i have a 99 Tahoe and turning wise nothing turns tighter but the 5.7 does has intake gasket issues unless it has been replaced. mine has 151K now but i also have a 94 Tahoe Diesel 6.5T and it out pulls my gasser. The 99 gets 19 hwy and 16 town but towing 12 all the time my 94 gets 18 town 21 hwy but 17 towing all the time. also have a 96 GMC Z71 but you don't want a truck but it falls in the middle tows better than my 99 tahoe but not as good as my 94 diesel. the 96 Z71 gets 20 hwy 14 city and 12 all the time towing.

The 5.3 is built loose IMO. There is a little piston slap and the top end is a little noisy on cold starts but she is peppy.

100% correct on the cold knocking, RR. i try to let it warm up a little, but when the wife drives, she is at the stop sign down the block before the starter is disengaged.

I haven't been online for a while, so I'm catching up.

2000 Suburban here, 1500 4WD. I have owned something like 15 vehicles, and this has been the most reliable of them all. 193,000 miles on it. Daily driver. Tows the V-20, a big box trailer, and last week a UHaul car hauler with an old Toyota Land Cruiser on it (another story). I don't tow long distance, or I might want a 2500.

An acquaintance just traded in his Yukon XL, same year and basically the same vehicle. 200,000+ miles and they gave him $4K. Had I known, I might have bought it from him for that and kept it as a backup. I love my Sub.

hey pipe, whats up with the Cruiser? what ya building?

I've acquired a '69 FJ-40. It doesn't run at the moment -- last ran a year ago when it was parked -- so that's the first order of business when the temps cool off enough to make wrenching an attractive weekend activity. The Cruiser has a lot of competition for my attention, of course, not the least of which is the ol' Pipe Dream. I'd like to have it starting and stopping by October. The body has rust, but I think it's solid enough for now. Might do a restoration in the future. What can I say? I've always been a car nut, and always loved the old LCs, and this one practically fell into my lap.

"Honey, I know I don't have much free time as it is, but I've got to do this!"

Hey Pipe, just so you know.....
http://www.pirate4x4.com/welcome1.php largest 4x4 site around
http://www.nc4x4.com/forums/ good site for the carolinas
and
http://gdi4x4.com/ where the coolest low country wheelers hang out
http://hardlinecrawlers.com/forums/index.php and some of them hardliner Georgia boys hang

Thanks!

98 Suburban (Chevrolet) 1500 4x4 with 183k miles. Runs like a top. Just drove it from Indianapolis to Massachusetts and it ran flawlessly. Got 18 mpg. It has a whopping 40 gallon tank so I only had to stop once to fill it up. Tows the V20 easily. Only problems we have had over the years has been the air conditioning system. It has gone out 3 times since we purchased it used in 2002, and the repairs were EXPENSIVE. So expensive that I have not fixed it this third time it has gone out. I have kept fluids filled and clean and only other part had to replace was a starter motor at
175k miles.

I'm thinking about upgrading the suspension on my 99 1500 to 1500HD specs, hey Ferm, Skools, ya'll know what the difference between them is. what it would take to convert it?

A/C problems on this model BURB were normally the compressor which can be solved by installing the SANDEN compressor, low side pressure switches, and the high side scrader valve port leaks. All of these are fairly simple fixes. I have yet to hear of an evaprorator fail in one of these model trucks, so I don't know what could be costing you taht much to fix.

They never made a 1500HD in the GMT 400 platform. They did make the 1500 diesel which uses all 2500 7800GVWR front suspension and a stiffer rear spring pack, and then there was the 6 lug 2500 which used 7200GVWR front suspension and a stiff rear spring pack. You could swap out your control arms with those from a 6 lug 2500, and then swap out your rear axle to a 9.5" 6 lug version.