Just joined from Vermont

[DollyTheDenali]

Hello Everyone! I just purchased a 2010 Yukon Denali and it is my first of these vehicles (Tahoe, Suburban, Yukon). It has 162,*** miles and seems to run pretty well thus far. I just towed my race car about 320 miles last weekend and it hauled it like a champ. I purchased it because it has AWD and can tow 8000 lbs. I was planning to buy a truck to replace my current truck, but then this came up for sale in the area and looked pretty clean, and had the 4WD/AWD and towing capacity that I needed. It has a few issues that I'd like to start taking care of - Check engine light on for O2 Sensor codes, AC doesn't work, drivers seat bottom is worn - easyish stuff to take care of.

I changed the oil/filter, front and rear differential fluid, transfer case fluid, and have the stuff for the transmission (fluid/filter and new gasket) I'm just putting it off since it looks not fun.

I have a couple questions off the bat - I purchased an extra set of wheels and tires to keep the winter tires it came with for the winter. The summer wheels are from a 2015 Suburban. Will the 2015 tire pressure sensors work with the 2010, if I get them reprogrammed?
What are some common issues that I should keep an eye out for?
Does anyone else haul cars with these? Do you use "helper springs" to level out the rear?

Thanks in advance and for the great information I've already found on the forums. This place seems pretty well packed with knowledge.

-Matt

 

[OR VietVet]

Welcome to the forum from Oregon.

 

[RAMurphy]

Welcome to this great forum.

 

[Miami-Dade]

Welcome from Miami&NYC!

 

[Miami-Dade]

@DollyTheDenali Moved you here from intro section.

 

[wjburken]

Welcome to the forum from Iowa.

As for the tire pressure sensors, I am thinking they changed the frequency of the sensors between 2014 and 2015.

For helper springs, I would get a good WDH and make sure your AutoLevel system is functional meaning the air compressor is working and the rear air shocks are in good condition. That is if the previous owner didn’t scrap that system.

 

[97YukonNZ]

Welcome to the Forum from New Zealand

 

[adventurenali92]

Welcome from Southern California! Funny enough I have tons of family in your neck of the woods. Was just there a couple of weeks ago for a family funeral. Thankfully it wasn’t cold when I was there cuz Vermont is some gnarly cold stuff during the winter haha.

As far as towing goes I would definitely make sure that the air assisted rear suspension parts are in working order. At the age and mileage your truck has it may be time for a refresh. If you’re going to be towing I’d highly recommend replacing the air assist rear shocks and compressor. That auto leveling air assisted shock setup in the back end is awesome for towing. There are many threads in the GMT900(2007-2014) subsection of the forum that layout how to replace it all and where to get the parts for the cheapest. Use the search feature in the suspension subforum in the 2007-2014 section and you’ll come up with lots of threads. As far as helper bags there is a lots of good info on that here as well. My 2006 Yukon XL Denali rides on the same rear air assist shocks that you do and I replaced it with the same components. But I also added air springs my into rear coil springs to help keep the truck level and stable while towing a 4300lb sea ray speed boat up and down the mountain roads to the lake here in the ski town I live in and it’s one of the best mods I’ve ever done. They’re from a company called AirLift which makes a wide variety of air springs for different applications. Every air spring brand and model will say that they don’t work with the Z55 autoride suspension equipped GM SUVs but it’s just a disclaimer since in reality your truck has suspenion that does that already. They do in fact work. You will just need to measure the top to bottom length of your rear coil springs when the truck is unloaded and then you can call the company and order an air spring kit based on those measurements. I got lucky and scored mine from a member here a few years back that was selling the ones he’d bought for his truck that’s a year older but basically the same as mine. So it worked out well and I got them cheap. Install is pretty easy and they work tremendously well for what I need to do with my rig.

 

[Hoesgottaeat2]

Welcome from NY!

 

[tuckerrnr1]

Welcome from south Florida.

 

[Fubar0715]

Welcome to the Tribe from Southern New Hampshire!

