Best Large SUV stock?

[SDDiver5]

Get an X. All the way. Drove one for about 4 years. You'd be amazed at how capable they are. Tons for sale in gas or diesel.

 

[Buliwyf]

I want to say Excursion or Suburban.

But there's a reason the Excursion is toast. Everyone that had one moved on to a crewcab short bed, or long bed F250/F350 pickup truck. The truck does everything better. The fullsize SUV seems obsolete to me. Unless you're a pet dog. Then you're crated up in the bed, sliding around the bed under a cap (hopefully), stuck at home, or on a spit over a campfire.

 

[Martinjmpr]

The truck does everything better. The fullsize SUV seems obsolete to me.

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Really? I want to see the pickup that can carry 8 adults in real seats with seat belts and still fit in a suburban garage.

 

[Philp100]

After reading this I walked out to my friends excursion to look at it. Seats 6 adults comfortably and it doesn't fit in his suburban garage. I still really like it.

Sent using fumble fingers

 

[SDDiver5]

What year did the suburbans stop having a solid front axle? I think it was the late 80's early 90's? The OP says he wants a "sturdy axle"...I'm assuming you mean a solid front axle? If that's the case then forget the suburban unless its an older model with a solid front.

The X came with a beefy solid front axle. Plus, any aftermarket mods look better on the X than the do on a modern suburban. To me anyways...

 

[Martinjmpr]

What year did the suburbans stop having a solid front axle? I think it was the late 80's early 90's? The OP says he wants a "sturdy axle"...I'm assuming you mean a solid front axle? If that's the case then forget the suburban unless its an older model with a solid front.

The X came with a beefy solid front axle. Plus, any aftermarket mods look better on the X than the do on a modern suburban. To me anyways...

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No Expedition ever came from the factory with a solid front axle. In fact, Ford's half ton trucks and SUVs dropped the SFA in favor of the TTB in 1980.
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Last year for SFA in the Suburban was 1991 I believe, the old "square" body style. The Expedition lost the solid rear axle in 2003 or 2004 I believe, while the Suburban still has it.
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EDITED TO ADD: Just occurred to me that by "x" you may be talking about the Excursion, which does indeed have a SFA, so my bad.
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I just did a quick CL search and was frankly surprised at how cheap the used Excursions are. Saw a couple for around $4000. No idea of condition, of course.

 

[Root Moose]

I want to say Excursion or Suburban.

But there's a reason the Excursion is toast. Everyone that had one moved on to a crewcab short bed, or long bed F250/F350 pickup truck. The truck does everything better. The fullsize SUV seems obsolete to me. Unless you're a pet dog. Then you're crated up in the bed, sliding around the bed under a cap (hopefully), stuck at home, or on a spit over a campfire.

Yes and no. Depends a lot on your intended usage. For me I never saw the point of getting a pickup truck and then getting a topper to cover it... why not just get a wagon to start with? Depends on what you are carrying I guess. For anything that requires a 8-12' bed I'd hook up the trailer. Anything that is dirty enough to require a bed I'd use a trailer for...

Also, typically the wagons are shorter wheelbase. In the case of the Expedition versus a Screw that would be 119" vs ~130" (I forget exactly). An Excusrion is close to 140" IIRC. Again, depends on intended usage. For me that makes a difference.

I really like the Excursion but for me it is too much truck and would be a touch too big for some stuff where I'd like a smaller size/wheelbase.

 

[Root Moose]

The other question is do you really need a solid front axle?

Personally, I'd rather have the ride of IFS and deal with whatever issues IFS _might_ present going places (i.e. for 99.9999% of people there are no issues).

 

[AFBronco235]

The TTB suspension is actually much better than people give it credit for. Its when you try to lift or modify it that you get problems, mainly in the lift parts causing additional strain on the axles and housings. They are very easy and simple to align. A tape measure and a few wrenches are all you need.
Anyways, there's no real advantage to having a solid axle over TTB, unless you plan on doing an unhealthy amount of lift on it. With a TTB, you can run hard and fast on rough roads, while a solid axle will have you bouncing all over the place.
In fact, I've never even heard of a stock TTB setup breaking when maintained and that's not any worse than maintaining a solid axle.

