So I drive home yesterday and find a 25 foot tritoon in my yard. Wifey bought it for family time at the lake.This is not a problem, towing it is. Currently have a 03 Honda Pilot that I will not be towing with, plan is to sell it and buy something under 6k To replace it with. Must seat 6 and have space for gear. We don't drive the Pilot often as it is so not worried about gas mileage much. Best thing I can come up with is a suburban, what else is there ? What years should I look for ? Thanks !
Highly suggest stepping up to the burb/yuk 2500. 4l80/4l85 transmission, 14 bolt rear, bigger brakes, available 8.1L big block. Usually not much more expensive than a 1500. Should be able to find a GMT800 series near 6k.
We have a 1999 K2500 Suburban and it's great.
Cheap to fix and tows well.
You could get the 6.5 Diesel in them but you're better off with the Vortec 454. Don't bother with a small block gas.
Around here, the 3/4-ton, big block Suburban is the redneck hope diamond. They're almost as hard to find as an Excursion.
2001 or newer. 6.0 is fine and drinks less than the 8.1. Look for one without much rust, that generation is pretty bad for rust. It's worth a fly-n-drive to get a clean one.
Seems 2500 series are hard to find...is that the only way to get a 4l80 ? The red neck jack um up tax is worse than the import tax !
Some of us have wives who just buy shoes. No one seems to have noticed that you have a wife who buys boats. 
scottdownsouth wrote: Seems 2500 series are hard to find...is that the only way to get a 4l80 ? The red neck jack um up tax is worse than the import tax !
Yes. The transmission is most of the reason I only shopped for 2500 models when I bought mine some 5 years ago. It has been fantastic and mostly trouble free. Mine also has Quadrasteer, which is amazing. There are few automotive tools better than a heavy duty Suburban.
I have had my 04 1500 2wd for 5 plus years, and love it still. I have been recently thinking about replacing it as it is getting up there in miles. However, I can't seem to figure out another vehicle that is so versatile. I want a full sized 98-00 Mitsubishi Montero, but they aren't as good at doing a lot of the things the Suburban does. The Suburbans are far from perfect vehicles as the era of mine suffers from mid-oughts GM build quality, but the drivetrain is pretty bullet-proof. I know everyone is saying 2500, but I feel the 1500 is just fine, and a lot easier to find. Maybe try looking for the GMC Yukon XL as it seems most just search for the Chevy offerings, and the GMC is exactly the same aside from the grille, and headlamp assemblies.
Why 2500 over 1500? Our 1500 tows well and can get 18-19 mpg on trips. The 8.1 I'd bet 15 max and all repairs will be more expensive. Plus, the 1500 suburban has the same trans. Just sayin
In reply to Mazdax605:
Our era suburban is probably the best gm ever made. The newer ones with cylinder shut down, are a mess, and the older ones aren't as reliable and dont have the few modern conveniences ours do. We have 4wd and definitely suggest 4wd on these.
1500 has 4l60(5)e
2500 has 4l80e
Most certainly not the same trans. Just sayin...
markwemple wrote: Why 2500 over 1500? Our 1500 tows well and can get 18-19 mpg on trips. The 8.1 I'd bet 15 max and all repairs will be more expensive. Plus, the 1500 suburban has the same trans. Just sayin
Actually the 1500's have the 4L60 vs the 2500's that have the 4L80/4L85. My 8.1L Burban gets maybe 12mpg at best, usually 9-10mpg whether I'm towing or not.
I've owned 3 Burbans, a 97 K1500, a 99 K2500 with 454 and now an 02 K2500 with 8.1L.
I've got a '99 1500 for sale on this site but won't even mention it here... After working on and driving a lot of GMT800s for work, the 6.0/4l80e combo is excellent. Good luck in your purchase.
SVreX wrote: Some of us have wives who just buy shoes. No one seems to have noticed that you have a wife who buys boats.
She ran out of room for her shoes, what else was she supposed to do?
2500 vs 1500.
The 3/4 ton has bigger brakes, more power, a better transmission, full floating rear end, heavier frame.
The truck is heavier so a big trailer is less likely to shove it around.
3/4 tons have a heavier tow rating.
I know this forum loves to tow big stuff with small vehicles but I'm a big fan of the "more is better" when it comes to pulling a trailer.
I like arriving at my destination calm and relaxed. I've towed stupid things with a truck that is too small and I refuse to do it anymore.
In reply to untchabl:
Tahoes have the 60. Suburbans have the 80. That territory has been covered a lot here.
If brakes are an issue, use later model brakes. 17 inch wheels and a couple hundred in parts, done.
markwemple wrote: In reply to untchabl: Tahoes have the 60. Suburbans have the 80. That territory has been covered a lot here.
I think untchabl is right.
The 1500's (4.8 and 5.3 Vortec) have the 4L60's. The 2500's (6.0 and 8.1 Vortec) have the 4L80's. Tahoes have 4L60's because they're all 1500's.
I agree that the 2500 is the better truck, but I also think a 1500 would tow a pontoon just fine. I tow a 23' twintoon with a Trailblazer and it does fine unless there are heavy crosswinds. They're lighter than their size suggests.
