First year ownership and 5K miles 2011 Yukon Denali

[Geotrash]

My 2011 Denali XL, other than an engine rebuild due to sticky lifters (yes, it's deleted and tuned!), has been wonderful. It's basically brand new. Picked it up with 113k in 2021 and now at 160k. The body is flawless (Cali car) and just saw its 1st winter with a complete Krown coating and removed the boards for the winter to prevent trapped snow. We've hardly had any snow here this year so added bonus. The dash, OTOH, cracked in multiple places and needs to be replaced.

Replacing a cheap knock off hood chrome piece this weekend with OEM part. Need to replace both mirrors soon. Anyone have the right part number for full featured DL3 mirrors? Can't seem to find one with all the bells and whistles. Also wondering if the Denali had chrome caps?

View attachment 424249

Looks great! Rock Auto has the mirrors. Denalis have body-colored caps but all replacement mirrors require painting to match. Just have to get one with the smooth cap and the appropriate options for your rig. I've never been able to find the ones with blind spot warning, so I subbed in GM 1320377.

@915_Tahoe is our parts guru and may be able to get the exact part number for your rig.

 

[MWD_CTSV]

I installed these in my 2012 when I did the cam swap based on old information about factory rockers spitting out their bearings. But apparently that was only happening on very early LS engines (~'99-'00 IIRC) and GM has long since corrected the flaw. These days they're more of a gimmick, IMHO.

The stock rockers are amazing... lightweight and very strong. Yes, the trunnion upgrade is probably not needed, but I figured it was a good idea to replace the bearings. I had these already on the shelf and wanted to use the CHE bronze bearings for my CTS-V instead of the Brian Tooley rollers, so it was essentially free. I do recommend the CHE bronze vs the rollers, but ...

 

[Geotrash]

The stock rockers are amazing... lightweight and very strong. Yes, the trunnion upgrade is probably not needed, but I figured it was a good idea to replace the bearings. I had these already on the shelf and wanted to use the CHE bronze bearings for my CTS-V instead of the Brian Tooley rollers, so it was essentially free. I do recommend the CHE bronze vs the rollers, but ...

Yeah, lots of builders out there would agree with you on the Che bushings.

 

[tkdgirl]

Looks great! Rock Auto has the mirrors. Denalis have body-colored caps but all replacement mirrors require painting to match. Just have to get one with the smooth cap and the appropriate options for your rig. I've never been able to find the ones with blind spot warning, so I subbed in GM 1320377.

@915_Tahoe is our parts guru and may be able to get the exact part number for your rig.

Thank you! Sent @915_Tahoe a message.

 

[j91z28d1]

You don't see evidence because only those with issues report them. 1000's and 1000's of comments is a blip on the radar when there are millions and millions of engines out there. Besides, 250K on an engine is pretty good life no matter what!

I was just throwing out 250k as a miracle milestone to hit and I agree if a decent amount of them made it that far this wouldn't even be a thing to worry about.

but I disagree the trend I see these trucks are sold off at about 120k to 150k range. at that point they are due for a full refresh. if you know this going in and do your own work, no big deal but that's very small percentage of buyers. most find these on used lots. they basically break the bank to get it or at best push the budget. then get it and within the first year or 2, they are deep in the truck and repairs are piling up. you won't see these people on boards like this, they just take it to a shop for low oil pressure, a lifter tap, a tranny slipping. told they need a motor or tranny, they swipe the card to have it done till the next thing. these are people's only cars and they are trapped. that's why I say that.

these are the people you don't see on here and it's way way more than a blip. I've literally seen these afm engines on top 10 list of the most unreliable v8s built. I think it's much worse for a normal person than you think it is. it's a ticking time bomb. if ones sees 250k following gm's recommended maintenance I'm blown away.

 

[vcode]

My 2011 Denali XL, other than an engine rebuild due to sticky lifters (yes, it's deleted and tuned!), has been wonderful. It's basically brand new. Picked it up with 113k in 2021 and now at 160k. The body is flawless (Cali car) and just saw its 1st winter with a complete Krown coating and removed the boards for the winter to prevent trapped snow. We've hardly had any snow here this year so added bonus. The dash, OTOH, cracked in multiple places and needs to be replaced.

Replacing a cheap knock off hood chrome piece this weekend with OEM part. Need to replace both mirrors soon. Anyone have the right part number for full featured DL3 mirrors? Can't seem to find one with all the bells and whistles. Also wondering if the Denali had chrome caps?

View attachment 424249

Dashes have been hard to find at times. Dashskins have been used by a lot of people with good results if you don't mind a minor non-stock look. BTW, I would have kept my 2010 Tahoe had it looked like yours!

 

[tkdgirl]

Dashes have been hard to find at times. Dashskins have been used by a lot of people with good results if you don't mind a minor non-stock look. BTW, I would have kept my 2010 Tahoe had it looked like yours!

The color is pretty uncommon from what I've been told... Green-Gray. My GMC friend has a network he's put the word out to for a junk dash, but told him that's going to be an extremely difficult find.

 

[Geotrash]

The color is pretty uncommon from what I've been told... Green-Gray. My GMC friend has a network he's put the word out to for a junk dash, but told him that's going to be an extremely difficult find.

Yeah, that is indeed a beautiful and rare color.

 

[MWD_CTSV]

The color is pretty uncommon from what I've been told... Green-Gray. My GMC friend has a network he's put the word out to for a junk dash, but told him that's going to be an extremely difficult find.

Looks like Storm Gray, code WA707S. As @Geotrash said, it is beautiful. Definitely the best color for 2011 year.
It looks very close to Thunder Gray, which is my favorite GM color.

 

[Airman68]

I remember back in the 80's, 100k miles was a milestone that was talked about a lot. Now, I think vehicles over 200k miles are becoming more common every day. Not necessarily because the vehicles are so great but that getting a newer vehicle is out of reach for more and more people. I would love to upgrade but I can't (or dont want to) swing $50-60-70k+ for a rig and in reality, my 2008 is worth more to me than anyone. Luckily, I'm a handy guy and can fix just about anything.