Racer's Lounge - Why no durmax suburban????

Chevrolet has offered a 3/4 ton version of the Suburban for years with various versions of the 6.0 LS series v8 and even a massive gas 8.1L V8. The 3/4 ton Suburban is classified as a heavy duty truck, so it doesn't have to meet the same stringent fuel economy and emmissions standards as the 1/2 version.

Why haven't they sold a Duramax diesel/allison automatic version??? This would be totally kick ass IMO. The truck is already based on the 3/4 ton pickup frame, so it wouldn't be much of an issue to swap one in. The Duramax is pretty damn refined and quiet too, so I don't see noise being a real serious issue.

Frankly I think GM has its head up its ass with this, the duramax would offer at least a 20% improvement in fuel economy and would flat out tow anything thrown at it.

Granted it is a small market segment that demands this type of vehicle, but it would cost GM next to nothing to offer this.

GM found that the market for a diesel Suburban is absolutely tiny. look at how many 3/4 ton Subruban's their are on the road today, compared to the 1/2 ton models.

now there is a company (in Florida iirc) that you can send you're 3/4 tonner to and they'll swap in a Duramax/Allison for you, but it's pricey

Wow that would be a really cool Truck to be honest

Easy; they are expensive to buy, cost a fortune to repair and 3/4 burbans are few and none between. I've seen several Dmax get injectors replaced, it generally costs 2500-4000 to do at a dealer.

GM found that the market for a diesel Suburban is absolutely tiny. look at how many 3/4 ton Subruban's their are on the road today, compared to the 1/2 ton models.

now there is a company (in Florida iirc) that you can send you're 3/4 tonner to and they'll swap in a Duramax/Allison for you, but it's pricey

i disagree... notice how many powerstroke excursions there are around.

The injector problems are only common on the LB7 duramax. Which I own one... over 150K miles on the original set so far.

As far as someone who wants a swap... check this forum out... theTDIguy does it...

http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/showthread.php?t=331305&page=2

States total is 10-13K grand for the entire swap including the donor motor.

im fairly sure they havent made the excursion for several years. also, i rarely ever see an excursion towing anything, diesel or gas. most often when people want a heavy truck with a diesel for towing/hauling, they get a pickup. lately, with the huge rise in popularity of 6 pack pickups, and the luxury available, there really isnt a need for a HD diesel suburban. you can get a heavier truck (dually) with a diesel, 4 doors, and every cushy option you can think of, plus have the bed for cargo. granted, you wont have 3rd row seating, but i dont think thats a big enough deterrent to demand a diesel suburban.

I would rather buy a F350 crew cab long box with the diesel before buying a suburban diesel...I do not think many people would buy a suburban diesel.

I'd buy my wife a diesel suburban thats 4x4 with an allison 6 speed and EFI live tune it and have 450 RWHP on tap.

Edit: Not to mention still pull close to 20 MPG.

im fairly sure they havent made the excursion for several years. also, i rarely ever see an excursion towing anything, diesel or gas. .

they havent made it since 03 i believe, but they were still a relatively popular vehicle.. i see at least 20 different powerstroke excursions pulling boats/trailers/etc. in my part of town weekly

i disagree... notice how many powerstroke excursions there are around.

compare that to how many there are running around with the Triton v8 and v10.

and really, the only time Ford had a decent engine in that truck was with the 7.3, and it wasn't in there for long.

they never made 1 because the allison trans is too big to fit under the floorpan, ever notice all the HD pick ups have the raised body (body lift)... u can easily see it by the extra space between the front bumper and the grill (extra filler panel)

good point someday. i forgot that the 2500's/3500's with the Duramax have a factory 3" body lift...

I do see Powerstroke Excursions from time to time, but they really are kind of pointless unless you have a family of 5+ and own a bigger than average bumper pull RV or a large (26'+) boat.

GM recognizes this fact.

Generally the folks buying or leasing these don't care about mpg. The only advantage this unit might have would be what it could pull. The market would be very small. Go on Chevrolet and build a 1/2 gas. Then add 2500.00 or 3000.00 to the list for the 3/4 ton then 6500.00 more for the engine everyone wants. That's 9 to 10K more money just to have something different.

I would buy one.......but, my gasser does just fine towing anything I throw at it.

