Greetings to my fellow enthusiasts 
I'm a bit of a car nerd, and I use forums all the time, so I figure it was high time to start helping others by putting my info and experiences out there.
Hopefully it will help someone down the line like other's posts have helped me.
Also hopefully you like to read, because I like to talk about cars.
I bought a Z71 suburban just last week, and I have many plans. Finding it wasn't crazy hard, but I feel like finding a low-ish mileage post-2017-pre-2020 Z71 was a challenge for sure. I wanted to get the most reliable version of the newest Suburban Z71 I could find, so that's why I narrowed it down to 2017-2020. I figured that most of the worst bugs would be sorted in the generation by then, not perfect, but just as reliable as I can get. This will be my daily driver, the road trip vehicle, the camping/off-roading vehicle, etc -- THE ADVENTURE WAGON. Comfortable on road, and capable off road.
I found the burb on a monday, and drove down to get it two days later. It was listed as a 2019 LT (not z71), but in the photos and the details in the carfax, it was clearly a Z71 midnight edition. I suspect that's why it sat for a few days before I found it, since the ford dealer I bought it from probably didn't care about listing it correctly. Either way, I swiped it up. It had two owners, was clean inside and out, and had lots of service records. I paid $34K, and felt good about the deal, as my paid off subaru that I traded allowed me to avoid needing a car payment.
Specs:
2019 Chevrolet Suburban
Z71 midnight package
LT1 luxury package
88K miles
5.3L
Now, onto mods. I've had many vehicles over the years, and I've come to learn that my sweet spot for long term ownership is to modify a vehicle to be "stock plus". Basically some light, tasteful mods, but no intense modification. This allows me to enjoy customizing some things, while also keeping the vehicle as reliable and easily serviceable as I can. One day I might go crazy with a project car, but I just don't have the time or resources to be constantly babying a heavily modified vehicle. Been there, done that, not fun for a daily-ish. I'm not mocking heavily modified vehicles, they're just not for me right now.
I started off with getting some new tires, as the current Goodyears are worn. I went with 275/70/18 Nokian Outpost nAT E-rated tires. I wanted a larger tire, but not so large that I'll need re-gearing or cutting wheel wells. I will take this burb off road in the Colorado mountains and through snow storms - but also on road trips, so I wanted something durable, snow-rated, and not loud (for an AT). The nokians are made with aramid fibers, which should help prevent punctures and cuts from sharp rock - the burb ain't light so I'll take all the help I can get. They also have a triple-pitch design to make them quieter - basically small variations in tread shape to cancel noise. Since I'm upsizing, they're going to be heavier than the stock tires for sure (by 10+ lbs I think), but I'd really like to avoid getting a flat far away from paved roads or cell signal. I feel like an E-rated 275/70/18 will be goldilocks - not too big, not too small, just right. I'll be upgrading my spare to match as well.
The tires should arrive this week. I'll get them installed, and then I'll move on to getting the burb up to date on all of its maintenance. It has good maintenance records, but by the looks of it, it has been quite reliable with mostly only routine maintenance needed. The only things that fell outside of routine is a starter replacement a few thousand miles ago. I figured I would start out by getting the transmission, diffs, and brakes all serviced, then I'll have them check the rest of the vehicle out to see what else it needs. I'd wager that I'm probably due for plugs and wires soon as well. I'll try to keep this up to date with my maintenance.
For near-future mods, I'd really like to get some beefier suspension. I would like to preserve some rake, but I'm okay with being leveled as well. My top contenders are a set of adjustable rancho shocks and struts, or a full fox 2.0 setup. Those both seem like the most straightforward upgrade for me - I'm able to install them on my own and they don't cost an arm and a leg (though the fox setup isn't exactly cheap). With the new suspension I'll probably have a mechanic refresh the ball joints and any bushings or links too.
I do love a good v8 exhaust note, so I'll probably spice up the exhaust with a corsa. They're the few manufacturer that make exhausts for the 5.3 that I've seen address drone. If someone knows of others who use special resonators for drone, please let me know. This one isn't necessary or urgent, so we'll see when I get to it.
Lastly, I'd like to tune the burb at some point, but I'm a bit iffy on it since I still live close to a bit city and need to be able to pass emissions for the next 5 or so years until I ideally move to a non-emissions-controlled county. I think it would probably be fine, but I just need to do more research, and this one is also not urgent.
Here's the TLDR section:
RECENT MAINTENANCE:
-starter replaced @ 87K
CURRENT MODS:
-nada really
-275/70/18 (in a few days or so)
FUTURE MODS:
-Rancho or Fox suspension (1-3" lift up front, maybe 1" in the back) - light lift for light off roading.
-corsa sport catback - this one I can wait on a bit. I'd love to hear some growl, but I'm in no rush.
-tune from superchips or black bear - disable AFM and get better shifts.
-tons of little things like cargo organizing and hitch carriers and such.
Now for the good stuff - some pics! I'll be sure to follow up once I get the new tires on - can't wait to see how the look and drive.
