Tow Vehicle

[JohnnieMo]

If you end up in the market for an old Duramax, ‘06-‘07 were the prime years. This is coming from my mechanic.

I literally just inherited a 2006 Duramax from my dad. It has 218,000km. I'm trying to decide if it makes sense to keep it or my Avalanche or neither. It sure uses a lot less fuel, that's for sure. They appear to fetch a premium.

[freeheel4life]

I literally just inherited a 2006 Duramax from my dad. It has 218,000km. I'm trying to decide if it makes sense to keep it or my Avalanche or neither. It sure uses a lot less fuel, that's for sure. They appear to fetch a premium.

Is it a 2500 or 3500?? Was your dad a stickler for maintenance?? If it's a one ton, well maintained, and my Google calculator converted kms to miles correctly I would hold onto that thing. As mentioned they are a bit more to maintain but if you keep on it in 10 years that truck will still crush the Avalanche in reliability, ease of towing, and resale value. Plus you seem like a guy that has an RZX3 in his future
At 8,000 lbs ish you will be glad to have the d max. Just my opinion.

[BurnMac42]

Sorry for the thread revival but wife threw me a curve ball last night. She mentioned instead of her trading in her van and getting a new one that we trade my truck in (2007 Toyota Tundra Crewmax) and she get the larger vehicle. We have 3 kiddos and as they get bigger, towing the boat and cramming 3 large kiddos in the back seat doens't sound too appealing (even though the Tundra's rear seat is huge for a truck). So she will drive the larger/tow vehicle day to day and I'll get some type of car (Audi A5 or something, I dunno something sportscarish).

We have had an incredible experience with the Tundra in that it's been mx free for all 150k+ miles on it so naturally we talked about the Sequioa but what else is out there? She won't want an old diesel Excursion (I do though lol). It needs to be a newer full size SUV (3 rows of seats) that drives as close to a car (IE not a truck) as possible. Obviously the more it can tow the better. Not a fan of Escalades so not too much interest in those.

Lastly, it will currently be towing a 2017 R21 however that will eventually be upgraded to a more than likely R23....

I like the Expeditions or Suburbans but to be honest we are a little weary of Chevy quality (no offense to Chevy guys) beause my little bro has gone thru two Chevy trucks that burn oil bad and Chevy's repsonse is "it's within specs"....Will definitely still consider them if they fixed their oil burning issue because I think those things are sharp!

Any recommendations out there?

[BCRider]

My wife's next vehicle will be a newer expedition once we grow out of our Flex. Same boat as you as I have 3 boys and will want more space at some point. The Flex is fine around town but if we need to pack up and go anywhere we have to take my truck as there's no trunk room left in the Flex. The expedition has more interior room than the tahoe/suburban and the ecoboost is great for towing. Both my Flex and F150 are both EB and my truck pulls my boat no problem whatsoever even up an 8% grade to our summer house. Hell, one year I had to take my boat to storage and my wife had my truck. Even though my boat was overrated for the flex it still pulled better than my 05 F150.lol. Other than an expedition or a suburban there is nothing else besides the old excursion that is in that size category. Everything else steps down in size slightly. My friend as an VW Atlas which is diesel and is a pretty nice looking SUV. That's where my knowledge of it stops however.

[h2o-ski]

Within the next year I will be selling my 06 expedition with 185,000+ miles for a newer 15-17 expedition. I like the IRS in the expedition vs the solid axle in my wife's f-150 for towing. Even the non-towing package expedition pulls more then 6k lbs.

One thing that the expedition has over the GM SUV is that the 3rd row is higher than the floor board. My 13 year old son who is on his way to 6' can ride for hours in the 3rd row with no issues vs 30-45 minutes our friends yukon.

[freeheel4life]

Ford is on it IMO. The 3.5 EcoBoost is a tow beast, and GM is still just pushing the 5.3l into half tons and you can get a big ol 6.2 in the yukon/Denali. Oh ya, and now in a step backwards running a little NA 4 cylinder in half ton trucks. Seems like the wrong direction to go, especially if you are trying g yo market fuel savings.
I think the Expeditions are sweet, but pricey. Plus if it was me I'd have to shop the Expedition Max with the longer wheelbase as it should tow better. I also have a buddy who already had issues with the new 10 spd trans. So many issues that he got a buyback and Ford put him in a new truck. EcoBoost coupled to the older 6spd would be my pick.
Or the Sequoia! It just blows my mind how most of the Toyota trucks and SUVs hold their resale value compared to GM/Ford/FCA.

[BurnMac42]

Follow up...So we went out and looked at a Suburban, older Sequoia (2008), and the Nissan Armada. After test driving the Suburban and then going to look at the Toyota and Nissan my wife had a hard time considering them because of the trunk space when the 3rd row is up vs the Suburban.

We did a drive thru of the Ford dealership but it was after looking at the Toyota's and Nissan's and didn't stop because we felt the Expedition looked to be the same size HOWEVER I did not know about the Expedition Max and I didn't notice one on the lot so I'll have to go back and look again.

[BlackoutATX]

Tow Vehicle

There is a big difference with the expedition max. Go to a ford dealer and crawl around both and you will see what I mean. Also as said above, longer wheelbase is so much better for towing. The expedition max is the only current suv I would consider replacing my f350 with.

I ended up looking really hard at the diesel excursions. But I just couldn’t bring myself to pay the premium for a vehicle that old.

