What made you go with an SUV over a Truck?

[adventurenali92]

@EzSkAnKeN , holy guacamole! I had no idea GM made a denali XL in a 2500 plus a diesel! That sucker is sick! I knew they made the XL in a 2500 in an SLT package with the 6.0 and some way rare ones with the 8.1 V8. That duramax in a denali would be so bitchin! I'm jealous I can't have something like that! Lol

 

[EzSkAnKeN]

@EzSkAnKeN , holy guacamole! I had no idea GM made a denali XL in a 2500 plus a diesel! That sucker is sick! I knew they made the XL in a 2500 in an SLT package with the 6.0 and some way rare ones with the 8.1 V8. That duramax in a denali would be so bitchin! I'm jealous I can't have something like that! Lol

Oh it didn't come factory like this. This is a conversion that only a few people do. But it serves it's purpose. There's a guy in FL (DuraBurb), and a guy local to me about 90 minutes out that I know of. They are beastly vehicles no doubt ha ha.

The 6.0 had the 10.5" rear end, and the 11.5" came with the 8.1. This specific one had the 6.0 so it has the 10.5" rear end still. But with the 6.6L Duramax LBZ and 6 speed Allison transmission should be a prett nice ride.

 

[adventurenali92]

Oh that makes sense that's it's a custom conversion! Awesome either way! Sweet ride! Well here's to crossing fingers to you picking that one up!

 

[Martinjmpr]

For me it was the ability to carry passengers. I had a Tacoma extended cab that I liked but there always seemed to be an occasion for me to carry at least 2 other people and it became such a PITA that I sold it for a '99 4runner. The 4runner turned out to be a much better vehicle for what I needed. About the only thing I would ever need an open bed for would be to haul a motorcycle but I have a flatbed trailer that is easier to load than a pickup anyway.

Since then I've had another 4runner (an '07) and now my '04 'Burb. I didn't even consider a pickup as the Suburban is more suited for my needs.

Actually, I guess that's not 100% correct: If I'd been able to find a decent Avalanche in the same price range I would have gotten it but Avalanches are not that easy to find, always have high mileage and the prices are much, much higher than an equivalent Suburban or Yukon XL.

The nice thing about having everything under one cabin roof is that you can actually carry very long or bulky materials, in some cases, the usable space is bigger on an SUV than on a pickup. Think about it: a crew-cab pickup with a short bed can carry at most, cargo that is 5'8" long or maybe 7' with the tailgate down (and of course, if the tailgate is down, whatever you're hauling is now exposed to the weather even if you have a topper or shell.) OTOH when I remove the 3rd row seat from my Suburban and fold the 2nd row down, I have over 8' of space and it's all covered and secured. The only pickup that ever had this capability was the Avalanche with its disappearing midgate.

Another thing I've noticed in years of car shopping is that when you look at a pickup and an SUV of similar age and mileage, the pickup is almost always more beaten and used, while the SUV was often a "soccer mom car" that is still in pretty good shape. And to top it off, the SUV is usually less expensive!

 

[07Burb]

wondering what other people have come up with to choose a GM SUV over a truck.

Let's hear it...

We chose our Suburban because it is our family hauler that we user for vacations as well as us all tootling around town. With 4 kids the room is a must and there's room behind the third row for everything we need on vacations. So being the wife's DD it's what makes the most sense for us.

 

[Martinjmpr]

The short bed on the truck is 5'8" and I want to say through my research that the Yukon XL has a 4'3" "bed"?

Oh no. Depending on how you fold the seats, the space is anywhere between 32" (2' 8") and 97" (8'1".)

I measured mine back in January. Here's how it measured out:

All seats in place: 32"





3rd row removed, 2nd row up and in place: 68" (5' 8")





3rd row removed, 2nd row folded down: 97" (8' 1")



Also note that unlike some SUVs (Like both of my 4runners) the Suburban/XL has a completely flat load deck when the seats are down. That's a nice feature that makes it easy to load and unload gear and makes it more comfortable if you want to ever sleep back there while camping.

In addition, the Suburban/Tahoe/Yukon is one of the few vehicles where the 3rd row seat can actually accomodate adults.

And the best thing is, it's surprisingly not as big as many people think. Really with the 130" wheelbase and 219" overall length, the Suburban is only about 2 1/2' longer than my 4runner was.

 

[EzSkAnKeN]

@Martinjmpr Thank you so much! That was exactly what I needed to see. Thank you.

If I decide to pull the trigger on this certain Yukon I'd want to swap out the middle captain chairs for a bench. To bad I can't have all 3 bunches ha ha! That would be awesome!

 

[EzSkAnKeN]

We chose our Suburban because it is our family hauler that we user for vacations as well as us all tootling around town. With 4 kids the room is a must and there's room behind the third row for everything we need on vacations. So being the wife's DD it's what makes the most sense for us.

That's what I "need" in a vehicle as well. A family hauler. We like to get out as much as possible. The truck can handle that for now, but if #5 ever does come I' have to sell anyway. I wouldn't want my wife to give up her dream car that I was able to get for her (95' 3000GT). We once had 3 vehicles. Which was my truck, her car, and an 08' Envoy. We sold the Envoy before we moved as it didn't fit us anymore.

Still tearing myself up over this. One of the main thing is price. I can get a nice NBS Yukon Denali XL for $3k-$7k. This conversion is nearly 5x that with 102k on the clock. I thought it was 106k, but I looked at the pictures again this morning before I rolled out of bed ha ha!

 

[07Burb]

That's what I "need" in a vehicle as well. A family hauler. We like to get out as much as possible. The truck can handle that for now, but if #5 ever does come I' have to sell anyway. I wouldn't want my wife to give up her dream car that I was able to get for her (95' 3000GT). We once had 3 vehicles. Which was my truck, her car, and an 08' Envoy. We sold the Envoy before we moved as it didn't fit us anymore.

Still tearing myself up over this. One of the main thing is price. I can get a nice NBS Yukon Denali XL for $3k-$7k. This conversion is nearly 5x that with 102k on the clock. I thought it was 106k, but I looked at the pictures again this morning before I rolled out of bed ha ha!

If it was me with the same decision to make I'd got back to the 3 car scenario but make that third one a Suburban or XL that way they wife can keep her dream car and you keep the truck. One, trucks obviously are very useful to have and good to keep around. Two, the dream car keeps the wife happy and is fun for her and probably the whole family. You can get a clean OBS or NBS suburban/XL for pretty reasonable prices so it probably isn't a huge deal to add it to your driveway. The only negative it adds is one more thing to maintain but once you get one purchased and catch it up on whatever it needs to be a nice driver it shouldn't be a big deal.


Anyway, just my thoughts Not that you asked directly but that's what I'd do and have done in the past

 

[jerryjoe28]

when I bought the hoe it was because I hade a newer truck and I really just wanted a 2 door hoe. after a few months I decided to sell the newer truck and use the hoe as my DD. things where fine for a while with no truck as I have trailers that I can haul any thing I need but the more I did to the hoe the more impractical it became. so I just bought a nbs crew cab to DD. that way I can continue to mod the hoe and not haft to worry about hauling things around!!!