New 2005 Yukon XL 2500 SLT 8.1 Owner - Colorado

[SSandfish]

Hi all,

New to "this" forum, but a member of others.

So glad to be here! I have been a member of other forums and they are amazing sources of information and friendships. Currently a member of the S10 forum with a 2003 Blazer Xtreme LS3 swap project.

Summary: I had a 20 year old Titan and I needed to either dump $3k into it (worth $6k) or get something else. There was NO WAY I was going to buy a new truck - I could not bring myself to buy a newer model POJ rig! My wife drove a 2003 Suburban 1500 LT to 300k and the new owner sent me a photo of the odometer at 350k! So... I started looking for a GMT800 Yukon XL or Suburban. I wanted a "Mobile Tent" as I do a lot of Fly fishing and wanted some comfort.

It took about 6 months and I finally found the one! I grabbed an amazing shape 2005 Yukon XL 2500 from a great guy in NC last December. 8.1, SLT, Auto-ride, fully loaded @ 136k miles! I flew from Colorado Springs to Raleigh, NC. The owner actually towed it to me at the hotel that I stayed at! We met up, went and had breakfast and made the deal!

Then, I jumped into it for the drive 1600 miles home! 13.3 mpg as expected!

Since then...
- Upgraded full sound system. Pioneer HU, All Infinity speakers, custom subwoofer box w/ Pioneer 12" sub and amp. Used factory Bose amp and SW. Does great!
- Replaced lower seat covers, cushions and heaters with parts from the Seatshop.com. Amazing quality!
- De-chromed the sides, added the running boards, roof rack, awning.
- Installed Magnaflow muffler for a little sound and better flow. Definitely made a difference in low end power and sounds great! Not loud. Good rumble.
- New headlight and taillights and all LED bulbs. HUGE upgrade from stock lights!
- Running boards, Roof rack and awning.

I COULD NOT BE HAPPIER!

Glad to be part of this forum! Looking forward to learning a lot about these rigs!

This is how the seller brought it to me at the hotel! So cool (even with a Ford pulling it!)!

Thanks,
Tim

On the trip from NC to Colorado Springs - last fuel stop.

View attachment 468830

I added the steps so the wife and granddaughter could get in.

This is now...

Pikes Peak in the background looking all "America-like"!

 

[tuckerrnr1]

Welcome from Florida. What an amazing find.

 

[Miami-Dade]

Welcome from hot humid Miami&Queens NY!

You were Blessed to find that 2500 XL Yukon!

 

[Fless]

Welcome from suburban Denver! (Don't hold that against me, please...)

 

[SSandfish]

Thanks for the comments. I agree! I searched for about 6 months before I found this. It was a "meant to be" scenario.

Is in overall excellent shape. Zero rust. Fully undercoated. Runs perfectly!

Had some standard seat wear. I am VERY happy with the Seatshop seat bottoms and cushions. Seat backs were good. Just did a good clean on them.

Pioneer shallow 12" sub. I needed to fill this spot! Full system is upgraded. Sounds great!

 

[JoeBlobs]

She looks so good dude!!! Nice work on the sub!

 

[Tonyrodz]

Very nice find. Im jealous of the 0 rust! Was that a custom made sub box?

 

[West 1]

VERY NICE, what gear ratio does it have? With an 8.1L it probably does not matter. That is a beast of an engine from idle to about 4,800 RPM. Torque monster.

 

[B-train]

Wow! Beautiful truck. That is an out west road trip machine for sure. Respectable mpg as well given feeding 8.1L.

 

[SSandfish]

Very nice find. Im jealous of the 0 rust! Was that a custom made sub box?

Thanks all! Yes. I built the sub box initially to hold a 10" sub, but the 12" fit well. The Pioneer shallow sub does not need much volume and it sounds excellent! The full system is upgraded and I was really surprised on how good it sounds. I added the Pioneer DVD player, kept the Bose amp, replaced all of the Bose speakers (except the sub in the center console) with Infinity and JBL speakers. I have been building systems for years and was truly surprised on how good this sounds. I am an old guy, but have never broken out of my heavy metal loving ways!

VERY NICE, what gear ratio does it have? With an 8.1L it probably does not matter. That is a beast of an engine from idle to about 4,800 RPM. Torque monster.

Thanks! It has the 3:73 rear gears. I am not pulling trailers often, and am happy with the 3:73's. 4:10's would be painful on gas mileage (for what that is worth!).

 

[89Suburban]

@Geotrash

 

[Joseph Garcia]

Welcome to the Forum from NH.

Lots of knowledgeable folks here who freely share their knowledge, experiences, and perspectives. Knowledge is power.

I hope that you will become a participating member in the Forum's discussions.

Beautiful find!! And, nice mod work, so far.

And, you placed the sub box between the 2nd row seats, just like I did.

 

[SSandfish]

Welcome to the Forum from NH.

Lots of knowledgeable folks here who freely share their knowledge, experiences, and perspectives. Knowledge is power.

I hope that you will become a participating member in the Forum's discussions.

Beautiful find!! And, nice mod work, so far.

And, you placed the sub box between the 2nd row seats, just like I did.

