Yeah, I'm pretty sure a Peterbilt will out-pull an Excursion too, but that doesn't make it better suited to the OP's needs.

The '07+ is a very capable tow vehicle. I think an Ecoboost option would be very cool, but I also find the 5.4 6-speed combination to be just fine.

I test drove a couple of new F250s back to back years ago... I think an '04 and an '05? Anyhow, the earlier model had old steering and the newer model had incredibly improved steering. The old model drove like my faithful '97 F250 and the newer one was civilized. Ford never added the newer steering to the Excursions. I'm figuring if the old-style steering in the F250 felt primitive that many years ago, an Excursion would feel like a dinosaur compared to a more contemporary alternative.

Granted, the Excursion would likely drag my Navigator across a parking lot though!