knminton

Hello!

I have a family of seven and plan to buy a travel trailer soon. Looks like I'm not going to get by with much less than a 30'. We have a 2015 Yukon XL, but I have no intentions of hauling something that big, especially with the 3.08 gears.

I have a narrow set of large SUVs that fit the bill and I have no desire for a van. This vehicle will be my toy as well.

I need help deciding because each of these has its pros and cons:

2000-2006 Suburban/Yukon XL 2500 with 8.1 - stout motor but very hard to find in decent condition and the worst on mileage of my options. Gas mileage doesn't bother me much, however. Large payload (2800 I believe) and 10,000+ towing (12,000 with 4.10's)! Finding them from $10-15K in decent shape.

2007-2013 Suburban/Yukon XL 2500 with 6.0 and 3.73's. Tow rated at 9,300-9,400 (4WD). Still a gas hog with less torque at the low end than the big block. Payload around 2500. Would have a lot of fun modding this one and they tune well from what I understand. I find these around $17K-$22K with under 100K miles and in great shape.

2000-2003 Excursion with 7.3 PSD. The most reliable of the bunch, so they still fetch a pretty penny when they are in good condition. Tow rated at 10,000-11,000, but pulls easily. Payload scares me at around 1500 with a family of 7. The 01&02 wouldn't be real upgradable with the powder metal rods. Again, upgrades will mostly be for fun as this will be my toy, so this is a con for me. Good ones go for $20K-$30K.

2003-2005 Excursion with 6.0 PSD. I know, I know. There are issues.I am willing to deal with that and would likely have any part of bulletproofing done immediately that has not already been done. Higher torque and easy to build upon once the known issues are handled. About the same payload and tow ratings as its predecessor. Can be had from $15K-$25K in great shape. Love the Eddie Bauer leather.

I think I would have the most fun with either the 6.0 PSD or the 6.0 Burb.

I would love to hear some input and experience, or any viable option I missed.

Thanks!

blitzin247

It really depends which way you want to go.

Do you want the maintenance costs of a diesel (and bullet proofing with EGR and Oil cooler, and head studs it adds up quick).

Not to mention the rough ride of the Ex. I have driven all generations of the Ex from stock to built, and Suburbans from 1980's through 2007 half and 3/4 ton. My preference is the Sub, every time. My thinking is this for a set of injectors at 2-5k (depending on if you do it yourself or have them installed), that is a lot of gas money. And on a diesel, it isn't a matter of if, it is a matter of when.

I love the torque of a tuned 6.0, but the creature comforts are significantly better as well as the ride quality on the GM platform. Plus the maintenance costs are lower on the gas motor as well. For the cost of bullet proofing the 6.0 you could buy a turbo kit, (not counting tuning and the fuel system that are extra).

Let's not forget about other issues like death wobble and front end issues on all of the Ex's as well. Subs don't have that problem.

Like I said, it all depends what you are wanting.

knminton

Great points, blitzin. I will be taking the family on a mix of short andong hauls, so comfort will be important, and I don't want to be white knuckling the entire trip. Glad to hear from someone with experience in both. Thanks!

blitzin247

Another option to consider is a duramax powered suburban. The best company out there is duraburb in FL. I have seen two floating around on craigslist in WA state that are around 35k, but not built by duraburb. I figured that is not in your budget, but it is another option. They are a very reasonable company and top notch. If you are at all curious I would recomend contacting them and seeing what it would cost to get one built, who knows, it might not be too bad.



If you are not satisfied with the performance of a 6.0 gas suburban, you can always get a custom tune and go from there with cam and exhaust upgrades. There is always forced induction as well

Any way we can help you get the addiction, just let us know! HAHA

knminton

I appreciate that input. I would absolutely love to do a Duraburb at some point. Building a house right now and my wife is hogging he budget with her new Yukon XL, lol. I am OCD with planning and I have already planned an entire upgrade path for the 6.0 PSD, and the Burb with the 6.0 gasser. Exhaust and a tune would happen quickly on either. Would definitely progress to internal work and maybe a roots style supercharger on the Burb. Probably huge overkill, but that's the toy side of it.

I have the same thread posted over on RV.net and the main concern with the newer Burbs seems to be the tongue weight rating on the stock hitch, which has limited upgradeabilty. Seems there are a couple of viable options for upgrading.

Thanks again for the input!

silver-mod-o

iTrader: (15)

My vote would be to get the 3/4 ton 6.0 gasser and regear it and do a PD blower. You won't lose any reliability and you'd gain a ton of seat of the pants power, and drivability. In stock form they lumber around and get crap mileage. I'd be willing to bet your mileage would improve and you could pull your trailer and your family's stuff much easier. The Ford wouldn't be an option for me personally after seeing several need head gaskets even after everything has been done to them (studs etc) just not my idea of a good time. Plus, working on them is a serious pain since the cab can't be pulled like the pickups.

knminton

I do like this approach. I have already looked at upgrade costs to get the 6.0 gasser where I would want it. I'd start with cat-back exhaust and tuning, then later I would probably put a blower cam in and a smaller set of heads to improve torque down low. A smaller head, cam and a Maggie MP1900 TVS would have me running right at 12:1 effective and it should be a torque monster. Of course that second stage would cost in the neighborhood of $8,000 if I do the work myself ($6,000 for the blower alone). That's when it starts to seem pretty even with getting a 6.0 PSD. We have a local diesel shop that does great work and will do be cab-off bulletproofing with full machining, EGR delete, oil cooler, custom three stage tune, and head studsfor $6500. They have done over 400. After that, it doesn't take much to get on the neighborhood of 700-800 ft-lbs of torque with tuning and bolt-ons. The gasser is a newer, more comfortable ride and wil cost a lot less on maintenance. That's my dilemma between those two, but I am leaning towards the Burb.

silver-mod-o

iTrader: (15)

I wouldn't mess with the heads of even the exhaust with the blower until after you got it on, tuned and driven for a while. Honestly just gears and 8-9psi through a 1900 would make that thing feel like a different animal. 12:1 is more compression than I'd be comfortable running in a truck that heavy on a daily basis. 11:1 is more manageable and you wouldn't be leaving a ton of power on the table. The 317 heads that would be on that engine flow well, but replacing them with 243's would basically keep the same flow characteristic but with smaller chambers, giving you a bump in compression.

Blownchevy a while ago did a bone stock 4.8 truck with a Maggie and put down very respectable power through stock manifolds and exhaust. If I upgraded anything in the exhaust system on a 6.0 Burb, it would be to swap to full length headers. I'd leave the stock mid pipes and muffler in place. You'll get a lot of added sound from just the blower and headers. And the rest of the exhaust is 3", so it will flow plenty. Lots of guys here say that long tubes with a stock catback is their favorite exhaust setup.

knminton

Thanks! Great input! I have looked into the 243 heads for that very purpose, just to increase boost, but you are right. No reason to go overboard. I know long headers are going to take away a bit of low end torque, but will add mid to high range power. How do you feel that would all work out together as far as the torque curve? Let's say I leave the 317's on and just put a blower on it. Obviously I am going to have a lot more torque under the curve. Would the low end loss be negligible? I imagine unnoticeable with the SC and probably better pulling on hills at speed.

silver-mod-o

iTrader: (15)

There have been more people than not that have reported good GAINS with long headers and supercharging with proper tuning. At least around here...

Even 10-10.5:1 with a blower will be very snappy and make good low and mid range power. A very small camshaft would help, but it's easy to go too big. Honestly the stocker does fine up to around 450hp or so. It would also give you a little more cushion if you ended up getting a bad tank of gas somewhere etc. you wouldn't be living on the ragged edge. Heat, detonation, and other stresses are severely amplified when you're talking a 7000lb vehicle vs a 4000lb vehicle. Like I said before, gears, blower, tuning for certain. Then add around that. As far as gears, if you were to find one with stock 4.10's you could try that, but some 4.56's would be really nice with a little bigger tire than stock.