New / Old Tow Vehicle

[HAARubicon]

We are very excited to share with fellow forum participants our New/Old Tow vehicle.

A little background, Were are a family of five with 2 dogs so our tow vehicle is ideally a large SUV. For the past 12 years we have owned and currently own 3 Suburban 2500's, 3/4 ton with rear leaf springs. The first 2 pulled great but this last one has really been terrible. It is a 2005 4wd 2500 with 6.0. We have since found out it was special ordered by the previous owner with 3.73 gears in lieu of the standard 4.10 gears which was the culprit. We have had it since 2007 and love everything about it except the poor towing.

So after getting the new 318 we decided to do something about it.

Option 1 - Replace it with a good used 4 door truck with a Diesel. Expensive and the family will be cramped.

Option 2 - Buy a newer 3/4 ton Suburban with the 6 speed automatic and 4.10 gears. Really, Really expensive and will still get really bad milage.

Option 3 - Take our very nice, clean, paid for, fully loaded 2005 and put in a Duramax Diesel, 6 Speed Allison Transmision and 11.5 HD rear axel.
Resonable price point, great towing and greatly improved fuel milage.

Option 3 won Hands down.

The results are shown in the pictures, The suburban before the drive train swap. The 318bhs that needs towing. And the "superburb" after the swap.

Wow what a difference, it pulles fantastic, you Diesel truck guys have been living the good life.

This may not be the solution for everyone but, it worked out great for us.

[ironj]

honestly, with a family that big, i think you found the ideal solution! That trailer is big, and towing it with a diesel will make your travels SOOO much more enjoyable! It doesnt look any different either!

Good choice and rational and NICE trailer (although im a little biased) ...haha...

ENJOY THE DIESEL DARKSIDE!! you will never go back!

[latner]

If you don't mind, what was the "reasonable price point"?

[HAARubicon]

The actual cost of the work was $11,950.00, minus $1000 from selling the old drive train for a total of $10,950.00. That included the cost of the 2007 wrecked donor truck with 57k miles and the labor.

I had additional shipping charges and costs associated with my build that equaled $1500.00 because the builder was 1600 miles away.

A good used truck of similar year with 57k miles and a diesel is still a $24,000.00 truck.

A newer Suburban with the 6 speed, forget about it, $55,000 new, $40,000 used.

[HAARubicon]

ironj,
I noticed in your profile you are from Lubbock. One of the guys who inspired me to do this is from Lubbock and built his in his garage. Really a great guy and fellow RV'r. He chronicled his build on Diesel Place in the Frankenstein section.

[foxhead]

I love it!! One day, I will get to do that with the wife's burb... One day...

How long did the swap take you? You do it yourself?\

Thanks!
John

[HAARubicon]

Originally Posted by foxhead

I love it!! One day, I will get to do that with the wife's burb... One day...

How long did the swap take you? You do it yourself?\

Thanks!
John

It took about three weeks, but it took a year to get here. I just didnt have time to do it myself and this guy had done alot of them.

[foxhead]

Originally Posted by HAARubicon

It took about three weeks, but it took a year to get here. I just didnt have time to do it myself and this guy had done alot of them.

This guy that you had do it..... left or right coast of the US?

Thanks!
John

[HAARubicon]

There is a guy in Florida and a guy in California and I am sure there are others. I went with the guy in California because I liked him and he found a great donor truck.

[Glenn5995]

Very impressive! As long as the conversion was well done and it proves to be dependable, I believe you made a wise choice. However, I have to ask why you did not at least have an option 4 to consider? You attribute the poor performance to the gearing. It would seem one consideration would have been swapping to 4.10s or 4.56s. Just wondering.

It looks good. I hope it serves you well for many years.

[HAARubicon]

Originally Posted by Glenn5995

Very impressive! As long as the conversion was well done and it proves to be dependable, I believe you made a wise choice. However, I have to ask why you did not at least have an option 4 to consider? You attribute the poor performance to the gearing. It would seem one consideration would have been swapping to 4.10s or 4.56s. Just wondering.

It looks good. I hope it serves you well for many years.

Thanks,

The history of these conversions has shown that the dependability is a direct corelation to the donor truck not the act of the conversion itself. It amazed me how easily integrated the diesel system was. If fact they refer to it as an integration, not a conversion.

Gearing was not an option for us because it is our daily driver. Lower gears would have reduced already poor mpg numbers. Also, we effectively reduced the milage of the vehicle by 83k miles taking this route, regearing would have still left us with 140k mile truck, over all dependability and life expectancy was a major factor as well.

[RattVader]

Yep,once ya get addicted to Diesel,you'll never go back!!!