I'm a bit of a car nerd, and I use forums all the time, so I figure it was high time to start helping others by putting my info and experiences out there.
Hopefully it will help someone down the line like other's posts have helped me.
Also hopefully you like to read, because I like to talk about cars.
I bought a Z71 suburban just last week, and I have many plans. Finding it wasn't crazy hard, but I feel like finding a low-ish mileage post-2017-pre-2020 Z71 was a challenge for sure. I wanted to get the most reliable version of the newest Suburban Z71 I could find, so that's why I narrowed it down to 2017-2020. I figured that most of the worst bugs would be sorted in the generation by then, not perfect, but just as reliable as I can get. This will be my daily driver, the road trip vehicle, the camping/off-roading vehicle, etc -- THE ADVENTURE WAGON. Comfortable on road, and capable off road.
I found the burb on a monday, and drove down to get it two days later. It was listed as a 2019 LT (not z71), but in the photos and the details in the carfax, it was clearly a Z71 midnight edition. I suspect that's why it sat for a few days before I found it, since the ford dealer I bought it from probably didn't care about listing it correctly. Either way, I swiped it up. It had two owners, was clean inside and out, and had lots of service records. I paid $34K, and felt good about the deal, as my paid off subaru that I traded allowed me to avoid needing a car payment.
Specs:
2019 Chevrolet Suburban
Z71 midnight package
LT1 luxury package
88K miles
5.3L
Now, onto mods. I've had many vehicles over the years, and I've come to learn that my sweet spot for long term ownership is to modify a vehicle to be "stock plus". Basically some light, tasteful mods, but no intense modification. This allows me to enjoy customizing some things, while also keeping the vehicle as reliable and easily serviceable as I can. One day I might go crazy with a project car, but I just don't have the time or resources to be constantly babying a heavily modified vehicle. Been there, done that, not fun for a daily-ish. I'm not mocking heavily modified vehicles, they're just not for me right now.
I started off with getting some new tires, as the current Goodyears are worn. I went with 275/70/18 Nokian Outpost nAT E-rated tires. I wanted a larger tire, but not so large that I'll need re-gearing or cutting wheel wells. I will take this burb off road in the Colorado mountains and through snow storms - but also on road trips, so I wanted something durable, snow-rated, and not loud (for an AT). The nokians are made with aramid fibers, which should help prevent punctures and cuts from sharp rock - the burb ain't light so I'll take all the help I can get. They also have a triple-pitch design to make them quieter - basically small variations in tread shape to cancel noise. Since I'm upsizing, they're going to be heavier than the stock tires for sure (by 10+ lbs I think), but I'd really like to avoid getting a flat far away from paved roads or cell signal. I feel like an E-rated 275/70/18 will be goldilocks - not too big, not too small, just right. I'll be upgrading my spare to match as well.
The tires should arrive this week. I'll get them installed, and then I'll move on to getting the burb up to date on all of its maintenance. It has good maintenance records, but by the looks of it, it has been quite reliable with mostly only routine maintenance needed. The only things that fell outside of routine is a starter replacement a few thousand miles ago. I figured I would start out by getting the transmission, diffs, and brakes all serviced, then I'll have them check the rest of the vehicle out to see what else it needs. I'd wager that I'm probably due for plugs and wires soon as well. I'll try to keep this up to date with my maintenance.
For near-future mods, I'd really like to get some beefier suspension. I would like to preserve some rake, but I'm okay with being leveled as well. My top contenders are a set of adjustable rancho shocks and struts, or a full fox 2.0 setup. Those both seem like the most straightforward upgrade for me - I'm able to install them on my own and they don't cost an arm and a leg (though the fox setup isn't exactly cheap). With the new suspension I'll probably have a mechanic refresh the ball joints and any bushings or links too.
I do love a good v8 exhaust note, so I'll probably spice up the exhaust with a corsa. They're the few manufacturer that make exhausts for the 5.3 that I've seen address drone. If someone knows of others who use special resonators for drone, please let me know. This one isn't necessary or urgent, so we'll see when I get to it.
Lastly, I'd like to tune the burb at some point, but I'm a bit iffy on it since I still live close to a bit city and need to be able to pass emissions for the next 5 or so years until I ideally move to a non-emissions-controlled county. I think it would probably be fine, but I just need to do more research, and this one is also not urgent.
Here's the TLDR section:
RECENT MAINTENANCE:
-starter replaced @ 87K
CURRENT MODS:
-nada really
-275/70/18 (in a few days or so)
FUTURE MODS:
-Rancho or Fox suspension (1-3" lift up front, maybe 1" in the back) - light lift for light off roading.
-corsa sport catback - this one I can wait on a bit. I'd love to hear some growl, but I'm in no rush.
-tune from superchips or black bear - disable AFM and get better shifts.
-tons of little things like cargo organizing and hitch carriers and such.
Now for the good stuff - some pics! I'll be sure to follow up once I get the new tires on - can't wait to see how the look and drive.
