If recall correctly from another thread though, I would need to drill out the frame holes in order to fit the larger hardware correct?

 

 

and where is the best place to purchase the hardware as a kit? Is there a specific Ford part number?

 

 

Man I would love new F350 or F450 but there is no way I can shell out $70-80 grand! So the wife and I are thinking, we love our Ex and want to keep it for a long time, and it is paid for. With the availability of engines and transmissions and aftermarket part for most of the truck and the ability to haul our dogs easily I think that we have decided (for now) when we go full time in the future we will look at a Grand Designs trailer rather than going the fifth wheel route. I figure it this way, I drop $30K into the Ex in a few years I am $50 grand to the positive compared to a new truck. So what if it is 13 years old, it will soon be a classic.

 

Just passing 300,000 miles this past week, I figure I have another 10 years in the Excursion, so I'm committed to bumper pull travel trailers for a few more years. I just started looking at the Grand Designs (Imagine 2800BH and Reflection 285BHTS), they are very nice and well thought out. If I were going to "full-time" in an RV I would definitely consider the Grand Designs.
But, I'm a realist the lifespan of any RV is 12-15 years (roof). Of course anything can be prolonged and maintained (like our Excursions). As of now, I'm leaning toward a Cougar 29BHS.

The Tow Vehicle can also be less expensive than a Platinum, King Ranch or Lariat without all the electronic "nanny-state" gadgets

 

I am at about 155,000 so she has a lot of life in her. Our 2017 Surveyor is perfect for us right now with one kid in college and the other a high school freshman. We like the couples campers, we make it work for the 4 of us but my 19 year old rarely goes with us now.

 

I too dont want to shell out 70k for a new truck. Our 2005 Ex with V10 and 166k miles pulls the 24ft trailer well. I still will drop some 4.88s in it and save myself about 60k total.

 

 

There are so many of those rodents stuck on the islands.

 

All very nice. For whatever reason, we really like the access door to the storage area in the rear of the Cougar. Like we don't bring too much junk camping already.....

 

We were there... 16 year old X we owned since new. After the great transmission debacle of 2017 we finally got it straightened out and then blew two more rear tires on a trip to Branson. Enough is enough.

Enter the '18 F350 DRW, I swore we would never buy a 70K+ truck but I can tell you it has been the best decision we have ever made in regards to towing. RVing is fun again, no stress and no wrenching every free minute weeks before a trip. I get to enjoy driving again, no watching EGT and boost gauges, just scenery.

Not sure why I am telling ya'll this but I feel like I need to be fair to all the people I told driving old trucks was easy and possible LOL. I still wish I could be driving a T4 turbod 7.3 but not for long distance towing over 10k lbs.

 

I am glad that you jumped in. Why did the tires blow? Was the truck overloaded or were the tires old? I just ordered 4 new Michelin Defender LTX load range Es and a spare for the Ex because my treads are about 5-6 years old and starting to weather crack.
I have gotten to know this truck to the point I don't watch the ScanGauge like a hawk anymore and with the ProPride towing is not a chore.

 

No idea but that was the 4th rear tire to blow on the truck while pulling the trailer. They were not even close to being overloaded, I don't have the scale numbers off hand but they are in a post somewhere on this forum I think. EDIT: see this post for scale #. The last two were 2 year old 14K mile Toyo Open Country A/T and they didn't "blow" but they broke the belts and ran long enough for me to feel the vibrations before self destructing. We broke on entering Arkanas and one returning to Texas from Oklahoma.

The first two were BFG all terrains (same size as Toyo) but each one of those threw the belt and did over $7k worth of damage to the truck... Michelin denied the first claim and paid on the second one. Those tires were less than two years old as well and had less than 14K miles on them (The third set of BFG's on the truck with never even a flat).

Looking for a picture of the tires I just remembered I broke a wheel too last year...
Not really surprising considering the aftermarket cast wheels are so poorly rated. Live and learn I guess.

The tire fun was really the straw that broke the camels back because after the 3 failed transmissions in as many months requiring 3 canceled camping trips made the lack of dependability the major hang up. Kind of like a cheating spouse, you just can't ever trust'em...