Longer SUV that'll haul a small boat?

HawgBonz

HawgBonz

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ETA: Things changed and now we're just lookin for a decent SUV type tow vehicle for a small <2000# boat setup and fuel economy is secondary.

Lookin into thinning the vehicles around here to 3. What's up for replacement is my Ram 1500 Hemi 4x4 and possibly the "workhorse"
Lincoln MKX that gets the duty for most driving. Def NOT lookin for new. Prolly older in the <$15k range depending on what gets sold.
Requirements:
Can haul <2k#s of boat/trailer/gear/old man.
Long enough in the back with the rear seats removed that I can lay out with the rear hatch closed for truck camping. No kids or pets to consider. Lots of gear.
Not sure if I even need 4x4 anymore. I know it used to be a joke but AWD? Might need 4x4 at a boat ramp and occasionally at the hunt club. If it's icy/snowy/muddy I ain't goin but I do need "x" amount of ground clearance for hunt club roads.
Kris would like somethin that gets reasonable fuel mileage if we're replacing the MKX as well.

Details:
We've got the 2500HD/Duramax Chevy 4x4 pick up for heavier truck work. Miz Gail has her Grandmas-Grocery-Getter Camry. Kris works from home and usually takes the Duramax for horse events. We originally started lookin at Excursions cause I was just gonna replace my occasionally used Ram. But then we got to thinkin about reducing the registration/insurance/maintenance yadda yadda of the 4-cars-for-3-people ratio so we're considering lettin the MKX go as well if some compromise can be found.
The boat just gets hauled to the local waterways within an hour of home. It's a lil hilly but no mountains. I don't wanna be that guy trudging up hills with a woefully under-powered rig or that joker that can't stop what he's hauling. I've towed a lot of boats in my time and seen some "interesting" things. šŸ˜ I'm just kinda out of touch with currently available vehicles and what's on the avoid-like-the-plague list. I have no brand loyalty to contend with.
I keep reading about Eco boost and remember them when they first came out but haven't kept up. Seeing reports of peeps using very small vehicles that are seemingly rated well high enough for small boat duties.
What say y'all?
 
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Loving my new Suburban. Got a buddy with a 20+ year old one. Nuther buddy wont buy one unless its got a 100K miles on it. He says its just broke in at that point. They currently come with 5.3L or 6.1L engine. I know you can get the smaller Tahoe with 5.3L. Had two Tahoes B4. My new Burb has some sort of towing controls/programing you can do. Buttons and sliders on the dash.
 
jimmyjames8 said:
Loving my new Suburban. Got a buddy with a 20+ year old one. Nuther buddy wont buy one unless its got a 100K miles on it. He says its just broke in at that point. They currently come with 5.3L or 6.1L engine. I know you can get the smaller Tahoe with 5.3L. Had two Tahoes B4. My new Burb has some sort of towing controls/programing you can do. Buttons and sliders on the dash.
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Somethin in the older Suburban/Tahoe size format was what I originally looked at. But Kris kinda threw a wrench in the works when trying to make it
work as the "most days" driver for the house. The fuel consumption would make lil "fun trips" around the area burdensome.
Miles don't scare me too much if it's been maintained. Went out today to a few lots on 29 between Salisbury and Concord lookin at anything that may fit. Tried stretchin out in a few cargo areas and there was plenty of room in most of'em with the seats folded down. :cool: šŸ‘
 
The problem you're going to see is that large, fuel efficient SUV's are going to be newer V6 or small V8 10 speed models that you won't find at your price point. The EcoBoosts make good power, but they still get bad mileage because of the size of the SUV. My Expy 3.5TT ecoboost gets about 17mpg, and cam phaser problems are common.

I still think an older 5.3 Suburban or Tahoe is your best bet.
 
HawgBonz said:
Somethin in the older Suburban/Tahoe size format was what I originally looked at. But Kris kinda threw a wrench in the works when trying to make it
work as the "most days" driver for the house. The fuel consumption would make lil "fun trips" around the area burdensome.
Click to expand...

Think of all the money you'll save buying it as paying in advance for the extra fuel you'll use.
 
Supermatch said:
The problem you're going to see is that large, fuel efficient SUV's are going to be newer V6 or small V8 10 speed models that you won't find at your price point. The EcoBoosts make good power, but they still get bad mileage because of the size of the SUV. My Expy 3.5TT ecoboost gets about 17mpg, and cam phaser problems are common.

I still think an older 5.3 Suburban or Tahoe is your best bet.
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My 19 Expedition with the same motor is in the shop now. Mine started the cam phaser rattle about a year ago and I was scared to drive it. We were leaving for a trip to the Ark Experience and Creation Museum (about 7 hours one way) a couple days later but most (even on the Ford forums) said it wasn't a reliability issue just a noise issue, AND I found that the cost to fix it could be well over $3000. I've driven it ever since, and the cam phasers only rattle for about a second on startup.

