Biggest baddest SUV tow vehicle for under $15k?

[shawndoggy]

Is a 3/4ton crewcab truck absolutely out of the question?

No but at this point I'd like to keep the price on the low end. Say $12ish and under. I've been focused on the 3/4 ton burbs and yukons because they seem to trade at a huge discount to the equivalent 2500hd trucks.

[Lance B. Johnson]

175K

No.

[shawndoggy]

No.

how many is too many if well maintained?

[oldjeep]

how many is too many if well maintained?

If you plan on towing with it primarily I personally wouldn't buy anything with over 90K on it unless I actually knew the history of the truck and how it had been used and every part that had been replaced on it. 175K and the trans is living on borrowed time especially if your primary usage is going to be towing.

[shawndoggy]

So the guy who owns the 'burb told me to talk to his mechanics. They happen to do a lot of suspension and alignment work. So this morning I killed two birds with one stone. Took the Ex down there for them to look at and also ask about the burb.

They checked the front end and everything was tight. They said the excursion was very well maintained and that there was nothing obviously wrong or in need of repair. Then one of the owners took it for a drive for 15 minutes or so. When he came back he laughed and said that there are a lot of guys who would be very happy to get theirs to steer as well as mine does. He did say that there was a little bit of wander, and MAYBE they could fix it with a new steering box, but that was a guess and it still might not be any better after the new box.

As for the 'burb, the partner who stuck around while the other was driving the ex called a buddy at a transmission shop and asked about whether I should be worried. His tranny guy said that well maintained 480LEs should go 300k. Of course poorly maintained ones will fail earlier. The 'burb's seller (original owner) says he's been very very religious about fluid maintenance but I haven't actually seen records.

In the end the shop owners were commiserating with me. Both said it was a real tough call and that the Ex was in great shape too. They both said on its best day the ex wouldn't steer as well as the 'burb, owing to the live front axle. One guy said he'd keep the excursion, the other guy said he'd put the boat on the burb and tow back to back and see which one he liked more.

Ugh.

[oldjeep]

>His tranny guy said that well maintained 480LEs should go 300k.

Driving to the grocery store or towing 8000lbs?

[shawndoggy]

>His tranny guy said that well maintained 480LEs should go 300k.

Driving to the grocery store or towing 8000lbs?

"not abused." So keeping up with fluid changes, probably on the "severe duty" / frequent side of the cycle.

My seller is a civil engineer. The truck was his company truck. so mostly around town from jobsite to jobsite. Long family vacations too. Some towing but certainly not the majority of the miles. The burb is one of those used vehicles that gives you the intangible "man, this guy took care of his rig" feeling. Of course my spidey sense may be way off.

Edited May 1, 2015 by shawndoggy

[oldjeep]

Sounds nicely maintained and maybe it'll run forever. Only real concern is that you can change the fluid all you want, transmissions are full of clutches and seals with a finite lifespan, as are steering boxes, power steering pumps. The trick is not having the lifespan come to an end while you are towing somewhere you want to get to I'm personally not brave enough to buy a vehicle with that kind of mileage and not expect to have normal mileage related failures pretty frequently.

Good luck, it does look nice.

[shawndoggy]

ha, well not really sure what to do. Stick with my equally vintage, more powerful but crappier steering rig for a couple more years, or takes my chances with a less powerful, better steering, and somewhat unknown rig?

[teamerickson]

New steering box $$?

[shawndoggy]

New steering box $$?

about $600 installed.

[oldjeep]

about $600 installed.

$135 if you get your hands dirty?

[jk13]

Diesel will hold value better in the shape you keep things. Gasser will take another price hit at 200k. (mine's at 240k and coworker's is 330k on 4L60E small blocks) Like the guy said, if you can yank your boat down there and hitch it up for testing that would be ideal. My Expy brakes were far superior to my Tahoe brakes, that may or may not fall true on 3/4 ton stuff.

Other than that, up to you brotha'.

[shawndoggy]

$135 if you get your hands dirty?

http://www.redheadsteeringgears.com/inventory/2001-2004-ford-super-duty-steering-gear

I think I would use that one. So the part alone is close to $400.

I think it's a project I could do myself, but I don't have good shop space. I live in suburbia, on a hill. Sloped driveway, sloped street, garage to small. Not a flat bit of ground within half a mile.

