Are all 6.0 GMC Denali's AWD? Longevity of AWD?

[mattt]

I'm at a crossroads with my 04 Tahoe Z71 that will very soon roll over 300k miles on original engine and drivetrain, including trans. I'm looking at replacing the 5.3 with a 6.0, going thru the trans, replacing the front susp and steering to tighten everything up, new shocks, and tracking down the occasional mystery rotational grinding/growling from the rear brakes or axle. There are probably more things I'll need to attend to once I dive into the rebuild/refresh still to be found out. I'm up for the project, but also considering just dumping it and moving to a Denali.

My interest in the Denali is mostly that I'm after the 6.0 for towing purposes. A lot of the things I want to pull into the Tahoe refresh/rebuild are from the Denali, such as 6.0 and trans temp gauge on the cluster.

What is the longevity and mileage hit from your personal experience with the Denali AWD? Is the AWD system going to present problems once it has higher mileage?

Is a transfer case swap to the Denali to convert it from AWD to a selectable 4wd like the Tahoe Z71 has easy enough of a swap? Drop & swamp transfer cases and dash switch? Anyone converted a Denali previously?

Thanks in advance.

 

[iddqd]

AWD in 6.0 Denali is actually the same as in Escalade. It's the simplest and, respectively, the most reliable set up. Only 1 gear, no locks. Also, since the torque is split between front & rear axle at all times, less wear on the rear axle. My transfer case at 164000 miles is doing good. Yes, the chain is probably stretched a bit, but not critical.

I am actually have in mind another idea - when my TC dies, I will install the one from Hummer H2. It's a bolt on solution mechanically, but might need some electrical work, which I am very capable to do. This will give me a low range and a lock.

 

[mattt]

Thank you for the reply. So are all Denali's AWD? If I'm reading your reply correctly, is that saying that there is no Low Range in a Denali either? Even more so then why I'd want to convert away from the AWD system. I understand you are happy with the AWD system of the Denali/Escalade, but the shortcomings would steer me away from it.

I don't know what system GM used on these AWD's but there has to be something in the system like a viscous coupling to account for the difference in wheel speed between the 4 tires, so it does not lock up the transfer case when wheel speed is not exactly the same front to back. In other AWD vehicles that coupling always wears out over time and becomes troublesome in higher mileage situations. Second, an AWD vehicle will have lower MPG than a 2wd(selectable 4wd) due to the drivetrain loss of spinning AWD. With the amount of miles I drive, and the fact that the Tahoe is my "mission mobile," I would want the higher mileage of selectable 4wd over the AWD system. Lastly, AWD vehicles tend to be a little harder on front tires. For all those reasons, if I end up in a Denali I'd be looking at converting it over to selectable 4wd.

Has this type of selectable 4wd conversion been pulled off on a Denali previously? How difficult of a swap is it, if it has?

If you have a Denali, have you had problems with the AWD system that led to costly repairs, and if so, at what mileage?

You mentioned the H2. What type of 4wd system is in that vehicle?

Thanks again.

 

[Big Mama]

Yup Denali = AWD in 07 went to 6.2 I’m only at 130k no problems but I do maintenance

 

[adriver]

Personally, If you're buying the same model its better to keep what you have, and fix the problems unless they are ridiculously not worth it. Even if its lower mileage you never know how its been taken care of or what the problems truly are until you own it for a while. Lower mileage doesn't mean it won't have the exact same problems or even worse than you have now.

If you like it enough that you want to keep it, and are willing to put the money in it, now is the time to improve it a little and make it a little more custom to how YOU want YOUR vehicle. If you really like your suspension you can replace it stock, or you can drop it, raise it, stiffen it up, etc.. all for about the same price. You could find a low mileage 6.0 to put in, you could rebuild your 5.3 and up the power, (or if you were a super genius you could plan for and get a FI setup). You could spend a little more than the stock trans and upgrade that.

The HD cluster with that gauge is $200 always on ebay. Not sure where you are, but I always see those and escalades being parted.



Just to make sure, is there no interest in a 6.0 RWD escalade?

 

[mattt]

I hear what you're saying in that I know the history for the last 5 years on the bird in the hand. I've been having this struggle for a few months now between fixing my known junk or just buying new unknown junk and hope for the best. I haven't had much luck at all finding a low mileage 6.0....yet. But with me being in Socal, the motorhead and custom build center of the USA there is a lot of competition for take out engines.

Adriver, where are you located? Is that Escalade a parts vehicle or a solid replacement vehicle? I'd possibly be interested. Thank you.



Back to the first inquiry.....what is the longevity of the AWD system on a Denali? Are they prone to problems or rock solid?

Has a selectable 4wd conversion been pulled off on a Denali?

 

[adriver]

I don't have a specific one in mind. I am in Phoenix. I see them often enough though.

 

[Big Mama]

Denali AWD is tough to beat. The mileage isn’t great but they can pull like crazy and are hard to get stuck. What year are you looking for? Miles? Price? I’m on the other side of the country but I’ll poke around

 

[mattt]

I don't have a specific one in mind. I am in Phoenix. I see them often enough though.

Ok, I thought you were offering a vehicle you had that I could use for parts on mine.

