Picking a new adventure rig

The Problem Set – My family will soon grow from 2 adults, 2 kids and 2 dogs to 2 adults, 3 kids and 2 dogs and that will have some significant impacts on how we plan adventures.  I know that there are some folks out there who put adventures on hold till kids are old enough to handle it.  Still there are other people who pass the kids off to family or friends while they go out for excitement.  Neither option appeals to me.  My oldest daughter was on the trails in Texas with me at one month old.  My youngest daughter has a full on fascination with everything Jeep and mechanical.  Soon I’ll have a son who’s namesake screams adventure – I bet you want to know what his name will be…not yet.

My daily driver and adventure rig of choice is my 1999 Jeep Cherokee.  It semi-comfortably seats the four of us, no dogs, plus a day trips worth of gear easily.  It gets about 14 mpg and is reliable enough to handle the abuse of hard-core rock crawling and then cruise home down the highway at 75 mph.  Its mud tires, heim suspension joints and roughly 250 mile fuel range make long drives a bit of a nuisance.  Fortunately there is a more comfortable option for long trips but that also comes at a sacrafice.

My wife’s 2004 Chevy Suburban daily driver will occasionally pull duties as the tow rig for the Jeep on a trailer.  Pulling the Jeep allows us to have a weeks worth of gear, bring the dogs and travel in comfort and style – but its two wheel drive, mild all-terrain tires, and bumpers made for aerodynamics instead of pushing objects out-of-the-way.  In an ideal world, we’d have a rig that provides the space we need for the growing family, the capability of the XJ and the comfort of the Suburban.

Possible Solutions – I see a couple different solutions but each one has its own set of compromises.  Over the next couple posts I plan on delving into my thought process in solving this problem of selecting the best adventure rig setup.  I’m sure that my options and ideas will evolve until something is actually done but for now here’s the basic options as I see it:

1. Full-size crew cab truck with bed topper and bed outfitted for camping and can easily be retrofitted for hauling stuff
2. Full-size SUV with drawer system and sleep platform
3. Sportsmobile or U-Joint Offroad-type adventure van
4. Travel with two vehicles fully kitted for safe offroad travel
5. Offroad trailer with roof top tent
6. Offroad teardrop trailer with roof top tent

Constraints – There is a range of constraints that will impact each of the options differently.  These considerations will be mentioned in most of the following posts but I want to cover them all right here in this introductory post.

1. Since I’m in the military, I tend to move every few years; sometimes across the country.  Cross-country trips are more enjoyable when the whole family is in the same vehicle.
2. We already have one trailer to pull the Jeep on.  There’s not enough room for a Jeep and a trailer on the trailer.
3. I’m pretty attached to my XJ and I know the ins-and-outs and history behind the components.  Learning a new vehicle is not appealing.
4. While I enjoy a good rock crawl, I haven’t done that in a while since there’s usually kids involved.
5. We also road trip as a family frequently which doesn’t neccesarily require offroading and stealth camping would be advantageous and effective.
6. I enjoy DIY work and there is very little work that is outside my capabilities right now and I’d like to keep it that way.

Stay tuned  as new posts will delve into each solution and I’d love to see your comments on what you think that I should also consider for each idea.

The silhouette of a Hero Jeep

Always ready for an adventure

Daily driver pulling another day at the office

Photo from https://www.facebook.com/DinootTrailers

Photo from https://www.facebook.com/DinootTrailers