Suburban LS base model diesel

[olyelr]

MRC alone doesn’t give you ride height adjustability - for that you need MRC plus air ride. That combo is optional on the high country, but MRC alone is standard. If you’ve got them both then the height adjustment is done with the lower half of the drive mode knob. This generation doesn’t have load leveling rear unless you have both MRC and air ride.

Not sure about your leveling question - pure guess is the link extenders would keep the ride quality close to stock. Also might be better for the longevity of the shock than the spacer alone? I’m sure some folks here can give better answers.

I know mrc and air ride are different. She definitely does not have air ride. So you are saying she does have mrc though (it is a high country)?

Her previous denali had sensor rods for the mrc. I had to extend them when i put a leveling kit on. When i look around under her tahoe, i cant find any sensor “rods” to extend…thus why i assumed it didnt have mrc. Maybe i just missed them, or maybe they are reading the suspension differently now…

 

[Bill 1960]

This is true. I went with the 5.3 after 9 years of ownership and 135K trouble free miles in our 2011 so now hoping that desicion doesn't come back to haunt me

I wouldn’t read too much into anecdotal evidence based on social media / enthusiast platforms. I’m doubtful the Duramax represents even 10% of current model year sales. Meanwhile 5.3 has been in LOTS of vehicles for over two decades. Comparing the chatter on Internet forums in this situation is not apples to apples.

I do believe there’s value in scraping the forums for a sense of what’s happening. Just don’t take it to the bank based on that alone.

All that said, if I were buying new tomorrow I’d probably avoid gas GM vehicles until the current storm blows over.

 

[Stbentoak]

I wouldn’t read too much into anecdotal evidence based on social media / enthusiast platforms. I’m doubtful the Duramax represents even 10% of current model year sales.

Why not? It’s the first place complainers come to complain and commiserate together. If you don’t see many complaints then that means there’s not much to complain about ….whether there’s 100 of them out there or 10,000. And in this and other Dmax forums there just aren’t many Show stopping complaints. Plenty in many other Chevy and GMC forums about gas models
I do agree though that they are the very minority of Tahoes and Yukons especially…I’d say most people are like “what can you get me the quickest” and that is V8’s…
Based on what is known about 5.3’s and 6.2’s …would you load your family and take off on a 5k cross country trip?

 

[OR VietVet]

I would go across country in my 05 and will be doing that to Missouri soon. But a new rig, not a chance

 

[Bill 1960]

Why not? It’s the first place complainers come to complain and commiserate together. If you don’t see many complaints then that means there’s not much to complain about ….whether there’s 100 of them out there or 10,000. And in this and other Dmax forums there just aren’t many Show stopping complaints. Plenty in many other Chevy and GMC forums about gas models
I do agree though that they are the very minority of Tahoes and Yukons especially…I’d say most people are like “what can you get me the quickest” and that is V8’s…
Based on what is known about 5.3’s and 6.2’s …would you load your family and take off on a 5k cross country trip?

Read my entire post as carefully as the small portion you excerpted and you’ll have the answer to your question.

You seem to feel I’m knocking the diesel, which I’m not.

Neither am I putting on any rose colored glasses about a new unproven engine, or getting too fired up about GM’s misstep with a long running successful line of engines.

I doubt anyone on this forum has a corner on the future truth five years from now on which choice will have been the better one. I certainly don’t.

 

[NYisles1]

I know mrc and air ride are different. She definitely does not have air ride. So you are saying she does have mrc though (it is a high country)?

Her previous denali had sensor rods for the mrc. I had to extend them when i put a leveling kit on. When i look around under her tahoe, i cant find any sensor “rods” to extend…thus why i assumed it didnt have mrc. Maybe i just missed them, or maybe they are reading the suspension differently now…

Yes, all High Countrys have MRC. Sorry, I don't know anything about the sensor rods!

 

[Tinbadtin]

Thanks for all the inputs guys! So I ended up placing an order for the duramax LS with the front bench.. my thinking is that’s a more rare configuration (plenty of loaded RSTs here) which gives me some time to decide if that will for sure work for me. Also who knows how long not will take with all the supply chain issues. Meanwhile, will be researching things like replacing to auto dim mirrors and upgrading the base sound on the LS.

