Best years of Suburban/Yukon XL 2500 4x4

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doc

Odd Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2005
Location
Southmont
I have a buyer for my '01 F-350 7.3 & will be in the market for a used Suburban 2500 4x4...any models to avoid?

The less options the better, not a fruffy-truck guy...gas engine, too.
 
6.0/6L90

Good luck finding a low mileage example, those trucks are all 8 years old now, and fleet average is 25-30k miles per year.

A Border Patrol version might fit the bill.
 
You could find a rare 8.1/4L85e.
I have a 8.1 et it will run circles around the 6.0
 
2013 is the last year of the 2500 burbs

6 speed started in 2007

2005 was the last year the 8.1 was offered

I have a 2013 and love it.
 
Bebop said:
You could find a rare 8.1/4L85e.
I have a 8.1 et it will run circles around the 6.0
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And only burns 1.5 quarts per 3,000 miles
 
shawn said:
Good luck finding a low mileage example, those trucks are all 8 years old now, and fleet average is 25-30k miles per year.
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This is probably the most crushing part of looking for a clean 2500. Not a lot out there under 100k miles. Not a lot of private sales either. A lot are just sitting in small car dealer lots hella over priced. I sort of gave up the search. Only interested if there is something in an hours drive radius....
 
Bebop said:
Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe GM kept making a fleet version of their HD burbs until 2019.
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2013. although the 8.1 was discontinued for the 2007 model year if memory serves me right.

the 8.1 is a monster engine. even my 6.6 in my new 2020 2500 doesn't have that amount of power.

BUT the 8.1 drinks gas like no other.

They did make a 3500 Suburban for special orders . they are extremely rare
 
Bebop said:
Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe GM kept making a fleet version of their HD burbs until 2019.
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It was a 3500 that sold more or less exclusively to the government, mostly for armored conversions. The factory towing capacity is something stupid low... like 2500#.
 
Bebop said:
Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe GM kept making a fleet version of their HD burbs until 2019.
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Gubment only and they even have a 3500 version now, but I have never seen one for sale to the public but I could certainly be missing it
 
DonYukon said:
2013. although the 8.1 was discontinued for the 2007 model year if memory serves me right.

the 8.1 is a monster engine. even my 6.6 in my new 2020 2500 doesn't have that amount of power.

BUT the 8.1 drinks gas like no other.

They did make a 3500 Suburban for special orders . they are extremely rare
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I have seen some 2018 3500 burbs for sale to the public at a local dealer. "Pre-owned with 600mi". Extremely rare occurence though, I agree.

I have a 8.1 and it doesn't make that much power. I'd be curious to try your 2020 for comparison.

Ron said:
And only burns 1.5 quarts per 3,000 miles
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Mine doesn't burn any. I guess I'm lucky.
 
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6.0 6spd will out tow the 8.1/4spd. I’ve had both.
08-13 are by far the best.

this coming from someone who has towed with:
01 6.0 4spd
93 454 4spd
99 454 4 spd
04 8.1 4spd
11 6.0 6spd

very few out there now with low miles for a decent price.
Last year picked up a 11 2500 with 100k miles for my dad for 22k.

torque management and the 4spd kill the benefit of the 8.1. Couple that with tons of stupid electrical gremlins with HVAC stuff/abs/4x4 etc. not the drivetrain but chassis side stuff just make it really hard to justify the older generation chassis with 8.1
 
justjeepin86 said:
Sweet burb....That's a lot of coin, but really doesn't seem too bad.
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Yep, and there are more of them out there. If I were in the market for a 3rd row SUV, a Duraburb would be at the top of my list.
 
I should add, when towing with 8.1/4spd, just hit tow/haul button, and let it eat in 3rd all day. Only ever towed in 4th if trying to do 75 mph +. on bug hills like fancy gap, keep rpms above 3k otherwise, slow and drop a gear.

With the 6.0/6spd, put it in tow/haul, drop it into manual mode on the column and set it to 5th, and let it eat. Again only tow in 6th on flat ground (ie towing a boat to the beach) at 70+). The rest of the time tow in 5th and used the manual up/down arrows for big hills to keep it from shifting all the time and to keep the rpms in the sweet spot. Again try to keep rpms above 3k. Otherwise reduce speed and drop another gear.
Both engines and factory tunes have the sweet spot at 3k-4500 rpms.
I have ran both at 3k rpms all day towing, and both ran on blue bottle rotella oil.

the 8.1 would avg 6-9 mpg towing, 3mpg on the big hills, and 3-5 mpg if towing at 75mph. Best I ever got was 13mpg empty.

The 6.0 avg 9-11 mpg towing the same load, 7/8 mpg on the big hills. 9 mpg @ 75, best empty is 17mpg. Gets 13.5 mpg towing 3500lbs daily.
 
Bebop said:
Mine doesn't burn any. I guess I'm lucky.
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Fyi the 8.1 is designed to consume oil.
It's an intentional design. If it isn't cinumsing a quart every 5k or so, it has an issue....
 
Ron said:
Fyi the 8.1 is designed to consume oil.
It's an intentional design. If it isn't cinumsing a quart every 5k or so, it has an issue....
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I'm not doubting you here, but I'd like to see an official statement on that.
All I could find was a GM bulletin stating an acceptable oil consumption, far from saying that is was designed with that qty in mind,
 
Bebop said:
I'm not doubting you here, but I'd like to see an official statement on that.
All I could find was a GM bulletin stating an acceptable oil consumption, far from saying that is was designed with that qty in mind,
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IIRC from looking into the issue with mine, it had to do with passing the marine dock test for use in medium duty stuff, boats, and stationary gen sets. What I could find is slightly larger valve to guide clearance to keep the valves lubricated during extended wot use.

my 8.1 used 1 qt every 3k miles of normal driving, or 1qt per 1k miles towing 7500 lbs in the hills.
 
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Bebop said:
I'm not doubting you here, but I'd like to see an official statement on that.
All I could find was a GM bulletin stating an acceptable oil consumption, far from saying that is was designed with that qty in mind,
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Here’s what I know ... and sorry I don’t have “documentation”
We had a new 8.1 and it used oil. So much that the bad soul light would come on. I sold it because we paid too much to have to worry about my wife not checking the oil. I thought it was crazy.

Few years later I worked for Cummins in their power generation division. They bought 8.1 long blocks from GM and added their own intake and gas train to them to make NG and/or LP Gensets. They released a tech bulletin to load bank all 8.1 sets for 6 hours at 100% and check the oil befor and after. And if the engine did not consume a “notable and discernible ” amount of oil during the test the engine long block was to be replaced by GM at their cost.
I left CMI in 2013 and they had discontinued using the 8.1 a few years before that so it’s been a minute.
 
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