Looking to buy a work truck. Need expert assistance.

ivin74 said:

Most high mileage suvs will have oil leaks. With the exception of the rear main seal, all oil leaks are easy to fix.

I would not be afraid of buying a high milage suv with oil leaks as long as the oil pressure is good. Low oil pressure could be bad, bad bearings.

Most oil leaks are from the
Valve covers
Oil pan gasket
Oil cooler lines
Valley pan gasket
Crankshaft seal
Rear main seal the most expensive

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How good are Suburban 2500 with 8.1 displacement?

$4-5K is near scrapyard prices here in Florida for that kind of truck.

Might look for a heavy half-ton, GMT800 pickup with 8 lug wheels to handle your weights. If memory serves, the crew cabs could be had with the 6.5 foot bed.

makintoshnex said:

How good are Suburban 2500 with 8.1 displacement?

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I don't know much about those 8.1 engines but have heard they are good to 250k miles. A friend of mine bought a 2500 silverado several years ago and had several small issues.

It would burn a quarter of oil every 5k miles and it devop a lifter tick. If you do end up getting one, try to get a low mile vehicle with no more than 130k miles on it.

I think this one should do better.
Description from seller:
6.0 liter with rare barn doors. 200,000 miles, Runs great recent trip to Chicago and back last college trip. No longer need kids all grown just have it sitting. Bluetooth stereo all new speakers.
Has typical Chevy rust rear quarter panels & rockers

I lost this opportunity. With 6.0 2500 Chevy.
What about 5.3 Tahoe. They should be good too?

I found 2005 Escalade ESV , 180 k miles. Same color as mine was three stage white pearl. Only one issue the front diff looks like it's making whining sounds on the low speeds and high speeds It goes away. It is PA truck and the guy did all the welding. All the rocker panels are good, also it's inspected, drives like a boat. And there is a Tahoe 2004 red, leather, 4x4 with selection, 135 k miles. What should be best option?

Look into the tahoe, if I'm not mistaken the escalades are AWD

I had a 01 Sub 2500 with the 6.0 and it was at about 300k original engine/trans. PO ran it without trans fluid for a LOT of miles and the thing was beat on hard. I drove it for about a yr and 20k then it imploded but not from fault of the truck or me. Would highly recommend any GMT800 2500 platform (Avalanche/Sub).

ivin74 said:

Look into the tahoe, if I'm not mistaken the escalades are AWD

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Yea that caddy is all time 4 wd. The only thing is that pA truck is in way better condition than NYC Tahoe, and I can't find anything decent here in NYC. Inspections here passed for bribes, PA is different. Besides Caddy is clean. All records 2 owners, the kid is third. All maintenance was done on dealership. As far as I figured low mileage is not an indication. It could be sitting in barn for 10 years and then new owner has to dump a lot of money into. I hope kid will be coming to Brooklyn this or next week. So far he said that gage cluster stopped working. He is looking for used one. That caddy definitely got my attention, can't stop thinking about it. Brings back memories of my 10 Escalade. Besides it could haul some of my stuff that is ESV so I could fit long items inside. I looked up that front diff from AutoZone is 1k max New.