 

[wsteele]

Why not? It’s the first place complainers come to complain and commiserate together. If you don’t see many complaints then that means there’s not much to complain about ….whether there’s 100 of them out there or 10,000. And in this and other Dmax forums there just aren’t many Show stopping complaints. Plenty in many other Chevy and GMC forums about gas models
I do agree though that they are the very minority of Tahoes and Yukons especially…I’d say most people are like “what can you get me the quickest” and that is V8’s…
Based on what is known about 5.3’s and 6.2’s …would you load your family and take off on a 5k cross country trip?

I just bought a new Sierra 1500 6.2L and will be loading everyone up along with a big old honking trailer. We probably won’t be doing much round trip coast to coast trips, more from a personal durability standpoint than any concern about the reliability of the 6.2L under the hood.

I know when my engine was (outside the bad lifter window) and also am aware that at any point, suppliers can screw up with components being supplied to GM for their engines (gas or diesel), so under no illusion that something else can’t crop up. Anyone with any internal combustion engine (gas or diesel, GM or Toyota, etc.) that believes by the nature of the choice they made in power plant or manufacturer, they are immune to problems down the road, would have to be pretty new to the driving game.

Case in point, my wife’s newish Hylander Hybrid, with just over 11K miles on it, just had her fuel pump replaced. I had to laugh when the dealer said she had too much gas in the tank to replace the pump. I asked him how he expected her to burn it down? After a time, they went ahead and drained the tank and replaced the pump. Such is life with things that have parts spinning around inside.

 

[yukon-xl]

Given that nothing seems to be in stock in current market and it’s impossible to compare the different trims in person, asking here: Anyone got a lower trim Suburban here who can share their ownership experience so far? Any regrets not getting certain features or going for higher trims? I’m looking to order an LS diesel with the front seat bench. Can anyone talk me out of it?

Some background (warning long post):
Been lurking here for a while and finally ready to pull the trigger on an order and wanting to get some thoughts from existing owners before I finalize the spec. Or mostly looking for people to talk me in or out of crazy ideas lol.

I’m a “car guy” and have owned many different ones over the years from German luxury to trucks and American muscle. As for my history with Chevy/GM it is a bit of a love hate. My first was an awesome 72 GMC Suburban (no, I’m not that old lol but driving that in my 20’s was a lot of FUN), then an 07 avalanche that was rock solid, except for the cheap plasticky interior but mechanically very sound. Had 150k miles on it when I sold it with just oil changes and brakes/tires. Then a 19 trail boss more recently that gave me nothing but problems: rear window leaks, check engine lights, interior rattles/squeaks.. you name it. Was very disappointed, thought it was maybe because 1st MY issues, but then again the 07 was a first MY too and 0 issues.. go figure.

In the meantime our family also added two more kids (2 sets of twins total) and being a car guy I wanted something big but fun so I splurged and got myself a BMW X7 M50i (nicknamed the beast!!) that I daily and plan to keep for a while (or as long as the warranty runs). My wife drives a Toyota minivan that’s still going strong but getting somewhat outdated. Probably will keep it forever though because, well, it’s a Toyota...

Anyways to get to the meat of it, I’m looking to get the Suburban as a 3rd vehicle (and/or possibly to replace the minivan with down the road). Either way, the main requirement for the new vehicle is to be able to carry 8 (or 9 if needed) in relative comfort.

Originally I was looking at a 6.2 Z71 or RST Burb (because that seems to be sweet spot of capability / styling and overall features I liked) but given what I daily today, I don’t really need to prove my masculinity with the bigger engine, nor will the 6.2 even come close to the performance I’m used to in the Bimmer so then the crazy idea came of why not do something completely different… Why not the diesel?! Almost every review seems to suggest it fits the character of the Burb best and is a very capable engine overall. Especially driving it around town in the low end torque it will likely beat the V8 in feel. Which, most of the driving will be anyway: hauling family + parents + stuff on day trips with maybe an occasional 200-300 mile road trip to the mountains. An added bonus would be the front bench seat but of course the big downside is it only comes on the punishment/poverty/fleet LS trim. I started building one anyway online and checking every box on 4WD LS (with upgrade to the slightly less poverty spec 20” wheels).. for a grand total of ~60k one can get a very capable and roomy SUV… at least, on paper.

