I love our '04 Excursion. I also installed the Roadmaster Active Suspension and it works great. Adds about 1" in the back and really stiffens it up. If you notice, many Ex's look soft in the back even when not towing - this eliminates that. Our last 3 campers were all 35 footers and we've towed as far south as Disney / Ft. Wilderness all the way to Canada without issue. I've never had the transmission more than a tick over midway on the temp gauge.
We have 6 kids, and usually only keep a few pillows / blankets for the ride, plus the dogs in the back.
Tows very well.