I'm in a very similar situation and also wonder what happened to this market segment. I just replaced our 40' 2-car gooseneck trailer with a 24' enclosed trailer (probably about 7500-8000 lbs loaded). We had always used my racing partner's diesel truck to tow the gooseneck, which was great. But now that I'm on my own, I need a proper tow vehicle for this trailer. I'll be replacing my 5.4L Expedition, which has the rated capacity for this trailer but isn't really big enough to be good at it.
I like the big SUVs. My 24' trailer is only about 8K lbs. I will buy used, something from 2002-2004 or so. So the way I see it, I have three choices:
1) '02-'03 7.3L diesel Excursion
2) '03-'04 6.0L diesel Excursion
3) '02-'04 8.1L gas Suburban/Yukon XL
I love towing with diesels, and I know that if this SUV was going to be permanently attached to the trailer, it would be the only right answer. But although it won't be a daily driver, this truck will see some around-town duty. Gas is a little easier to live with.
I've been reading reviews and almost universally, the Excursion is panned for its excessive size and weight, even compared with a Suburban. So I'm sure that the Suburban is a more manageable thing when the trailer isn't hooked up.
So some days I lean towards the Excursion ... I love diesels and I've had good luck with my Fords. But I'm torn about WHICH diesel engine ... the more modern, but generally less reliable 6.0 with the nice 5-speed automatic, or the older, noisier, less powerful, but more reliable 7.3L with the 4-speed? Tough choice.
But then other days, I think about my wife driving it, and I know she'd hate driving the Expedition, especially a diesel. Besides, the Suburbans are cheaper.
I'm really torn about this. Right now I think I'll just get a big-block Suburban and be done with it. But does anyone have any words of advice? Experience towing this kind of weight with one of these big SUVs?
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