Now the part comes where I’m questioning whether I will be able to live with something like that coming from the luxury of a fully loaded X7? The one feature I know I will miss the most, and I even vowed to never get another car without, is the heads up display. But the only way to get that is to step up 20-25k to a HC, which I can’t just stomach the idea to drop 85k on a Chevy. Can’t even believe a “base” 60k is still missing so many of the features a 30k Kia has standard but that’s for another forum to complain about..

Other features I think I will be annoyed not having is simple stuff like auto-dimming mirrors (although those could be likely easily retrofitted?) or not having an electric tailgate (really Chevy?!) or needing to crawl into the cargo space to drop the 3rd row (however in our case, it will likely stay up most of the time…). Or small things like not having a decent sound system (I like to listen to music).

So, what have been all ya’ll experiences? Anyone with low level trims here that wished they got more? Any disappointments from folks who paid top dollar but the extra features didn’t live up to their expectations?

Hi there, (long reply, but not easy to find this info) looks like you are in similar situation as me. I sold my 2016 Yukon XL SLT 8 passenger and with current family needs wanted to get 9 passenger, but at the same time I did not want to miss on many useful features. I was debating to order SLE, but looking at the dashboard and all controls I saw that it may not be difficult to swap the console into a center seat. I wanted to order Denali XL diesel to get all options including magnetic ride and adjustable air-ride suspension, but was told they had a hold/restrain on 3.0l diesel, so I was looking around and found a 2021 Suburban RST 3.0l diesel with technology pkg, and sunroof, $70k MSRP, with with most options that I wanted. (it's only missing front cooled seats, magnetic/air-ride, and adaptive cruise). I bought it and also found a leather center seat from Chevy pickup truck on ebay for about $350 or so. I did the swap, but it turned out a little more complicated than I was expecting, but not too bad. I am very happy with results, and I now actually ordered 2022 Denali XL and once it comes I will try to sell the Suburban, with current market, if it stays about the same, I should be able to get my money out. (message me directly if you want more info and part#s for what you will need) see pictures of my front row
And here are the options I really wanted to have that are not available on LE/SLE: leather, heated seats front and rear, heated steering wheel, power folding/release 2nd row and 3rd row seats, power trunk lid with handsfree sensor (useful feature), Bose system (although you have to remove subwoofer that is under the console, and i plan to try to make small custom box that would fit under the seat to put it back, but it sounds ok without it, just less bass), panoramic sunroof.

 

[petethepug]

21+ has the ride height adjustment that lowers the truck up to 3/4” and overall 4” when needed.

The MRC/Autoride in early and late vehicles are all based on the same (four) magnetic fluid filled struts that are also equipped with bags out back for ride height adjustment.

Currently, on Gen IV / NNBS / 07-14 Tahoe, Yukon, Burb & Escalade is almost $1k for OEM MRC / Autoride replacements and $200 more for new aftermarket Arnott units that feature a lifetime warranty. If the air pump dies, the Arnott (lifetime) unit is about $2h too.

It’s GM first attempt at active ride height on their flagship SUV. Probably best to watch from the side than jump in now. BTW all Autoride / MRC equipped vehicles have the rods for ride height communication.

The baby Duramax was a good decision. Resale will be higher regardless of fuel trends due to its (future) hi perf mods, longevity, durability and milage. You’ll also find the usual assortment of aftermarket options for A/V entertainment as well as heated and cooled seats.

Deff do full rubber mats and seat protection as I’ve found it’s easier to pull a car seat filled with barf, hose it down and throw it in the chlorinated pool at 01:00 hours when driving to a flight you can’t miss with all the kids. Yup, that really happened. Wifey changed the clothes on the baby, I swapped in the extra car seat and seat protector. That bit of foresight saved 1) hours of baby barf aromatherapy 2) baby barf injected interior 3) baby barf injected car seats traveling on the plane, rental car, to and from CA to Frisco. This also meant returning to the truck wasn’t a Kimchi infused experience after sitting in the heat over the weekend.

