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Get a late 90's 3/4 ton Suburban 4x4 with the 8.1L V8 and towing package. I would bet most of the big block Suburbans like that came with that engine. It's just the newer iteration of the 454; 8.1 is a 496. It's a good engine.
A friend of mine bought a 2003 Suburban with the 8.1, 4x4, towing package, used with very low miles, for $13K. That was two years ago. You could probably pick that vehicle up right now for $10K. With three kids, I'd want the third row seat.
As for the Ford's with the V-10 gas engines; if you do buy one, make sure it's after 2003. Before that, the Triton engines had a defect (the roof of the combustion chamber was only threaded for about half its depth, so there were only about seven threads holding the spark plugs in) where they would spit spark plugs out of the head taking the threads and the coil pack with them. Ford wouldn't stand behind it either. I had a 2001, it blew the plug out of the head at 36,348 miles and I had a 7 year 100,000 mile powertrain warranty that the dealer sold me. Ford wouldn't cover the repair. I heard they fixed the design flaw in 2003. But anyway, don't buy one older than a 2004.
I repaired it myself and traded it off for a Dodge with the Cummins turbodiesel. I've been a happy camper ever since.
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- Jim
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