Alright guys I need a little insight here. I recently sold my 1999 F350 Dually and now I am in the market looking for a replacement. In the meantime I have been driving a family members Chevy suburban and I have really enjoyed the extra room. Now my dilemma.

I found a 2005 Excursion limited with the 6.0 diesel. 141k miles. What is the towing capacity? I have a 24' enclosed cargo trailer and a 14k gvw dump trailer. I don't tow everyday but I still need a vehicle that can handle the cargo trailer for moving, or towing a car. The dump trailer mainly gets used for hauling a small tractor or gravel. Is the excursion up for the job? I would put airbags on if it helped out with the stability. Just looking for some insight on if the excursion is up for the towing or if I just need to stay with a pickup.

Thanks

 

If serious about an excursion, I would look at V code front and modified B code rear springs. A couple guys on hear have reported better handling characteristics. Adding a sway bar to the rear This setup is from F250/F350's. Look for WE3zs on here. He has some good tech stuff. I have a feeling the trialers your looking at will be too much weight for a factory Excursion to handle though.

 

tow rating should be around 11,500 but many have and often tow over that. with a few mods it can be a very stable towing platform.

 

Tow capacity is 11K. The receiver is only rated for 1250 or so IIRC. I know some have exceeded those limits with no issues, but the rating is the rating.

Personally, I would stick to the F350 platform for 14K.

 

Towing 14k lbs with an excursion is no big deal. Done it a bunch. The springs make a big difference. How much is the one you are looking at? I'm shoppign now too, but that one has too many miles for me to consider. Just curious, is all.

 

they are asking 14,900. Its in pretty decent shape. Has 4 brand new tires. couple door dings and small scratches.

 

Sounds about right from what I've seen, about a 7-8k differential for the diesel engine. I never could make that justification myself.

 

i believe i grossed 30,000 lbs all the way from tucson az to seattle wa ..only took two days .. on 140,000 mile old suspension ..im pretty sure its up to the task lol

 

i would tink the ex is up to it in stock form. But I would upgrade the hitch just for the saftey of my family. I myself would also uprgrade the springs but thats a preferance not a necessity I think.

 

Check the engine out and see if it has been upgraded/bullet proofed. My boss bought and F250 6.0 with barely over 100K and had to have new headgaskets, EGR delete and head studs. It cost him quite a bit. See if you can get it for less.

 

You won't be towing anything if that 6.0 isn't doing it's share of the job. Definitely make sure you know what you're getting into with that engine. That mileage is right around mine and while I haven't had the nightmares that you'll read about, I have had the nit-picky 6.0 issues I had to resolve. But once I did, between that, some tow tunes from Innovative, and the RAS...it's a pullin-beast...and will fry the tires on a street tune as well. Good luck!

 

You shouldn't have any trouble with that kind of weight. Like many others in this thread I've towed above the rated capacity a few times, and the truck handled it just fine.

 

Towed above the capacity or not I would change the hitch if it were me. Your working with a 8 or 9 year old hitch that is under rated when new for what your pulling. I myself wouldn't want to live with the possible consequences if that thing were to give loose. Just a 300 dollar peace of mind to me.

 

A few questions.

The 14K is "gvw" ... how much do YOU put on it?...some put more and some put less...do you know the actual weight of the loads you pull via a scale?

What type of towing would you be doing...mainly around town on local streets or are you going to be hitting the highway?

Do you use a weight distributing hitch?...the receiver on the Ex is rated at 12,500#'s max WITH a WDH only and that would put 1250#'s on the tongue...for stable towing you want minimum of 10% of the load on the hitch as tongue...if the trailer is truly 14,000#'s...you would need 1400#'s as tongue.

The Ex has a 20,000# GCWR and "typically" mfg's use that as ratings for the braking system on the Ex...you would be over that...I know...I know...here's where someone chimes in that trailer has its own brakes...

How many people will be with you in the Ex when you are towing?...this will make a difference on axle loading in the Ex. Typically "max" numbers for towing you see are with a single 150# driver...everyone or anything else inside the truck REDUCES those "max" numbers.

I've towed a 9000# travel trailer with 1100-1200#'s on the tongue ALL OVER THE COUNTRY with my old Ex...it was a great TV/combo for sure. But I spent a lot of time tweaking that setup to make her stable...throwing an additional 50% of trailer behind the Ex and doing the type of 12+ hour interstate towing per day I did would scare me personally...I'm not sure what type of towing you are planning...that's why I asked.

I'm not one to recommend exceeding mfg ratings because we really don't know what is the weak link that set those ratings...we can all speculate...and that's all we can do. There are reasons the commercial trucking industry is policed by weight police check stations on the side of the road...being overloaded is unsafe for both drivers and people around them.

I would personally choose the right designed tool for your intended purpose...and that's a properly rated vehicle...but that's just my $0.02

Good luck with your choice...The Ex is absolutely an incredible vehicle...I'm just not sure it is what you need here.

Joe

 

Hemi Guy - everything you said is correct, but he's asking about occasionally hauling the tractor or gravel. He's within 10% of GCWR with maximum load and not exceeding any axle or tire ratings. I'm just not seeing a major problem here.