I vote diesel truck with four doors. It may not hold as many people as an excursion, but it is far more versatile. You can always put a cap or bed cover on it for weatherproof storage. I vote for the diesel for the obvious towing advantage and longevity, plus mpg's are better.
If he has to have an excursion, i would try to find one with the diesel option. Just MO.

 

My dad got the 2011 superduty couple months ago with the new powerstroke. It is a beast! (in a good way)

 

I voted diesel Excursion. I'm pretty biased though, as I own one. It's pulls an +11K# toy hauler, and see's the dragstrip more often than my wife would like. :rofl3: Towing I'll get 11 with a heavy right foot. Unloaded I can squeak out 23 mpg driving at highway speeds. Those are hand calculated numbers, not guesses.

Whether someone needs a diesel is pretty simple to determine. How much and how often will the vehicle be towing heavy. One weekend a month or less and the V-10 is the better option. More than that, and the diesel rules. That's just my thinking though.

The 7.3 Excursions are getting harder and harder to find. 6.0's can be found, but you need to do some homework before you dive into one. V-10's are still fairly easy to come by and are much cheaper to purchase and maintain.

 

I pull my 24' enclosed trailer filled with a RZR and four Grizzlies with my 2007 Tundra no problem. My trips are mostly local with only one or two out-of-town trips a year. Then I use the truck for work in the oil and gas fields every weekday.

 

I voted diesel excursion. I have a V-10 Excursion, but it get real hard on gas above MPH pulling a 20' trailer(9-MPH). MPH and under is about 12 to MPH, but who wants to go that slow. It does pull great though!

Rob

 

V10 SUPER POOPER

 

This is my lil' powerstroke. First ford and diesel i have ever owned and i love it. 7.3!!!

 

2500 hd chevy 6.0. 11-12.5 mpg town 13.5-15 hiway 9-10.5 w/4000#truck camper and towing 3000# . Simple to maintain and will out pull that v10.

 

chevy 6 liter will NOT outpull the v-10, not even close.

 

Diesel 4 Door all the way. You pick the brand. I personally own a Ford F-350 SuperDuty 4X4 6.4L PowerStroke. It pulls monster loads with ease. This is my setup.

It weighs over 21,500 Lbs and is over 63 feet long.
I have to be real careful not to drive to fast. :ride:

 

Diesel 4 Door all the way. You pick the brand. I personally own a Ford F-350 SuperDuty 4X4 6.4L PowerStroke. It pulls monster loads with ease. This is my setup.
View attachment 21938
It weighs over 21,500 Lbs and is over 63 feet long.
I have to be real careful not to drive to fast. :ride:

where d you find the rack for bed of truck to put rzr on i want one! also just purchased 07 3500 dually duramax with allison only 53000 miles. love it cant wait to make a trip! ordered banks with iq monitor & trans brake any opinions on this product?

 

Im sick of towing fords back to the dealer! I would never buy such garbage. Id say 3 a week somtimes the same one twice a month. I get 22mpg out of my dodge 2500 4x4 with 168000 miles on it. Why would you want anything else? The guy that owns the towing company ha s an 08 f250 6.4 and gets 8 to 10 mpg with tons of power and its torn up two trannys and a pcm so far. Hes a die hard ford guy too.

 

Why something other than a Dodge like yours...because some of us have better taste. jk :rofl3::rofl3:

Whatever works for you is what you should own.

 

I have a 4 door chevy duramax plenty of torque to get you up the grade and with allison trany gets you down the hills without using the brakes.
Pulling a 26' heavy duty toyhauler 14' living qtrs and 12' garage inside a rzr.

Not sure how to inset pic anyone respond

thanks

 

03 GMC Duramax Allison 4X4 Crewcab Dually Longbed
Does not care if two Sportsmans are on the bed or that...

There is a RZR in the Toyhauler.

Legal no-cat 5" exhaust, AFE Magnum intake, Edge w/Attitude on step 2, 10-12 mpg

 

05 chevy tow rig see pics attached

 

06 dodge megacab with a 5.9 cummins.

 

Not a fan of Dodge trucks but even Ford & Chevy fans like that Cummins diesel. Long life & way more aftermarket goodies for it.

 

I have a 08 Ford 4x4 dually diesel crew cab. I have a 3,000lbs Lance camper and a inclosed trailer with my RZR and camping stuff 2,500lbs. All the power I want I get 12.5 MPG towing sometimes a bit more or less. I have had no issues with it in 16,000 miles almost all of them towing with camper. I love it.

 

05 F-250 SD Diesel Crew Cab. 15mpg, 10mpg towing 11,000 lbs. No problem at all towing or handling the weight. Although no truck is perfect or maintenance free... 3 rear ends, and about $4k in motor work under warranty (1 injector, couple of failed oil line seals, FICM). Just dropped another $1,100 in for Hipop seals post warranty, 95k miles. Not sure I could recommend the 05-08 motors, they are not cheap to maintain BUT they do pull like 2 or 3 gas motors tied together....

 

the boat gitter and desert rig.... lol, not on topic, sorry, just relized sorry ill remove...

BTW, i had a V10 lifted excursion several years back and i really liked it. no where near as much as my dmax, but it was a great tow rig....

 

The extra money spent on the diesel motor is the way to go. All the extra power and the longevity with the motor. It just does not make sense to buy the gas motor if your primary goal is towing. The only advantage on the regular gas is more fill up options and the saving on the truck in price in the beginning.
All the brands make good diesels to tow heavy loads with, so it's more of what you like overall and budget.
Love my 08 F250, fit and finish was heads and tails the best looking truck back in 2008 and the best towing capacity. Plus they were the one of the big three that was going to make it back then as Dodge and Chevy were closing up dealership all over in 08.

These are the only pics with my truck in it that I could find. 2008 FX4 crew cab "Tuscany" edition.

 

is there a reason why ford is the only option?

 

Only manufacturer of an SUV with the diesel engine option from the factory. If it were me and I could find it and do it right I would get a Burban and swap the engine and trans for a Dmax .

It makes more sense and is more fun when you have all the people in one vehicle for conversation and such so that is why Ford is the only option for SUV. For trucks I would say Dmax or Dodge, but price is an option as well his goal is to stay below $20k

 

I recently bought an 08 F350 Crew Long Bed 4x4 with a 5.4 Gas. It was $8,000 less than a comparable diesel. It tows 3 RZR's 80 MPH no problem and gets 9 MPG. I previously had an 06 F350 King Ranch 6.0 Diesel and it was nothing but headaches. All the problems were covered under warranty, but it is embarrassing to have your $50K truck towed out of the parking lot at work a couple times each year. So I would avoid the Excursion 6.0 option.

 

Get the Spartan tunner and you will see an increase of power/torque and mpg while towing

 

Old guy , old truck 2001 Dodge Cummins 6 speed 4x4 tow 10000 lb fith toy hauler. Loaded at 12000lbs gets 13.7 higway. 19 empty. My last truck hope it lasts!

 

Go 2011 6.7 PS F350!!!:ride:
View attachment 22090

View attachment 22091

 

Anything with a Duramax but I may be a little biased ha

 

Last month I traded my 07 tundra for a 2010 ford 1ton 4 door diesel. Ford put huge rebates on the left over 2010's. I knew my daily mileage would go down initially with it verses my tundra. However, once I get my controller and get rid of some of regen, I should get better mileage around town and way better mileage towing my camper and gear:

This is what it mainly tows:

 

A 7.3 Excursion would be sweet. I vote megacab 5.9 Cummins or any Dmax. Im partial to the LB7 Dmax 01-04.5. Allison is a sweet tranny.