help with ideas for an expo rig for a family with too many kids. lol

[Box Rocket]

Or with some modifications you could do what I did with my Tacoma. This setup has worked better than I had hoped.

 

[dfarm]

I must have forgotten to update this, but I ended up buying an awd chrysler town and country. Way more space inside than the jeep, and it should handle snow and icy roads just fine. I still have the xj, since about a month after we got the van, the dr said that my oldest was big enough to go into a booster seat, which is much narrower than the car seat. I'm still contemplating the 4wd swap on my d200 crew cab, or a fsj for family camping and exploring.

Thanks for the input guys. I really appreciate all of the ideas I had thought about all of the vehicles mentioned except for the Suzuki. That is a great option, and I'm a little drawn to the under dog, so that may be worth some more looking.

 

[getout]

Or with some modifications you could do what I did with my Tacoma. This setup has worked better than I had hoped.

Sweet idea. I ran three car seats wide in my extended cab on a quick trip but wouldn't do it for long. In the bed with seats is a good idea. They're bolted in I take it.

We've got an awd Toyota Sienna now. Not an off roading machine but it's really nice with a ton of space and decent gas mileage.

 

[thebrassnuckles]

Or with some modifications you could do what I did with my Tacoma. This setup has worked better than I had hoped.

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Looks familiar... My dads '68 chevy custom camper single cab pickup with soon to be 3 kids circa 1985. My carseat is up on the side, not in use just yet, but ready.

 

[thebrassnuckles]

I am about to have my 3rd child in about 9 months. I'm sticking with the JKU, there are some really nice and narrow car seats on the market. I don't fore a problem fitting them all in, and there is always the third row seat mod I can do as well.

 

[Box Rocket]

Sweet idea. I ran three car seats wide in my extended cab on a quick trip but wouldn't do it for long. In the bed with seats is a good idea. They're bolted in I take it.

We've got an awd Toyota Sienna now. Not an off tossing machine but it's really nice with a ton of space and decent gas mileage.

Yes they're bolted in. If you look at the photo of the bed seats you can see the seat subframe that I built. There are large backing plates under the bed and it's all bolted down. Probably mounted stronger than the factory seats.

 

[Martinjmpr]

Yes they're bolted in. If you look at the photo of the bed seats you can see the seat subframe that I built. There are large backing plates under the bed and it's all bolted down. Probably mounted stronger than the factory seats.

But with no heat or AC back there, you're kind of limited as to when and where you can travel, aren't you?

 

[Box Rocket]

But with no heat or AC back there, you're kind of limited as to when and where you can travel, aren't you?

Not really. For heat, a bicycle inner tube between the cab and topper seals out cold air and with the cab rear window and the topper front window open heat finds its way into the bed surprisingly well. For A/C, it's a similar approach but without the innertube. If you look again the pic of just the seats you will see a 12V fan mounted in front of the window to pull cool air from the cab (also works with heat), but when we did our big road trip last summer we found that the fan wasn't even necessary. With just the front window of the topper open there was a LOT of air coming into the bed area because of the shape of the topper. My boys who were riding back there never complained of heat once. I even rode back there while my wife drove for a bit to check it out and it was quite comfortable.

The inner tube is a good solution on the trails too because it cuts down on the dust that can make it into the truck.

 

[getlost4x4]

What will happen if you roll that? Its a fiberglass topper, not really known for strength in a roll over. I think you should think about building a roll-cage back there. I wouldn't have my kids back there without one.

 

[Box Rocket]

What will happen if you roll that? Its a fiberglass topper, not really known for strength in a roll over. I think you should think about building a roll-cage back there. I wouldn't have my kids back there without one.

A cage is planned. Until then I'll try not to roll, and I won't ask your kids to ride back there.

 

[offroad plumber]

BOX ROCKET, just a thought but, a guy around here had his 3 kids in the bed of his truck on a trip with a camper shell and thought the kids fell asleep on the road. but when he got to his destination all 3 had died of carbon monoxide. I don't think he had a pass through window but I would invest in a CO alarm at a minimum.

