intheburbs

This is a perfect example of what I would buy for $10k - sorry for the FB marketplace link 2004, 2500, 8.1, 114k miles, fully optioned-out, $9500 https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1716439075226122/ I bought my 2008 2500 with 106k miles. I drove it to 200k miles over a period of 7 years for a TOTAL of about $300 in repairs, and of course the cost of fluid changes. The 3/4-ton trucks are going to be MUCH more durable than the half-tons. My 2009 Sierra Denali is already a money pit at 130k miles - front diff, suspension, front axle half-shafts, brakes, etc. - I'd be petrified of what it'll be like at 250k.

Well, the front diff is really expensive to replace. It's unique to the Denalis. Ask me how I know, and it happened at a lot less than 250k. At 250k, a lot of other major components are going to need replacing, if not now, soon - suspension, steering, hubs/bearings, etc. A friend's son recently bought a 2011 Suburban with 156k miles for $10k. He's already thrown another $4k in repairs into it, and is still chasing a low oil pressure problem. Lastly, the 6.2 is an aluminum-blocked hot-rod motor, not an HD motor like the cast-iron 6.0 in the 2500 Suburbans. Now is not the time to be buying a used vehicle. But if it was me, given a $10k budget, I'd be looking older with fewer miles, even GMT800, maybe 2004-2006. Just my $.02

My Denali, I do every 50k. Easy to remember. I don't tow with it, but I do drive it kinda hard. Power corrupts. ? My Suburban, if I'm towing with it a lot, I've done it as frequently as every 30k. I basically check the fluid every few fuel fills, letting it drip onto a clean, white piece of paper towel. Still pinkish red, still smells detergenty? GTG Brown and sorta burned smelling? Time to flush. My '01 has 275k hard miles on it, still the original 4L60E, despite blowing up three rear ends because I was towing really heavy stuff. A friend now owns it. The '08 2500 has 205k, all original, and still runs flawlessly. The Denali has 125k, also the original trans, though I just had to replace the front diff.

I do flushes. Have never had transmission issues on 3 trucks, totaling 600,000 miles. It's the only time I bring them to a dealership.

75W-90 synthetic, no modifier needed. The G80 doesn't utilize clutch packs the way a standard limited-slip does. You don't have to worry about clutch chatter.

Well, the front diff in my '09 Sierra Denali ****** the bed earlier this year, just shy of 120k miles. The AWD front diff is MUCH more expensive than a regular 4WD diff. Best I was able to find was a used diff with 70k miles, $1800. Add another $400-$500 for labor if you don't do it yourself. I'm super-****** about changing fluids, the front diff fluid was changed at 100k, by a Chevy Dealer. ETA: Geez, they got the censor dialed up pretty high on this site. Didn't like the "s" word, and even didn't like word that's the first four letters of "analysis."

Bilstein 4600s. Search on any rv-type forum. Hands-down, the best shocks for towing. Made a huge difference on my Suburban 2500.

The weakest link in the half-ton trucks, IMHO, is the rear axle. Weak semifloater, that doesn't handle the combination of speed, weight and heat well. My '01 half-ton Suburban has its original engine and transmission with 275k miles on it, but is wearing rear axle number four - precisely because of towing heavy. That's the main reason I upgraded to the 2500. 7,000 is a lot for a half-ton. I'd look into a rear diff cover, aluminum, with extra cooling fins. Maybe even one that would increase the fluid capacity. And change your fluids more frequently when towing, specifically rear axle and transmission.

Not sure what you're asking. Your truck doesn't have a center differential, so when you're engaged in 4wd it's going to resist tight turns, even on grass or sand. That's normal behavior. With regards to the 2wd light on the switch, perhaps there's a problem with the switch itself?

The only time my two trucks cast a shadow on dealer service bay floors is for a trans flush. I do it on both, religiously, every 50k miles. Suburban just rolled 200k miles, still runs perfectly and is all-original.

I hate to be Captain Obvious, but do you have fresh batteries in the fobs?

Well, I did the TP2 dual battery install in both of my trucks. I used factory GM parts, so everything works as if the TP2 option was checked when the vehicles were built. If you trace the wires from the positive cables of both batteries, you should see that they eventually are joined by the bus bar on the mega fuse holder on the passenger side of the firewall. Now, if you have a fuse in location 68/stud 1 in the underhood load center, that fuse basically parallels the batteries to power the trailer plug. So that fuse needs to be pulled to truly isolate the batteries when the ignition is off. Not sure if that's changed from on the K2XX platform. Here's where the two batteries are electrically connected at the mega fuse holder:

My L9H non-AFM Sierra slaps pretty good when it's cold. It's bad enough that my 17 year-old daughter noticed in when she drove away one morning without letting it warm up. She calls me up and says, "I think something's wrong with the truck. It sounds like a diesel." I then proceeded to explain piston slap and tolerances. It has 70k miles, does not use one drop of oil between changes, and quiets down after a few minutes. Remote start is great because we just start it five minutes (or more) before we plan to leave. I'm not worried about it. That truck and engine will probably outlive me.

I don't see how the truck would rack up miles when being towed behind an RV. Ignition off, computer off, no miles registered. Regarding shifting the transfer case into neutral - this is from the 01 Tahoe/Suburban manual: To shift the transfer case to NEUTRAL, first make sure the vehicle is parked so that it will not roll: 1. Set the parking brake. 2. Start the vehicle or turn the ignition to RUN. 3. Connect the vehicle to the towing vehicle. 4. Put the transmission in NEUTRAL (N). 5. Shift the transfer case to 2HI. 6. Simultaneously press and hold the 2HI and 4LO buttons for 10 seconds. The red NEUTRAL light will come on when the transfer case shift to NEUTRAL is complete. 7. Shift the transmission to REVERSE ® for one second, then shift the transmission to DRIVE (D) for one second. 8. Turn the ignition to OFF. 9. Place the transmission shift lever in PARK (P). 10. Release the parking brake prior to towing.