Hemi Suburban?

[macsdaddy]

So does anyone know of or if Dodge has ever made a vehicle like a Suburban or Excursion?  I am gonna be in the market for one soon and sure would rather a cummins diesel.  I am gonna need seating for 6 and capacity to tow the ol' TT (8-9k loaded).  I have been looking at the Excursion and the Suburban 2500 but only the Ford came in a diesel and thier V10 scares me a bit.  Any thoughts?

[NoMope Greg]

Dodge hasn't built a large wagon-type truck since the early 60's.

As to the Ford V10 - I purchased mine back in January - a '99 4wd crew cab that lived it's previous life as a well-cared-for construction truck.  (It was the boss' truck bequethed to one of his supervisors.)  Current mileage: 243,000 - and it runs excellent - good power, no leaks, minimal oil usage.  The only gripe I have is the poor gas mileage - 9.5 around town and about 13 on the highway.  But that's to be expected with such a big truck.  I call it the Green Monster, but the joke is that the only thing "green" about it is the paint. 

[HP2]

Dodge doesn't make one, but there is a conversion company in Texas that will do it. $25-30k on top of the purchase price of the truck. But, it is no hack job and will look factory when it is done.

[426HEMI]

That would be pretty cool to see.

[macsdaddy]

Well I figured that but I just wanted to see if it was true.  As for the V10 gas mileage not really concern #1 I have heard some complaints that it does not tow as well as some would have hoped.  Greg, Have you had any experience with that?

[NoMope Greg]

Well I figured that but I just wanted to see if it was true.  As for the V10 gas mileage not really concern #1 I have heard some complaints that it does not tow as well as some would have hoped.  Greg, Have you had any experience with that?

I haven't.  In fact, the only reason I bought the truck is that my son is getting old enough (big enough) that I needed a crew cab - he was getting too big to climb in the back of my old extended cab F150.  I got the truck for $4900, which was about $3000 under blue book.

The fact is, almost no gas engine vehicle will tow as well as a diesel.  Torque is what gets you moving and over hills and gas engines simply don't have the torque that a diesel can lay down.  That's why there hasn't been a gasoline-powered truck tractor or motorcoach sold in this country for over 50 years.

Just to compare 2009 specs:

DODGE: 5.7L Hemi: 380 hp / 400 lb-ft torque
           6.7L Cummins: 350 hp / 610 - 650 lb-ft

FORD: 6.8L V10: 362 hp / 450 lb-ft
         6.4L Navistar: 350 hp / 650 lb-ft

CHEVY: 6.0L V8: 353 hp / 375 lb-ft
          6.6L Duramax: 365 hp / 660 lb-ft

You can see that the most powerful gas engines give up over 200 lb-ft of torque to the diesels.  The diesels also get better fuel mileage, especially on the highway.  The trade-off is higher maintenance costs.

Do you have to have the wagon or would a crew cab truck work?  There isn't really any difference in price.  My crew cab is very comfortable and roomy.  And if you haven't seen it, you won't believe the amount of room in the back of a Dodge MegaCab - I've lived in smaller apartments.   

[macsdaddy]

Thanks for the comparison.  Sadly an e cab truck won't work anymore.  We have one but we will be going from 3 kids to 4 so we need the extra seats.

[farmertan]

Couldnt you go w/ the megacab they should seat 6 easy w/ front split bench? My ford crewcab seats 6 easy and sometimes 7 (4 kids across the back seat middle two share a seat belt) shhh dont tell the cops the windows are tinted they cant see in.

[HP2]

I've got a crew cab Dodge and a Suburban. Both are gas engines. The Dodge is a towing beast, but the Suburban is the prime people mover. With the abiliy to seat 8, rear climate control for comfort, and an entertainment system, the old Dodge just doesn't compare to moving butts around town. ou ould get the same seating out of a Tahoe, but for all the same insurance, mileage, maintanence, why not go suburban and get the extra couple feet of room.

If your going to be towing or plan on owning the vehicle for a long, long, long time, the diesel would be the way to go. If most of your trips are short jaunts around town, or you trade in regularly, the gas engine may be the better power plant to own. Diesels work best when you can run them a bit. Jumping in the truck to dash down to the corner store is not good for them. They also cost more to maintain, like mentioned previously, and those short quick trips increase the necessary maintanence. On the other hand, the gas engine will give up some potential mileage but be quick and easy to maintain. But if all your doing is moving peoplearound town, you may not be giving up that much mileage over the deisel anyway. My neighbor's power stroke isn't particularly stellar around town, but does shine on the highway, and about the time either of my gas mills are in deserate need of a rebuild, his will still be plugging along.

[macsdaddy]

Couldnt you go w/ the megacab they should seat 6 easy w/ front split bench? My ford crewcab seats 6 easy and sometimes 7 (4 kids across the back seat middle two share a seat belt) shhh dont tell the cops the windows are tinted they cant see in.

Something about pulling a 30 foot TT with a fidgety 8 year old next to me is not so appealing, Not to mention all of my kids bty law are in boosters or child seats  It will also be my round town vehicle as I am the SAH parent but we have a gasolie 3 row vehicle also and eventually a lil runabout will joint the stable too.  Guess I will wait till a good diesel excursion comes on the market

[sleepychallenger]

i liked the V-10. not only was it a decent power house for what it was... it also made me a lot of money. i was a heavy line tech at ford in 01 - 04 and replaced many passenger side heads due to the 3rd spark plug blowing out of the head. I am sure by now they have fixed that though. i thought they were pretty nice engines though.

[lemming303]

I'm just curious, what is your aversion to Power Strokes? With the same chips you can get just as much power as a Cummins, and fuel economy too, at least until the 08's came out. I wouldn't buy one of those new ones for nothin. To work on the motor you gotta pull all the front panels off and a bunch of other crap. But if you don't plan on keeping longer than warranty or getting an aftermarket warranty than that shouldn't be a problem. As far as durability, all of the companies I have worked for use Ford Power strokes for their work vehicles. And they always ran good, getting over 70,000 miles a year. And we abuse the hell out of them too. Bouncing down lease roads rough as hell, trying to drift them around corners (just lease roads yall) and crap like that. They are tough trucks. They may be a little more expensive, but they are worth it.

[NoMope Greg]

Something about pulling a 30 foot TT with a fidgety 8 year old next to me is not so appealing, Not to mention all of my kids bty law are in boosters or child seats  It will also be my round town vehicle as I am the SAH parent but we have a gasolie 3 row vehicle also and eventually a lil runabout will joint the stable too.  Guess I will wait till a good diesel excursion comes on the market

If you're going to get the diesel Excursion, either get one of the earlier 2000- early 2003 7.3L turbodiesels or get a later (2005-06) model with the later 6.0L engine.  If you do find a deal on one of the middle models (later 2003-04), find out if it's had warranty work done.  The early 6.0L engines were notoriously unreliable.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Power_Stroke_engine.  If it were me, I'd keep my eyes out for a 2000-2002 with low mileage and then chip it for more power when you need it.  My uncle has one of these and loves it.

SAH parent?

[lemming303]

Yeah, the 7.3 was their best Diesel motor, I don't know why they quit making them.

[NorthWestcuda]

Check out the used diesel Excursions with the 7.3L diesel. Lots of room in those things. I owe a 2003 Ford 350 4wd crewcab and love the rig and motor.  Pay attention to any work that has taken place with the automatic transmision though.  The tranny's are notorious weak and don't last very long when you towing a 30 TT. Thats my two-cents worth.