 

[Geotrash]

Welcome from Richmond and +1 to everyone saying to get the factory air suspension back up and running. Nothing better on the planet for towing with a big SUV than that setup. I have 2 of these rigs with factory rear air bags and tow a 7500 lb camper.

 

[Charlie207]

Where in VT? I'm in NH, a mile from the CT River.

 

[DollyTheDenali]

Thanks for all the welcoming replies

@wjburken Unfortunate to hear the tire pressure sensor frequency changed between 2014 and 2015. I'll just have to deal with the light until I can get some new sensors in there.

I'm not sure which previous owner removed the air assisted suspension, but I have the "service suspension system" message, and it's definitely been replaced with regular shocks. Is that system worth putting back in? What do people usually remove when they change from air assisted to non-air? It sounds like if I get the air assisted leveling system working again, helper springs might not be necessary, is that correct? I'm towing a race car, and I would bet the car/trailer weigh ~4,500 - 5,000 lbs. I towed it about 300 mi last weekend and the truck felt great plenty of power and brakes were strong, but she was sagging a little in the back. That's what made me think helper springs, but I was unaware of the air assisted self-leveling system that was OEM. I'll start searching around and see what I can find in the suspension subforum.

I'm located in Barre, VT which is "central" Vermont, and yes it gets freaking COLD up here, or at least it used to... The last few winters have been weirdly warm

Thanks again for this wealth of knowledge everyone. It's nice to have some positive welcoming vibes on the internet.

 

[adventurenali92]

Thanks for all the welcoming replies

@wjburken Unfortunate to hear the tire pressure sensor frequency changed between 2014 and 2015. I'll just have to deal with the light until I can get some new sensors in there.

I'm not sure which previous owner removed the air assisted suspension, but I have the "service suspension system" message, and it's definitely been replaced with regular shocks. Is that system worth putting back in? What do people usually remove when they change from air assisted to non-air? It sounds like if I get the air assisted leveling system working again, helper springs might not be necessary, is that correct? I'm towing a race car, and I would bet the car/trailer weigh ~4,500 - 5,000 lbs. I towed it about 300 mi last weekend and the truck felt great plenty of power and brakes were strong, but she was sagging a little in the back. That's what made me think helper springs, but I was unaware of the air assisted self-leveling system that was OEM. I'll start searching around and see what I can find in the suspension subforum.

I'm located in Barre, VT which is "central" Vermont, and yes it gets freaking COLD up here, or at least it used to... The last few winters have been weirdly warm

Thanks again for this wealth of knowledge everyone. It's nice to have some positive welcoming vibes on the internet.

My grandparents lived in Waterbury up until just a few years ago. My Grammy was in an assisted living facility in barre. Know the whole area quite well. It’s gorgeous for sure.

 

[kk1lron]

Thanks for all the welcoming replies

@wjburken Unfortunate to hear the tire pressure sensor frequency changed between 2014 and 2015. I'll just have to deal with the light until I can get some new sensors in there.

I'm not sure which previous owner removed the air assisted suspension, but I have the "service suspension system" message, and it's definitely been replaced with regular shocks. Is that system worth putting back in? What do people usually remove when they change from air assisted to non-air? It sounds like if I get the air assisted leveling system working again, helper springs might not be necessary, is that correct? I'm towing a race car, and I would bet the car/trailer weigh ~4,500 - 5,000 lbs. I towed it about 300 mi last weekend and the truck felt great plenty of power and brakes were strong, but she was sagging a little in the back. That's what made me think helper springs, but I was unaware of the air assisted self-leveling system that was OEM. I'll start searching around and see what I can find in the suspension subforum.

I'm located in Barre, VT which is "central" Vermont, and yes it gets freaking COLD up here, or at least it used to... The last few winters have been weirdly warm

Thanks again for this wealth of knowledge everyone. It's nice to have some positive welcoming vibes on the internet.

Welcome from Jericho, VT.

 

[DollyTheDenali]

Here’s a couple of pics of Dolly for everyone that likes photos (She’s a little dirty right now)