Ford PLEASE give us a new excursion! (I know it’s not happening)


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[h2osk8er00]

I'm waiting until the new bronco comes out to see what motor it has and the functionality. I have a 2016 2500 megacab with the cummins but if the bronco has a decent tow package/mileage I may be forced to sell the truck and get it... had a bronco before and used to tow my older Tigé (2001 2100v) so I am a sucker for that versatility. Regardless, love the cummins and tows like a dream. I just hope there is a diesel option for the bronco as I am a sucker for diesel power now. Guessing it will have the EcoBoost motor though.

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[BlackoutATX]

I'm waiting until the new bronco comes out to see what motor it has and the functionality. I have a 2016 2500 megacab with the cummins but if the bronco has a decent tow package/mileage I may be forced to sell the truck and get it... had a bronco before and used to tow my older Tigé (2001 2100v) so I am a sucker for that versatility. Regardless, love the cummins and tows like a dream. I just hope there is a diesel option for the bronco as I am a sucker for diesel power now. Guessing it will have the EcoBoost motor though.

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I have no doubt the bronco will be awesome. But I have a feeling the wheelbase won’t be favorable for towing. I also think there is zero chance it gets a diesel. I hope I’m wrong. But I’m not getting my hopes up.


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[h2osk8er00]

I have no doubt the bronco will be awesome. But I have a feeling the wheelbase won’t be favorable for towing. I also think there is zero chance it gets a diesel. I hope I’m wrong. But I’m not getting my hopes up.


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I hear ya brotha. I am thinking that too... fingers crossed. I am looking for a house on the lake so my tow days are numbered. Last time I owned my bronco I used it just for launching and it worked great. Going to be hard to beat this Dodge though. This truck can really do it all and in style. Maybe I will just need both. I just wish they would reveal it already. Hopefully for the next auto show come January.

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[BurnMac42]

Well second follow up we went and test drove a Ford Expedition Max Limited and I must say, wow what a vehicle. We liked it better than the Suburban but after the test drive I looked at my wife and asked her "hun, which vehicle would you be the happiest in" (SUV vs another Odyssey) and without hesitation she said Odyssey. I'm not spending that kind of coin on a car that she is "tolerating" vs being over the moon for so I'll be keeping the Tundra and we are van shopping tonight lol....Just means on those rare occasions that we have all 3 kids + friends and/or family that want to all go we will be driving 2 cars....not a big deal

[freeheel4life]

Glad you are remembering the important stuff, like keeping the wife happy.

Honestly it's getting to the point with new boats that while most 1/2tons and SUVs CAN pull them, they are still well over their rated towing capacity and payload capacity. Just look at the new ZX1. Advertised weight of 5500lbs. That doesn't include trailer. I've verified the weights on a few Boatmates now and they are anywhere from 1500-2000 lbs depending on length and options. Add in 300 lbs of fuel, gear, coolers etc and you are well over 8000lbs. Max towing capacity on most new SUVs is somewhere in the range of 6000-6500 lbs. Higher payload capacity SUVs are pushing 1700lbs of payload.
8000 lbs of trailer should be around 800lbs at the hitch. So you've halved your payload capacity as soon as you hitch up. Then add up total weight of mom dad and all the kids and all the other stuff in the vehicle and you are bumping max payload as well.

With boats getting bigger I'm sticking to 3/4ton or bigger. Sure a smaller rig can and will pull it but I hate feeling like the tail is wagging the dog with something so big and expensive, not to mention the value of keeping the people in the tow vehicle safe. Just sucks for folks with lots of kids as there aren't many options past a king/megacab in the HD truck world. That and new HD trucks cost as much as a new R21...

[bsreid]

When you’re unloading boats at the dealership have you ever asked the crane operator to tell you the real weight of the boat? A friend of mine was saying an rzx3 was upwards of not 7000 without the trailer. It’s like if a zx1 can be 5500 how the heck can they only add 500 and have a rzx3....

Regarding towing it is sure nice to have the HD to handle the weight. Especially now that we want a truck camper to take on some road trips to comps. Has anyone had experience with this? From my understanding of it extends too far you need a new hitch and a special weight distribution extender so I’m not sure what the best option is.

[freeheel4life]

When you’re unloading boats at the dealership have you ever asked the crane operator to tell you the real weight of the boat? A friend of mine was saying an rzx3 was upwards of not 7000 without the trailer. It’s like if a zx1 can be 5500 how the heck can they only add 500 and have a rzx3....

Regarding towing it is sure nice to have the HD to handle the weight. Especially now that we want a truck camper to take on some road trips to comps. Has anyone had experience with this? From my understanding of it extends too far you need a new hitch and a special weight distribution extender so I’m not sure what the best option is.

I never ask him for the weights. Even their computer dynos have some margin of error, and Im usually too focused on whats in the air to care. If I want to weigh something I go to a CAT scale. Scaled Unstuck's RZX3 as he had some concerns. Boat plus trailer was 8380lbs with not that much fuel in it and NO gear. Tongue weight on rear axle was 820lbs.

We have a handful of customers rocking the cabover and boat. Superhitch is the hitch you want and you will need their extension kit as well. Not cheap but you only have to buy it once They are a great company and super helpful when I talked to them on the telephone. They know their stuff. If you arent bagged on the rears I would look into that as well.