New Owner Yukon Denali

[the_tool_man]

Hi all, from Spartanburg, SC:

I just bought a 2012 Yukon Denali AWD (with 98k miles) as a replacement for my old 2002 Ford Expedition. My only other experience with a GM truck was a 1996 S-10 I owned years ago. It was a piece of junk. But that's another story for another forum. I've heard lots of good things about the third-gen Tahoe/Yukon/Escalade, and hope to enjoy it as a frequent road trip and tow vehicle. I specifically wanted the 6.2L engine, which I really love. I can't believe how quick this thing is! As a byproduct of my choice, I got a fully-loaded SUV with a decent ride, great acceleration and better handling than the Ex. It took me a while to find it, as I wanted black with the towing package and a bench 2nd row seat. That seems to be a rare combination.



I like to customize my cars. My Expedition is lowered with lots of parts from Lightning and Harley trucks swapped over, billet grille, etc. I've been thinking about what I'd do to the Yukon, and honestly I'm struggling to come up with much. I'd like to lower it 2-3 inches. And I'm not a fan of the wood trim pieces inside. I'll swap to better looking wheels at some point. But that's really it, I think. It came with tinted windows (done by PO) and every option under the sun. I'm even happy with the sound of the stock exhaust.

Right now, I'm touching up a few little paint chips, ordering a set of owner's manuals (why do people sell these out of their cars?!?), a Haynes repair manual, rubber floor mat for the rear (I removed the 3rd row seats), and learning what the many buttons do. I still haven't figured out where the Bluetooth is, lol.

I have a few newbie questions:

1. What's the conventional wisdom on Dex-Cool antifreeze? I've heard it has corrosion issues. The dealer showed me their service records for the car, which included a radiator replacement. It's been refilled with fresh Dex-cool. Should I switch to something else?
2. Is it possible to lower this by a couple of inches without too much loss of ride quality? I was able to use drop spindles and air-ride adjustment on the Ex to drop it that much. All I really had to do was swap to shorter bump-stops on the rear. And it rides about the same. The one video I've seen of a lowered Tahoe looked straightforward. But ride quality wasn't really discussed.
3. Also on the lowered Tahoe video, for some reason they had to move the rear anti-sway bar to one side by an inch. Why would that be necessary?
4. My Yukon was originally sold and driven in Oregon for four years. So I'm going to do a more thorough inspection for rust. What are common areas to look out for? All I've seen so far is light surface rust on the exhaust and drive shafts.

So that's it for now. Looking forward to many miles of fun and utility with the Yukon. Thanks in advance for any helpful advice.

 

[Miami-Dade]

Welcome from Miami Beach&NYC John!! Very nice Yukon Denali!! It was worth the wait.

 

[adventurenali92]

Welcome! Gorgeous truck! I’m jealous every time someone joins with a 2007-2014 generation Yukon Denali haha. I want one eventually! Oregon doesn’t use salt on their roads during winter as far as I know, so you shouldn’t have to worry too much about rust. When you exam the underside, id be willing to be you will probably only find surface rust. Maybe @Rocket Man can chime in on that as he lives up there!
As far as lowering goes, hit up tony (aka @NORCAL SS ) he’s our local suv suspension guru and from what I understand the lowering king around these parts. He will steer you in the right direction. There’s also several other members that I’m sure will chime in that I think are lowering experts! Hopefully you’ll enjoy the heck out of your Denali! I for one know the excitement of having the bigger engine option! It’s so fun!

 

[the_tool_man]

Oregon doesn’t use salt on their roads during winter as far as I know, so you shouldn’t have to worry too much about rust.

Glad to hear it. My truck came with a block heater, so I assumed lots of cold weather.

Love the 6.2L. I used to have a Mustang Cobra, and miss the performance of that car. This isn't THAT fast. But it's still lots of fun...until I get to the gas pump, lol.

 

[Melvin Pervis]

Hi all, from Spartanburg, SC:

I just bought a 2012 Yukon Denali AWD (with 98k miles) as a replacement for my old 2002 Ford Expedition. My only other experience with a GM truck was a 1996 S-10 I owned years ago. It was a piece of junk. But that's another story for another forum. I've heard lots of good things about the third-gen Tahoe/Yukon/Escalade, and hope to enjoy it as a frequent road trip and tow vehicle. I specifically wanted the 6.2L engine, which I really love. I can't believe how quick this thing is! As a byproduct of my choice, I got a fully-loaded SUV with a decent ride, great acceleration and better handling than the Ex. It took me a while to find it, as I wanted black with the towing package and a bench 2nd row seat. That seems to be a rare combination.

View attachment 209482

I like to customize my cars. My Expedition is lowered with lots of parts from Lightning and Harley trucks swapped over, billet grille, etc. I've been thinking about what I'd do to the Yukon, and honestly I'm struggling to come up with much. I'd like to lower it 2-3 inches. And I'm not a fan of the wood trim pieces inside. I'll swap to better looking wheels at some point. But that's really it, I think. It came with tinted windows (done by PO) and every option under the sun. I'm even happy with the sound of the stock exhaust.