 

[Pro299]

I hope the order goes well for you. Yes, the Dmax will certainly be more rare and not necessarily because buyer's didn't want them. When i couldn't find one, i asked my dealer about getting one. They said they hadn't ordered any, and didn't plan to. Fortunately, they were willing to use an allotment to order one for me. After mine arrived they said they liked it so much they would probably get one or two for dealer stock to see how it goes. Obviously their default mode is to keep ordering what they're familiar with. I doubt their attitude is unique.

 

[Stbentoak]

Was the same with my local dealer, had sold no Yukon's with LM2, and only few Sierras. Would never order any, says buyers do not want them.... WHAT?
That why I went 3 hrs away...

 

[Tinbadtin]

Hi there, (long reply, but not easy to find this info) looks like you are in similar situation as me. I sold my 2016 Yukon XL SLT 8 passenger and with current family needs wanted to get 9 passenger, but at the same time I did not want to miss on many useful features. I was debating to order SLE, but looking at the dashboard and all controls I saw that it may not be difficult to swap the console into a center seat. I wanted to order Denali XL diesel to get all options including magnetic ride and adjustable air-ride suspension, but was told they had a hold/restrain on 3.0l diesel, so I was looking around and found a 2021 Suburban RST 3.0l diesel with technology pkg, and sunroof, $70k MSRP, with with most options that I wanted. (it's only missing front cooled seats, magnetic/air-ride, and adaptive cruise). I bought it and also found a leather center seat from Chevy pickup truck on ebay for about $350 or so. I did the swap, but it turned out a little more complicated than I was expecting, but not too bad. I am very happy with results, and I now actually ordered 2022 Denali XL and once it comes I will try to sell the Suburban, with current market, if it stays about the same, I should be able to get my money out. (message me directly if you want more info and part#s for what you will need) see pictures of my front row
And here are the options I really wanted to have that are not available on LE/SLE: leather, heated seats front and rear, heated steering wheel, power folding/release 2nd row and 3rd row seats, power trunk lid with handsfree sensor (useful feature), Bose system (although you have to remove subwoofer that is under the console, and i plan to try to make small custom box that would fit under the seat to put it back, but it sounds ok without it, just less bass), panoramic sunroof.

This looks amazing!! Thanks for sharing. Looks very clean, wouldn’t be able to tell it didn’t come from the factory like that. how would you rate the overall effort to do this? I’m not super comfortable working on my vehicles myself, especially when still under warranty. I assume it involved replacing (some) of the carpet and existing wiring?

Definitely would be interested in all the parts involved. Have you considered doing a write up? Lol. But again, looks very unique and clean. Well done!!

 

[yukon-xl]

Our '21 yukon has base suspension aka premium smooth ride suspension and it rides really really nice. It's super smooth and doesn't nose dive or have massive body roll or anything excessive. Definitely not losing any sleep over not having magneride or air.
A couple things I could not live without on this vehicle would be heated seats (seem to be standard equipment on most new cars) and these amazing led headlights. I'm not sure what the chevy has for lighting but damn the gmc headlights are fantastic.

I considered a baby duramax at first but after a bit of research decided that was not the engine for me. Way too much tech on an unproven platform. I suppose time will tell but these look designed to fail IMO

Do you have 22" or 20" wheels?

 

[yukon-xl]

This looks amazing!! Thanks for sharing. Looks very clean, wouldn’t be able to tell it didn’t come from the factory like that. how would you rate the overall effort to do this? I’m not super comfortable working on my vehicles myself, especially when still under warranty. I assume it involved replacing (some) of the carpet and existing wiring?

Definitely would be interested in all the parts involved. Have you considered doing a write up? Lol. But again, looks very unique and clean. Well done!!

