ins and outs of the Suburban 2500, what to look for?

jeep-N-montero · Nov 8, 2016

Due to the baby and needing a tow rig with 4 doors for towing the boat I am looking at replacing our extra cab Silverado 2500 6.5TD with a Suburban 2500. I really prefer to have the rear barn doors, but it seems that ended in 1999 so I would be limited to the 7.4 or 6.5TD, seems the ideal engine though for a good balance of power and mpg is the 6.0 in the next body style without barn doors. Is one year of the 6.0 any better than other years? Couldn't find many cases of engine failure with the 6.0, but seems the push button 4wd wasn't the best design.

TurboMinivan · Nov 8, 2016

You're shopping for a Suburban 2500 to use as a tow rig and you want to know what to look for? That's easy. Look for a GMT800 with the a big block Vortec 8100 under the hood.

jeep-N-montero said:
I really prefer to have the rear barn doors, but it seems that ended in 1999

I'm pretty sure I've seen a number of GMT800 Suburbans with barn doors. Mine doesn't have them, but I'm happier with the hatch since it offers some protection from rain while I'm hooking up my trailer and/or strapping a vehicle to it.

jeep-N-montero said:
seems the ideal engine though for a good balance of power and mpg is the 6.0 in the next body style

Fuel economy with the 6.0L will be better than the big block when you aren't towing anything. Once you hang 6,000 pounds off the back bumper, both engines will get the same fuel economy... but one will handle the load a lot easier than the other. I have been so pleased with my Suburban's towing performance, if it were to die a sudden death I would run right out and buy another one.

[/shameless plug]

clfrnacwby · Nov 9, 2016

https://www.ksl.com/auto/listing/3277779

Very rare 8.1 Liter over 500 HP!

TurboMinivan · Nov 9, 2016

clfrnacwby said:
https://www.ksl.com/auto/listing/3277779

The seller may be way off in his claim, but that Suburban is potentially really solid. It started out as a lease in the LA valley, then lived in the San Francisco valley for a few more years (read: no snow or ice exposure). It then went to Idaho from 2006 to 2011, at which point it moved to Utah. It shows no accidents in its history report, either.

If I were in the market, I'd go look at this one right away.

jeep-N-montero · Nov 9, 2016

Probably sticking with the 6.0, the 8.1 is way overkill for my needs.

mbryson · Nov 9, 2016

clfrnacwby said:
https://www.ksl.com/auto/listing/3277779

I'd LOVE to find a 3500 crew cab longbed with that engine

BCGPER · Nov 10, 2016

jeep-N-montero said:
Probably sticking with the 6.0, the 8.1 is way overkill for my needs.

For what it's worth, I tow my 24' enclosed trailer with a 6.0 with the six speed auto and 4.10 gears. It tows every bit as good as my V-10 Super Duty did. I think the six speed has a lot to do with that.

jeep-N-montero · Nov 10, 2016

BCGPER said:
For what it's worth, I tow my 24' enclosed trailer with a 6.0 with the six speed auto and 4.10 gears. It tows every bit as good as my V-10 Super Duty did. I think the six speed has a lot to do with that.

Trying to spend under $6k, from reading it seems the 09-on models got the 6-speed and are a bit out of my price range but got about 15-20% better economy. This will mainly be used when taking the boat out or going hunting, so not really needing the mpg advantage, in the spring I am buying my wife a new Subaru or CR-V for our main vehicle. The 6.0 with 3.73's and 4-speed auto should get about 9-11 towing and 13-14 when not towing with the cruise set at 70 and 235/55r16 tires.

Johnny Quest · Nov 28, 2016

97 454 2500 suburban here. tows my 20' flatbed loaded with a crawler and a popup no problem. 10-12 mpg. strictly tow pig.

jeep-N-montero · Nov 28, 2016

Johnny Quest said:
97 454 2500 suburban here. tows my 20' flatbed loaded with a crawler and a popup no problem. 10-12 mpg. strictly tow pig.