But I always go heavier with trucks than I need... mostly because I know I will really need it one day. Sure, you get 3.73s or 4.10s instead of 3.42s, but it doesn't make much difference in MPG. They're more limited by the fact that they weigh 6000 lbs and they are a brick moving through the air than they are by highway RPMs.
I always had 1/2 ton trucks. Up until the 80s, most light trucks used the same brakes and chassis pieces as full size cars, so they were basically a beefed up El Camino. My first 3/4 ton truck went 68k miles before needing brake pads and 140k before needing ball joints. HD parts really make a difference in reliability and service intervals. Its one of the reasons I got an F150-7700 this time: 4R100 trans, 10.25" rear, F250 brakes.
The only downside I ever found to having a 3/4 truck was a mildly stiffer ride.
I also strongly suggest diesel... not for any other reason than reliability, resale, and fuel savings. It has nothing to do with towing a boat, I just like diesel. You could tow that boat with a V6.
A good 6.5TD (hard to find these days) is a paradigm of reliability. So is a Duramax or a 7.3 'stroke (strokes are getting hard to find as well). The 20+ mpg and gobs of torque are just bonuses.
markwemple wrote: Why 2500 over 1500? Our 1500 tows well and can get 18-19 mpg on trips. The 8.1 I'd bet 15 max and all repairs will be more expensive. Plus, the 1500 suburban has the same trans. Just sayin
I too second the 1/2 ton idea.. I've towed all over the country with one hauling a big triple axle trailer without a single issue.. Yes I used a small block because I'm smart enough to realize the speed of acceleration isn't an issue it will go plenty fast enough. It towed through the Rockies fast enough to stay with or ahead of most Semi's. Stopping is a matter of good trailer brakes because the truck brakes alone, 1/2 ton, 3/4 ton, 1 ton etc. won't be enough to stop without good trailer brakes to help.
By the way I haul my 28 foot cabin cruiser around with a 1/2 ton and it weighs 6000+ pounds.
My wife taught me early in our marriage not to be surprised by anything she does. 3 weeks into our marriage she found carpenter ants in the bathroom. She tore down the sheet rock. Every. Single. Peace. As much as I'd like a diesel I'm going to have to say no. We use the Pilot for road trips and will use the 'burb to do the same, just needs to tow the tritoon to the lakes. All of the trucks I've seen so far are on the high end of the milage side. How expensive is rebuiding a 4l60 and what can you do to make them last ?
markwemple wrote: Why 2500 over 1500? Our 1500 tows well and can get 18-19 mpg on trips. The 8.1 I'd bet 15 max and all repairs will be more expensive. Plus, the 1500 suburban has the same trans. Just sayin
The 8.1 is stone simple. It's an LS-ified big block, same coil packs, intake layout, the works, and since they are only used in the really heavy GVWR trucks, they are pretty lax about accessories. The PCV system is a 3/16" (maybe 1/8") hole in the intake manifold exposed to the valley, for instance.
I had to replace a cam in one once in a medium-duty tow truck. (I think it was a 24 foot flatbed) It had a quater million miles on it and you know tow trucks spend a ridiculous amount of time idling while they load and unload their payloads, so that is huge. One of the lifter rollers went square and ate a lobe.
So of course we put something more performance oriented in it because the operator was a hotrodder. Ever see a Topkick do a burnout? 
scottdownsouth wrote: All of the trucks I've seen so far are on the high end of the milage side. How expensive is rebuiding a 4l60 and what can you do to make them last ?
Our shop truck is on the original 4L60 (it's a 4.8) and it's got close to 270k on it. We overload it regularly, it works hard 
The big 4L60 killers I see are towing in overdrive and slamming from Reverse to Low. You CAN tow in overdrive but it doesn't take kindly to being heavily loaded down, and the engines that GM put in front of that trans don't do much lugged down at 2000rpm so you shouldn't bother anyway. Downshift manually before feeding in the fire instead of letting the trans slam down by itself. It should already have an aux cooler in front of the radiator.
Do use the tow/haul mode. It bumps up line pressure and does other things in the interest of transmission preservation. If you get into the PCM to make tuning tweaks, do NOT disable torque management, that should really be labeled "drivetrain preservation".
The BIGGEST 4L60 killer I see is the trans lines either rusting out, or leaking from the crimped section of the hoses. The kind of people who don't check the trans fluid are often the same kind of people who keep driving after the trans starts slipping when the fluid runs low enough to aerate.
Also, change the fluid in the rear diff regularly. It's supposed to be 75W90 synthetic already, but I think GM only really specified that to keep limping the 10-bolt along under increasingly heavy/more powerful vehicles. The 2500 has the 14-bolt, much better-er.
curtis73 wrote: A good 6.5TD (hard to find these days) is a paradigm of reliability. So is a Duramax or a 7.3 'stroke (strokes are getting hard to find as well). The 20+ mpg and gobs of torque are just bonuses.
The Duramax only came in the trucks, not the Suburban. A Silverado 2500HD with a Duramax is a great tow vehicle, but it doesn't seat 6 very well.
You'll need to log in to post.
