I have been really considering buying a Suburban 2500 from the early to mid 2000's. We are an SUV family and I think we will be well served by our future TT with a Suburban 2500. My wife and I ride into work together a lot but there are times where we will have to commute separately to work about 70 miles round trip. The question is then.. do I sacrifice the few extra MPG's of the 6.0 Suburban for the brute power of the 8.1 or will the 6.0 be more than enough for our future 8-9000 lb TT? If you do not mind… would owners or those who have experience with both these subs post MPG and that sort of thing? And no, I have not ruled out an Excursion with a V10 :) My last experience with a V10 was great, just very thirsty… My Dually V10 got about 9-9.5 empty all the time. If I could get an Excursion V10 to kiss 13-14 on an interstate commute that would be more than acceptable too. Yes, I know its petty to talk about MPG with these beasts, however, putting 10-20k per year on a vehicle is always a possibility and every MPG helps. Thanks!Jeremiah

We traded in our old 8.1L Suburban for the newer 6.0L model and would trade back in a heartbeat. The only advantage of the 6 is a couple of miles per gallon better in the city. We never drive on the highway unless towing.We just towed from Springfield, MO to Little Rock, AR and were down to 30 mph on some hills because the little engine just didn't have enough power to keep up with the traffic without dropping off to second gear and rev over 3000 mph which we didn't want to do.It remains to be seen how long the engine/transmission lasts doing this kind of towing.Incidentally we tow in Tow Haul mode which eliminates 6th gear.

I have a 2004 excursion with Aaron V10 and I did have to drive it to work for about a year until I quit work. 5It has the higher geared rear end and if I kept it under 70 MPH I could get about 14 MPG but I often went 75+ and I would be about 12MPG. I ow only use it to pull a TT a little over 8000 LB and I get about 9 MPG if I keep it under 70 MPH.

sub 6.0 k2500 3.73 here 2004 LT with captains= 4 seater SUV 2351lbs payload. Killer is the 3.73 gears, they only give you 7600lb max towing. You know how rare k2500s are and you can't expect them all to be 8.1 4.10 or 6.0 4.10. Ours is dedicated tv, if you daily drive 70 miles to commute, putz around town, easy $800/mo fuel burning.Sub bonus is load them heavy with toys since you will never run out of payload. Not too many bh can be found, but I specked mine to an Aspen Trail 2670 bhs dual entry shallow slide as the biggest we could tow stick and tin.

We just towed from Springfield, MO to Little Rock, AR and were down to 30 mph on some hills because the little engine just didn't have enough power to keep up with the traffic without dropping off to second gear and rev over 3000 mph which we didn't want to do.Are you saying that you did not want your engine to rev over 3K?OP all 3 will tow great. The best towing machine will be the BB Chevy.The next will be the V10.And then the 6.0.That said the BBC will drink the most fuel. Then the V10. Then the 6.0.All in all the best pick for "me" would be the V10. They tow great, last forever and drink less fuel and oil then the BBC.

I can't speak of both engines so maybe I do not have the ideal response. However I can say that you will not be disappointed with the 8.1 in terms of towing power. If you do get the 4.10 rear end your best fuel economy will be around 55mph as the RPM's are too high at 65 to 70mph. My best is 14.5 at that speed (55) but my "life time" average so far is barely 12. I have seen as low as 9 towing and as high as 10...woo hoo!If Ford would have put the three valve V10 in the Ex in 05(with 5spd trans), I would have seriously considered one as it would have been very comparable to the 8.1 and maybe a better towing vehicle.Whatever your choice, fuel economy on the highway won't vary by more than a few MPG's. It is up to you which is more important, 14 MPG on the highway or the most towing power and 12 MPG.Good luck making your decision!