Right now, I'm touching up a few little paint chips, ordering a set of owner's manuals (why do people sell these out of their cars?!?), a Haynes repair manual, rubber floor mat for the rear (I removed the 3rd row seats), and learning what the many buttons do. I still haven't figured out where the Bluetooth is, lol.

I have a few newbie questions:

1. What's the conventional wisdom on Dex-Cool antifreeze? I've heard it has corrosion issues. The dealer showed me their service records for the car, which included a radiator replacement. It's been refilled with fresh Dex-cool. Should I switch to something else?
2. Is it possible to lower this by a couple of inches without too much loss of ride quality? I was able to use drop spindles and air-ride adjustment on the Ex to drop it that much. All I really had to do was swap to shorter bump-stops on the rear. And it rides about the same. The one video I've seen of a lowered Tahoe looked straightforward. But ride quality wasn't really discussed.
3. Also on the lowered Tahoe video, for some reason they had to move the rear anti-sway bar to one side by an inch. Why would that be necessary?
4. My Yukon was originally sold and driven in Oregon for four years. So I'm going to do a more thorough inspection for rust. What are common areas to look out for? All I've seen so far is light surface rust on the exhaust and drive shafts.

So that's it for now. Looking forward to many miles of fun and utility with the Yukon. Thanks in advance for any helpful advice.

What's up The Tool Man and everyone else here. I'm also a GMC newborn. Was into Euro and Tuner scene after my 86 Mustang left me stranded in the middle of nowhere pre cell phone days as well and had to walk home. Literally just left car there and went and bought a 91 Maxims then had a Mitz, Honda, Lexus, VW another Mitz and Ford Explorer. Anyways so now I'm a Big Boy lol and got this while working at a dealership and would grab the keys and go check all the Yukons out. Almost went with a 05 which I think had the better sound system than this premium bose BS. I am a product of the 90's so lots of Alt/old school rap gets played and I am in process of upgrading the whole system. I actually love the setup it has I mean it's basically a living room on wheels with surround sound and everything. So I've already got some Pioneer TS Z65CH components for the front door and pillar TS D65F's for the back doors a TS D10D4 that I'm going to try and replicate JL Audios stealth box with in center console and a 15in Memhis Audio Six for the rear sub and a Kicker CX1800 for that and 2 Pioneer GMD 8604 for the doors .Haven't decided what to get in place of D Pillar 2 inches and the 3.5 center dash speakers yet. And I was hoping to get some opinions on this next part. Every head unit I look at all say "Keep factory amps" or whatever with the IDatalink adapters/modules. Well I want to just gut everything out and just replicate it with way better equipment but it seems like I'm going to run into some issues with the Bluetooth and warning chimes when you remove the bose .So I'm just trying to decide on going with a 6 or 8 channel DSP and X-Over/Line Drivers or getting a new head unit and try to figure out a way around those issues. Can I fully replicate the Bose system with aftermarket stuff or can I maybe keep the bose amp but just the speakers that do the speech/warning cues .From what I've read and done so far with electrical components it seems if you interrupt one little thing in the equation then everything in that line gets out of whack. Like I upgraded all my lights to LED and had to put load resistors on. Then just had a little 1500-2000 watt system for maybe a month and ran through an alternator and battery. So now I have a dual XSPower setup and a Mechman G Series 270 amp and a DS18 50 Farad Cap and I still get dimming on dash lights which aren't LESs.

So if anyone has opinions or has done any of what I'm trying to do or knows that it can or can't be done please can you point me in right direction I'm not looking for someone to do the work for me just stuck at a crossroads with the Bose system/head unit thing and hoping to get my confidence up a little more before I fully dive into this project and any advice would be much appreciated

I'm also going to be dropping it 3" in front 4" in rear and have new Beltech springs and bump stops and shackles. Looking for suggestions on shocks/struts to match. For some reason they don't have any for this truck.

And hey Tool Man. I've been under mine getting rid of rust with a die grinder and wire brush wheels and it works great. Makes the metal just like new if that's an option for you .I also have this wheel that has like 3x6 rows of stiff wire and that thing is crazy. It's supposed to be for paint stripping but I used it all over my frame, exhaust engine bay. Just about any spot I had I got rid of with that and some rust dissolved spray

Ok well I apologize for the lengthy reply. I look forward to many more conversations in here and proud to be a newb Yukali owner. She's my 2nd wife lol. Take care fellas

 

[Doubeleive]

welcome, Bluetooth setup is done with the steering wheel controls, you can view the owners manual online for free on the gm website just literally google "online 2012 Yukon denali owners manual" and it will pop right up in the search.
I don't remember exactly but I think you just have to press and hold the phone icon button, then it will ding or make some sound, something like that, you can just search youtube