Overland Rebuild of 2015 Yukon XL w/200k Miles and a blown tranny @ $9500

[Mondaytown]

This all started about 2 years ago when I decided I was tired of all the issues I was having with our nearly new vehicles and the ridiculous inconvenience it was creating when they would sit at the dealership for warranty issues. I'm also a power freak and decided I could save money, have more power and simpler vehicles if I was willing to give up having brand new cars all the time. So my search began. We have always had 3 vehicles, A kid hauler, my daily driver and a heavy duty truck for the big trailers. One by one I began finding the replacements for each vehicle. Two of the 3 I was able to find under 10k. The Heavy Duty Truck was a little more but still under 20k. All cash cars that had mechanical issues or high mileage or both in the case of the Yukon.

Found the 2015 Yukon XL SLT on Facebook with 200k miles and a blown transmission. Tires were bald, rims pitted but the inside was very clean. Paint was clean other than the front and back bumpers were a little dinged up. Talked the seller down from $11500 to $9500

Then came the build processes. And the Yukon, being our family car was the priority so we started on that. I follow up with details on the 1st phase next.

 

[Mondaytown]

I took the vehicle to Advanced HP in Layton Utah. At the time I wasn’t planning to do any kind of an overland build I just knew I wanted good reliable power. Able to tow with ease and not too loud.

Because of Parts back orders and machine shop delays it ended up taking almost 6 months.

The engine was a 5.3 and in hopes of keeping decent gas mileage we decided to stick with that. The motor was in OK condition when they tore apart but we wanted it built for boost.

It was rebuilt with forged parts and low compression pistons.
.020 overbore.

The ported heads were purchased from Texas speed.

Titanium valves and lifters

Custom grind stage 2 Cam designed by Advanced HP.

Hi flow oil pump

Texas speed long tube headers
And high flow cats. Initially I was hoping to maintain some dignity in the neighborhood so I left the Stock muffler on it even though the builder thought I was crazy.

Transmission is a stage three Circle D rated for 750 hp. Billet torque converter with a +500 stall.

They finished it off with a pro charger DX-1 With the larger intercooler.

The radiator and transmission cooler are from Mishimoto.

Final Dyno numbers came in at 549 HP and 560 torque.

I was hoping for more, the Tuner told me he was going to order a smaller Pulley, a ported intake manifold and insisted that I put a better muffler on it.

But he wanted me to break it in. He did say the tune was fairly conservative and would allow me to still use 91 octane even in lower elevations.

All the parts have finally come in but I am waiting for him to fit me in to finish installing them and do another Dyno tuning. He feels pretty confident that we can safely get to 650+ at the back wheels and still run pump gas even at lower elevations. The lowest elevation in my area is 4500 feet.

 

[Mondaytown]

We have put about 13,000 miles on the new build in the last 3 to 4 months. It’s a lot of fun to drive. I’ve had a couple friends get into Overlanding recently and I think I caught the bug.

Because of my family situation we need three rows. I was debating on buying something just for Overlanding with three rows but my wife told me she was not interested in having a fourth vehicle. So I decided to build this one.

I found out a guy named Peter who owns baseline overland specializes in these suburbans and Yukons.

I’ve been getting advice from him as well as this forum, Facebook and a few other friends. I ordered the front and rear bumpers from baseline Overland but I’m still waiting for them to arrive. I will post more photos and updates once we begin installing all the body and suspension upgrades.

 

[CMoore711]

Sounds like that was a nice find for <$10K. It's hard to find deals like that!

 

[Sparksalot]

We have put about 13,000 miles on the new build in the last 3 to 4 months. It’s a lot of fun to drive. I’ve had a couple friends get into Overlanding recently and I think I caught the bug.

Because of my family situation we need three rows. I was debating on buying something just for Overlanding with three rows but my wife told me she was not interested in having a fourth vehicle. So I decided to build this one.

I found out a guy named Peter who owns baseline overland specializes in these suburbans and Yukons.

I’ve been getting advice from him as well as this forum, Facebook and a few other friends. I ordered the front and rear bumpers from baseline Overland but I’m still waiting for them to arrive. I will post more photos and updates once we begin installing all the body and suspension upgrades.

@mrpeterclark posts on here at times. I bought one of the first K2 roof racks from him for my 2015.

 

[Mondaytown]

@mrpeterclark posts on here at times. I bought one of the first K2 roof racks from him for my 2015.

View attachment 417926

That’s awesome. Yeah he’s been a wealth of information and help. I’ve been buying everything I can through him

 

[Mondaytown]

Sounds like that was a nice find for <$10K. It's hard to find deals like that.

Yeah I felt like it was a bargain. The body and interior were surprisingly clean. Seemed like whoever owned it took good care of it. I bought it from the second owner who had bought it a month before and the transmission went out and he couldn’t afford to fix it so he dumped it.

 

[BlackBrud]

Sounds like a great build already! Do you mind telling us how much you spent on the drivetrain upgrades?

I’d love to do some similar upgrades if/when things break at higher mileage.