Buying a fullsize vehicle

fordwheelinman

fordwheelinman

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 11, 2009
Location
Randolph County
My daily driver is for sale, so I'm in my beater Dakota. Looking for a fullsize, preferably 3/4 or 1 ton truck/suv. Has to be a crew cab, cause fuck dealing with car seats in an extended cab, and has to be gas, I'd never need the diesel enough to warrant the maintenance costs or initial price.

I'd prefer 4x4, but I could do without on the right deal. I'm trying to stay either Ford V10, 460/7.5, or 6.0, 8.1, 454/7.4 if a GM. Really not brand loyal, but I know Fords better than I know my wife. I've driven plenty more V10 super duty trucks than I have any of the gm's, with the exception id the 95/96 service truck my former employer had. It rode well for a ton dually, the 454 had plenty power i thought,and the interior wasn't terrible. I do like the V10 power a little more, I know their issues, and I'm ok with them, although I'd like to stay 2 valve to avoid the phaser issues of the 3 valve.

I don't "need" a truck, and I'm more interested in a suburban or excursion for the ability to fit up to 8 passengers, with middle bench, and 3rd row seat. I like the Excursion can be "upgraded" with 1 ton springs for towing, which I don't think is possible with any of the suburbans, and I like that they have a solid axle, with true lock out hubs. My wife is also comfortable driving one, as she drove the one I used to have on many occasions.

I realize that was a massive mind barf, but I'm caught in a realm of not really knowing which way to go. What is everyone's opinion on this? What would be your choice for a fullsize, family vehicle, capable of towing, being comfortable for travel, safe for a family,, and reliable/rebuildable enough to keep till I have grandkids?

I've seen 6.8's advertised for sale with 300,000 plus thousand miles, haven't seen many 8.1's at all. Is it that big a pos, or does everybody just hold onto them?

I'm sure I'll add confusion as I ponder this endlessly, and I may even add links to postings to get opinions on buys. Currently I'm fighting the "O I can fix that" mechanic side, with the "I really need it to NOT need major repair work" side.

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I’m genuinely impressed you are mentioning a V10 excursion. Didn’t those things max out at like 8mpg?
2013 was the last year of the 6.0 2500 suburbans that have a reasonable towing capacity. I think 2004 was the end of the 8.1 suburban 2500s. Either way you might want to read up on their gross vehicle weight (combined) capacity. Certainly not going to be as much as a real 1 Ton truck.
 
Historically, when a Democrat takes office in the WH fuel prices steadily increase to asinine levels.

May want to take into consideration the potential of $4 fuel in 2 yrs
 
CasterTroy said:
Historically, when a Democrat takes office in the WH fuel prices steadily increase to asinine levels.

May want to take into consideration the potential of $4 fuel in 2 months
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I fixed it for you...
 
@NickMaul, @CasterTroy i appreciate the input.

I'm not exactly sure what the fuel mileage eould be, but the 7.3 excursion I had wasn't doing much over 13 anyway. Of course it was kind of a piece of crap, but I digress.

I probably should care more about fuel mileage than I do, but it's not really high on my list. A diesel thats not got shit wrong with it, probably out performs in mileage, but I'm looking broad spectrum. After having been certified, by Ford, in both Gas and Diesel engine performance and repair, diagnosis of potential problems on the 6.8 is just a little easier, especially without access to a full scan tool. Much simpler to swap a plug/coil/injector around to diagnose a misfire. Coils/plugs/injectors are usually in store where I work (O'Reilly) for the gas motor. 7 qts of oil vs 20, and the whole never having to plug it up thing. Around here, not really an issue, but I have family up north (yes I'm a damn yankee by birth) and it gets quite chilly up there in the winter.

Also one advantage of doing excursion/suburban over a truck, no weighted tag.

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I was on the hunt for the same thing recently, until plans changed drastically. If you are looking for something in good shape, with decent miles on it, the 2500 Suburban with the 6.0/6l90 combo seems like your best bet. The solid front axle of the ford is nice, but as you stated, 4wd isn't a deal breaker, so IFS shouldn't be a deal breaker.

If you don't care about mpg, the first gen avalanches with the 8.1l/4l80 combo can still be found with 100k on the clock for $10-$15k (when I was shopping in that price point a few months back).
 
shelby27604 said:
If you don't care about mpg, the first gen avalanches with the 8.1l/4l80 combo can still be found with 100k on the clock for $10-$15k (when I was shopping in that price point a few months back).
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Price point is also a determining factor, since I'll be using the money from the sale of my Honda as the base for my purchase, my price range is considerably lower. Need to keep payment to a minimum, so staying sub $8k is necessity. Excursions are going for less, than that, older (460 equipped) Fords are lower, the chebbys seem to be higher for some reason.

