Kids...

Two words:

Jerry cans

I would love to have an 80 series one day.

 

Yeah they do get pretty bad gas mileage, most of them get even worse mileage than that given how old they are now. Put bigger tires on it and some armor and I imagine the mileage gets really ugly lol. If you have to do a lot of driving in it then I would probably get something newer or just keep the Tacoma.

But if you can afford to get it and keep the truck then why not have the best of both worlds

 

Don't sell the truck. I speak from experience. Wish i had the truck still sometimes.

Keep the truck for more aggressive off roading where it's just you (no kids). And for like 7-12 yr olds, xtra cab is good enough space.

I suggest have a family vehicle setup for lighter trails, camping, etc. Generally, most people dont do the rougher trails with kids anyway that have seen.

 

Not for kids but I recently switched from an AC to a DC. It was pretty cool just switching over the cool bits and the extra room is worth it, even without kids.

 

Things are in motion.

 

Beautiful truck! 3rd gen 4runner is the best gen!

 

Doesn't look like you'll need it, but, if you ever need to stuff a rear-facing car seat in the back of the access cab, the best & safest fitting seat I've found is the Combi Coccoro.

It fits perfectly in my 2nd gen, but, not sure about 1st gen.

It is the midget of rear-facing car seats AND has a European belt path making it much safer when installed on very short seat cushions. Here's my entire tirade. https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/rear-facing-car-seat-in-2009-2015-access-cab.655463/

 

Well I guess I changed my mind....technically it’s a 1st gen. Kiddo #1 on the way.

2005 gx470

 

^^ you called it

 

So, which is going to be the new wheeling rig? I've seen some badass GX builds. Those 3rd gen 4Runners are pretty nice, too!

 

Dont know at the moment. I’ll be using the next few weeks to compare the two and make a decision

 

Who wheels with a 4R anyway

 

Nice! They are both good platforms!

Only the coolest people.

 

Saw a similar thread asking about kids and an access cab, so thought it would be good for a 5 year update:


Decided to build the 4runner first:
Calling it done for now and in maintenace mode, for more info feel free to check out the slow build.



GX 470:
Minor mods: sliders, grom setup for Apple car play, bumper trimming for hitch receiver, diy headlight refinish/paint grill paint.
Maintenance items nothing exciting.

 

I have a DCLB and twin 4 year old boys. I’ve had the truck for about 2 years now. I would describe the space in the cab as “fine.” Even with the double cab everyone is tight in the truck. There is no where near as much room in the cab as I had in my 3rd gen 4Runner. Even if the Toyota specs online say it’s the same, it is not. All that said, we camp a lot so the long bed has been great in that respect because in addition to taking up the rear seats, kids also come with a bunch of stuff! My wife has a Jeep Liberty which is the family in town car. A full size truck would be better but I’m not interested in buying a truck that I can’t get in my garage or in my garage at work.

fwiw I cannot imagine trying to figure this out with an access cab but maybe that’s because I have two and everything is harder with twins!

Congrats on starting to plan the family. Kids are great 80% of the time. That other 20% feels disproportionate though!

 

Twins sounds double the fun, double the chaos


Dog, 2 Kids and camping = ton of stuff

3rd gen and the GX would have gear piled high, my wife always preferred having a basecamp to explore from. With that said our solution was a small off-road trailer. Just picked one up, we’ll see how it goes.

 

I started taking mine out is smaller groups.... i have 6 kids now.

Last time we went all together, I had 5 and everything went on my utility trailer behind 4Runner. 3rd row in use means no interior cargo space. Multiple coolers and tents. Sleeping bags and pillows take up a lot of space.

Now with the 6th, 4R is not an option. Gonna have to put a hitch on Highlander and try to keep weight down next time. Just taking 2 or 3 at a time in my truck though has worked out while wife stays home with youngest ones. Except wife wants to go too.

 

I just put both car seats in the 2nd gen (DCLB) for the 1st time last week. Just test fitting for number 2 arriving in February. I'm pretty happy with how much room I still have. I am 6'2 and plan to have the forward facing behind me and the rear facing behind my wife who is 5'2. This setup is only really going to be used for camping as the 4runner is the daily and wife's vehicle. At this point the 1st gen is only good for me and 1 dog.

 

1 kid takes up quite a bit of room

2 kids?

Fuuuck