Thinking about towing my boat ( 37 Midnight w/quad Outboards approx 8K lbs) and doing a few occassional short trips (3 hours) and some long trips to Florida (14 hours)

I have been looking at Ford Excursions for their interior space and overall secondary vehilce use for my famalia.

Any experiences ??

Im assuming I should go with Diesel and 4x4 any experiences or suggestions. Thanks

Ok, I have a little experience with the Excursion. I towed a 32 AT with it and was fine, when I moved up to the 37 AT it did it but not as good. What I found was the truck had a lot of roll and when a semi truck would pass you on the highway , it would push you around some, not a good feeling at 65mph. If I had kept it I was looking into some airbags for the rear and a way to tighten up the suspension. But sold it and bought a 350 Dually instead. Hope this helps.

Oh, and don't buy anything but a Diesel, 4x4.

I had a friend with one that towed a 43 Black Thunder with one. I think he towed the boat to florida a few times. He loved the truck but ended up selling it and buying a dually for towing.

I had a 01 excursion 7.3 diesel 4x4 and towed my 38 Gun with it pulled the gun around with no problem and excellent fuel economy too. I think for short trip go with the excursion 7.3 if possible but long trip Dually for sure.

We pull a 35 Formula w/ a Ex gasser V-10. Does real fine. Also pulled a 30' camper thru rockies, passing semi's on serious grade's.

Although the Ex is simaler to F-250's, the suspension is softer for "scoccer moms". We put on air bags, better shocks and radius rods that eliminated sway.

Every one that asks about milage, I tell them way better than the boat!

I have an 01 7.3 on 35" tires with sway bars and air bags tows great. I havent pulled anything above 10k but it's been good. I had a dullie same year and motor I pulled my 42 Sonic with but sold it when I got the NT since it was twice what the truck was rated for,the bad part it pulled it fine just didnt want to stop it.

A good friend has pretty much the same setup I have and he tows a 97 382 Formula and has no problems. He owns a 4x4 custom shop, he says that the Excursion tows better with a little lift to get the frame as high as the trailer, he pulled his boat 2 seasons with his truck stock then lifted it 3-4 inches and put on 35's and it was better driving than before.

The leafspring on an Exursion are the same then on a 1/2 ton truck

Unless u airbag it ,,,forget it .

had my buddys Exursion to get a boat in Kentucky and pulled it to FL,,,,,,,,what a nightmare,,,,boat and trailer maybe 10K.

My old dually suburban 3/4 ton ,,,NOT A PROBLEM !!!!


Get a dually !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I pulled with an '02 4x4 excursion with the 7.3 diesel for a couple years.

Put airbags on the rear and add some wide aftermarket wheels and tires. you wont regret it.

Baja 36 Outlaw on triple axle Myco = 12000 lbs loaded

Excursion V-10 3.73 ratio = NO NO NO (Not even with the 7.3 PSD)

Ford F350 dually 4 x 4 - 7.3 - 4.10 = YES YES YES

With the Excursion keep the total boat and trailer weight under 10K max and yes air bags will be required.

We love our Excursion but it is NOT enough truck for our boat and simply not safe for anything over 10K. It will pull 6 to 8K like it is not even back there.

Good luck

There NOT the same as a 1/2 ton. Not even close,they are not as big as they need to be for sure.
If you go to some of the truck forums you can find the part #'s for the Ford oe springs to put f250 or 350 springs under it that will have it sit level and you can run 33-35 inch tires depending what spring you run, get good 6-8 ply tires, I have 18 inch wheels but am putting on 20's for less sidewall and even better ride. You can go aftermarket but the stock stuff seems to ride better. Will it tow as good as a dually no, will it tow the boat in ? yes and 6-8 people and all their crap. I would not go over 15k total boat and trailer for long trips.

Any truck that was not built to tow will need some setup to do the job right, I don't remember Chevy building any dually Suburban's so it must have been a conversion or custom witch the company would have done things to make it tow better. Yes Duallys tow great but they suck to drive all the time if you live in an area with alot of traffic.