Now at 96K, it's started a slow coolant leak which may be the water pump. Same deal as with cam phasers with repair-they have to lift the body off the chassis, and then remove the entire front cover of the engine to do the repair. Waterpump will be 2200-2300 bucks... šŸ˜Ÿ If it is that-I think I will at least see how much additional the cam phasers replacement will be since they are in the same spot as the waterpump. I have loved and adored this SUV until now-I think I will still love it once it's fixed, but geeez!
 
Big Dave said:
My 19 Expedition with the same motor is in the shop now. Mine started the cam phaser rattle about a year ago and I was scared to drive it. We were leaving for a trip to the Ark Experience and Creation Museum (about 7 hours one way) a couple days later but most (even on the Ford forums) said it wasn't a reliability issue just a noise issue, AND I found that the cost to fix it could be well over $3000. I've driven it ever since, and the cam phasers only rattle for about a second on startup.

Now at 96K, it's started a slow coolant leak which may be the water pump. Same deal as with cam phasers with repair-they have to lift the body off the chassis, and then remove the entire front cover of the engine to do the repair. Waterpump will be 2200-2300 bucks... šŸ˜Ÿ If it is that-I think I will at least see how much additional the cam phasers replacement will be since they are in the same spot as the waterpump. I have loved and adored this SUV until now-I think I will still love it once it's fixed, but geeez!
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I get the rattle if it sits for a bit, but was also getting the torque converter shudder until I added lube guard. Mines a 2015. It also has the cats fail around 80k, and Iā€™m band aiding that right now since itā€™s close to $2k to replace those as well.
 
Theres enough room in the back of a 2005+ grand cherokee or Trailblazer/envoy/traverse for 6' sleeping space. All of which have plenty of clearance on unmaintained rough roads/ruts, but barely enough for off road fields or light trail use.
I've had experience pulling my 3k lb popup with all these, and up to 6k lb camper with the traverse, with zero hesitation to recommend.
Full size rigs are out of the question here, cuz the wife can't see out of them well, and they usually have a shyt turning radius.
 
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Well happy day at Casa de Hawgbonz.
We've decided to not sell the MKX right now and just get a dedicated truck for my uses which simplifies things a great deal. Now I can get back to my initial big goofy SUV type program and Excursion/Expedition/Tahoe/Yukon/Armada/Suburban etc, are back on the menu.
That said, the idea of somethin with better fuel numbers is still appealing if there's a mid-size or smaller unit that'll get it done.
But my past experience has been that the smaller motors were generally false economy.
The old adage of "No replacement for displacement" seems to be at least somewhat true..
 
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Supermatch said:
Theyā€™d be a total dog without it. The VVT on these is critical for bottom end and turbo spool. They donā€™t have the displacement to work around it like the V8s do.
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Strange, a variable vein turbo should spool it just fine without the need for variable valve timing.
 
Stircrayzy said:
All of which have plenty of clearance on unmaintained rough roads/ruts, but barely enough for off road fields or light trail use.
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Clearance is def an issue where I go.
The paper company cuts drainages into the slopes and it makes for some serious whoop-de-doo's on the 2 tracks.
But most of the time I just go park n hike my way around. Still. I'd hate to be limited in where I can park by clearance.
 
Diablos said:
Strange, a variable vein turbo should spool it just fine without the need for variable valve timing.
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The 3.5 expys have twin standard turbos, not VGTs.

Though now Iā€™m not so sure. I know the early ones did not, but not sure when that changed.
 
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I personally think it would all work out better if the thread title was:

ā€œShorter Older Naturally Aspirated V8 Or Straight Six Pushrod OHV SUV That Will Haul A Longer Boat?ā€šŸ˜¬
 
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Dont buy a Jeep Grand Cherokee. Easily the worst automobile i have ever owned. Its great when it runs but i have had the waterpump replaced at the dealership. Replaced the ac compressor, camshaft, and lifters myself. Jeep equals junk.
 
Shooter24 said:
Dont buy a Jeep Grand Cherokee. Easily the worst automobile i have ever owned. Its great when it runs but i have had the waterpump replaced at the dealership. Replaced the ac compressor, camshaft, and lifters myself. Jeep equals junk.
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This is on a 2013.
 
I work for a company that builds parts for the big three plus more. The hemi is dead but the next stellantis motor is a twin turbo v6 that makes more than 500 hp. Much more than the hemi
 
With the Dodge a round trip was at a minimum $33.
This trip, which included dinkin around the wild interior a bit cost me $16.
There's gonna be a few places I can't go but I'm still thinkin it was worth the trade-off.

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I think the Pilot is the corporate sibling with the Acura RDX/MDX. I had one in 2013 that was great. The V6 had cylinder deactivation so it could cruise as a 3 or 4 cylinder and accelerate as a 6 cylinder. I'm pretty sure you did exactly the right thing.
 
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