Please help me pick a suv

Hey Veeky Forums I am looking to get a used full size suv for hauling boats up to 6500lbs and taking my 240z to track days on its trailer. As of right now I am leaning towards a 2000's suburban because I have a few friends that had them and I always found them comfortable and reliable...

I would like to keep the budget under $8,000 and year is not very important to me. What would Veeky Forums suggest I look for and what is acceptable millage?

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Do you have any objection to a van/bus or are you dead set on a SUV? There are a lot of older vans and ambulances and school buses (small kind) that have the old school 7.3L diesels in them. Torque for days, hella reliable, and cheap as fuck. My buddy literally uses an ambulance to tow his motorhome/trailer thing along with 4 motorcycles

quad cab Ram or Tundra

My only problem with the ambulance/bus idea is because I'm towing race boats I end up at yachtclubs quite often and when your around those places appearance is actually somewhat important... Would be a bit funny to roll up with the lights flashing though.

I need to have enough room to carry a 12 foot mast for one of my boats so a pickup truck isn't versatile enough.

1998-2007 Toyota Land Cruiser.

You won't ragret it, trust me.

>what is a rack
If you're set on SUV $8k goes bretty far towards a clean best gen

Do you know if a 12 foot poll can fit in with the hatch closed? I would love one of these. and under 8k?

The rack will already be in use for carrying a roof top boat. it's a lot easy to just throw my stuff in and not have to tie gear down.

It wouldn't, but you shouldn't be putting stuff like that inside the car anyway. What ever you choose regardless of overall interior length, get a set of $200 gutter or rail mount roof bars and store that shit outside.

You'll want to check the capacity of those roof rails on any of the factory SUVs, as they're usually limited to under 100kg. That Suburban for example from memory is rated at 80kg. An aftermarket roof system from a company like ARB or Rhino Rack is the way to go.

what years are those

OP go for it. Ignore these autists who've never towed anything in their life.

you'll be maxed out on towing capacity with the cruiser, but the back window rolls down if I'm not mistaken.

1992-1999

Right now I'm using racks. boat only weights 130lbs max

this is my current setup, this isn't a big enough SUV.

roll down isn't any good. I end up doing 1000mile drives often.

Then that'd be no problem.
Well, the Cruiser's capacity is 7700lb, so there's plenty of headroom. And you have smaller easier sized SUV when you're not towing. No arguing the ability of the suburban to pull a load though. And you get a hell of a lot more car for your money when not paying Landcruiser tax on top of the Toyota tax.
There's no need for a fullsize to pull that, heck a current Grand Cherokee is more than capable of pulling that effortlessly (itself is a great tow vehicle on its own merit, much to Veeky Forums's disgust). As I said before though, you get a hell of a lot of Burb for the money, and there's nothing short of a goose neck you can't carry.

That's only my Rib, I have big sailboats that I want to tow as well but I have not been able to yet.

Can't go wrong with a Burb or an Expedition.
Burb if going gas, Expedition if going diesel (unless it's a later model Duramax Burban, that'd be the go).

Stop calling it burb

It's a suburban

Not a fucking burb

>Well, the Cruiser's capacity is 7700lb,
Where are you finding this? I'm seeing 6500

Go fuck yourself you non contributing autist.
At least in my country the J100/105 is rated at 3500kg with a downward tow ball weight of 10%. They achieve that comfortably all day long.

should I also look at the ford excursion? or is that over kill?

what makes this better than the early/mid 2000 suburban? and gmc vs chevy?

turbo diesel model or v8?

BURB
U
R
B

Burb is best. Just do it. 8k is plenty for one. Bonus points if you find a 2500 double bonus for quadrasteer.

>HE ACTUALLY SAYS BURB

what is 2500 and quadsterr

Both, including the 130hp non turbo 1HZ diesel.