[shawndoggy]

Diesel will hold value better in the shape you keep things. Gasser will take another price hit at 200k. (mine's at 240k and coworker's is 330k on 4L60E small blocks) Like the guy said, if you can yank your boat down there and hitch it up for testing that would be ideal. My Expy brakes were far superior to my Tahoe brakes, that may or may not fall true on 3/4 ton stuff.

Other than that, up to you brotha'.

Yeah that's the other consideration. People can't give away the 3/4 ton burbs and yukons, but my older excursion with similar miles is still viewed as "low miles" in the market. The seller has had this truck for sale for almost 2 months.

[shawndoggy]

so I decided to stick with the devil I know. Installed helwig sway bar and firestone riderite airbags this weekend.

the sway bar makes a big big difference in keeping the Ex going straight. It's not Mercedes Benz freeway manners, but I do feel like I can glance at the stereo for a second without worrying whether i'll still be in the lane when I look back up.

The airbags definitely take care of some sagging and keep the Ex level with the boat hooked up. I did a couple of freeway laps with the boat in tow to see what I thought. Overall it's still a rough, somewhat unrefined truck. But I get that feeling now at 70 rather than 55, so there's some improvement.

[Tracktor]

I'm confused? Instead of actually fixing the issue of the Excursion having to weak of springs you spent more band-aiding the issue? I can see the swaybar as my 05 has one but after replacing the springs as the #1 fundamental issue with these trucks is incorrect spring rates............Doing the V/B conversion isn't any more difficult that what you just did.............

[shawndoggy]

I'm confused? Instead of actually fixing the issue of the Excursion having to weak of springs you spent more band-aiding the issue? I can see the swaybar as my 05 has one but after replacing the springs as the #1 fundamental issue with these trucks is incorrect spring rates............Doing the V/B conversion isn't any more difficult that what you just did.............

I have no complaint about the ride when unloaded. Only towing. So trying to get ride height adjusted correctly for now. LOL also don't want to pay the $1250 for the new springs and not crazy about putting on old questionable junkyard springs. Right now I'm all-in at about $550.

[shawndoggy]

Sooo.... I went ahead and did the V/B conversion, and added custom bilsteins all around (double shocks up front), along with a double shock steering stabilizer. These are all of the mods advocated by CT Performance, and Cary himself did the install (he's semi-local to me).

Towing performance is much better. Very little wallowing over uneven pavement (I hadn't noticed how bad it was before). Still using the airbags for a bit of leveling since the truck has the 2" leveling shackles up front.

Steering still has the dead spot, but at least the truck isn't randomly darting left or right all the time. Much easier to drive/tow at 65-70 now.

I am still going to end up doing the steering box in the winter, I think.

[turbonine]

Let me know when you do the steering box. My 02 Excursion has 237K miles and I cant keep that thing straight on the freeway to save my life.

[shawndoggy]

Let me know when you do the steering box. My 02 Excursion has 237K miles and I cant keep that thing straight on the freeway to save my life.

Do you have the rear sway bar? Honestly of the the $$$ in mods, that one made the most significant day and night difference. I didn't think it would, but it did. It's a very easy install too.

I still have to actively steer all the dang time, but the risk of looking at the radio and shooting across 3 lanes of traffic was greatly reduced.

[turbonine]

Do you have the rear sway bar? Honestly of the the $$$ in mods, that one made the most significant day and night difference. I didn't think it would, but it did. It's a very easy install too.

I still have to actively steer all the dang time, but the risk of looking at the radio and shooting across 3 lanes of traffic was greatly reduced.

I did install the Hellwig rear sway bar. After I did, I said to myself "should've done that 4 years ago."

Yep, 2 seconds on not looking at the road and I am halfway in another lane.

[John I.]

Let me know when you do the steering box. My 02 Excursion has 237K miles and I cant keep that thing straight on the freeway to save my life.

Do you have the rear sway bar? Honestly of the the $$$ in mods, that one made the most significant day and night difference. I didn't think it would, but it did. It's a very easy install too.

I still have to actively steer all the dang time, but the risk of looking at the radio and shooting across 3 lanes of traffic was greatly reduced.

These comments remind me of life with my '99 Suburban 2500. On paper, the rig should have been a towing delight - 454 engine, 4.10 rear end, etc. On the road, it was mentally exhausting, especially when towing at speed in heavy So Cal freeway traffic. For 4 years most of my nightmares involved uneven pavement, expansion joints, and unexpected braking.

[IXFE]

Man... I used to think I wanted one of these rigs. This thread has completely cured me of that itch.

[nyryan2001]

Same here. That's bad engineering.