1996 GMC Yukon ideas and suggestions

[BlackBearYukon]

I purchased 1996 GMC Yukon last winter during my senior year of high school as a project for rest of the year and summer. This thing was a rolling piece of junk and has come a long way from what it used to be. It was covered in cracked peeing paint with rust holes everywhere. The door handles were drilled in from the outside with generic screws. The passenger side was completely wrecked and it say on old ugly standard wheels. So fair I found some nice racing style rims, replaced the exhaust with two flowmasters, and fixed the majority of the body and painted a slick black with a hint of blue pearl. The tail-lights are blacked out and look slick too. The interior was cleaned up to the best of my ability however it should be redone completely. I fixed a lot of the components under the hood however recently I have began to wonder if its possible to swap my 350 with a duramax diesel. Is this possible? What all needs to be replaced besides the motor and transmission. Also does anyone have ideas of what else to do to this truck. I need ideas of what to make it look better, perform better, and just be a better vehicle overall. I have been reading this forum for the last year so have seen some interesting things but I need suggestions. Oh also it is a 2wd yukon, and I do not want to make it a ghetto yukon on 22s I want it to look slick strong and tough.

 

[19Yukon97]

To swap the duramax in, is a huge process... You would have to get all new exhaust. bigger front end components. example: springs, shocks, steering components, just to name a few. the rear end would have to be bigger most likely. Its a huge hassle. It would be awesome! but just do difficult i think. Look up "duraburb" on youtube. If your wanting to swap in a different motor, put a 383 in that thing. Id put some nice 18's or 20's black on it. Then redo the interior, try and research swapping in NBS (new body style or 2006-2013) interior pieces. that would be sweet. good luck with everything.

 

[BlackBearYukon]

Thanks for the response. The main reason I'm looking at going diesel was simply because the efficiency in fuel is massively different. I mean right now I get 10-12 mpg and if I am lucky 14 on some days. The bad gas isn't enough for me to give this piece of work up. I've already done a lot to it and have grown to love this machine. I plan to do tons of changes over the next few weeks to the interior as I have seen alot of ideas on this forum itself.

 

[_Dylan_]

A duramax would be a huge project. The transmission might not even fit under the stock floorboards.

I don't really see the benefit either. It won't make it tow any better than a 350.

I'd say build up a 350 into a 383 and drop it in there some weekend.

 

[TheBlueBeast]

It could be done, but I've heard guys talk about putting way more money and time into than you expect. Bracing the frame, mods for the Allison tranny, bigger rear end, bigger suspension, wiring, new gauges, fuel system, and more incidentals than you could shake a stick at. I like to day dream about this, because if nothing else the cool factor is off the charts, but I have neither the time or the money to seriously consider this too much.

With that also said, I saw a thread on another forum (forget where, sorry might have been GmFullsize) where a guy swapped a duramax into his one ton OBS. He compared it to swapping a small block into an S-10.

That's my .02.

 

[retorq]

Lol you are literally like the 20th guy that has signed up here talking about a Duramax/diesel swap, they all just disappear ... go get a diesel Suburban or Pickup and build that.

 

[WalterMitty]

The math just won't work out if you're doing it for fuel economy.

$3.475* per gallon divided by 10 MPG = 34.75 cents per mile for gas

$3.878* per gallon divided by 20 MPG = 19.39 cents per mile for diesel

The difference is 15.36 cents per mile, which seems like alot until you figure in that you have to pay for your modifications out of the savings.

So what's the guess for total cost of conversion? $3000.00? $5000.00? Let go with $4k.

26,041.66 miles to break even on the conversion, assuming the worse case for gas and probably a best case for diesel. Also assuming nothing bad happens.

You don't say how many miles are on your 16 year old truck, and I sure plan on keeping mine a long while, but you might think about what else you could do with that money. Including buying an economical car as a daily driver (which is what I do).

YMMV

*average national price today.

 

[Gzes]

Boo on economic cars lol we have trucks to drive them not for show.... I'm on the same boat lol barely have enouh for gas.... O well that's life have you thought about a Edmund front conversion?

---------- Post added at 11:50 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:50 AM ----------

Esky front

 

[WalterMitty]

Boo on economic cars lol we have trucks to drive them not for show.... I'm on the same boat lol barely have enouh for gas.... O well that's life have you thought about a Edmund front conversion?

---------- Post added at 11:50 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:50 AM ----------

Esky front

If that conversion question was for me, no.

 

[TheBlueBeast]

The math just won't work out if you're doing it for fuel economy.

$3.475* per gallon divided by 10 MPG = 34.75 cents per mile for gas

$3.878* per gallon divided by 20 MPG = 19.39 cents per mile for diesel

The difference is 15.36 cents per mile, which seems like alot until you figure in that you have to pay for your modifications out of the savings.

So what's the guess for total cost of conversion? $3000.00? $5000.00? Let go with $4k.

26,041.66 miles to break even on the conversion, assuming the worse case for gas and probably a best case for diesel. Also assuming nothing bad happens.

You don't say how many miles are on your 16 year old truck, and I sure plan on keeping mine a long while, but you might think about what else you could do with that money. Including buying an economical car as a daily driver (which is what I do).

YMMV

*average national price today.

Such a buzz kill answer....and also why this idea never leaves my day dreams. Stupid reality and logic.