As I am upgrading from my Expedition, I need a little help from the forum. I am looking for a larger Tow Vehicle to tow my trailer at 7800 lbs. The Expedition is OK, but it is at it's limit, and when adding the family and dogs, it is really pushing it. I am looking for something under $20k, as I am only using it for towing for the most part, and probably 5,000 miles a year (some years may be more). I have seen a few 7.3L for sale around $17.5k and all have 130k miles on them. Is there something that I should be concerned about with that kind of mileage on a diesel? Would I be better off with the V10 at 65K miles? I am leaning towards buying one from a dealer, as I think it may be a better bet. Any advice I can get would be great!

 

Welcome to my world...

I have an 04 Expedition that I towed a 33' Rockwood with last season. We are a family of 6, so we feel that too!

I'm looking to upgrade to the same. I have run the numbers over and over again, and the V10 wins out every time. The Diesels are still holding their value, and the MPG difference will never be able to make back the money on that, or on the 25% hike on the price per gallon between Gas and Diesel.

I'm curious what your specs are for your Expy and what dealers are offering. The ones I have been working with have been lowballing me. Mine is an 04 XLT 4X4 with leather and only 44K miles.

 

Mine is a '98 Eddie Bauer 4WD with 110k miles on it. If you feel that you are getting lowballed, you can only guess what they are valuing mine at! I may have to donate it for a tax write-off. I think I will only get about $5k for a trade, if I am lucky.

 

Your difference between private party and dealer "wholesale" might not be that far off.

 

Towing 8k is at the beginning of towing on the heavy side. The diesel Ex will out tow the V-10 absolutely no question. The diesel will stay in gear with fewer downshift on smaller hills and such. The V10 will tow but it will rev a little higher and consume twice as much gasoline while towing. I would personally much rather have a 7.3 with 100k vs. a V-10 with 60k, especially if I was going to tow with it. I have a 6.0 and I pull an 11k toy hauler and leave gassers in the slow lane as I cruise by effortlessly. I used to tow with a gasser and the difference between diesels and gassers is insane! There is a very noticeable difference between the two! If you really don't care about fuel economy and being able to pull hills without slowing down buy the V-10. If you want better mpg's and torque to cruise up the hills effortlessly without revving up the engine beyond 3,000 rpm's get the diesel!

 

So, is 130k miles on the 7.3 something that I should worry about? Only car I ever bought with over 100k on it was a wagon for the DW to get around town on, and it was a Volvo (tried to stay in the Ford family).

 

Heh... I think gassers idle at 3,000!!!

It is definitely a different mindset. Redline on my 5.4 is like 5K.

You will have zero issues towing 8K with a V10 if I can do 7K with a 5.4 V8... and I also tow very easily.

From all of the research I have done, you can get better mileage out of the 7.3, although I doubt you will be getting 18 while towing. Expect 9-10 towing out of that V10.

YMMV

 

Since you only drive it for 5,000 miles per year, there's no question that the V10 is the only way to go.

 

130k on a 7.3 is nothing, considering with proper maintenance they will run between 350k-500k miles.

I do not care what anyone says, a gasser will not pull those weights near as easily as a diesel. I have towed with both a 7.4 and a 8.1 and a 5.3 GM's and a 6.8 V-10 and the gassers sucked compared to my diesels. THey were sluggish and sucked gas like freaking crazy compared to my diesels. I have owned a 5.9 cummins and the 6.0 and my new LMM 6.6 and they are night and day difference over ANY gasser! If you got the extra cash and can swing the diesel you WILL be happier with a load behind you! Yes a V-10 is cheaper no question but you get what you pay for! I didn't even bring up the range of miles you can drive in a diesel Ex either.
My Excursion when not towing runs 670 miles per tank in town and 780 miles on the highway, and towing 11k I can drive 475 miles before I am empty. A v-10 you will be visiting the gas station more frequently. THere are a lot of advatages with the diesel for sure. THere is 1 disadvantage with the diesel, and it's cheap oil changes. THese diesels take 15qts of oil and that costs more than a V-10.

Since I switched from gassers to diesel, I can never look back. THe first time I towed with a diesel I was thinking what the hell was I doing towing with a gasser. Once you go diesel it hard to go back to gassers to meet your towing needs!

 

There is the other obvious disadvantage, Gas is $3.25, Diesel is $4.25.

 

Well without dragging this thread out with obvious simplistic math, to keep it short, with the better mpg's of the diesel it is still slightly cheaper per mile to operate the 7.3 diesel vs. a 6.8 V-10. Even with the higher diesel prices. If you need me to explain it with further mathmatical equations I'd be happy to do so, but seems pretty obvious. Simply: for every 500 hundred miles you drive an Excursion it will save 34 dollars to drive the diesel. So $34 dollars savings for every 500 miles driven. Evey 50,000 miles driven will save you $3400 dollars at todays prices!

 

Baah. V10 gets 14 highway. You get 28 without spending thousands in mods?

Towing superiority goes to the diesel, no doubt, but there's no need to hit a mosquito with a hammer.

 

good try though.........

 

I upgraded to the V-10 Excursion, traded straight across with Private owner, We used to have an 03 expy. Our 2002 excursion has 72,000 miles on it and tows our fully loaded Rockwood 8317ss 9000lb or so, with no problem, we get about 9-10 mpg towing including the Sierra Nevada Mountains. When we dont tow, we get about 15-18 mpg.We mainly use it for towing.

 

Scott,

Did you sell your Ex for a duramax?

A duramax has 650ft-lbs of torque. A 6.8L V10 has 425ft-lbs and a NON chipped 7.3L has about 500ft-lbs. I would expect the 6.6L to outpull both the others.

FWIW...I roll down the road at 17,000#'s combined with my V10 Ex and haven't met a hill yet in the Big Horns, Black Hills, Rockies or Appalachians I haven't pulled at the speed of my choice...so that told me I had enough motor...having more motor would just leave more motor on the table (IMO).

This past summer...I pulled 5 mile long 7% grades on I-64 in W. Virginia at 70 mph in 3rd gear (I've only got 4 to choose from)...I can't imagine wanting to go faster than that...at least I don't have the stones to!

If I were tugging 12,000#'s of trailer ALONE or more...I'd have a diesel...but for weights under that a 4.30 geared V10 will do a very good job.

I am NOT anti-diesel...I just personally think the V10 is a great match for loads UNDER 12,000#'s. My 9000#'s of TT is pulled rather easily behind the V10 for me. I think the thing most don't realize...the 6.8L IS an single overhead cam motor...which means it is DESIGNED to REV...I had to learn how to treat her to achieve my results...babying her would NOT produce satisfying results...thru trial and error...I learned how to drive her while pulling from an RPM range...and have been extremely happy.

MPG's...well I don't believe many of the 'claims' on here about MPG's...I've seen higher 'claimed' MPG's out of our near 8000# Excursions than I get from my 3.8L V6 minivan...and in ONE case...I've seen a near 8000# Ex 'claim' MPG's HIGHER than I get out of my 1.6L 5speed Mini Cooper!


So internet mpg's are something I have little faith in...sorry...our vehicles are NOT fuel efficient by any stretch of the imagination.

To the OP...for 5000 miles per year and a 7800# TT...a V10 will serve you well IMO.

joe.