I just received the lower piece of the trim and still need to install it. The pictures I posted are taken from an angle that you cant see where carpet/floor meets the lower center console, because there is a gap/opening still below the center dash trim I installed. And the carpet has a hole in it on the hump where the console was, but I covered it with a oem rear floormat from my subaru legacy for now. I also purchased aftermarket all weather floor liners on amazon for pickup truck that come with one piece front liner that goes over the hump, and installed it, however, it is a bit too big, and is not a perfect fit over the hump, but overall looks good and is good protection (see photo). I will post more pictures when I am done. As far as overall effort, I thought it would be smoother/easier. The main issue I ran into is the center dash trim that covers heating controls, audio knobs and where front heated/cooled seats controls are, is different on LS/SLE trim compared to higher trims. (i whish it was the same, because it looked the same on dealers website pictures and videos of both trim levels i have seen... but it's not, and it is angled a little different, meaning the lower part of it comes out about 1/2 inch closer to the jump seat that I installed, so at the end, I believe the legroom in that center seat I installed has about 1/2 inch less space. And if I buy the correct dash cover from LS model, it will not have openings where heated/cooled front seats controls are located... so then you would have to cut them out, and I am not sure how easy it will be and how it will look) I am still very happy with results and It's not noticeable and it looks like original. (see pictures of parts i ordered and the difference in dash trim/cover, i installed #2, and just received #3 lower trim, i left #1 trim stock because it has heated seat controls in it) Hope that helps. Merry Christmas!

 

[yukon-xl]

this video helped me a lot, it's someone who did it on GMC pickup:

also, more pics from mine (dealer does not sell seat as one piece, it's all by small parts, so you can find a seat on ebay, they range from $300-$700 or so, make sure to buy new version/design that has shoulder belt, because older generation had jump seat with only lap belt, the new generation vary, some have upper and lower storage, some only upper and some no storage at all, and also some have vents in back panel for rear passengers on pickup trucks and some have plastic cover with nothing) Mine had nothing in the back which is ok because you need a different trim anyways, so i removed the cover and installed the #84886126 trim and original controls from console fit there perfectly.

 

[R32driver]

Do you have 22" or 20" wheels?

We have 20” wheels. Did not care for the look or wet performance of the stock tires so just got stock size nitto ridge grapplers and they are much better

 

[yukon-xl]

Thank you for the reply, I also prefer 20" for smoother ride, especially without magnetic ride suspension. I like the look of 22" but 20" will ride smoother.
Magnetic ride and air-ride suspension may offset the stiffness of 22"

 

[yukon-xl]

this video helped me a lot, it's someone who did it on GMC pickup:

also, more pics from mine (dealer does not sell seat as one piece, it's all by small parts, so you can find a seat on ebay, they range from $300-$700 or so, make sure to buy new version/design that has shoulder belt, because older generation had jump seat with only lap belt, the new generation vary, some have upper and lower storage, some only upper and some no storage at all, and also some have vents in back panel for rear passengers on pickup trucks and some have plastic cover with nothing) Mine had nothing in the back which is ok because you need a different trim anyways, so i removed the cover and installed the #84886126 trim and original controls from console fit there perfectly.

Also, wanted to mention that on Suburban LS and Yukon XL SLE, if you order front row bench, 9 passenger, there is one less airbag (6 instead of 7). So when you have center console there is a right seat airbag that is in between driver seat and center console, so driver seat has two airbags, one on right side and one on left side. And on SLE/LS option with jump seat (front row bench) that airbag is not there. I believe it's not safe to have it active if you have a seat installed because during accident it can deploy and possibly injure the front center passenger. So I plan to unplug it and install a resistor. (to trick the system so it work as all airbags are present)
I am not sure if it is the same case on pickup trucks.

 

[olyelr]

Also, wanted to mention that on Suburban LS and Yukon XL SLE, if you order front row bench, 9 passenger, there is one less airbag (6 instead of 7). So when you have center console there is a right seat airbag that is in between driver seat and center console, so driver seat has two airbags, one on right side and one on left side. And on SLE/LS option with jump seat (front row bench) that airbag is not there. I believe it's not safe to have it active if you have a seat installed because during accident it can deploy and possibly injure the front center passenger. So I plan to unplug it and install a resistor. (to trick the system so it work as all airbags are present)
I am not sure if it is the same case on pickup trucks.

Wow. Some good info there!