Suburban vs Excursion for Family of 8

[BayMonty]

Was going to go all AC Delco but when shipping time said two weeks I went to the local O’Reilly’s and picked up all Moog components. You can see I’ve got the 4x4 actuator in the red box too. 4hi has been intermittent and works when it decides. Hopefully the actuator solves that.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[BayMonty]

I did get all AC Delco calipers, rotors, pads, and brake lines to the calipers.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[xjchad]

Thanks toastyjosh!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

x2!! thank you!

 

[BayMonty]

x2!! thank you!

Xjchad, what area are you from? There’s a decent amount of Suburbans in NorCal right now.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[xjchad]

Xjchad, what area are you from? There’s a decent amount of Suburbans in NorCal right now.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm up in northern Idaho. There's a few around, but most are a ways over 200k miles.
Found a '99 with 180k that I'm going to try to look at tomorrow. It looks really clean.
I have a thread going also so I'll keep it updated and probably start a new thread once I actually buy one.

 

[nosliw]

I was glad to read through your thread as a family of 8 currently seeking new wheels. I started with a 12 passenger Quigley E350, but the 6.0 diesel scared me to death and was a maintenance nightmare. (you DONT want to be broke down with 6 kids and wife) Currently using a 2004 1500 Express van with access cab. I replaced the AWD tcase with a 2 speed after it grenaded BUT...it only has two rows of rear seats and is beginning to really show it's age (300k+) . Although NOTHING beat my 3 rows of seats in the e-350. The kids loved it. Plenty of space for 2 kids to a row. Our 2nd vehicle is currently a 1st gen sequoia. We've vacationed in the sequoia the past 2 years and I'm not doing it again this year. It's just too cramped and not enough room for luggage/gear. Hopefully looking for some insight on van vs excursion. Really wanting a newer ford transit, but V10 excursion fits into the budget better (and is already 4wd!) .

I was glad to see the Expovan chateau ad pop up in the thread. As a former owner of a Quigley, (and a builder of one of the Expovan conversions).......the Expovan platform is 100x better.

 

[phsycle]

I was glad to read through your thread as a family of 8 currently seeking new wheels. I started with a 12 passenger Quigley E350, but the 6.0 diesel scared me to death and was a maintenance nightmare. (you DONT want to be broke down with 6 kids and wife) Currently using a 2004 1500 Express van with access cab. I replaced the AWD tcase with a 2 speed after it grenaded BUT...it only has two rows of rear seats and is beginning to really show it's age (300k+) . Although NOTHING beat my 3 rows of seats in the e-350. The kids loved it. Plenty of space for 2 kids to a row. Our 2nd vehicle is currently a 1st gen sequoia. We've vacationed in the sequoia the past 2 years and I'm not doing it again this year. It's just too cramped and not enough room for luggage/gear. Hopefully looking for some insight on van vs excursion. Really wanting a newer ford transit, but V10 excursion fits into the budget better (and is already 4wd!) .

I was glad to see the Expovan chateau ad pop up in the thread. As a former owner of a Quigley, (and a builder of one of the Expovan conversions).......the Expovan platform is 100x better.

Did the van take you where you wanted to go off-road? That’s my biggest reservation. Even 4wd are just not enough for places I go.

If I were in your situation, I only see 2 options:
1) Get a full-size van. E-series, Nissan NV, Transit and stick to mild trails.
2) Add a vehicle, ie, Wrangler, 4Runner, etc. Take two vehicles when you head out. This would mean both you and wife are driving, but it could also be safer when headed to remote areas as well with the additional vehicle.

 

[BayMonty]

Did the van take you where you wanted to go off-road? That’s my biggest reservation. Even 4wd are just not enough for places I go.

If I were in your situation, I only see 2 options:
1) Get a full-size van. E-series, Nissan NV, Transit and stick to mild trails.
2) Add a vehicle, ie, Wrangler, 4Runner, etc. Take two vehicles when you head out. This would mean both you and wife are driving, but it could also be safer when headed to remote areas as well with the additional vehicle.

Having 6 kids, it really limits the vehicle of choice. Honestly, having anymore than 2 kids pushes families to look at large vehicles. Unless you’re planning on serious crawling, the full size 4x4 vans, with a few mods can get you to 90% of places you want to go, which for me is good enough. Plus you have the added storage and space and it’s a win for most families. The 97 Suburban I picked up last month is more of a nostalgic/utility and a budget choice. All around great platform, cheap parts, a good amount of upgrade options, etc. I’m building that out right now and it will be a great overland rig in about 3 months. However, I have contacted the Nissan dealer in Utah and the White Bear Lake GM dealer in Minnesota to start the conversation on a custom build.

 

[CrazyDrei]

My old 96 GMC Suburban on a 6" lift, 35" tires and 373 gears. Ran 600-800 miles on a tank of gas on the highway. One summer I stuffed 6 adults and all the gear for 2 month camping road trip.

One of the best trucks I have ever owned, was very sad to part with it.

 

[BayMonty]

My old 96 GMC Suburban on a 6" lift, 35" tires and 373 gears. Ran 600-800 miles on a tank of gas on the highway. One summer I stuffed 6 adults and all the gear for 2 month camping road trip.

One of the best trucks I have ever owned, was very sad to part with it.

That’s awesome. What made you let go of it?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[justbecause]

The newer the vehicle the fewer the repairs it should need. If it was me I would buy as new and low mileage as possible and worry about mods later. A bone stock 4x4 will probably get you to 95%+ of the places that you want to go.

Man I wish I had listened to this advice 15 years ago. I've spent 10s of thousands of dollars building vehicles for nothing other than the fact I used to enjoy it. Now I just want something I never have to work on and I've accepted that none of this extra stuff I've invested so much in has really helped me much.

But I do look cool at lowes ...

 

[CrazyDrei]

That’s awesome. What made you let go of it?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Went for a drive and against my better judgement got stuck crossing the Colorado River 15 some miles below Hoover Dam. I got stuck at 8am, finally pulled it out around 1am the following morning after non stop digging it out. It never ran the same way since then and it made more financial sense to sell it and buy another 4x4 than to fix it back then.


I did buy it the day after Bush lifted the ban on off shore drilling and sold it two years later for a $2,000 profit.

 

[therabbittree]

Excursion!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[wagoneerguy]

Congrats on the new rig. Family of 7 here with a few carseats to throw into the mix. Just went through the same process you did finding a new ride. We previously had a 96' k1500 Suburban and it was a great rig that took us all over the place and some places we shouldn't have tried to take it. They are really solid rigs and will serve you well. That said we ended up selling that and getting a 2002 Excursion for a great deal, which so far (only had it for a 3 months) and we really love it so far. The bit of extra space is great and car seats fit a bit nicer. The rear cargo space seems to be about the same and a roof rack is really needed now for camping equip but that is because we have to have that third row now.

Congrats on the 97' Burb though, take care of it and it'll treat you good!

 

[justbecause]

They are really solid rigs and will serve you well. That said we ended up selling that and getting a 2002 Excursion for a great deal, which so far (only had it for a 3 months) and we really love it so far. The bit of extra space is great and car seats fit a bit nicer. The rear cargo space seems to be about the same and a roof rack is really needed now for camping equip but that is because we have to have that third row now.

Congrats on the 97' Burb though, take care of it and it'll treat you good!

where is the extra space?

how does the MPG compare between the two?