 

[mattt]

Denali AWD is tough to beat. The mileage isn’t great but they can pull like crazy and are hard to get stuck. What year are you looking for? Miles? Price? I’m on the other side of the country but I’ll poke around

Yeah, I'm sure they're great, but for my amount of driving, I'd prefer to have the selectable 4wd so that 99% of my miles are in 2wd. Thank you.

 

[adventurenali92]

I have not seen anyone convert an AWD Denali to a 4WD system. From what I understand it’s a pretty extensive swap. Plus a lot of module reprogramming as well. Which typically is pretty expensive. With that being said with regular maintenance on the AWD differentials, the AWD system is pretty reliable. Having the diffs serviced at GM’s recommended intervals is what key to trouble free AWD. I’m about due to have mine serviced. But they have not presented any problems in the 4 years I’ve owned my Denali.

 

[petethepug]

http://www.silveradoss.com/forums/topic/75296-awd-to-2wd-easy-beans/


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[mattt]

I have not seen anyone convert an AWD Denali to a 4WD system. From what I understand it’s a pretty extensive swap. Plus a lot of module reprogramming as well. Which typically is pretty expensive. With that being said with regular maintenance on the AWD differentials, the AWD system is pretty reliable. Having the diffs serviced at GM’s recommended intervals is what key to trouble free AWD. I’m about due to have mine serviced. But they have not presented any problems in the 4 years I’ve owned my Denali.

How many miles are on yours thus far? Do you have low range 4wd/awd? If there is no low range, that is reason enough that I'd want to convert, but also the mileage improvement not being in awd all the time is a better choice for me. Thanks.

 

[mattt]

http://www.silveradoss.com/forums/topic/75296-awd-to-2wd-easy-beans/


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks for the link. It looks like there might be another thread with more of the mechanics of it all. The thread you put up just mentioned that it is possible.

Here is why I asked the question in the first place...... ""I see that many of you ask the question about converting to 2WD, as well as the dreaded frequent front axle failure,..........""

I knew that I had heard and read of front awd failures as the system isn't robust for long term usage.


Thanks again.

 

[adventurenali92]

How many miles are on yours thus far? Do you have low range 4wd/awd? If there is no low range, that is reason enough that I'd want to convert, but also the mileage improvement not being in awd all the time is a better choice for me. Thanks.

AWD means there’s no 4HI and 4LO ranges. I have 122k in the clock on my 2006. In all the research I did, non AWD Yukons were only like 1mpg better on fuel economy than the AWD trucks. Not really a big difference there.

 

[bldn10]

The only GMT800 w/ the 6.0, 3:73 rear end, and RWD is the Escalade. Most were AWD but you can find one, as I did. I just bought a 1-owner '06 w/ 73,000 miles!

 

[latvius]

I have a 2005 Tahoe 4WD and a 2005 Denali AWD, the Denali gets about 1 MPH worse gas mileage but also has way more getup and go. So not much diff in gas FYI. The only bad thing I would say about AWD is it eats up tires a lot faster than 4WD.

 

[adriver]

I'm at a crossroads with my 04 Tahoe Z71 that will very soon roll over 300k miles on original engine and drivetrain, including trans. I'm looking at replacing the 5.3 with a 6.0, going thru the trans, replacing the front susp and steering to tighten everything up, new shocks, and tracking down the occasional mystery rotational grinding/growling from the rear brakes or axle. There are probably more things I'll need to attend to once I dive into the rebuild/refresh still to be found out. I'm up for the project, but also considering just dumping it and moving to a Denali.

My interest in the Denali is mostly that I'm after the 6.0 for towing purposes. A lot of the things I want to pull into the Tahoe refresh/rebuild are from the Denali, such as 6.0 and trans temp gauge on the cluster.

What is the longevity and mileage hit from your personal experience with the Denali AWD? Is the AWD system going to present problems once it has higher mileage?

Is a transfer case swap to the Denali to convert it from AWD to a selectable 4wd like the Tahoe Z71 has easy enough of a swap? Drop & swamp transfer cases and dash switch? Anyone converted a Denali previously?

Thanks in advance.

https://www.gmfullsize.com/threads/convert-awd-yukon-to-4wd.245870/

Post #11

 

[Musicars]

I would think the simplest way to get the 6.0L and avoid the AWD would be to get 2500 series with 4WD. The only drawback might be the stiffer suspension as I think the 3/4 tons have leaf springs in the rear. Denalis (at least my '06) have 3:73 gears and I would think you could get those in a 3/4 ton also.

Regarding the AWD front diff: My '06 Denali has around 180,000 miles on it. I can see that the front diff has been replaced on it before as it is painted silver and the dates codes on the case are from around '03. It whines a bit now. I did a fluid change when I replaced an axle seal and it was pretty dirty with a bit of metal shaving on the plug. I picked up a used "back up" diff from an '06 with 90,000 miles. The fluid in that was also a bit dirty with some fine shavings on the plug but not too bad I doubt it was ever changed. From what I have researched, these can start having issues around 100,000 to 125,000 if you do not do regular fluid changes. I have heard of these going well over 200,000 if the fluid gets changed. Some have claimed over 300,000. Rebuilding them is not too tough or excessively expensive. They are also relatively easy to get out and install. I also believe there are a couple of upgrades that cam be done during a rebuild.

 

[mattt]

Thank you for all the great posts today. Very informative!