All GM's big trucks are available in 3 tiers depending on what you want them to do.
1500s are the normal every day trucks you often see as daily drivers
2500s are the only models with diesel engines as options. 2500s are all heavy duty trucks with stronger axles, brakes, transmissions and engines for better hauling ability.
3500s are often those fually trucks you occasionally find that are capable of hauling 20,000 lbs loads. 3500s are pretty much diesel engined exclusively

Quadrasteer was an extremely complicated system GM offered for a few years on the Chevrolet Silverado, Suburban, and GMC Sierra. Quadrasteer is what it sounds like. It's a 4 wheel steering system. At low speeds, the back wheels turn opposite the front wheels to allow it to take corners sharper. At highway speeds, the rear wheels will turn the same direction as the front wheels allowing for easier lane changes. It can kinda look like the truck is crab-walking sideways while changing lanes.
As absolutely brilliant as Quadrasteer was and as much as people loved it, it was NOT a popular option. Why? Cost. It was a $6,000 option because it was so complex.
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Just stay away from toyotas. Their all beat to shit and everyone thinks they dont need to do any maintenance on them. ever.

so sounds like I want a 2500 if I can find it.

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again, if you can, try to find a quadrasteer truck.

as to the 1500, 2500 and 3500 thing, you'll find that same idea carries right over to the Dodge Rams, and to the Ford F-series trucks. Though the Ford trucks are named differently
Fords trucks are named as follows:
F150 (1500)
F250 (2500)
F350 (3500)

and then Ford has a few over that going up to an F650, but there is no point to those trucks in reality since they're competing with Freightliners and Kenworths at that point.

1500 trucks can tow. The limit for a 1500 trucks is generally around 7-8,000 lbs, if equipped with the towing package.

>Just stay away from toyotas. Their all beat to shit and everyone thinks they dont need to do any maintenance on them. ever.
>Just stay away from chevys. Their all beat to shit and everyone thinks they dont need to do any maintenance on them. ever.
>Just stay away from fords. Their all beat to shit and everyone thinks they dont need to do any maintenance on them. ever.
>Just stay away from rams. Their all beat to shit and everyone thinks they dont need to do any maintenance on them. ever.

Yes. Big advantage in this case is the way more reliable 4l80e transmission. You'll find the 4765e in the 1500 is the most common failure point and if you're not comfortable swapping a transmission yourself it's basically time to crush the truck and get a new one cost wise.

You can pick up an 80s/90s 7.3l diesel Ford Bus for $2k, but the 7.3l is going to be the only part of it that's reliable. Plus it's not going to be comfortable.

Quad cab Rams are unreliable and lack interior space.
Tundras are in a bubble that like it or not will eventually pop. You're paying too much for what you get and when the bubble pops you wont be able to give them away. It's terrible time to buy one unless you're buying it new and plan on selling within in a year.

Lacking in towing capacity and like the Tundra, they're typically priced too high for the amount of utility you get out of them.

$8k will get you a flawless SLT with with leather and all of the power options. Just make sure you get a 2500. You've got a 5.7 gasser, 7.4 gasser, and 6.5 turbo diesel to choose from.

You CAN and WILL go wrong with an Expedition, and there is no diesel option. You might be thinking of Excursion, which can be good depending on year but you're not likely to find a 7.3 Excursion in good shape with decent miles for under $8k.
The diesel option for Suburbans stopped with the body style change for 2000. Not going to find a Duramax Suburban unless it's been swapped, but you're not going to find one of those under $8k.

European trailers have lower tongue weights and the laws are a little more forgiving as far as maximum towing capacity.

Chevy and GMC are identical mechanically and electrically. Only difference is badging and grill.

GM used to offer the 6.5 diesel in 1500s. And it's only the late model 3500s that are mostly diesel. SBC and BBC gassers used to be king.

2nd most common failure is the 10 bolt rear end. 2500 also takes care of that with the 14 bolt. The 1500s really should have came with the 80e and SF 14 bolt, they'd last a lot longer.