Thank you! These forums are great with a lot of great knowledge to be shared. I am part of the S10 Forum with an LS3 swapped 2003 Blazer Xtreme and the forum has been a huge help through the build process.

Very nice setup in your Yukon! Love that Whipple Whine!

 

[mountie]

I was also lucky finding my 2005 Yukon XL SLT……. Clean as hell……. Been perfect since I got it 6 years ago..
But YOU found a killer version !! Nice !!

Welcome from West Palm Beach , Florida.

 

[EvergreenZ71]

Welcome!

Good find on a great combination of year & engine. I was considering that also when I bought my 2010 Suburban 2500 and it was really an issue of what I bought was found before seeing a good 06/05.

 

[Geotrash]

Hi all,

New to "this" forum, but a member of others.

So glad to be here! I have been a member of other forums and they are amazing sources of information and friendships. Currently a member of the S10 forum with a 2003 Blazer Xtreme LS3 swap project.

Summary: I had a 20 year old Titan and I needed to either dump $3k into it (worth $6k) or get something else. There was NO WAY I was going to buy a new truck - I could not bring myself to buy a newer model POJ rig! My wife drove a 2003 Suburban 1500 LT to 300k and the new owner sent me a photo of the odometer at 350k! So... I started looking for a GMT800 Yukon XL or Suburban. I wanted a "Mobile Tent" as I do a lot of Fly fishing and wanted some comfort.

It took about 6 months and I finally found the one! I grabbed an amazing shape 2005 Yukon XL 2500 from a great guy in NC last December. 8.1, SLT, Auto-ride, fully loaded @ 136k miles! I flew from Colorado Springs to Raleigh, NC. The owner actually towed it to me at the hotel that I stayed at! We met up, went and had breakfast and made the deal!

Then, I jumped into it for the drive 1600 miles home! 13.3 mpg as expected!

Since then...
- Upgraded full sound system. Pioneer HU, All Infinity speakers, custom subwoofer box w/ Pioneer 12" sub and amp. Used factory Bose amp and SW. Does great!
- Replaced lower seat covers, cushions and heaters with parts from the Seatshop.com. Amazing quality!
- Installed Magnaflow muffler for a little sound and better flow. Definitely made a difference in low end power and sounds great! Not loud. Good rumble.
- New headlight and taillights and all LED bulbs. HUGE upgrade from stock lights!
- Running boards, Roof rack and awning.

I COULD NOT BE HAPPIER!

Glad to be part of this forum! Looking forward to learning a lot about these rigs!

This is how the seller brought it to me at the hotel! So cool (even with a Ford pulling it!)!

View attachment 468671

Then I got it home. Too much chrome!
View attachment 468673

This is now...
View attachment 468674

View attachment 468675

Welcome to the 8-lug club! That's a beautiful, rust-free unicorn with that 8.1. That's the closest thing to an 'heirloom-quality' vehicle made in the last 50 years.

One thing worth doing immediately is to change the plastic coolant tees at the firewall if they haven't been done recently. And might as well do a full coolant hose replacement at the same time.

A few of us on here have 2016-2018 Suburban 3500 HD's. They all came with the bulletproof, iron block 6.0L L96. Here's ours:

 

[Bigburb3500]

Great truck! I had an 01 that was no where near as clean and had the 6.0. It was a great truck. The plastic coolant lines are terrible if they break! Highly recommend replacing. I got PTSD when I read the comment hahaha

Like Geotrash, I’ve got a 1-ton Sub like him except it’s white.

 

[SSandfish]

Welcome to the 8-lug club! That's a beautiful, rust-free unicorn with that 8.1. That's the closest thing to an 'heirloom-quality' vehicle made in the last 50 years.

One thing worth doing immediately is to change the plastic coolant tees at the firewall if they haven't been done recently. And might as well do a full coolant hose replacement at the same time.

A few of us on here have 2016-2018 Suburban 3500 HD's. They all came with the bulletproof, iron block 6.0L L96. Here's ours:

Great truck! I had an 01 that was no where near as clean and had the 6.0. It was a great truck. The plastic coolant lines are terrible if they break! Highly recommend replacing. I got PTSD when I read the comment hahaha

Like Geotrash, I’ve got a 1-ton Sub like him except it’s white.

Thank you! Glad to be here! Sweet 3500!

100% agree on the coolness and rarity of this rig! It was really a fluke how I came across it. Was searching nationwide for one for a long time and this one popped up. Was very lucky to find it! Kind of a crazy story - will detail it one of these days.

My wife had a 2003 1500 Suburban LT that (5.3) hauled the kids around for many years. We sold it at 300k miles after nothing but standard maintenance and the new owner sent me a pic of the odometer at 350k! This is the main reason that I chose another GMT800.

I just checked and I do still have the OE Black plastic bulkhead fittings! Off to Rockauto I go! If I am gonna drain the system, I am going to replace all soft lines at the same time. Man - that lower radiator hose is $100!

 

[tooleyondeck]

Welcome from FL! Excellent find, and I thought I was lucky when I found my GMT800 6.0 lol

A leveling kit and some AT4 HD wheels should be in your future!

 

[BlackBearPerf]

Welcome from Idaho! Congrats on the Yukon. She looks great!!