Suburban, tahoe and yukon guys......

[phatdaddy]

02 tahoe w/ 5.3 4wd tows great in fl in tow mode and 3, probably not so good in hilly terrain. my wifes daily driver and we love it. bought it in 06 for $13500 w 85000 miles and have done minimum repairs currently has 155,000. if you are going to travel with the 3rd row seats , there is no room for anything behind the rear seats. we have to add a luggage rack for bags when on a trip.

mileage in town 13/15
otr 17/19

don't blame you on the dakota, i inherited one when my dad passed, what a piece of junk.

[charlie_the_tuna]

its not that the dakota is a bad truck, its not. its just that when i had my last pickup i was single and now with the wife and kids theres just no room for anything.
in terms of commuting i put less than 3 miles per week on my car. i'm 2 blocks from the station and it doesnt even have a chance to warm up before i've reached my destination. i have 2 ramps within 3 miles of my house with the closer one being 1/2 a mile away.
and yes, we did go through this with my last car (dakota) but i decided i need something a bit different.
my big guy turned 13 a couple weeks ago and i had to shuttle him and his friends to the mall. we decided to all go and see a movie while they were putzing around. there were 10 of us in all and we needed 2 cars. that sucked.

[Orlando]

if your dakotas a 2000-2005 or so and has some milage on it get it gone, the 4.7 they were putting in them has a factory defect in the design and has a tendency to make sludge resulting in a hot spot due to very small cam oiling ports causing the heads to warp, i had to tear down the top half of my 2001 at 100k miles and my sisters 02 durango has the same problem, i just caught mine in time to save it, hers is fried completely.

[Stinky_Hooker]

99' 4wd Hoe here.

Bought it CHEAP with a blown motor. Built a new 5.
7 for it and love love love it. Tons of room and very comfy. I got a drawer system in the rear I built for all my tools and such and put ice chest/hunting & fishing gear on top of it. I literally live out of it during hunting season on the weekends.


Ill never go back to a pickup. May go to a Burb next time though.

[Blue_Runner]

'96 2 door 4x4 Yukon
Bought it with 126k. Engine blew at 183k. Had it rebuilt and now have about 30k on the rebuild. Rebuilding was an easy decision when it came down to it. My main gripes are there's always something breaking, door handle, cruise recently went out, etc. oh and don't forget the paint chipping on the roof and starting to rust. But what can you expect from a 15y.o. vehicle? I still love it and plan to get it painted and keep it going as long as I can. It towes my V well. I didn't know if I'd like the 2 door but I think I like it better. Only a minor inconvenience for the kids (11 & 14) to hop in the back and I get to enjoy and tight turning radius due to the shorter wheele base.

[THEFERMANATOR]

Go for a 00+ 1500 with a 5.3L in it. Yes it does take some getting used to for teh higher RPM range it turns, but they are MUCH more efficient even at the higher RPM's. Can't beat the milage or refinements in the 00+ either.

[jasoncooperpcola]

If it was me i would try to find a 6.5 Turbo Diesel Tahoe or Yukon, not just the big SUVs got the 6.5 TD.

Too bad GM dumped the 4.5 DMAX for their 1/2 ton trucks, bunch of idiots.

[Orlando]

i like the 6.2 diesel in my 84, cant kill it, close to 300k miles and still running great. and between 16-20 mpg. love it

[THEFERMANATOR]

Originally Posted by jasoncooperpcola

If it was me i would try to find a 6.5 Turbo Diesel Tahoe or Yukon, not just the big SUVs got the 6.5 TD.

Too bad GM dumped the 4.5 DMAX for their 1/2 ton trucks, bunch of idiots.

I don't think CTT would be very happy with a 6.5. They are a decent engine, but theyare a wrench's engine to have. They will pretty much always need soem sort of maintence, and in stock form are pretty gutless and less than desireable for reliability. If you want a 6.5 BURB CTT, let me know. I'm on quite a few forums with 6.5 enthusiasts on them. The 5.7L is a good engine as well, but honestly I think it falls short of the 5.3L in a big way.

[RidgeRunner]

2001 Tahoe 2wd 5.3L - Tranny went at 40,000 miles while towing a 22' cuddy. Shell gear. Again at 60,000. Bit the bullet on a fresh tranny from GM (36,000 mile/3yr warranty no more issues) Check engine light with a generic computer failure message. ABS light on/off sporatically. Drives great, nothing a little electric tape wouldn't cure. Ride quality is better than the 96 Tahoe 4wd which had the 5.7L. The short wheelbase, same as a reg. cab shortbox, lent itself to a bucking bronco type ride on the interstate around here. The redesigned 2001 with similar wheelbase is more carlike in ride. Ferm is right on the 5.3 is more refined, simply a better mousetrap. Not that I had any problems but the Gen III chevy motors are easy to work on.
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.