6.2 Liter Denali GMC. Anyone know them??

[Diamondpilot]

No big words here. We are talking GM's:laughing::laughing::laughing:

Honestly though, they are much much better than just 5 years ago and getting better each and every day. As much as I do not care for GM I will give them credit when its due.:thumbsup:

Chris

 

[Topkicker]

Thanks for your input, I would also love see the small diesels here. I have '08 LMM Crew Cab and am impressed the 2011 changes.

I bought a 4500 GMC Topkick back in 06 with the LLY. The turning radius is outstanding. The downside is ride quality. I installed Kelderman adjustable air ride rear suspension and upgraded the factory air ride seats with Laredo custom leather seats with rear sissor bed bench seat. All of these upgrades made the ride quality much better but the dollars added up quickly. This truck was built in Flint, Michigan and the flatbed was fabbed and installed by Monroe which is located close to GM's Flint assembly plant. These aren't advertised by GM at all and alot of people don't even know they exist. There was one in the first Transformers movie which did land them on the cover of some truck magazines.

 

[Builder]

Very nice F-550 killer. :thumbsup: Still shocked they stopped building them. I was hoping to buy one someday.
It seemed to me so much thought went into those trucks. Everything from the tilt cab, to the excellent visibility and turning radius, the heavy frames, transmissions & rears compared to the competition.

 

[timswi]

This is very well deserved. GM of past was not on par with the others. The earned the reputation they have fair and square. This is changing now. They have wised up. This turn around started around in 2006, especially in the trucks. I just bought a year too early and was left with a bad taste in my mouth so they will not get a dime from me. And there is that whole other reason but it political.

If you read my latest post on the HD GM trucks and the line of cars overall I am highly impressed. There is a world of difference in the 2007 3500 my neighbor has and the 2010 my friend just bought. Absolutely no comparison and the 2011 stuff is even better. They learned the hard way and now are getting it right. The question will be can they win back the confidence of the American Buyer. Export sales are what is keeping them alive.

Chris

My 04 GMC has been trouble free pushing 100k. The wife's former Tahoe had 110k and never had a problem. She wanted a Hummer, so I bought her one and sold the Tahoe to the neighbor a year ago. He has had no issues with it and wouldn't sell it at any price...Not sure about that 06 breakpoint.

My 91 and 97 Chevy 5.7 4x4's both went to 200k with normal repairs. Alternator, water pump..That kind of stuff. No shame there. No material mechanical failures...Ever. Both of them had the full original front suspensions, drive trains, electronics and most of the light factory bulbs. Pulled a 32ft travel trailer with both of them.

Not sure where this quality issue is coming from. I wouldn't keep buying them if I didn't have 20 years of good luck from them.

Do all manufactuers lay an egg once in a while..Sure. I remember when a certain manufactuers 360 motor would launch the rod bearings at 50k and the OEM wouldn't do anything about it. Another brand would launch spark plugs and that brand wouldn't do anything about it either. (neither of these are urban legend, I've seen these and more repeatedly) Does that tarnish everything they ever made?,..No. It can make one cautious about other vehicles made by them until it's realized that it's an isolated group of vehicles. OEM's tend to learn from those mistakes.

I've worked in import service departments and believe me they have plenty of their own problems. They are just better at keeping the lid on.

Anyway..I do like that new Denali P/U...Might look at one on Thursday.

 

[foggy1111]

I had a similar dillema....but was not hung up on a diesel engine. I liked the new Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland after test driving and comparing it to many other vehicles...both larger and smaller. I think it compares favorably to anything GM has in a SUV....for thousands less. Rated for towing 7200 lbs with a hemi engine. Lots of neat features and a luxourious new interior. Mine is on its way. :thumbsup:

 

[Topkicker]

Very nice F-550 killer. :thumbsup: Still shocked they stopped building them. I was hoping to buy one someday.
It seemed to me so much thought went into those trucks. Everything from the tilt cab, to the excellent visibility and turning radius, the heavy frames, transmissions & rears compared to the competition.

