Tow Vehicle question

[parkerboatman]

Ok so I tow my 1985 Sea Ray 250 DA with my F250 truck. Great towing vehicle but no room for my kids or the 100lb Rotty, so Im considering buying a SUV.

Im wondering if a Suburban, Tahoe, type SUV will pull it?
Or should I find a nice Excursion with a diesel? Or a 4dr truck?

 

[rcblack44]

well not sure what your really looking for .but i just bought a dodge durango with the 5.7 hemi to pull my 24 ft. sundancer.and it should do a good job with 345 hp .so good luck on your choice

 

[Go Aweigh2452]

All depends what else you will use the vehicle for... Obviously the 250 was OK for what you wanted. I have an F350 Superduty and love it. Pulls up to 19,000 pounds. My boat is over 10K so that is a big help.

You can easily google the vehicles you are looking at and look at their trailering weight.

 

[TexasA&M]

I would personally get a crew cab 3/4 ton truck for what you need. If you go with an SUV, an Excursion or 3/4 ton Suburban will work as well, but they are both fairly soft sprung in the rear and don't handle tongue weight as well as a truck. How much does your boat weigh? I would find that out before looking at tow vehicles.

I think a 25 footer is going to be too much for a 1/2 ton SUV (sub or tahoe).

 

[Sundancer]

I towed our 87 250 DA for 8 years behind a 96 and 99 3/4 ton. I didn't have any problems and preferred the 96 because it had the 4.10 rear end. The 99 was used rarely to tow it because it had the 3.73 rear end. The only scary time was when it had rained slightly and someone cut me off. I turned the wheel and nothing happened. Slammed the brakes and that threw enough weight on the front wheels to make the turn! I was seriously looking at the brackets for a WD hitch since I had the WD hitch for our travel trailer. We upgraded to a larger tow vehicle so that we could upgrade to our 300 DA before I completed the switch to a WD hitch.

If you are looking at a used vehicle, this is a great time to buy! There are a lot of good deals on SUV's or trucks. If you think you'll be upgrading to a larger boat in a few years, plan on the tow vehicle NOW!!

 

[tdappleman]

I tow my 270 with an 03 Excursion V10 4x4 - tows great - good power and good brakes. I absolutely love mine and was considering a crew cab since the Excursions are getting hard to find in good shape with low miles - but really wanted an SUV for the room. The Excursions can have softer springs than their Superduty brothers but that is an easy change if you decide it's not working for you. The softer springs give a really good ride on the highway and are a good compromise for most people. Since the trucks are so heavy the springs will sag over time to the point where you lose some of the suspension travel. I may change my springs this year to F250 springs to get a bit of lift and regain my suspension travel. The RAS (Roadmaster Active Suspension) is a popular upgrade: http://www.activesuspension.com/ I haven't tried it but people swear by it. Shock replacements are usually required when you get one - a bit of research will get you to the right choice - most go with either Bilsteins or Rancho 9000Xls for their adjustability.

The V10 has great power and will get 11-12 around town and 13-14 on the highway - with an average of about 8.5 while towing. The diesels get better mileage but you pay a premium up front for them and in my case didn't make sense. I do less than 10k a year in mine and most of it is short trips which is not good for diesels.

The Excursions have a great forum and you'll be able to get a lot of feedback from those guys: http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/forum29/

The 6.0 diesel in the later 03-05 do have some issues with the EGR cooler as well as the head gaskets so do some research there. The 7.3 is bulletproof and was available from 2000 to mid 2003 - most have high miles but the drivetrain can take it easily. The V10 is the 2valve motor and has the same 4R100 trans as was behind the 7.3 - good motor but is thirsty. The 2000-2001 had an issue with spark plugs - there weren't enough threads in the head to adequately hold the plugs if they weren't torqued correctly (~15ft/lbs) -was resolved by 2002 with a new head design with additional threads. The 3valve V10 was never offered nor was the 5R100 transmission - it was only offered with the 6.0 Powerstroke.

Good luck in your decision and let me know if I can help any more!

edit - reread your post and saw the 100lb Rott - the SUV will make him happy! We got the captains chairs so my 85lb boxer can either lay on the floor between the kids or he's gotten used to the 3rd row seat being his so he sprawls out back there and I can hear him snoring up front!

 

[parkerboatman]

Thank you so much for that response. I believe the Excursion will be my next SUV

 

[Lazy Daze]

I tow with a 3/4 ton Suburban - diesel. Love it - tows great. Get 14-16 around town, 20/21 on the highway, about 12/13 towing. I also looked at the Excursion before deciding on the Sub. I would have been happy with either - it just came down to me being more of a Chevy guy and we've had a lot of Sub's in our family (and extended family) over the years.

But, I will mention that the 6.5L needs some mods (not that hard, nor pricey) to enable it to tow 10K - but with those mods, it does it quite well - temp's stay right where they should - even pedal to the floor up a steep grade.

 

[Stray Cat]

Does the 100 lb Rott ride up front with you and the rest of the family set in back? No wonder they didn't like the F250 :lol:

 

[tdappleman]

I had taken a picture while on a trip this weekend of the kids and dogs in the back - phone picture but you get the idea of their seating arrangements! You'll love the Excursion!

 

[Lazy Daze]

I had taken a picture while on a trip this weekend of the kids and dogs in the back - phone picture but you get the idea of their seating arrangements! You'll love the Excursion!

Strange... our lab always seems to end up with more room than any of us, too!