It would be neat but I cant imagine the market being too big for them. On other topic an 8.1l suburban is powerfull and the one I drove is pretty quick too. Pig on fuel though

I would buy one.......but, my gasser does just fine towing anything I throw at it.

try a 28ft 9800lbs travel trailer through the rockies with the little 5.3. you'll be wishing you had a diesel then.

having done this at least 6 times, i've gotta say it's kinda nice to NOT be passed by big rigs going up a 6% grade for once. my old gassers ('97 Suburban, 5.7 Vortec; '05 F150, 5.4 Triton) would drop down to about 40-45mph before they could keep their speed.

try a 28ft 9800lbs travel trailer through the rockies with the little 5.3. you'll be wishing you had a diesel then.

having done this at least 6 times, i've gotta say it's kinda nice to NOT be passed by big rigs going up a 6% grade for once. my old gassers ('97 Suburban, 5.7 Vortec; '05 F150, 5.4 Triton) would drop down to about 40-45mph before they could keep their speed.

so....what you're saying......is that you've never owned one with a little 5.3L.....but, feel inclined as to give your input as to it's capabilities.

just because i've never owned a 5.3 powered truck doesn't mean i've never pulled with one before. same route it would drop down to about 50mph (better than the other two, but still struggling) but it would drop to 2nd gear to keep that speed. 6 miles of running 50mph in 2nd gear isn't fun. my Duramax, doesn't go below 65mph, only dropping to 4th every once in a while.

My truck bone stock without my tuning would keep 65-70 MPH on grades pulling 12,000 lbs. And still get 14-16 MPG at the same time. Try that with a gasser.

12000lbs.......yay, you win

seeing how the suburban isn't even meant to attempt to tow that much weight.......why would i try something stupid as that?

even with a pickup, i wouldn't trust a bumper pull with that weight.....i would only use a 5th or goose

lol cummins suv lol. seriously though that would be awesome for gm to do that.

12000lbs.......yay, you win

seeing how the suburban isn't even meant to attempt to tow that much weight.......why would i try something stupid as that?

even with a pickup, i wouldn't trust a bumper pull with that weight.....i would only use a 5th or goose

3/4 ton Suburban... they don't do these conversions on 1/2 ton frames... can't handle it. You have no idea what the duramax guys tow. I've got guys that tip scales over 30,000 lbs on a 5'er and they handle it no problem.

3/4 ton Suburban... they don't do these conversions on 1/2 ton frames... can't handle it. You have no idea what the duramax guys tow. I've got guys that tip scales over 30,000 lbs on a 5'er and they handle it no problem.

Sounds pretty stupid to me. Kind of thing that is usually preceded by "Hold my beer and watch this". But hey, what do I know....

Yours truly,
Dan Stewart - Class A License Holder (with doubles/triples, hazmat, and tankers endorsement)

We've had a 4x4 7.3 diesel 2002 "X" for 4 years now. It is my wife's winter DD and our summer tow vehicle.

I feel my wife and kids are about the safest they could be when they are in there.

We looked at the 4 door pickups before buying the x but the rear seat legroom SUCKED and there was no 3rd row AND who wants wet stuff if it's snowing or raining?

Ours tows a 7000 lb. drag behind camping trailer (it's rated to tow 12k lbs.) and at 70 mph towing it gets around 15.5mpg. Will go 80-90mph pulling if you need to pass and looks just plain tough (All Black).

I've done a few tweaks to it and in a drag race it will stay right next to my buddies' wife's Nissan Murano (racing wives lol) to 75mph... Then the Nissan pulls away pretty hard...

There was a small market for these that dried up (2005 was the last year made)

and I'm glad to have it.

I'm not much of a Ford lover but nobody else makes what I need...

We've had a 4x4 7.3 diesel 2002 "X" for 4 years now. It is my wife's winter DD and our summer tow vehicle.

I feel my wife and kids are about the safest they could be when they are in there.

We looked at the 4 door pickups before buying the x but the rear seat legroom SUCKED and there was no 3rd row AND who wants wet stuff if it's snowing or raining?

Ours tows a 7000 lb. drag behind camping trailer (it's rated to tow 12k lbs.) and at 70 mph towing it gets around 15.5mpg. Will go 80-90mph pulling if you need to pass and looks just plain tough (All Black).

I've done a few tweaks to it and in a drag race it will stay right next to my buddies' wife's Nissan Murano (racing wives lol) to 75mph... Then the Nissan pulls away pretty hard...

There was a small market for these that dried up (2005 was the last year made)

and I'm glad to have it.

I'm not much of a Ford lover but nobody else makes what I need...

Would love to have one. But, when I was in the market, the prices were beyond what I was willing to pay. I do like them though. Very mean styling.