Poor mans hummer gmt800 2500 yukon xl

Panthers64

Member
Well its about time i started a build thread. I have been a lurker here for 5 or so years now. A little background about 2 years ago out of necessity i bought a 2000 tahoe it was 2wd but i had no plans for it other than a commuter.
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This was how i bought it, Then last year at the start quarantine my girlfriend and i decided we would just use what we had and outfit it to explore the best we could it got us to some cool places and made some good memories, it also gave her the itch for camping.
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That brings us to this year as much as i loved this truck i knew it wasnt what i really wanted and i knew the lack of 4wd would hinder us long term so the decision was made to sell it. i was able to get it sold last monday for $3400 with 267k on the clock which was far better than i expected. so then the hunt to find a 4wd gmt800 suburban was on. I reached out to a number of posts via fb marketplace but the trucks were normally either sold or the person selling them were not worth the hassle. Finally friday morning i came across my new truck. It was in south east Missouri about 3 hours away from me here in Memphis so i loaded up and headed out to look. upon arriving the exterior was far worse than described rockers were completely rusted out but that seems to be the extent of the rust damage. the gentleman was asking $3900 i ended up getting it for $3300 200kmiles 6.0L 4L80E 14 BOLT SF AXLE i was stoked on my purchase.

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Panthers64

Member
So on the 300ish mile trip home the truck did fantastic, once i got home tho that camo had to go.
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much better.

so on saturday night i started tire shopping but was quickly realizing with the stock 6.5" wide wheel my safe tire options were limited so i started looking for wheels. a short while later i found some H2 pull offs in nashville and told the guy id be there on sunday.
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drove up yesterday and was extremely impressed by the suburban
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That is about 325 miles into the journey i was not expecting that MPG.
i looked over the H2 wheels and they were great, and were wrapped in 315/70/17 BFG ko2s with about 80% tread on 4 and one was brand new. while the KO2 isnt my favorite tire i could not pass that up so i picked them up for $350.
once i got home i threw them on.
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Overlandtowater

Well-known member
I recognize that Tahoe..... congrats on the 2500 burb! cant paint to see what you do with it....Its funny It came from my area and when I was looking a 2500 burb couldn't be found....
 

Martinjmpr

Wiffleball Batter
Suburban's get surprisingly good MPG when cruising on an interstate or other highway.

It's the stop and go that kills MPG on these heavy beasts. Every time you stop, you have to get 3 tons moving again. I once got 18.5 on my 2004 1500 'Burb, but that was on a long highway trip up to the mountains. In stop-and-go suburban traffic I rarely got better than 13 and 11 - 12 was more common.
 

Martinjmpr

Wiffleball Batter
BTW my only gripe about this is your post title. ;)

IMO the GMT-800 Suburban isn't a "poor man's" anything. It's an outstanding vehicle in almost every way.

If I could have grafted the engine, transmission and axles from my current 2018 F-150 onto a GMT-800 Suburban body it would, IMO, be the perfect vehicle. I LOVE the layout of the GMT 800 Suburban body, since it combines "utility" with passenger comfort. Sadly, GM has decided to emphasize the passenger aspect vs the utility aspect on the newer versions, which made a pickup the only viable option for me. :(
 

Overlandtowater

Well-known member
Suburban's get surprisingly good MPG when cruising on an interstate or other highway.

It's the stop and go that kills MPG on these heavy beasts. Every time you stop, you have to get 3 tons moving again. I once got 18.5 on my 2004 1500 'Burb, but that was on a long highway trip up to the mountains. In stop-and-go suburban traffic I rarely got better than 13 and 11 - 12 was more common.
yes they do on highway stretches of around 65mph my 1500 on 33s can get me 19-21mpg of course I like to hear the pipes so I never get it...
 

Panthers64

Member
I recognize that Tahoe..... congrats on the 2500 burb! cant paint to see what you do with it....Its funny It came from my area and when I was looking a 2500 burb couldn't be found....



thanks @dirtdobberoffroad yea man i was thinking that was your neck of the woods when i went to get it. Picked it up in neelyville. I cant wait for some decent weather to dig into it more, with the rear cab corners/rockers already rusted out i think im going to cut them out the rest of the way and borrow some of your ideas from your rear bumper build.
 

Overlandtowater

Well-known member
thanks @dirtdobberoffroad yea man i was thinking that was your neck of the woods when i went to get it. Picked it up in neelyville. I cant wait for some decent weather to dig into it more, with the rear cab corners/rockers already rusted out i think im going to cut them out the rest of the way and borrow some of your ideas from your rear bumper build.


Dang, I knew I seen that burb before, the passenger side lower rear quarter is gone...I thought if someone needs to do the same chop I did.……….., it was sitting across from the truck repair shop, I almost stopped in a few weeks ago before the snow..Neelyville is one town I take care of in my service area. The guy drove it a while and never put it out by the road for sale or I would have stopped.
 

Panthers64

Member
Dang, I knew I seen that burb before, the passenger side lower rear quarter is gone...I thought if someone needs to do the same chop I did.……….., it was sitting across from the truck repair shop, I almost stopped in a few weeks ago before the snow..Neelyville is one town I take care of in my service area. The guy drove it a while and never put it out by the road for sale or I would have stopped.

small world man. Yea i was supposed to look at a 05 1500 w/ low miles the night before but the guy got hung up at work, so when i saw this on friday i hopped right in the car and headed out.
 

Jacobm

Active member
I'll be following this. I'm considering a set of H2 wheels once my current tires wear out, but that's going to be a while. I do love me a 3/4 ton Suburban. Luckily here in Southern Idaho nothing seems to rust. There's a couple spots where the paint was rubbed through on mine, and they're just as shiny as they've always been. ?
 

Panthers64

Member
I'll be following this. I'm considering a set of H2 wheels once my current tires wear out, but that's going to be a while. I do love me a 3/4 ton Suburban. Luckily here in Southern Idaho nothing seems to rust. There's a couple spots where the paint was rubbed through on mine, and they're just as shiny as they've always been. ?

yea from what ive found paperwork wise in the truck it looks like it spent a good bit of time in iowa, hopefully once i get all the rust sorted out i should be good as we dont really have the rusting issues too bad here in tennessee.
 

CrazyDrei

Space Monkey
Nice job finding a GMT800 2500 for a reasonable price, so many people are asking double that. H2 rims look fantastic. If you drop down below 65mph you should be able to get 600-650 miles on a tank!
 

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