You can pickone up at a steal now that they're orphans. I sold this one while living in MO last year. I had a 38 ft 5th wheel camper and a small landscape business back in my home state of GA which is where I ordered the truck. It was RWD which was fine in the south. I moved to MO in 08 and had to pull it off a snow covered drive with my Jeep. It would not get any traction even with the locking diff. I had no weight on the back and those commercial road tires were no help either. I'm in the same situation as the OP. I'm leaning toward the Z-71 packaged Tahoe though. Skidplates, locking diff, color-match fender flares, low and high range 4wd, front tow hooks, flat tube side-steps, and heavy duty shocks is what the package consists of. The instrument cluster is also different. The interior has a brushed stainless appearance instead of the wood trim pieces. All of this boils down to personal preference. I like the off-road look.

 

[Builder]

My 04 GMC has been trouble free pushing 100k. The wife's former Tahoe had 110k and never had a problem. She wanted a Hummer, so I bought her one and sold the Tahoe to the neighbor a year ago. He has had no issues with it and wouldn't sell it at any price...Not sure about that 06 breakpoint.

My 91 and 97 Chevy 5.7 4x4's both went to 200k with normal repairs. Alternator, water pump..That kind of stuff. No shame there. No material mechanical failures...Ever. Both of them had the full original front suspensions, drive trains, electronics and most of the light factory bulbs. Pulled a 32ft travel trailer with both of them.

Not sure where this quality issue is coming from. I wouldn't keep buying them if I didn't have 20 years of good luck from them.

Do all manufactuers lay an egg once in a while..Sure. I remember when a certain manufactuers 360 motor would launch the rod bearings at 50k and the OEM wouldn't do anything about it. Another brand would launch spark plugs and that brand wouldn't do anything about it either. (neither of these are urban legend, I've seen these and more repeatedly) Does that tarnish everything they ever made?,..No. It can make one cautious about other vehicles made by them until it's realized that it's an isolated group of vehicles. OEM's tend to learn from those mistakes.

I've worked in import service departments and believe me they have plenty of their own problems. They are just better at keeping the lid on.

Anyway..I do like that new Denali P/U...Might look at one on Thursday.

I agree about the '06 "breakpoint" as well. To say GM wasn't on par with other brands prior to '06 sounds like a bash to all owners of GM vehicles built prior to '06. GM built great trucks prior to '07. Definatelty would take a '06, '05, '04...... 2500-5500. Fantastic trucks. :thumbsup:
The weak spot for GM trucks were the diesels in the 90's were lacking behind Ford & Dodge. That all changed in '00. :thumbsup:

I think it just keeps getting better. More power, more warranty (GM has 100,000K on all drivetrain components since '07). That says something about how confident they are in the Dmax/Ally/11.5" locker......

 

[Diamondpilot]

My 04 GMC has been trouble free pushing 100k. The wife's former Tahoe had 110k and never had a problem. She wanted a Hummer, so I bought her one and sold the Tahoe to the neighbor a year ago. He has had no issues with it and wouldn't sell it at any price...Not sure about that 06 breakpoint.

My 91 and 97 Chevy 5.7 4x4's both went to 200k with normal repairs. Alternator, water pump..That kind of stuff. No shame there. No material mechanical failures...Ever. Both of them had the full original front suspensions, drive trains, electronics and most of the light factory bulbs. Pulled a 32ft travel trailer with both of them.

Not sure where this quality issue is coming from. I wouldn't keep buying them if I didn't have 20 years of good luck from them.

Do all manufactuers lay an egg once in a while..Sure. I remember when a certain manufactuers 360 motor would launch the rod bearings at 50k and the OEM wouldn't do anything about it. Another brand would launch spark plugs and that brand wouldn't do anything about it either. (neither of these are urban legend, I've seen these and more repeatedly) Does that tarnish everything they ever made?,..No. It can make one cautious about other vehicles made by them until it's realized that it's an isolated group of vehicles. OEM's tend to learn from those mistakes.

I've worked in import service departments and believe me they have plenty of their own problems. They are just better at keeping the lid on.

Anyway..I do like that new Denali P/U...Might look at one on Thursday.

I know of very few major mechanical issues. Its the little things like poor interior plastics, fit and finish, oil consumption on some models, ect.

