Suburban vs Excursion

Please excuse my over posting.  Just learned how to do this, copy and paste stuff.

I’m not sure I’d be happy with the power although I haven’t compared the specs side by side. I drive vehicle with the 5.4 and similar weight and it seems to struggle.

Trust your gut on that one. I've never driven a 5.4 truck that impressed me. Which is funny because i've driven stock 5.3 GMs that practically hauled ass. The v10 seems to be 'more better' than the 5.4 than the 2 extra cyls alone would suggest. That's the butt dyno talking, but every 6.8 i've driven has actually left a good impression on me. It's the only mod motor that drives well enough to be worth  the mod-motor foibles, in my opinion.  Sometimes i think about swapping one into a 97-03 f150.

Vigo said:

I’m not sure I’d be happy with the power although I haven’t compared the specs side by side. I drive vehicle with the 5.4 and similar weight and it seems to struggle.

Trust your gut on that one. I've never driven a 5.4 truck that impressed me. Which is funny because i've driven stock 5.3 GMs that practically hauled ass. The v10 seems to be 'more better' than the 5.4 than the 2 extra cyls alone would suggest. That's the butt dyno talking, but every 6.8 i've driven has actually left a good impression on me. It's the only mod motor that drives well enough to be worth  the mod-motor foibles, in my opinion.  Sometimes i think about swapping one into a 97-03 f150.

The 5.4 in my Expedition has me wanting. I can only imagine what a heavier Excursion would feel like. 

Also, it's my understanding the V10 doesn't suffer blown plugs, and they don't have 3-valve heads for the cam phasers to fail.

Scam.  

On on what planet does a low mile 7.3 in a non totaled vehicle sit for more than 10 seconds with a $2500 ask?  

When thinking of reliability Toyota always comes to mind. Land Cruiser/Sequioa wouldn’t work for you?  

octavious said:

When thinking of reliability Toyota always comes to mind. Land Cruiser/Sequioa wouldn’t work for you?  

Definitely, but not in my price range 

I have been loosely shopping burbs, excursions seem to be at least 1.5x the price for similar age/miles/condition.  really worth it? over the 'Burb?

(looking for something that isnt a pickup and could haul an enclosed trailer.  want to spend ~$5k ideally and waiting for spring to do the deal anything else I should be considering?  Wife says no child rapist vans , plus I need child haul and HOA says no commercial vehicles)

Define "Comercial ?"

In reply to Appleseed :

its pretty loose, there are people with F350's, they just dont want a converted ambulance or anything fun like that. 

Overall, one key requirement is ability to pick a baby up from daycare with it, but also want a tow beast.  Looking enclosed trailer so I can make a car hauling trailer work as a camper as well.    Basically, I'm 32 and recovering from back trouble and a recent surgery that has had me laid up since October. Time to be a bit smarter about how I rough it, I like to camp, but I think my days of tenting and/or sleeping in a car are over if I want mobility as I age.  I really think an enclosed car trailer (smaller one) can be easily converted to a nice minimalistic camping setup. The fact that two 5 hour days in my miata was what put my back issue over the top must be addressed, and I have a baby on the way and the miata DD isnt going to work for that.

I am talking an enclosed trailer that will probably not haul anything heavier/larger than a miata. Been looking at 'burbs because of good deals.  I really would rather something smaller, but finding the price and tow capacity convergence with that...

I really like Fords for their build quality and fit and finish.  If interior quality of materials is high on your list, I'd give the nod to Ford.  Ergonomics (for my body) I give a very slight nod to the GM.

As far as engines go, they both do pretty well.  They have issues, period.  You just have to put up with them.  On Fords, its ejecting (or seizing) spark plugs, cascading progressive coil failures, manifolds cracking, Evap solenoids failing.  LS engines seem to be a bit less failure-prone, but the rest of the truck will degrade faster.

Transmissions are 6 of one, half a dozen of another.  The 4L60E and 4R70W are pretty well matched, as are the 4L80E and 4R100.  Similar lifespans, similar rebuild costs

Pick your poison.  They will both nickel and dime you for most of their lives and both return 15mpg on a good day.

ebonyandivory said:

octavious said:

When thinking of reliability Toyota always comes to mind. Land Cruiser/Sequioa wouldn’t work for you?  

Definitely, but not in my price range 

Yes, I quoted myself.

i stand corrected, Sequoias ARE in my price range. I’m going to be doing my homework on those now!

My dad had a F350 with a V10.  Do yourself a favor, and look up prices for the individual coils over the plugs.  It would pull a house, but 11mpg on a good day, and coil replacements were a problem.

Nissan Armada platinum. Cheap, truck with a reliable 5.6 engine, independent rear suspension, and a decent interior.  Rated to tow 9k. 

Manifolds cracking seem to be the biggest issues. 

As far as Sequoias, when you do the timing belt replace the big fan pulley bearing/bracket in the middle. You can get the OEM piece for $125 off Amazon which adds a lot to your parts cost but I have seen a lot of them with a pile of metal shavings right behind that bearing even though there are no obvious symptoms yet..

As far as ford coil packs i recently bought a set of 8 AC Delcos for ~$115 (which was the cheapest brand i deigned was worth spending any money to get, there are sets for $29..) so it stands to reason you could get a set of 10 'name brand' coils for ~$150. 

I'm also a big fan of the titan/armada motor. 

The Armadas near me are in the $7,000-$8,000 bracket. That’s about $2,000+ more than my budget.

My Yukon Denali XL AWD was a 13mpg Truck. The Excursion is said to average 12.4 so pretty much a toss up there.

Hoping to see gas prices slowly dropping in the future so maybe that would offset the mileage.