First Comparison Test
http://www.motortrend.com/cars/ford/expedition/2018/ford-expedition-vs-chevrolet-tahoe-vs-dodge-durango-vs-toyota-sequoia-vs-nissan-armada/
I have no idea why GM sells so many.
The big surprise was how well the Durango performed. 8 year old design and came in a not too distant 2nd place.
Another surprise (for me) was that Motortrend actually picked a winner. I quit subscribing years ago because MT loved kissing its sister.
The body/frame trucks would be better for regular towing and I don't consider the Durango to be really in the same class. Jeep is gonna do a pickup-based Grand Wagoneer in a year or two and that will be more in the large SUV class.
I am guessing the etronic gingerbread on the Durango would be less reliable than most of the others in the long haul, but I like it just fine and feel good about the Grand Cherokee/Durango as they are built in Detroit about 5 miles from my house so I've probably breathed their paint vapors for years.
No doubt the new Expy is a great piece of work and I hope Ford can take some sales from the GM overdogs. But the GM SUV's have some kind of rich-folks "status" appeal that Ford has never been able to match in the past.
George
My 2014 Grand Cherokee pulled my 4500 lbs. trailer, no sweat. A little wiggle, but that was because the trailer weighed as much as the Jeep. But about 5k lbs. is all that I would have wanted to pull with the Jeep.
My 2017 Expy really does not pull any better than the Jeep did at that weight.
But, 4500 lbs. is not 7500 lbs.
My 2014 Grand Cherokee pulled my 4500 lbs. trailer, no sweat. A little wiggle, but that was because the trailer weighed as much as the Jeep. But about 5k lbs. is all that I would have wanted to pull with the Jeep.
My 2017 Expy really does not pull any better than the Jeep did at that weight.
But, 4500 lbs. is not 7500 lbs.
But I think the separate body/frame construction would be more durable if you were regularly pulling heavy. And part of that is that the frame is allowed to flex under the body, where the unibodies would take any shocks more as a unit.
Of course this may be my own built-in preconception...and unibody full size vans (Fords before '75, GM before '96, and all Dodges--as well as the Sprinter and Transit) did a lot of pulling in their time without breaking apart.






