Moving from Wrangler to Full Size maybe need advice

[eggman918]

Been driving my full size on trails in the mountains for over 25 years and the best advice I can give is when your gut starts to tell you that the trail might be getting too narrow and you see a place that you could turn around stop and walk ahead a bit to get the lay of the land.............in the early years with my truck I was forced to back down trails for WAY too far, no fun without a spotter on a too narrow a trail with mountain on one side and cliff on other...........$.02

 

[justcuz]

I just touched on this in another thread. Your 11 year old is still growing.
I went from a Baja Bug to a Jeep, shortbed truck, long bed truck, Jeep Chrokee and finally a Suburban.
Skip all the middle steps and go full size. If you can afford it keep the Jeep to flat tow and use for the tight stuff when you are expecting it.
Most true overlanding does not require a small vehicle, or even a solid axle (though preferable).
If I could do it all over again, I would have bought the 3/4 ton Travelall I was first looking at and been done with it.

 

[ACFaulk]

Lovin all this info! Appreciate everyone's input. Did not even get my TJ listed and already got two people interested just from word of mouth so next step is to Drive some stuff but I like the idea of skipping the "next" car and going to the one that I'll most likely end up with. So many options. Again I really appreciate all the input feel free to keep it coming

 

[justcuz]

Back in the early 70's I was going to buy a Travelall. It was a 3/4 ton with the big 6 bolt pattern. My long term plan was to convert it to Chevy 8 lug axles and eventually a Chevy engine and trans along with integral power steering.
The beauty of it was it had a divorced transfer case and engine swaps out of any 2wd would be a bolt in.
Lots of guys back then put 500 Caddy engines and 455 Olds engines in Travelalls and made tow monsters out of them.

Every vehicle I ever owned, I modified to some extent, so if you look at all the vehicles and modification expenses, I would have been money ahead with the Travelall because I ended up in a Suburban!

With an 11 year old who will grow, why bother buying a multitude of vehicles? Go big and spend the money you would have spent on vehicles on your family and trip expenses. My kids remember the trips, not the toys, not the clothes, not even Disneyland stands above the camping and road trips.

Some guys here on Expo go amazing places in a full size, or van. Some even towing a trailer.

 

[eggman918]

This combo will go most anywhere,and as pictured it's ~12,500# CGVW you just need to think out what you are gonna do well ahead of getting there.As you already have trail experience the learning curve will be short as you will only need to learn the vehicle's capability's and limitations and a teenage boy will make recovery operations less tiring.

 

[jpop8807]

As previously stated before by others full sized trucks have alot of potential. I went from a midsized tacoma 2 gen loved it, but I needed 4wd. Now I have a single cab 2011 Ram. I fit down most of the same trails my Jeep buddies go. Honestly you can fit down a lot more then you would expect, but you might end up with some of natures pinstriping. The only issue I have seen with full sized diesels when I went wheeling in the rockier stuff is the long wheel base tended to cause them to bottom out in the middle on some stuff. Best advice have a spotter. My wife wasn't a big fan of offroading....cause i never let her drive. Now that I'm in Colorado its a bit more technical here so I just spot for her in the trickier stuff, and now she loves it kinda a slow paced rush for her. As far as vehicle preference I have never been biased due to the fact of never really being into offroading until about 3 years ago all vehicles have their issue as a mechanic I can say as long as you maintain them right most any vehicle can get you as far as the next. Just get a good suspension with decent travel, and have a blast.

 

[tgreening]

My opinion would be a crew cab short bed gas. For what you're going to do the buy-in for a diesel isn't worth it, nor are their repair costs. And just for the record, the last time I was in a Cummins repair facility it was packed to the gills.

A crew cab is dang near a must if you're carting around anything resembling a family, and the short box will keep your overall package manageable size wise, while still allowing the big people a decent sleeping space if you end up capping it.

I'm a Ford guy so naturally I'd go that route, and since I just hate anything but a solid front axle in a truck, F-250+ in the platform.
If you're not towing take your pick in the engine department because most anything will feel like a rocket compared to the Jeep.

Don't forget to take pics.

 

[desertracer79]

I'm in the same exact boat. Got an '03 TJ that I crawl and overland with but it gets mighty cramped with the wife and dog. I've also just about reached my tolerance for windy nights in a tent.

My upgrade plan (a few years down the road) is a 2nd generation Dodge 3/4 ton club cab with the 5.9L Cummins and an 8' bed with shell. It's a long truck but I figure I can tow the jeep if I want to get back into the really tight stuff.

 

[Regcabguy]

I'm in the same exact boat. Got an '03 TJ that I crawl and overland with but it gets mighty cramped with the wife and dog. I've also just about reached my tolerance for windy nights in a tent.

My upgrade plan (a few years down the road) is a 2nd generation Dodge 3/4 ton club cab with the 5.9L Cummins and an 8' bed with shell. It's a long truck but I figure I can tow the jeep if I want to get back into the really tight stuff.

Get a 12v manual or upgrade to a 3rd gen. I didn't have much luck with my 98.5 24v. My 2007 5.9's been in the shop once in 10+ yrs and they fried my ecm doing an emissions reflash.