If I don't find anything, I'll probably just end up getting my 78 ford running and then buy a cheap crown vic/grand marquis for family vehicle.

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I think your on the right track for a v10 ford. I have a v10 f450 and the wife has a v10 excursion. We've had the excursion for damn near 7 years. It has 255k on the original engine. She loves it and never wants anything different. I'll keep it going until it falls apart. I think these trucks are the best bang for the buck out there.
 
x2 on the Excursions.
I have a 2000 as does a friend. Both have been comfortable, tow well, and reliable. Buddy's has 4.30 gears so it tows better, but mine gets better mileage when not towing. We both bought them during the last gas price hikes and got good deals. Mine is at 219k and his is over 240k. Original drivetrain with maintenance.
 
uglyjeepoffroad said:
x2 on the Excursions.
I have a 2000 as does a friend. Both have been comfortable, tow well, and reliable. Buddy's has 4.30 gears so it tows better, but mine gets better mileage when not towing. We both bought them during the last gas price hikes and got good deals. Mine is at 219k and his is over 240k. Original drivetrain with maintenance.
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My wife and I have both agreed we liked the Excursion vehicle, but the one we had was a POS. Hard to find one local seems to be the problem.

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I suspect gas prices will help make big block and V10 powered vehicles reasonable in the not too distant future......the only unknown is whether inflation will get so bad that your dollar has half the buying power and that $5k rig still costs $10k.

raleigh.craigslist.org

2004 Chevrolet Suburban 2500 - cars & trucks - by owner - vehicle...

We are selling our beloved 2004 suburban 2500 4x4. It has 321000 miles with the 8.1 liter engine and Allison transmission. All our kids are grown and gone so my wife wants to down size vehicles. We...
raleigh.craigslist.org

This looks like a high mile cream puff....not an Allison unless some put a new transmission tunnel in it, factory was 4l80 on all the SUV's.
 
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There must have been some damn good salesman working at some ford dealers. Either that or people are dumb as shit. Why else would there be so damn many 5.4 crew cab super duty trucks and excursions, and so damn many crew cab 80's/90's f350's with the damn 5.8. Just why in the hell would you put a small gas motor in a big damn truck? Regular cab I get, extended.....eh OK. Crew cab? I've seen more than a few DUALLY crew cab 90's trucks with the 5.8. WTF?

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Not familiar with the chevys as much. Looks like a good deal. The 454 vortec a good engine? Early 4l80's durable?
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That is a stout drivetrain. Most people go full retard with an aftermarket transmission cooler if you are towing heavy. Gas mileage is definitely going to hurt :D
 
fordwheelinman said:
80's/90's f350's with the damn 5.8. Just why in the hell would you put a small gas motor in a big damn truck? Regular cab I get, extended.....eh OK. Crew cab? I've seen more than a few DUALLY crew cab 90's trucks with the 5.8. WTF?
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Eh, we had F650s with 460s in them, and F250s and 350s with 5.8s. One or two pickups with 460s. The 460s made a bit more torque. The 6.9/7.3 was expensive to buy, expensive to maintain, and was never fast. Cat motors were the same. With the Fords, the weak link was the transmission.
 
Well the wife has spoken......or at least has evoked her perogative to change her mind.

She concerned about fuel costs, she doesn't think she can drive something as big as im looking at, she wouldn't be able to drive it on a trip, blah blah blah blah blah......😠😠😡😡🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

Her mother and her mothers husband (recently remarried) have a 2011 explorer they want to sell. Limited, i.e. loaded full of expensive ass crap that's gonna be expensive as hell to fix, and when I point this out I get, "Ugh, your such a damn mechanic"........ So now she has decided to redirect us from something that I can work on in a parking lot, with tools I generally carry in the vehicle, to something that would probably have to end up at the dealer when the infotainment dohicky flim-flamery goes bad. I hated working on them as a Ford tech, and I'm gonna hate having to pay to have the shit worked on.



So instead of my, "fits every purpose, keep it till I die, never give up just fix it" vehicle, we get the "its really nice looking and has fancy things" vehicle. But ya know what they say, happy wife means happy wife.
 
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