dmasincupp

I'd say bout 5 feet...

Thanks to everyone for the great input. It's much appreciated. Another car...that would work for me, but I think that my wife would not be good with that. She hates driving. Works well for me because I love it. Kinsa...great insight into the tradeoffs between comfortable traveling and comfortable living. Thanks! It's encouraging to see folks with larger families making it work. Sometimes (mostly when the kids are tired and/or hungry) we think we must be crazy. ryno...thanks for the reality check. The more I learn the more I realize that stiffer springs won't increase any towing capacity, but they have at least improved handling significantly. ekim...I have the gauges now as I am somewhat of an oil burning fanboy and love my diesels before I became interested in towing with them. When the family grew we moved to the excursion. I actually just dropped it off today for an engine pull to replace the oil pan and any other rusted trans/brake lines. I figure if I get rid of it or keep it needs to be done and will be a better truck for me or for the next owner. Its costly, but if the non-engine components can hold up its got another 400K miles of life left. (hopefully). You are spot on with it being harder to find a good mechanic to work on these trucks. Definitely something I have struggled with and something I will have to consider carefully. Thanks! The more research I have done the more I am leaning towards getting a 2005 or new F350 DRW (or 450 if I can find one). My budget won't allow (ok, my aversion to debt won't allow) me to get anything too new, but I think I can trade up by selling the Ex and not have to lay out too much for a 5-8 year newer model. I am 6'2'' and after walking through some 5ers and TT...I like the extra headroom...a lot!

Thanks for all the replies and the welcome...I'm very excited to get this adventure started!! I'll just run down some of the questions. Ex has 93K miles on it. I have swapped the factory springs for F250 springs so it rides a little stiffer and (hopefully) should tow better. I pulled a 14ft enclosed trailer that weighed in at about 7K over the Smokies with no problems. But, it has some rust issues and that scare me. I need to get the oil pan replaced. I would only get a diesel F350, but it wouldn't be new. I'd probably go with another 7.3 or a bulletproofed 6.0. I'm trying to stay within a certain budget and they will fit best, I am spoiled and couldn't go back.

Looking for advice from some folks with experience. My wife and I are preparing to go FT and I am struggling to decide between using our Excursion (7.3) and a TT or selling it to get a Crew Cab Truck and a 5th Wheel. Our situation: 4 young children (9, 5, 4, 2). Obviously the extra room in the Excursion would be a plus, but if we get a Crew Cab truck we could all fit...and my 9 year old would love riding in the front middle seat. The advantage of the Crew Cab would be the ability to pull a 5th wheel and feel more stable while driving and would give me the ability to tow a larger trailer for the living part. How much do you typically drive in a day? With the Excursion, while it will pull anything, I would have about 1000 lbs less towing capacity than a Crew Crab F350 (for example). So they real question is, would the trade off between more comfortably traveling between destination and having a larger "home" at our destination and having a (potentially) easier pulling rig be worth it? Thanks!!