upcruiser
Perpetual Transient
I think most of the main issues have been mentioned so far. One I will add is that the models with auto climate control supposedly have issues.
So, I don't have near the experience as some who have already contributed above. I was considering 1500 and 2500 Suburbans for a couple of years, with probably about 6 months of actively searching for the right one for us. We settled on a 2004 2500 with the 6.0 and 4.10 gears, G80, leather seats, second row bench, and manual dual zone HVAC.
Other than a new at the time 2005 1500 Silverado that I had as a company truck, this is my first real experience driving/owning a GM product. I have been driving Land Cruisers, a Tundra, an FJ Cruiser, and a Land Rover D1 in the past as my traveling, and backcountry vehicles, so that paints my perspective a bit.
We went the 2500 route for the added capacity and the hope that a bit of mechanical overkill would return long term durability. I know you mentioned Z71's but while you are researching, you might as well take everything into consideration. The 2500's came in a 6.0 and 8.1 with 3.73 or 4.10's in either. The upgraded frame, tranny (4l80e), brakes, different engines, axles, etc add about 1,000 pounds of girth over the 1500 and the rear is suspended by leaf springs. It rides stiffer for sure than the 1500's but we still find it incredibly comfortable on the road. I have spent a bit of time travelling in 1500 Burbs so I do have a feel for the difference in ride quality for sure. The 1500's are smoother on rough roads and offroad. The 2500's are a bit more punishing. We just installed Bilsteins and onboard air to aid airing down, definitely a must with the 2500's or else you need to travel at a much slower pace than I enjoy, especially coming from the vehicles we had travelled with in the past. Suburbans are wide, Suburbans are long, no surprise there, so right off the bat you are limited in what types of terrain you can travel without a large amount of lift and tires. On the plus side though, there are few vehicles made at any price point, especially at this used price point, that gobble up cargo, and miles and do so, so comfortably. We joke, its like travelling down the road on our living room sofa.
Ours has 145,000ish miles on it now. We bought it last year, and its previous owner was pretty a pretty meticulous car guy, and it had never seen snow or road salt. So far I have dealt with replacing the HVAC blower fan (~$115), had to crank the front torsion bars a bit since the front end seemed drooped a bit, replaced the shocks and upgraded to 5100's (huge improvement in ride quality and rebound control), I have several dashboard lights out that I haven't dealt with including the steering wheel, I broke a towing mirror (my fault but they didn't extend or retract anymore without help, and I am getting the code for a weak voltage error for my knock sensors, so that's on the dockett.
I think the drivetrains on these trucks are pretty stout for their intended uses. The front ends seem to last awhile if they are kept greased frequently and you use the right pedal carefully. Seems like most of the carnage you hear about stems from giving alot of throttle causing one wheel to have no traction, then suddenly catching. Same with the G80's, the guys doing burnouts and donuts seem to grenade them, especially on the half ton trucks. When used as they are intended, as a slow speed traction aid they are effective. The 2500's tend not to have issues with the G80's. I am still not totally sold on the G80 as its engagement is pretty abrupt and requires a certain amount of wheelspin to engage, which doesn't lend itself to my style of gentle driving in technical stuff. That said, these things don't really lend themselves to technical stuff anyway.
Compared to say a Toyota, only because its what I have the most experience with, yeah, the interior switches and bits aren't assembled to the same standards. Dash lights, stepper motors, window regulators, etc seem to not last as long as on a Yota. That said, replacing that stuff is all pretty easy, and parts are cheap, WAY cheap compared to Land Cruiser stuff. Same with the powertrain, accessories, like alternators, power steering pumps, fuel pumps, etc don't seem to last as long but the drivetrains are notorious for high mileage reliability, with perhaps the exception of the 4l60e trannies in the 1500's. Again though, at this price point, you can swap out those items and still come in way under a similar year Cruiser with much higher mileage. The other nice thing as mentioned earlier is that pretty much any town in North America will have an autoparts store where you can source pretty much anything, in stock, for cheap. Thats amazing. Honestly, from my travels in South America I had seen a decent amount of full size GM trucks so there are part networks even in places like Chile, but honestly, how many of us are driving to Chile?
Someone above mentioned a towing package on a 1500 rated for 12,000lbs? I don't believe thats correct. A 2500 with the 8.1 and 4.10's is rated at 12,000 for towing, I believe a half ton is rated around 7,500 in highest spec for towing. My 6.0 with 4.10's is around 9,500. Just FYI.
I have wanted a 100 series Land Cruiser for awhile, and that was the leader in the options to replace our FJ Cruiser with but we decided we wanted more capacity and the ability to haul our mountain bikes inside the truck behind the second row seats, and have to option to build a sleeping platform behind the second row. When it comes to outright capacities, its hard to beat a Suburban. Can't really think of anything else to add. Oh, regarding the front ends, there are good options to beef up the front ends for piece of mind, Moog and Cognito come to mind. Good luck.
