Excursion or 2500 burb

uglyjeepoffroad

uglyjeepoffroad

Registered Loser
Joined
Mar 20, 2005
Location
Hickory, NC
Starting the search for a new tow rig.
Requirements:
Seating for 8
Tows well
Nice enough to dd if needed
Budget of $10k

Any suggestions? Things to look for? Recommendations?

Sent while I should have been doing something constructive...
 
2000 Ford Excursion Limited 4x4 Lifted

***bought another vehicle so excursion has to go.****

2000 Ford Excursion Limited 4x4, v10, auto, leather, all power, heated seats, rear a/c, entertainment package, 136xxx miles, 10" fabtech all spring lift, 38x13.50-20 toyo open country mts, 20" xd crank wheels. Tires have less than 5000 miles. Excellent condition for the year!! Paid $9995 a year ago for it stock and invested $4000 in lift, tires and wheels. Will sell for $8500 FIRM!!!!!!! NO TRADES Text 4239305402

Willing to meet within a reasonable distance.

***bank still has title until its paid off****
Attached Thumbnails
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Found on www.4x4grace.com
 
If you daily drive it and occasionally tow, then either will be OK but fuel mileage will suck with the V10. The 5.4 is an OK motor but I think its underpowered for towing unless you add some upgrades. The 6.0 in the GM is a good strong motor.

The Excursion, IMO is a little nicer of a rig but the gas motors aren't as nice as the GM. If you want a good SUV tow rig, find a diesel Excursion and you will be set. You can likely find some for less than $10k if you really look around.
 
oh also, for lots of towing or heavy towing, the rear springs on the Excursion need to be upgraded a little to limit body roll and sway that is common on them. Not sure on the Suburbans. If you go with a Suburban, look for the 4l80 trans especially if you tow a lot.
 
I have been starting to look into this also. I only need something that fits 5 though, and would like to keep with an SUV. I only tow like once a month or every 2 months though so I don't need anything crazy, but would like to be able to easily tow the TJ. Doesn't seem that there are a ton of options out there.
 
DSM Turbos said:
I have been starting to look into this also. I only need something that fits 5 though, and would like to keep with an SUV. I only tow like once a month or every 2 months though so I don't need anything crazy, but would like to be able to easily tow the TJ. Doesn't seem that there are a ton of options out there.
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Tahoe would probably get it done with minimal whining.
 
From my research the excursions hold their value better and run about 2-3K more comparably equipped. That's one plus if you end up not wanting it long term.
 
I'm leaning towards the Excursion. I like the diesel but I can get a much nicer v10 model for the same money. It would take years to make up the difference in gas vs diesel. I had an older 3/4 ton burb and it towed well but it wasn't very fun to drive otherwise.
As for the lifted Ex in the ad, if he'd left it stock I would have bought it.

Sent while I should have been doing something constructive...
 
DSM Turbos said:
That is the best thing that I have found as well. Right now I have an 01 tahoe but it has higher mileage than I want to tow with (176k). May look at a newer one in the not so distant future.
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I towed with a 99 Tahoe with the 5.7. I upgraded the brakes but still didn't like the stopping power. The motor pulled the load fine, but even with a load distributing hitch a lot of times I felt the tail was wagging the dog.

Sorry to highjack.
 
uglyjeepoffroad said:
I'm leaning towards the Excursion. I like the diesel but I can get a much nicer v10 model for the same money. It would take years to make up the difference in gas vs diesel. I had an older 3/4 ton burb and it towed well but it wasn't very fun to drive otherwise.
As for the lifted Ex in the ad, if he'd left it stock I would have bought it.

Sent while I should have been doing something constructive...
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I went with the V10 Excurison. Got my lifted one for about $6500 with 165,000 on the clock. To get a diesel 7.3 would be about $14,000 was the best price I cpuld find at the time for a non lifted one. Do the math with the price difference between gas and diesel and the cost of the truck and it would take like 400k to make up the difference. To me it was a no brainer......
 
BigClay said:
I towed with a 99 Tahoe with the 5.7. I upgraded the brakes but still didn't like the stopping power. The motor pulled the load fine, but even with a load distributing hitch a lot of times I felt the tail was wagging the dog.

Sorry to highjack.
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Same reason I'm looking to trade my 1500 ram quad cab even thought it has a hemi. Just towing the double axle trailer home empty I realized it would have some pucker factor in some circumstances once I had it loaded down. No issues getting to speed it's the inverse that undersized trucks seem to struggle with.
 
uglyjeepoffroad said:
I'm leaning towards the Excursion. I like the diesel but I can get a much nicer v10 model for the same money. It would take years to make up the difference in gas vs diesel. I had an older 3/4 ton burb and it towed well but it wasn't very fun to drive otherwise.
As for the lifted Ex in the ad, if he'd left it stock I would have bought it.

Sent while I should have been doing something constructive...
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That's me on the lift part. I don't want a truck that's too high to tow comfortably and too long to wheel just seems like a waste.
 
i just sold my 04 1500 hemi, and got a 03 ex bone stock with the 6.0 with 200k on it for $9600 i couldnt pass it up. I'm putting about $1500 into it to semi bullet proof it. trying to keep from doing head gaskets, if they blow i will pull the 6.0 and put in a cummins. if you look at diesel call a dealer and get a oasis report, ask the seller about mods, things replaced, egr, oil cooler, spewing atifreeze. lots of good info on pwerstroke.org
 
I have an 01 Ex Limited, 7.3 , 177k. you need to do a f250 spring swap, rear sway bar or it can be a handful. Springs are softer for soccer moms from the Factory. I wouldnt sell mine for under $15k. We use it for long trips thats it. Only put 15k on in the last 3 years
 
The motor doesn't scare me, its the rest of the truck. Front end, ball joints, tranny, etc.
It looks just like an '03 I'm looking at. Its $6800, a v10 and only 138k miles.
 
uglyjeepoffroad said:
The motor doesn't scare me, its the rest of the truck. Front end, ball joints, tranny, etc.
It looks just like an '03 I'm looking at. Its $6800, a v10 and only 138k miles.
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I'm with you there. I passed on a 2500 burban that had been towed behind a camper for the same reasons. Yes the engine miles were low but who knows what was on the rest of the system and they wanted top dollar anyway. Sometimes searching is fun and sometimes it just straight sucks.
 
I have a Diesel Excursion and towed for 4 years with a 8" lift and 37's. Loved how it towed. Went to Florida and back last year with it. Got about 15 MPG doing 70 pulling a trailer. I have since made mine no fun to tow with when I lifted to a 14" Lift and 44's. I am going to get a 2wd Diesel Excursion now and Lower it with some helper bags. They are even harder to find in a 2wd Diesel version. I find the 4wd's all the time. The 5.4's can be had for cheap. I thought about a 5.4 and put on a super charger like the Lightening. Would be a cool towrig but probably even worse on gas then they already are.
 
Found this one from a coworker that sold his camper.
'03 Limited
V10, 140k
New paint, driver's seat has a little wear, rest of the interior is perfect.
Got it for about $1k under kbb
Picking it up in the next week or so.
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Sent while I should have been doing something constructive...
 
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Sent while I should have been doing something constructive...
 
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