Suburban/Yukon XL 2500 6.0 mpg

[Davis]

Hi,
I appreciate all the replies. I am going to look at one this weekend at a dealer that is about an 2hrs away and see what I think about it. I already told my local dealer about it and they were not sure if they could transfer it in and at any event they did not give me a good trade value for the vehicle I have so I will try the owning dealer and see if they will give a better trade value.Thanks Davis.

[Bradjun1]

Axel,
In an earlier post I said you could have your fluid erplaced. I should clairify that and say that you cloud have your transmission serviced. This is a more complete service procedure.

[Condoluminum]

For Axel... Change the transmission fluid more often than 50K miles, and especially when funky transmission smell occurs.. It is life-blood of unit, and cheap insurance, and once cooked, it does not have same chemical properties.. Also, while OD is fine for cruising solo, Chevy is very clear in manuals and tech info that OD should not be used when towing a trailer... No disclaimers for level or downhill, it just says don't do it... You might get away with it once or twice for short runs when you forget, but it will shorten life..

And for Davis... Buying a Suburban with a 7700# tow rating to pull a 10,000# trailer and get good mileage is false economy... There are a number of threads on site pointing out that 70 to 80% of rated tow capacity is fair upper limit on trailer weight, given that passengers, fuel in truck, luggage etc count towards that Gross Vehicle Weight Rating.. If you have to drive it every day, and fear the next round of gas wars, I'd even consider buying used (GM's lowball prices on new ones have depressed prices on used ones a lot!!) and bank the difference into gas fund, but get a tow capacity/GVWR of close to 10,000#..

John McG

[Silvertwinkie]

Just for reference....I towed about 20,000 miles in OD, with about 8,000 miles towing both a Bambi and a 25' Safari. Now I heard what Chevy said, but I had the computer re-programmed to lock the TC sooner than later. With 3.73s in 3rd gear it was just way too many RPMs, even with 17" rims. No trans issues at all....so far. But now the car is retired, and we now have a Suburban with Tow/Haul.

Now if you don't activate tow/haul, your driving in OD actually from what I gather on the trucks.

[Foiled Again]

Originally Posted by JBMcG

... Buying a Suburban with a 7700# tow rating to pull a 10,000# trailer and get good mileage is false economy... There are a number of threads on site pointing out that 70 to 80% of rated tow capacity is fair upper limit on trailer weight, given that passengers, fuel in truck, luggage etc count towards that Gross Vehicle Weight Rating..

Towing capacity is important, but BRAKING is more important.

You want an engine that can help slow a heavy trailer coming down a grade! I've got a 2500 Suburban that is big enough to tow a considerably larger trailer than the one I have and on just two trips out I've had one 11% down grade that made me glad I had a big engine!

Tin Lizzie

[SilverToy]

Thanks for that reality check Tin Lizzie!

Just for comparison, how many miles have you 2500 owners gotten on a set of brakes? How many miles on the tires? Are they all tow miles or mixed use? Curious to see the replies.

Axel

[john hd]

axel

tires, 50K from the original firestones.

brakes, still going good at 55K. i'm one of those folks that believes in wearing out the trailer brakes ($200) vs. the trucks brakes ($1200+) so i set my brake controller accordingly.

i also tow almost exclusively in OD, my truck shifts into OD at 67 mph. the trans has seen 200 degrees once, that was in chamberland south dakota. out side air temp was 105 degrees. normal is 180+or-.

john

[Jim W]

The following is a Suburban web site that has very good information on it. They have some members that know more about Suburbans then GM does. Some of these recommendations about oils & cooling devices are very useful. I had my org tranmission replaced by GMC at around 25K miles. I towed a lot in the mtns out west where I live & that probably was the biggest reason for the problem. I only towed in OD on the flat areas. Every thing was standard. No deep trans oil pan, no oil temp guage or extra big trans oil cooler. I hadn't had my first trans service yet, so it still had the org trans oil in it. I was going to have a flush done at 25K miles. GMC replaced it under warranty. Its a 1999 GMC 2500 with the 454 eng & 4:10 rear end with factory tow package.


http://forums.vmag.com/

[driftwood]

Try Edmunds web site for more intellegent conversation ...

For chevrolet suburbans:

HERE

[Silvertwinkie]

Originally Posted by john hd

axel

i'm one of those folks that believes in wearing out the trailer brakes ($200) vs. the trucks brakes ($1200+)

john

Please tell me you're kidding about $1200 for brakes! What kind of brakes do these things have? I figured $500 tops, but $1200 for truck brakes seems a bit high. What's involved?

[john hd]

twink

you haven't tried to get your rotors off yet. they are not like the half tons that just slide off the wheel studs. <read> pull the hubs apart on the front. i have never had one of the new disc rears apart, can't imagine they are cheap either. (wonder why chev went back to drums on the rear in '05?)

i doubt you would even get out of a midas shop for a complete brake job for less than a grand.

like i said, the fully loaded backing plates are way cheaper than your trucks brakes.

john

[Silvertwinkie]

So what yer saying is that the fronts alone cost $1200 and the rears would be similar....so in reality if I read you right there is the *potential* to have approx $2000+ for all four to be replaced. That's completely wacked....I mean I can get a rebuilt 4L60e trans for that price!

So depending on use, is it common to get 50k out of these 3/4 ton brakes and rotors?

[john hd]

back up the bus twink!

i was refering to all four wheels. and yes you can expect over 50k+ out of your brakes. hopefully a lot more than that.

either way, they are expensive.

john

[Silvertwinkie]

Well, that's a bit better.....$1200 for all four....still hurts, but compared to what I thought it would cost...