That's what I though about the Explorer, but it had a pretty good capacity. The 5.4 Expedition/F150 seems like a better choice than the 5.3 Av/Burban, even if the money were closer. The easy thing about Expeditions is the 5.4 4x4 means 8650# period, no choice of gears.
I'm pretty flexible on vehicle, just want the capability as cheap as I can. It will sit the rest of the time, so no need to have a bunch of money in it. I'd love to find a 6.0 Suburban or Denali, but they want real money for those for a reason.