Suburban 2500…6.0 vs 8.1 vs Excursion V10 | Good Sam Community

Dick_B
Explorer
May 30, 2014
We traded in our old 8.1L Suburban for the newer 6.0L model and would trade back in a heartbeat. The only advantage of the 6 is a couple of miles per gallon better in the city. We never drive on the highway unless towing.
We just towed from Springfield, MO to Little Rock, AR and were down to 30 mph on some hills because the little engine just didn't have enough power to keep up with the traffic without dropping off to second gear and rev over 3000 mph which we didn't want to do.
It remains to be seen how long the engine/transmission lasts doing this kind of towing.
Incidentally we tow in Tow Haul mode which eliminates 6th gear.
K_Charles
Explorer
May 31, 2014
I have a 2004 excursion with Aaron V10 and I did have to drive it to work for about a year until I quit work. 5
It has the higher geared rear end and if I kept it under 70 MPH I could get about 14 MPG but I often went 75+ and I would be about 12MPG. I ow only use it to pull a TT a little over 8000 LB and I get about 9 MPG if I keep it under 70 MPH.
PAThwacker
Explorer
May 31, 2014
sub 6.0 k2500 3.73 here 2004 LT with captains= 4 seater SUV 2351lbs payload. Killer is the 3.73 gears, they only give you 7600lb max towing. You know how rare k2500s are and you can't expect them all to be 8.1 4.10 or 6.0 4.10.

Ours is dedicated tv, if you daily drive 70 miles to commute, putz around town, easy $800/mo fuel burning.

Sub bonus is load them heavy with toys since you will never run out of payload. Not too many bh can be found, but I specked mine to an Aspen Trail 2670 bhs dual entry shallow slide as the biggest we could tow stick and tin.
Turtle_n_Peeps
Explorer
May 31, 2014
We just towed from Springfield, MO to Little Rock, AR and were down to 30 mph on some hills because the little engine just didn't have enough power to keep up with the traffic without dropping off to second gear and rev over 3000 mph which we didn't want to do.

Are you saying that you did not want your engine to rev over 3K?

OP all 3 will tow great.

The best towing machine will be the BB Chevy.

The next will be the V10.

And then the 6.0.

That said the BBC will drink the most fuel. Then the V10. Then the 6.0.

All in all the best pick for "me" would be the V10. They tow great, last forever and drink less fuel and oil then the BBC.
springfield5
Explorer
May 31, 2014
I can't speak of both engines so maybe I do not have the ideal response. However I can say that you will not be disappointed with the 8.1 in terms of towing power. If you do get the 4.10 rear end your best fuel economy will be around 55mph as the RPM's are too high at 65 to 70mph. My best is 14.5 at that speed (55) but my "life time" average so far is barely 12. I have seen as low as 9 towing and as high as 10...woo hoo!

If Ford would have put the three valve V10 in the Ex in 05(with 5spd trans), I would have seriously considered one as it would have been very comparable to the 8.1 and maybe a better towing vehicle.

Whatever your choice, fuel economy on the highway won't vary by more than a few MPG's. It is up to you which is more important, 14 MPG on the highway or the most towing power and 12 MPG.

Good luck making your decision!
colliehauler
Explorer III
May 31, 2014
I would go with either the 8.1 or the V-10 and get a econo car to go to work and back and keep the miles off the burb or X.
KD4UPL
Explorer
May 31, 2014
I'll just say I had a dually with the 8.1. It's a great engine: smooth, quiet, powerful, reliable. My work truck dually got about 10 mpg no matter what: towing, highway, around town, always about 10 mpg.
When I hooked up 14,000 pounds behind that truck is was almost like driving my '05 Duramax, almost.
The 6.0 is a good engine too, I had one in an '02 2500HD truck. It got better mileage and pulled my 5,000 pound trailer fine but he big block is a whole different animal when it comes to towing.
MNRon
Explorer
May 31, 2014
Had a 2002 8.1 w/ 3.73 rear end. It got 11mpg around town, 13mpg on road at ~75mph without towing, and ~7.5mpg towing 9000lb TT at 65mph.

Good engine and truck, but thirsty.
jerem0621
Explorer II
May 31, 2014
Thanks for the replies folks! Even though I had a V10 I really considered it a big small block if that makes sense.

Just to clarify, I am not looking for a daily driver just something that can function as a daily driver if needed. We take the Sorento to work daily.

Thanks!

Jeremiah
texasclarks
Explorer
May 31, 2014
I own an 8.1 in my TV and it is thirsty towing and even around town. Here in the mountains of WV I can run it up the hills and it will stay at about 55-60 without having to get into it. There have been times when I had to pass big rigs and it would actually speed up going up hill on its way to 65 Mph.

Yes, it is thirsty around town but I can get abou 10 mpg in/around town empty (and I live on a big steep hill), about 14 mpg on the Hwy if I am running 70 mph (probably better at 65 mph), and towing almost 8K I get about 7 in the WV Mountains.

When I was out in Kansas I could pull no problem and get 10-11 (depending on wind) and empty I could see 16 mpg on the interstate with slow rolling hills.