Considering those as well, reading up on a few guys who are getting 16-17 empty with a tune.

mbryson · Nov 29, 2016

jeep-N-montero said:
Considering those as well, reading up on a few guys who are getting 16-17 empty with a tune.

That sounds like the 25 mpg Cummins. That's a 454. I'd be SHOCKED if that got better than 14 mpg if you were downhill with a tailwind at 55 mph

Johnny Quest · Nov 29, 2016

jeep-N-montero said:
Considering those as well, reading up on a few guys who are getting 16-17 empty with a tune.

yea ive never seen anything near that, even empty. I thought about something a bit newer, but i picked this up for dirt cheap, and only had to put a few hundred into it to get it on the road. its been all over the state and (almost) never gives me issues.

ID Bronco · Nov 29, 2016

I had a 2000 2500 Suburban with a 6.0. I loved that rig! I actually bought half ton much newer to replace it and have always wished I had it back. I'd probably look at an 8.1 if I did it again, the 6.0 got bad mileage anyway, so the extra power would have been FUN, not necessary but fun if I had to fill up all the time anyway.

TurboMinivan · Nov 29, 2016

jeep-N-montero said:
The 6.0 with 3.73's and 4-speed auto should get about 9-11 towing and 13-14 when not towing with the cruise set at 70 and 235/55r16 tires.

For the record, my 8.1 with 4.10s gets those same mileage figures (although my stock tire size is actually 245/75-16).

Gravy · Nov 29, 2016

I had a 6.5 suburban. It was slow..... it had 4.10's and I had to rev the snot out of it to tow at any reasonable speed, but it got decent mileage. I was seeing 660 miles to the tank empty.

jeep-N-montero · Nov 30, 2016

ID Bronco said:
I had a 2000 2500 Suburban with a 6.0. I loved that rig! I actually bought half ton much newer to replace it and have always wished I had it back. I'd probably look at an 8.1 if I did it again, the 6.0 got bad mileage anyway, so the extra power would have been FUN, not necessary but fun if I had to fill up all the time anyway.

When they updated the burb for 2000 did the 2nd row seats fold completely flat so you had cargo space from the front seats to the rear doors like the previous burb had? There is a 2000 6.0 I may go look at this weekend.

jeep-N-montero · Nov 30, 2016

Gravy said:
I had a 6.5 suburban. It was slow..... it had 4.10's and I had to rev the snot out of it to tow at any reasonable speed, but it got decent mileage. I was seeing 660 miles to the tank empty.

I haven't ruled out a 6.5 burb even if they do have a few quirks, but finding a really clean one is difficult versus the number of 454 models I am seeing.

TurboMinivan · Nov 30, 2016

jeep-N-montero said:
When they updated the burb for 2000 did the 2nd row seats fold completely flat so you had cargo space from the front seats to the rear doors like the previous burb had?

Yes, they fold completely flat, creating a totally flat floor in the entire cargo area.

ID Bronco · Nov 30, 2016

jeep-N-montero said:
When they updated the burb for 2000 did the 2nd row seats fold completely flat so you had cargo space from the front seats to the rear doors like the previous burb had? There is a 2000 6.0 I may go look at this weekend.

TurboMinivan said:
Yes, they fold completely flat, creating a totally flat floor in the entire cargo area.

Dempsey is correct. I had the hatch and also preferred it over the barn doors on my 1995 Tahoe. The auto tranny was awesome L480E I believe. Just a solid rig. 12 mph town driving, 16 was the best I ever got in Yellowstone driving 55 mph all day.

kgb · Nov 30, 2016

I have a 99 Burb 2500 with a 454 has the very unusual Choo Choo Custom package. Tow great runs great gets about 10-12 mpg or so. Has barn doors, sun roof, 4 heated captain seats and a very big center console.

ins and outs of the Suburban 2500, what to look for?

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