Hi, new here but not new to Fords. My Wife's Envoy XL is getting long in the tooth and I'm looking for a replacement. Everything we've looked at with 3 rows (a necessity for my family) has been a joke (my kids are young but not small). We keep coming back to a suburban, Armada, or Expedition. My wife prefers the truck based SUVs, and the kids prefer them for the usable 3rd row.
I currently own a 10 F150 Platinum crewcab with Max Tow package and 50k miles on it (its a unicorn of trucks and I looked for over a year to find it). It sits 90% of the time since I have a focus for a commuter and only use the truck to pull our 6200lb (GVWR) camper (hence the low miles). My oldest daughter just got her first car, and now I've got more vehicles than drivers or garage space, so we're thinking of trading in the truck and buying an Expedition EL that can serve double duty as the grocery getter and the tow rig. It will fit in my garage (my truck does not), and will be used daily.
Now all that being said, I'm happy with how my truck pulls my camper. Its no EcoBoost, but is quiet, comfortable, and is tuned and has good power. If I am looking at a 13 or 14 Limited Expedition EL with the same 3.73 gears and tow package, will it be a similar towing experience or will the IRS muck all that up and make me regret getting rid of the pickup? I'll miss the truck bed for sure, but have access to one if needed. I'd be putting firewood, generator, fishing gear, etc into the back, and figure the long wheelbase of the EL will be best for towing my 25ft trailer, which is 29ft bumper to tongue. We live in the north west, so a majority of our camping trips are into the mountains. Sorry for the long windedness, but just don't want to make a $30k mistake. Also as a side note, by the numbers the suburban is actually longer than an EL, but the reverse is true of just looking at them side by side. I think the expedition feels bigger inside as well, and wish I could get by with a short wheelbase model strictly for parking lot manuvers and parking garages....