Need help with ideal setup (within budget)

For that money, you can find a smaller truck and a pop-up or a very small trailer. It depends on how much room you will need. I met a fellow that was doing a 6 month trip around the US with his small truck and a tent. He was having a great time!

If you're not good with a wrench a tow rig in that price range will for sure be a money pit.
If you're sticking to that budget then a 4 runner is out of the question. They hold their value too well. A $3-4k 4 runner will be either completely rotted out or have over 200k mi, or both and it will be an old one with little towing capability.
For a TV on a budget I reccomend a 90s model GM pickup. Preferably with A manual trans. They are among the most bulletproof trucks out there IMO. Also plentiful and reasonable parts.
If you're good with engines, the best deals are on the old GM 6.5 diesels. You can find them well under $2k not running as they are very finicky on fuel injection systems. Have to be careful because the repair parts could be anywhere from a few hundo to $2k
But if you know them they have ok power, good fuel economy and can be had cheap.
I have bought a couple of them for super cheap, fixed and flipped them for good money.
THe safe bet would be the same truck with a 350 though.
Other thing to look for is a decent vehicle with body damage that's still drive able. You can get an ugly truck that is not wore out for cheap if it's just banged up and needs cosmetic bodywork.
I always search craigslist by owner vehicles by "needs". It brings up every fixer upper for sale usually.
For a trailer, find the newest one that doesn't leak and works for your budget. You'll be looking at old trailers so condition and amount of new parts (tires, batteries, appliances, pumps etc). Just like a car it is easy to drop 4 figures into parts on a RV.

I'm not going along with the idea that a $3500 tow vehicle is necessarily worn out. Prices drop quite a bit regardless of condition, on age alone. I just sold a Ford Ranger with 36,000 miles for $3000, 13 years old. When I was shopping TTs I found an eight year old supercab F-250, 45,000 miles, equipped with class V hitch and 18,000 fifth wheel hitch, for $4500. A RV dealer was using it for local deliveries and moving things around on the lot, and that price was for anyone buying a trailer with it.

4Runner, though, is not a good choice for towing a full-time size TT, unless you can full time in a very small space. Singles can learn to do that, can be a bit more difficult for couples, even more for just friends.

Old, low mileage potential tow vehcles exist, they are just hard to find. Particularly in the 3/4 ton category, where really good work trucks come off lease at 1-3 years with modest mileage and prices close to half of new, or owned trucks come out of the fleet at 8-12 years, really low prices, but totally worn out. Hard to find the in-between.

Used TTs are even more difficult at your price. Yes, age brings them down to that price rage, all sizes, but you'll look at a lot of 10-15 year old wrecks before you come across one well enough cared for to be usable without a lot of up front repair or rebuilding.

I've only looked a little at the conversion van market, but most of what I found was if they are old enough to have a $5000 or under price, they are also pretty well worn out. Most were bought for family travel, bought a high prices so "we have to keep it and use it" and got a lot of trips before finally deciding to sell the thing.

Full size U.S. made trucks the past 10-15 years, especially those in HD categories, had heavy enough running gear to be good for 100,000-150,000 miles if well cared for. They could be good for that much more, or they could be starting to be troublesome, and need some expensive work to extend the usefull life. Most of the ones you'll find for sale at low prices will be in the second category, i.e. "the value of this is just not high enough for me to spend $3000 more on a new ..." whatever it is that it now behaving as is near end of life.

Something to consider if the plans are to camp in fair weather places is a popup camper. Many people, including myself started in tents and moved to a popup which game me many of the creature comforts (heat/AC, frig, stove, storage, good size beds).

If you look hard, you might be able to find one in good shape in your budget and they are much lighter than TT's and many if not most are towable by midsize to half ton trucks. some even by larger minivans.

Just check them good for mold/mildew/water leaks. Get down and look underneath them and along the sides for wood rot and check the rook well, inspecting all the seams.

Good luck in living your dreams.

The thing you left out of your original posting was your own capability. If you are an effective mechanic, there are a lot of great deals out there that require a small investment in parts and a great deal of "sweat equity". Not many people are willing to repair things these days, and if you can then there are real bargains to be had.

Other than that solution, the only other is money.

Matt

Friend of the family recently did a US tour with a small Caista and a V6 Nissan Pickup. Look at Trailmanor.com for hard sided pop-ups that can be towed by smaller vehicles. A popup is the best way to save on gas - otherwise your pushing a lot of wind with a full size TT and your puny forerunner engine and transmission are tearing themselves apart towing it. Your budget is really poor - even if you are considering used. Good luck.

Hmmm...sounds like we need to re-evaluate our plan here. 30-50k is definitely not happening, unless this is magic land, and student loans have disappeared.

Maybe we should aim for shorter term travel? We were thinking of doing some woofing along the way to get free room and board. Maybe we need to set our sights lower? Conversion van?

If nothing else, maybe this is the beginning to a very good cautionary tale...

Okay -- we have a 26 foot 5er Alpenlite. We pulled it with a 2000 Dodge Dakota. We HAVE spent 4-5 months in it at a time. Wouldn't have a problem with full time if that were all we could afford. You CAN do it for cheaper.....and yes, an older rig or pickup may need some work on it....you never know. If you're handy like my husband is, it IS doable.

Definitely consider at least 1/2 ton truck. V6 Forerunner would not be first on my list to tow.

If you look hard you may be able to put together a 1/2T full size pickup and a 19' travel trailer for that. A 19' TT is going to be cramped but with an awning facing easterly you can set up to be outdoors for waking hours. Just use the trailer for cooking and sleeping. You can put a bunch of stuff in the back of the pickup to keep the TT as clutter free as possible. Good luck!