I remember comparing the 04 F-250 we still have to the 05 Dmax I also had. The sheet metal was very thin compared to the F-250, doors felt 1/2 as stout, there were squeaks and rattles plus loose interior panels on a 9 month old truck, ect. The body lines were not even. It was the little things that added up to me.

As I have said before this is changing. I spent 2 days with a new Chevy Malibu last week on a flight to Ruston, LA. There is noting to do there. This rental car had under 1,000 miles on it. I went over it with a fine tooth comb and drove it about 150 miles killing time. I can honestly say it was by far the finest GM product I had been in period. Its fit and finish was the best I had seen. The had fixed the issues I had seen with my 05 Dmax and the Saturn I just sold about 8 months ago.

I also rented a new 2011 Buick Enclave last week in St Louis. It was very nice also. I only drove it about 20 miles and had it for just over 6 hours.

As for selling cars and trucks there are a couple ways to do it. You can have quality, price, warranty, ect. GM and some of the others have touted big warranties to draw customers away. As builder stated GM lacked in the diesel game. The big warranty on the Dmax sold lots of trucks. I am not being biased here. I am strongly considering a new F-150 with the 3.5 twin turbo V6. The twin turbo V6 scares me a little but the big warranty Ford is offering on them is helping to sell me on it. Hyundai also went from a tiny little company to now a leader in the small car segment. They had something like 48% growth last year. Warranty and price sold lots of cars for them. If I were looking in that segment I would now put them in front of Honda and Toyota.

As for GM as a whole I still stand behind my words and say that around 07 and later is when you started seeing major improvements in not only materials but the fit and finish. By 2010 they were on par with the rest.

Chris

 

[foggy1111]

I know of very few major mechanical issues. Its the little things like poor interior plastics, fit and finish, oil consumption on some models, ect.

I remember comparing the 04 F-250 we still have to the 05 Dmax I also had. The sheet metal was very thin compared to the F-250, doors felt 1/2 as stout, there were squeaks and rattles plus loose interior panels on a 9 month old truck, ect. The body lines were not even. It was the little things that added up to me.

As I have said before this is changing. I spent 2 days with a new Chevy Malibu last week on a flight to Ruston, LA. There is noting to do there. This rental car had under 1,000 miles on it. I went over it with a fine tooth comb and drove it about 150 miles killing time. I can honestly say it was by far the finest GM product I had been in period. Its fit and finish was the best I had seen. The had fixed the issues I had seen with my 05 Dmax and the Saturn I just sold about 8 months ago.

I also rented a new 2011 Buick Enclave last week in St Louis. It was very nice also. I only drove it about 20 miles and had it for just over 6 hours.

As for selling cars and trucks there are a couple ways to do it. You can have quality, price, warranty, ect. GM and some of the others have touted big warranties to draw customers away. As builder stated GM lacked in the diesel game. The big warranty on the Dmax sold lots of trucks. I am not being biased here. I am strongly considering a new F-150 with the 3.5 twin turbo V6. The twin turbo V6 scares me a little but the big warranty Ford is offering on them is helping to sell me on it. Hyundai also went from a tiny little company to now a leader in the small car segment. They had something like 48% growth last year. Warranty and price sold lots of cars for them. If I were looking in that segment I would now put them in front of Honda and Toyota.

As for GM as a whole I still stand behind my words and say that around 07 and later is when you started seeing major improvements in not only materials but the fit and finish. By 2010 they were on par with the rest.

Chris

Yep....and I am just leaving my '07 Acadia......which had a tranny rebuild, followed by a replaement tranny, then a steering gear failure (700 $ steering gear :confused2, and several other events. They were mostly warranty.....but shop time was hard to take.

I'm hoping this new Jeep model fills my bucket....they seem like a light-year better than the GM Lamba based SUV's. They tow and go off-road. :thumbsup:

I have been one of GM's biggest fans for many years......but they sure burned me over the past two decades. Time for a CHANGE.

 

[jcmseven]

My 2009 GMC is the tightest, best-performing truck I have ever driven. It is seemingly better-made seemingly than my buddy's 2007 was. So I suspect the improvements began well-before 2010. It also may not be apples to apples to compare trucks to other vehicles in the auto line as my personal thought is that each of the big three will make sure its truck is OK even if its car line is not, to maintain market share and reputation within this highly competitive segment.

John M