Family wheeler, 4runner vs S10 Blazer vs Exploder vs Cherokee??

idahoyj said:
Could you or someone with a similar mid size SUV, measure the width between the passenger door arm rests? I want to compare the rear seating width to my wife's Honda Pilot for reference. Thanks in advance.
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My 4runner measures 51" between the passenger armrests. For reference my 100 series is 57".

Some outfits have the optional 3 row seating which can be easily removed when its not needed. I know the Discoveries and Land Cruisers have it likely others as well--might be worth looking into so your kids aren't all squished in one row. Speaking of Cruisers have you considered a 60 or 80 series?

I think you can pick up a really nice rig on your budget from any make :cool:
 
I will take a measurement of my blazer between armrest and the actually seat for you. It would be a tight squeeze in the blazer. I assume you have a car seat and two booster seats? with only one car seat, it could be doable i guess, just tight. If I could get my wife convinced, I wouldn't mind picking up another s10, but a crew cab pickup (what Kevin B. is to 4 runners I am to s10 blazers) so the whole family could go exploring but she doesn't seem to on board with my idea, not to mention that would take away all cargo room. the other thing with the blazer is that the 4 door has the gas tank under the passenger side and it hangs lower than the frame if I remember right, at least the plastic cover part. I took mine out about two days after getting it so its been a while. The aftermarket isn't as big for them as jeeps and 4 runners of course, but if you didn't want to do a SAS on it, 4wdfactory.com has a front kit for it and I know a guy that does the swap in a day or so, granted he has done a few but if you know what your doing, it wouldn't be hard and you could probably get the brackets on before you take out the IFS stuff. If you want to know more about the SAS basic stuff for the s10 blazer, http://www.s10forum.com/forum/4wd-sfa/http://www.s10forum.com/forum/4wd-sfa/ is a good source for any info needed.
 
zukijames said:
some rovers.. that might be great .... or could be huge pieces of crap..

http://www.ksl.com/auto/listing/60679

http://www.ksl.com/auto/listing/52776


probably the most dependable
www.ksl.com/auto/listing/99467


might not be bad.
www.ksl.com/auto/listing/76591

seems kinda sketch says he needs something with more seats.. but then says will trade for a disco.. they have the same amount of seats
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I could see us wheeling the one you said was the most dependable. I just worry about parts availability on rovers, especially older ones.
 
Rot Box said:
My 4runner measures 51" between the passenger armrests. For reference my 100 series is 57".

Some outfits have the optional 3 row seating which can be easily removed when its not needed. I know the Discoveries and Land Cruisers have it likely others as well--might be worth looking into so your kids aren't all squished in one row. Speaking of Cruisers have you considered a 60 or 80 series?

I think you can pick up a really nice rig on your budget from any make :cool:
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Thanks for measuring for me. My wife's Pilot is 55" wide and they all fit in there with what seem like the largest car seats ever made. We are comfortable in there on long road trips. But as kids seem to do, they are growing bigger every day. I think an 80 series could be a good option. Just like the runners tho, they all have a million miles and parts are pretty spendy. I haven't looked at 60 series yet.
 
if its before 96 when they went to the gems engine management system, there pretty dependable , and parts are not as hard to get as i thought they would be .. atleast at the wrecking yards around here there is usually a rover or 2
 
blznnp said:
I will take a measurement of my blazer between armrest and the actually seat for you. It would be a tight squeeze in the blazer. I assume you have a car seat and two booster seats? with only one car seat, it could be doable i guess, just tight. If I could get my wife convinced, I wouldn't mind picking up another s10, but a crew cab pickup (what Kevin B. is to 4 runners I am to s10 blazers) so the whole family could go exploring but she doesn't seem to on board with my idea, not to mention that would take away all cargo room. the other thing with the blazer is that the 4 door has the gas tank under the passenger side and it hangs lower than the frame if I remember right, at least the plastic cover part. I took mine out about two days after getting it so its been a while. The aftermarket isn't as big for them as jeeps and 4 runners of course, but if you didn't want to do a SAS on it, 4wdfactory.com has a front kit for it and I know a guy that does the swap in a day or so, granted he has done a few but if you know what your doing, it wouldn't be hard and you could probably get the brackets on before you take out the IFS stuff. If you want to know more about the SAS basic stuff for the s10 blazer, http://www.s10forum.com/forum/4wd-sfa/http://www.s10forum.com/forum/4wd-sfa/ is a good source for any info needed.
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Thanks, I'd love to know the blazer interior width. I like the blazer because its cheap, parts are easily available, I'm familiar with the engine and trans, and it has a frame. I feel like the blazer would almost require an SAS and upgraded rear axle.
 
idahoyj said:
Thanks, I'd love to know the blazer interior width. I like the blazer because its cheap, parts are easily available, I'm familiar with the engine and trans, and it has a frame. I feel like the blazer would almost require an SAS and upgraded rear axle.
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outside-outside for the cushion in 49.5" between the middle seat buckle snap in part, its only about 10" or so. one full size car seat could easily fit on the outside part, you could fit two easily, its just the middle section thats is a limiter. but with you only having one car seat, you might be able to get a couple booster seats in there, but the buckle part would probably be underneath the booster in the middle since the buckles are close together, and so you know, the door panels are about 1/4-3/8" off of the cushion
 
blznnp said:
outside-outside for the cushion in 49.5" between the middle seat buckle snap in part, its only about 10" or so. one full size car seat could easily fit on the outside part, you could fit two easily, its just the middle section thats is a limiter. but with you only having one car seat, you might be able to get a couple booster seats in there, but the buckle part would probably be underneath the booster in the middle since the buckles are close together, and so you know, the door panels are about 1/4-3/8" off of the cushion
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Thanks for measuring. And for the link earlier.
 
I have had a couple s10s and I liked them. They will be a great camping car in stock form. The down side is the after market support. It will take a lot more work to get it turned into a wheeler (which we all know will happen eventually:D). I love the motor/trans/transfer case.

As far as the 4 runner or cherokee I don't think you would go wrong with either, both extremely capable right out of the box. It would take a bunch to get an s10 to compete with a stock runner or cherokee off road. If it is just dirt roads and camping then any of the three will be awesome. I have also owned a few cherokees and they were great rigs. I have never owned a 4 runner, but would love to try one. Every toyota I have ever owned treated me pretty good so I can't see the 4 runner being any different.

If you are familiar with the jeep drivetrain and parts then that might be a good way to go just to keep the learning curve down a little. I wouldn't worry about a unibody. I have never had any problems with them.

If your kids quit fitting just throw another bench in the very back of whatever rig you buy and put a rack on top and go camping.
 
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Xj rear seat cushion is 50" wide with an inch on both sides. Not sure how well car seats fit in one. I have a roof box that I used when we would take it camping. I worked great.

FWIW S10 blazers are pretty terrible offroad in stock form. I thought my friend's s10 would do decent on easy Moab trails when he brought it but it was not good at all. He did have a sweet third row seat made for it though and you could do the same for any of these rigs like someone mentioned above. You'll just need some outside storage like a roof box, hitch basket or both
 
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