud. The fridge I have is taller than the bedsides, but possibly shuffling it to the middle would allow the tonneau cover to close over it. I know they make a ton of rack systems, but they all seem somewhat restrictive to me, although maybe I'm just not thinking about them correctly.

Anyone with a JT care to comment as to how you pack it for camping?

Kevin

 

[Mashurst]

As my family grew I struggled with this problem as well. I started out by myself in a 2 door XJ rock crawler with room for days. Now I have three boys from 6-14, a wife and a dog. The JT has been our latest solution to the make-it-fit problem. We have done a lot of great trips in it but it's only built for moderate trails. I think it would take 37 or so to do the Sierra trails in one because of the long break-over and big butt. The bed cap is fantastic though. The side doors make getting to things really workable. Our fridge is at the front on one side with no need for a slide. Most times we can just open the side door and get to it. When we are packed heavy there may be some bags on top to push off or pull out but for most trips, there is a bit of extra room.

Anyway, That's how we do and it works for us.

 

[tommyp]

Did we all just go out and buy Glads after this thread? I think we did.

 

[nwoods]

With fuel capacity being an issue on the LR3, my plan is to fab some type of compact/high clearance swing away carrier for Jerry cans, a trash bag, and toilet on the back.

While not cheap, you might seriously consider a hitch mounted swing out, such as those from Dirtcom or Rig'd
- https://dirtcomusa.com/products/hitch-mounted-high-clearance-tire-carrier-swing-out
- https://www.rigdsupply.com/products/rigd-ultraswing-multi-fit-spare-tire-hitch-carrier

Also, you might consider the Land Rover dog barrier accessory unit to divide up the rear cargo space from the backseat occupants. I really liked mine: