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John Welsh
John Welsh Mod Squad
4/10/21 7:08 a.m.

In reply to Tim Suddard :

Is there a press fleet vehicle right for this cross country drive?  Said another way, drive someone else's vehicle cross country? 

Nissan has a new Pathfinder that boasts a 6,000lb tow capacity and a dedicated "tow mode" to the 9 speed trans.

Furious_E (Forum Supporter)
Furious_E (Forum Supporter) GRM+ Memberand UltraDork
4/10/21 9:24 a.m.

In reply to bobzilla :

Aren't the DOD lifters themselves failure prone though? I've never been inside a gen IV motor, so I'm not as intimately familiar. 
 

I mean really though do we need an excuse to do a cam swap?  devil

bobzilla
bobzilla MegaDork
4/10/21 9:35 a.m.

In reply to Furious_E (Forum Supporter) :

yes, sorta. When used as they're designed to they can be failure prone. But when you leave them pumped up and running all the time, it's not much different than a normal hydraulic roller lifter. There is always a chance for failure... even in my beloved Korean cars.

bobzilla
bobzilla MegaDork
4/10/21 9:35 a.m.

In reply to John Welsh :

in the OP there isn't enough time to drive both ways.

dean1484
dean1484 GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
4/10/21 9:43 a.m.

My 03 GMC Denali has been bullet proof. 350k Miles and the 6.0 and the trans have never been opened. It has been worked hard and put away wet all its life and keeps coming back for more. 

yupididit
yupididit GRM+ Memberand PowerDork
4/10/21 10:54 a.m.

Find a 2007-2009 6.2 Escalade/Yukon Denali. No DOD comfy

John Welsh
John Welsh Mod Squad
4/10/21 12:05 p.m.
bobzilla said:

In reply to John Welsh :

in the OP there isn't enough time to drive both ways.

In my dream plan, Nissan drops/delivers the Pathfinder to California then Nissan retrieves the car in Florida

A 401 CJ
A 401 CJ GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
4/10/21 3:38 p.m.

I've put thousands of miles on both Tahoe and Suburbans as rentals.  All have had the DOD.  Recently I got a Burb with a trailer hitch installed.  That's rare for a rental.  I noticed that it moved out a lot better than the others I'd had and that didn't make a lot of sense since being a Burb it should have been incrementally heavier that a Hoe.  So I looked under the hood thinking it must be a 6.0 or something bigger.  Nope.  Still just a 5.3 according to the decal on the air filter box.  They must have lower gearing on the trailer package or something because it did accelerate better but was also thirstier than others.  I only averaged a hair over 20.  

dxman92
dxman92 Dork
4/10/21 11:47 p.m.

PPV Tahoe gets my vote.

Ranger50
Ranger50 UltimaDork
4/11/21 3:55 a.m.

07-09, just no. Those are the bankruptcy years where they didn't give a E36 M3. They are horrible. Only way I'd buy one is to turn it into a race vehicle. Before or after that timeframe seem to be better.

I have 190k on my dod lifters... of course as soon as I got it, I rewrote the pcm for v8 all the time at 35k.... And now I probably screwed myself saying that....

93gsxturbo
93gsxturbo SuperDork
4/11/21 8:06 a.m.
Tim Suddard said:

In reply to 93gsxturbo :

I can run it on my transporter tag for a few weeks.

Do Florida Transporter plates let you get around the sticky situation of tax/title/license or do you still need to register it in Florida to legally be able to sell it without jumping the title?

The internet didn't really answer the question, transporter tags seem like a pretty cool idea, basically a way to move a vehicle that doesn't have current plates, but they didnt discuss ownership or title situation.  

rustomatic
rustomatic Reader
4/11/21 9:16 a.m.

Try to do the rental somewhere other than CA, like NV.  You will get charged twice as much to rent in CA, so long as you're not bringing the unit back there.  This is of course because CA actually has negative growth (people smartly leaving for like every other state), and the equipment rental places will punish you for depleting their stock.  This has been a thing for a couple of years.

As for the Gen IV LS, the DOD lifters break (they have a really dumb spring setup that literally looks like a ball point pen blew up), and the timing chain tensioners (made of plastic and thin metal) disintegrate; both result in shrapnel that may or may not find its way elsewhere in your engine.  Both problems are easily solved with Gen III cam, LS7 lifters, and an LS2 timing chain guide (not a tensioner).  The 6l90 and 6l80 transmissions are great!

The Sacramento (nearest decent-size city by Stockton) area usually has a pretty good supply of most kinds of vehicles.  Enjoy the adventure!

Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter)
Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter) Dork
4/11/21 10:40 a.m.

There is a little town about 10 miles North of Stockton. You don't want to get stuck there. 
 

 

johndej
johndej Dork
9/22/21 9:50 a.m.

Bumping this back to the top, any love for a 2011 5.3 with towing package? Looking to grab this as a miata hauler and expanding family ride.

https://richmond.craigslist.org/cto/d/glen-allen-2011-chevy-tahoe-great-price/7383823396.html

secretariata (Forum Supporter)
secretariata (Forum Supporter) GRM+ Memberand UltraDork
9/22/21 7:27 p.m.

In reply to johndej :

Looks like a good deal to me with today's market.  If I was looking for a Tahoe, I'd look hard at that one. 

I recently picked up a 2011 Silverado WT 4x4 extended cab with the 5.3 and about 15k fewer miles for $11k all in from govdeals and have been pretty happy with it so far.  I haven't towed with it yet, but it has more pep than my 2005 Tahoe with the 5.3. I did get a tuner and tune out the AFM/DOD as the first thing I did after getting it home.  2nd mod was replacing the basic AM/FM radio with one like the one in that Tahoe.  I need to do fluids, tires, tpms sensors soon.

67LS1
67LS1 Reader
9/22/21 9:06 p.m.

I'm pretty sure there hasn't been "California" emission cars in quite a number of years. The OEM's find it way less expensive to build 50 state cars rather than two different models.

That said, California is cracking down on modified cars so if you find something here that fails California testing it should be fine in other states. You might be able to get a bargain.

Olemiss540
Olemiss540 HalfDork
9/23/21 4:00 p.m.

I have a 2003 Escalade with 170k miles that will go for cheap (5kish). 6.0L gasser, HD Transmission, converted to Z71 Bilstien suspension. Has towed my racecar flawlessly since I purchased it. Dead reliable with the normal minor GM annoyances (sagging sunroof liner, bubles at the back of the running board, etc). 

Hit me up if its something you are looking to do soonish. Get my jeep in 2 weeks and will be putting together the ad then. 

dean1484
dean1484 GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
9/23/21 4:26 p.m.

In reply to Olemiss540 :

Where are you located?

Fueled by Caffeine
Fueled by Caffeine MegaDork
9/23/21 4:30 p.m.

In reply to Olemiss540 :

Extended or short?

Olemiss540
Olemiss540 HalfDork
9/25/21 8:16 a.m.
dean1484 said:

In reply to Olemiss540 :

Where are you located?

Orange Beach, AL

Olemiss540
Olemiss540 HalfDork
9/25/21 8:16 a.m.
Fueled by Caffeine said:

In reply to Olemiss540 :

Extended or short?

Short. 

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