So, I don't have near the experience as some who have already contributed above. I was considering 1500 and 2500 Suburbans for a couple of years, with probably about 6 months of actively searching for the right one for us. We settled on a 2004 2500 with the 6.0 and 4.10 gears, G80, leather seats, second row bench, and manual dual zone HVAC.
Other than a new at the time 2005 1500 Silverado that I had as a company truck, this is my first real experience driving/owning a GM product. I have been driving Land Cruisers, a Tundra, an FJ Cruiser, and a Land Rover D1 in the past as my traveling, and backcountry vehicles, so that paints my perspective a bit.
We went the 2500 route for the added capacity and the hope that a bit of mechanical overkill would return long term durability. I know you mentioned Z71's but while you are researching, you might as well take everything into consideration. The 2500's came in a 6.0 and 8.1 with 3.73 or 4.10's in either. The upgraded frame, tranny (4l80e), brakes, different engines, axles, etc add about 1,000 pounds of girth over the 1500 and the rear is suspended by leaf springs. It rides stiffer for sure than the 1500's but we still find it incredibly comfortable on the road. I have spent a bit of time travelling in 1500 Burbs so I do have a feel for the difference in ride quality for sure. The 1500's are smoother on rough roads and offroad. The 2500's are a bit more punishing. We just installed Bilsteins and onboard air to aid airing down, definitely a must with the 2500's or else you need to travel at a much slower pace than I enjoy, especially coming from the vehicles we had travelled with in the past. Suburbans are wide, Suburbans are long, no surprise there, so right off the bat you are limited in what types of terrain you can travel without a large amount of lift and tires. On the plus side though, there are few vehicles made at any price point, especially at this used price point, that gobble up cargo, and miles and do so, so comfortably. We joke, its like travelling down the road on our living room sofa.
Ours has 145,000ish miles on it now. We bought it last year, and its previous owner was pretty a pretty meticulous car guy, and it had never seen snow or road salt. So far I have dealt with replacing the HVAC blower fan (~$115), had to crank the front torsion bars a bit since the front end seemed drooped a bit, replaced the shocks and upgraded to 5100's (huge improvement in ride quality and rebound control), I have several dashboard lights out that I haven't dealt with including the steering wheel, I broke a towing mirror (my fault but they didn't extend or retract anymore without help, and I am getting the code for a weak voltage error for my knock sensors, so that's on the dockett.
I think the drivetrains on these trucks are pretty stout for their intended uses. The front ends seem to last awhile if they are kept greased frequently and you use the right pedal carefully. Seems like most of the carnage you hear about stems from giving alot of throttle causing one wheel to have no traction, then suddenly catching. Same with the G80's, the guys doing burnouts and donuts seem to grenade them, especially on the half ton trucks. When used as they are intended, as a slow speed traction aid they are effective. The 2500's tend not to have issues with the G80's. I am still not totally sold on the G80 as its engagement is pretty abrupt and requires a certain amount of wheelspin to engage, which doesn't lend itself to my style of gentle driving in technical stuff. That said, these things don't really lend themselves to technical stuff anyway.
Compared to say a Toyota, only because its what I have the most experience with, yeah, the interior switches and bits aren't assembled to the same standards. Dash lights, stepper motors, window regulators, etc seem to not last as long as on a Yota. That said, replacing that stuff is all pretty easy, and parts are cheap, WAY cheap compared to Land Cruiser stuff. Same with the powertrain, accessories, like alternators, power steering pumps, fuel pumps, etc don't seem to last as long but the drivetrains are notorious for high mileage reliability, with perhaps the exception of the 4l60e trannies in the 1500's. Again though, at this price point, you can swap out those items and still come in way under a similar year Cruiser with much higher mileage. The other nice thing as mentioned earlier is that pretty much any town in North America will have an autoparts store where you can source pretty much anything, in stock, for cheap. Thats amazing. Honestly, from my travels in South America I had seen a decent amount of full size GM trucks so there are part networks even in places like Chile, but honestly, how many of us are driving to Chile?
Someone above mentioned a towing package on a 1500 rated for 12,000lbs? I don't believe thats correct. A 2500 with the 8.1 and 4.10's is rated at 12,000 for towing, I believe a half ton is rated around 7,500 in highest spec for towing. My 6.0 with 4.10's is around 9,500. Just FYI.
I have wanted a 100 series Land Cruiser for awhile, and that was the leader in the options to replace our FJ Cruiser with but we decided we wanted more capacity and the ability to haul our mountain bikes inside the truck behind the second row seats, and have to option to build a sleeping platform behind the second row. When it comes to outright capacities, its hard to beat a Suburban. Can't really think of anything else to add. Oh, regarding the front ends, there are good options to beef up the front ends for piece of mind, Moog and Cognito come to mind. Good luck.
. I'm not missing the power of the 2500 especially when I get 16mpg with 33's. The 14 bolt sf from some applications (escalades, hybrids yukons is bolt on for the 1500)