I just bought my EX in oct. and I will not be towing for another few months. I am used to towing with a chevy suburban diesel ,so towing with a 01 v-10 will be a little different. I am accustomed to my chevy staying locked in gear at 70mph pulling my 28ft. TT even at 3/4 thottle. I will be installing a rear anti-sway before spring and was wondering about the chips that are out there. I am not concerned about more power as much as likeing the tranny being happy in one gear, I dont like excessive shifting. going to Niagra falls this summer and just want my set-up right the first time. Anyone with towing experiece please reply.
Thanks, Shad G

 

I Tow Non Stop With My 2000 Ex W/v10 And I Have No Problems. I Tow A Boat Weighing About 5500lbs, 26ft Enclosed Trailer Loaded Weighing 7000lbs And Also A Car Hauler For Two Vehicles Loaded Weighing 8400lbs. In Town I Have The Od Off But Once On The Highway And Up To Speed I Put It Back Into Od And Run About 75mph With The Boat And Stay Around 70mph With The Car Haulers. I Am Tempted To Purchase Air Bags For The Rear Because The Two Car Hauler Kinda Sags The Ex A Little More Than I Would Like To See. I Use The Weight Distribution System On The Car Haulers As Well To Help Out In Towing. I Think The Ex Is A Great Tow Vehicle. I Dont Know How Much Your Tt Weighs So I Listed The Approximate Weights Of My Towing Adventures So Hopefully One Of Them Is Around The Same Weight As Your Tt. If You See A Lot Of Hills Coming Up Take The Ex Out Of Od And Let It Pull Like It Is Made To Do. I Only Get 9-10mpg While Towing

 

My TT weighs in at around 6000# before putting anything in it. And I have a great weight dist set up which worked well with the suburban. Just driving the EX solo seems like it will tow a house but I have yet to give it a true work-out.

 

I also have a 01 EX w/V10 and tow a 30ft. T.T. that weighs in at ~9,000 lbs loaded. I of course have a weight dist hitch. I have added the Helwig rear anti-sway bar and Timbren rear springs. I also have the Banks Stinger system installed. The Ex tows the trailer just fine. Sway is really non existance (this is really more about hitch set up), and power is fine. With the proper hitch set up, you will have no problems.

 

The X has softer springs in the back than a 3/4 ton Suburban, so to tow heavy, they need a little help.

A rear sway bar is worth 10x its $150 cost.

Good HD shocks.

I also have Timbrens. Some people use air shocks. Others install F350 rear springs. Still others do nothing. Your choice.

If your truck is a 4x4, the front leafs have very little travel. When you throw extra weight on them (through the WD hitch) you might get some bottoming out against the bumpstops. You might end up doing something in the front too. I have Timbrens all around. My PSD X tows 7000+ like a champ.

 

Its Funny You Mentioned The Suburban. Was It A 1500 Or 2500? I Went On A Vacation With My Cousin Driving A Suburban 1500 5.3l And My Brother Was Driving A 00 F-350 Psd. My Boat Was Hooked To The Suburban And Another Boat On The Back Of The F-350. I Did Not Have My Ex At The Time So We Took The Nicer Vehicles And The Suburban Floored Barely Got My Boat Up Some Of The Hills On Our Trip From Il. To Lake Of The Ozarks, Mo. The F-350 On The Other Hand Was In Overdrive And The Cruise Set And Left The Suburban Behind. That Is When I Decided I Would Not Purchase A Suburban Atleast With The 5.3l And Went To The Excursion. I Wanted A Diesel But Came Across A Deal I Could Not Pass Up And Ended Up With A V-10 4x4 Limited. The Psd Is The Sh** Especially For Towing. I Love My Ex For Towing Though Man I Wish I Had A Psd. My Next One Will Be Guaranteed.

 

My suburban is a '94 2500 w/6.5l turbo diesel. It has been a good truck however my short distance to work and the age of the suburban we decided to go with a newer gas truck . Also we could't pass up the deal. 2001 EX 4x2 w/v-10 ,XLT, leather, 30k miles for $16,000. I hope this pulls as nice if not nicer than my ol suburban. The suburban isn't the biggest power house on the road but it pulled it nice and steady, just has to watch the exhaust/water temp on the hills. Not to start a war but I have driven both and the diesels are worth their weight if a guy put's miles on.

 

Hey JWK0721 I couldn't help but notice. I bought my EX not to far from you, over in Shaumburg in oct. Lots of V10's for sale around Chicago at that time.

 

I Live In Joliet But Purchased My Ex In Matteson,il In Aug 03. Schaumburg Is Only 35 Min North Of Me. Mine Had 35,000 Miles,limited, Factory Tv W/dvd, Leather, You Name It It Has It Other Than The Frickin Diesel I Wanted So Bad. Paid 20,000. Great Tow Vehicle Can't Say Enough About It. I Went From A Old 1983 Chevy Dually W/diesel And Was Embarassed To Drive It To The Water With My Boat. Ya I Spent More Money On My Baja Boat Than Planned So I Was Stuck With My Old Truck For A Little While. Always Borrowed My Brothers 00 F-350 Dually Deisel When I Could So I Didnt Look Like An Idiot. You'll Be Happy With Your Purchase. I've Ran 85mph Down The Highway Towing With The Cruise On And It Went Straight, No Swaying Or Anything. This Is The Tow Vehicle To Have. I'll Stop Rambling On Now

 

I LOOKED AT THE BANKS PRODUCTS AND CANNOT FIND ANYTHING FOR A GAS ENGINE OTHER THAN A COMPUTER CHIP. DO THEY HAVE PARTS FOR GAS OR JUST DEISEL ENGINES?

 

Take a look at this http://www.bankspower.com/app.cfm?appid=AF05
They make both systems for the Excursion too.

 

http://www.bankspower.com/app.cfm?appid=AF05

 

Here - http://www.bankspower.com/app.cfm?appid=AF05

 

If your Exc. has the 4.30 gears, the trans 'hunting' should be minimal. Otherwise you'll be towing your 28 footer in 'D' mostly.

I added the Banks Powerpack first, which adds the headers to the Stinger package. Also the Banks Trans Command. It's fine, though quite a bit louder on the inside of the vehicle. The towing performance increase was noticable. Save your money on a chip. IMHO, they're not worth the price.

The Air lifts were second and they do a great job leveling out the rig when towing. Plumbing them independantly provides an adequate level of roll control and I've never missed a sway bar.

After towing several trips over the first couple years (in 'D'), I found a used, rebuilt Gear Vendors unit for a reasonable price on E Bay. Using third-over has brought rpms down from 2800 to 2300 @ 70 mph. It also fills the huge gap between 2nd and 3rd that is useful when climbing.

I should have bought the PSD in light of the way we use it. To do the V10 over again, I'd go with the 4.30's and add the Gear Vendors. I think this would be adequate.

Good Luck