 

[getlost4x4]

if the engine ever dies on an Astro Van, you might as well throw it away. almost impossible for a home mechanic to swap. I tried helping a friend swap his. we gave up and he paid a shop $900 to finish the job.

Get something with low range, and a third row.

I've owned a Jeep Commander and now my Land Rover Discovery 2. I prefer the land rover. its easy to work on. Solid axles front and rear. There are tons of parts for it and there are plenty in the junkyards for spare parts. throw a roof rack on it or a cargo box to free up room inside. Mine is a 2000 SE7 (seven seater)

 

[calicamper]

I recall the days of being curled up in a sleeping bag in the back of the open bed of the pickup. Man I'm lucky to be alive today. I'm not sure that qualifies as a legal seat I can see getting some pretty major issues from the police in states where the law states no passengers in the bed of a pickup. That and I would be scared for my kids safety.

I had the J80 LC for many years Really GREAT truck!!!! LOVED THAT TRUCK!!! Sad I sold it. However! We replaced it with a 2007 Sequoia 4x4 Limited which isn't really that much larger on the external dimensions however its dramatically better suited for the family hauling.
Much safer with the modern safety systems in 07 they moved to full curtain air bag system and some added electronic safety features. I went from 12-13mpg in the 80 LC to 16-17mpg in the Sequoia with dramatically better power and cooling capacity. Wife also likes the ride quality better in the Sequoia.

I only have two kids but we have two local grand parents who tend to be active and go with us. Grandma even has her go bag ready for camping complete with tent and gear. Takes her all of about 10 minutes to have all her stuff in order and waiting for us to get our crap together. LOL

When the grandparents slow down and don't want to camp with us anymore I would love to move to one of the new midsized trucks coming out in the next few years. The added range of the Diesel and putting a FWC camper or maybe get crazy and do a flat bed rig would be the cats meow.

 

[calicamper]

God that would be horrible! Good point offroad!

The bed of the truck thing I would never do it with my kids. Wife would make sure I go missing never to be heard from again if I tried that. Back in the late 80's during a ski trip in the E250 conversion van we had a pickup in front of us skid and clip the snow bank. They had a shell on the bed. We saw something ejected out the side window of the shell, stopped to investigate and it was kid! The Pickup never stopped the skid and bump wasn't really major and the road didn't have any place to pull out so they kept going. But we stopped traffic got out and looked to discover a kid sitting up in the snow bank rubbing his eyes like he was sleeping and very confused. He was OK not even a scratch! We packed him in the van followed the truck for 25 miles where they pulled into a gas station. We rolled up next to them just as the wife started screaming that their son wasn't in the back! We walked him over to her and explained what happened. I swear she was going to kill her husband right there at the gas pump. She put the kid in the cab and told dad he can find his own way home and drove off without him!

After seeing that as a teen I wouldn't do the bed passenger thing even with bolted seats and roll cage.

 

[dfarm]

I forgot all about this. Lol

We've made more vehicle changes. I found a good deal on a 2001 suburban 2500 lt with 6" of lift on 35's. I was able to sell my jeep to cover the cost of the burban plus a little extra, then we sold the van.

We found out that we just aren't mini van people. I'd still really like to try out a 4x4 ¾ton van though (preferably an oil burner). The burban has been great so far, even better now that I have the oil leaks addressed (valley cover,rear main seal and housing gasket and oil pan gasket) we can fit all 3 kids in the second row if we need to and fold up the 3rd row and have a ton of cargo area. I can't picture going back to an xj again. I'll admit that it isn't going to be used on trails like the jeep was, but that only happened a time or two a year anyways.

I'm also @ what I'd call the half way point on the 4x4 swap on my d200 crew cab. I got a screaming deal on what was almost the perfect donor truck (I wish it was a 12v truck), so I jumped on it and got busy. It's drivable right now with the front and rear suspension done. I'm waiting until after I get next winters firewood cut before I start on swapping the transmission/transfer case and the floor and steering column (changing from auto to manual trans)