 

[Buliwyf]

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Really? I want to see the pickup that can carry 8 adults in real seats with seat belts and still fit in a suburban garage.

Yeah, you're going to have room for tons of expo gear with 8 people, seated in complete misery, in a SUV. You can seat 6 people, in complete misery, in a CC LB. That's plenty. Tell the rest to get their own darn ride LOLz. There's nothing wrong with 1 car, 1 truck, 1 trailer, and a handful of tents for large groups. I hated expo travel when I was forced to be stuck in close quarters with others for long periods of time.

I know hundreds of folks have used the 3rd row seating excuse, but I only know 1 or 2 families that actually use it.

 

[SDDiver5]

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No Expedition ever came from the factory with a solid front axle. In fact, Ford's half ton trucks and SUVs dropped the SFA in favor of the TTB in 1980.
.
Last year for SFA in the Suburban was 1991 I believe, the old "square" body style. The Expedition lost the solid rear axle in 2003 or 2004 I believe, while the Suburban still has it.
.
EDITED TO ADD: Just occurred to me that by "x" you may be talking about the Excursion, which does indeed have a SFA, so my bad.
.
I just did a quick CL search and was frankly surprised at how cheap the used Excursions are. Saw a couple for around $4000. No idea of condition, of course.

Ah yes! My bad. I guess referring to it as an X could cause some problems. Whenever I say "X" I mean the Excursion.

 

[diver110]

Thanks for all of the feedback. I will want to buy fairly new, so some of the suggestions won't apply to me. I saw one review that rated the 2015 Ford Expedition over the 2015 Chevy Tahoe, but it focused on things not that relevant to me. I won't be doing any true offroading, but I will want it to handle a rough forest road, say some of the ones around Ouray, CO, for those that know the area. So it would have to have limited slip and decent clearance. I am game to do a modest lift.

 

[rayra]

3ed row "excuse"? LMFAO. It works just fine for two adults around town, even day trips. Works really well for two kids on days-long trips. We can readily transport 6 in our Tahoe for a day excursion to a tourist trap.
And 6 for days-long road trips in the Suburban with plenty of comfort. There's 30cu' of storage BEHIND the 3rd row. Not even counting the 28'sq' of roof rack space behind the sunroof.


And readily 7 in either vehicle if you have the 60/40 split bench 2nd row, instead of the separate buckets.

 

[rayra]

and diver, I've taken our K1500 Tahoe and Suburban on just the sort of rough forest roads you're talking about, in the Sierras. No problem whatsoever. A 3/4-ton is overkill unless you are going with a max load or heavy towing. You can find used 2007-2008 Suburbans with under 100k mi around $16-17k. Just bought my '02 last fall for $6k out the door in very good condition. Above '05 the prices start to climb sharply. particularly with '07 and up, the newer generation. There's some good values to be found in the 2000-2006 range if you have any mechanical aptitude at all.

 

[L_Kilkenny]

I'll throw another vote in for a truck over SUV. Sure, if you are a suburbanite and expo'ing than an SUV might be just the ticket. Out here in the sticks with dead critters, stinky dogs, hay bails, brush, etc an SUV is second priority and about as versatile as a butter knife. We recently went approx. 6 months with 2 SUV's and no truck and it sucked. It sucked bad. When my family was young we used both a Wagoneer and the 1997 K1500 for many trips throughout the west. The Wagoneer was tight and cramped and you felt like your 2 weeks of crap was piled all around. The extended cab, 2 door truck, even with the limited back seat, worked much, much better.

I have fond memories of Suburbans and for a dirt/gravel/fire roads they will serve you well. But they are big and turn like the Titanic. If you can swing the space and occupancy limits look towards a Bronco instead. Have a buddy that recently made the switch from Suburban to Bronco and he couldn't be happier.

Summery..... 2-3 people and no need to do any hauling = Bronco, 4 or more people and hauling = 4 door truck, 4 or more people but no hauling = Suburban. Did I make any sense?