Questions to owners of 07-13 Suburban/Yukon XL 2500s

[MichaelSE]

I have been kicking around the idea of trading my LTZ for a more basic, lower mile 2500.

- How is the ride with the torsion bar front and leaf spring rear?

- How is the 6.0 LY6 on power, does it ever leave you wanting more? I love the 6.0 in my 1500, but it's an L76, slightly up on hp and down on torque as compared to the LY6.

- What kind of mileage do you get?

Thanks guys.

 

[ecoulter1]

I have an 08 and the ride is OK, I would say not as good as the 05 tahoe we had before it but buying a 2500 you are prepared for that reality. The 6.0 has power but we tow 6500lb boat every weekend and used to have a duramax so the 6.0 took some getting used to. I can say it pulls the hills at speed fine its just the initial takeoff that is much different but that is no surprise. Now for the bad news.... 11-12.5 city with my wife driving it and 17 highway doing 70MPH. The best part about it is whenever we are out towing etc I get lots of comments and thumbs up when people see it is an 8lug yukon. I have a list of 5 people ready to buy it if I ever want to sell but GM quit making them so I think we are going to keep it. I can overhaul the the whole driveline and still be way money ahead of buying a 70K new yukon.

 

[MichaelSE]

I have an 08 and the ride is OK, I would say not as good as the 05 tahoe we had before it but buying a 2500 you are prepared for that reality. The 6.0 has power but we tow 6500lb boat every weekend and used to have a duramax so the 6.0 took some getting used to. I can say it pulls the hills at speed fine its just the initial takeoff that is much different but that is no surprise. Now for the bad news.... 11-12.5 city with my wife driving it and 17 highway doing 70MPH. The best part about it is whenever we are out towing etc I get lots of comments and thumbs up when people see it is an 8lug yukon. I have a list of 5 people ready to buy it if I ever want to sell but GM quit making them so I think we are going to keep it. I can overhaul the the whole driveline and still be way money ahead of buying a 70K new yukon.

Thanks for your reply. What gears does your Yukon have? I wouldn't want to go any taller than 3.73, maybe even 4.10.

 

[ecoulter1]

Thanks for your reply. What gears does your Yukon have? I wouldn't want to go any taller than 3.73, maybe even 4.10.

Ours is 3.73 I am sure a swap to 4.10 would help a bit especially since it has the 6 speed.

 

[Matt_]

I'm liking my 2012. Ride is stiff but I think some adjustable shocks will help a lot; soften the ride when not towing, then increase damping when hauling . I have a similar setup on my Jeep to adjust between daily driving and offroading .

Mileage wise I saw almost 18+ on my drive home from OH to NJ when I bought the truck. City was getting 14+ but has dropped down to 12-13 after putting on bigger heavier tires.

 

[MichaelSE]

I'm liking my 2012. Ride is stiff but I think some adjustable shocks will help a lot; soften the ride when not towing, then increase damping when hauling . I have a similar setup on my Jeep to adjust between daily driving and offroading .

Mileage wise I saw almost 18+ on my drive home from OH to NJ when I bought the truck. City was getting 14+ but has dropped down to 12-13 after putting on bigger heavier tires.

Thanks for your reply. I stalked your posts a bit, the XL looks great. I thought that NNBS Suburban 2500s were rare.. until I searched for NNBS Yukon 2500s. They are few and far between. I think that if I do end up buying one, I'll have to travel for it like you did.

Which adjustable shocks are you considering? And how's it do on the highway - can you cruise at 80 and feel that you still have power on tap when you need it?

 

[Matt_]

Definitely plenty of power available, even at highway speeds. I've had to punch it a handful of times (and sometimes just for fun). I've had it accelerate from 75 through 90 once and it still had plenty to go.... but I didn't want to test my luck.

For shocks I'm getting he Rancho 9000s. Had them on a previous vehicle and put them on a friends Jeep.... pretty good quality and performance for the price . Only reason I haven't put them on yet is I'm waiting to see if I'm installing a lift this year or waiting a bit. Depends a lot on whether I sell my Jeep this spring

 

[MichaelSE]

I can't believe how tough NNBS 2500s are to find with <100k miles and in a trim higher than commercial fleet or LS. I wanted at least a basic LT with the regular Bose system and front bucket seats; hope I don't have to settle for an LS. I'm willing to drive 1000+ miles for the right one. Does anyone have any ideas of where to shop online besides the big car sales sites (cars.com, autotrader, cargurus, edmunds)?

 

[Matt_]

Because they stopped manufacturing them and people aren't trading them in few newer models.... since they're not available .

I just kept searching nationwide on all the usual sites until I found one

 

[camaroz1985]

Keep searching there, or on craigslist. You can use searchtempest.com to specify which craigslist sites to search in. I have had good luck finding them in the southerns states (TX, OK in specific). As they get older, finding them with lower miles will be hard to find, but I wouldn't be afraid of higher miles on a well maintained truck.