N. IL, considering 4R buildout 4th gen

TLDR;
I'm looking for a reliable SUV/truck to build out for camping adventures for me and my wife + 2 medium-sized dogs. Used, but not too old or unreliable. Others considered are Highlander (too small?) and Xterra (SMOD/Nissan).

My wife, who used to hate camping, now loves it due to the comfort of a DIY teardrop trailer I built at the beginning of the pandemic. The problem is, I didn't spend much $$ on the trailer and I'm not comfortable towing it too far from home. Before I built it, we spend 5 nights camping in our Subaru Crosstrek, and she really enjoyed it. But honestly, it's a little cramped for two, and now we have two dogs.

Next summer, we want to drive to Maine from the Chicago area. My plan is to sell the teardrop and buy a 4th gen 4R and build it out with a storage under bed platform. This would also give us other options to camp more far away than our current camper can go (safely).

If any of this happens, I'll post updates on the 4R we get, any fixes/adds and also the buildout.

-later.

 

Welcome from SoCal

Awesome job with the teardrop ^^^

 

Welcome from Wisconsin!

 

Welcome from the center of the bourbon universe.