"To think that you can take parts off a 1955 engine and put them on a 1994 engine is just fantastic....."
Or extremely lazy. I doubt the pinnacle of ICE engineering happened back in the mid-50s where they could just continue to ride that plateau of awesome for 40 years.
"Chevy has always been innovative in their mechanical design. It's like they know it's going to be worked on....."
Do you call round wheels and square wheel wells innovative? You have to lift the crap out of their trucks to fit larger tires. And lowered, you end up with a round peg in a square hole. Aesthetic vomit. And the second sentence...... just setting yourself up for some poor reliability jokes.
"GM used to be about quality......"
Really? That box on the option sheet must not have been checked on the GMs that I've owned and driven.
"The Explorer has a frame and RWD....."
Not since 2012. The Expedition has a frame and RWD. But it's not a mid-size like you are talking about.
"The Durango is amazing...."
Huh? The Durango is mid-pack at best. Sales numbers have been pretty mediocre for its entire run.
"No aftermarket support......."
How much aftermarket support do you need to put gas in the tank, food in the cooler and head out for a week/weekend? Do you need a bumper? No. Do you need remote reservoir shocks? Do you need the latest offering from Icon to lift your truck? No.
"$10,000 to $12,000 for a solid axle swap......."
Does your money canon come in semi-auto or full auto? There's plenty of SAS'd GMs running around that didn't spend near that. Heck, I paid to have my Explorer SAS'd and that was only like $3500, and that included a ton of extras.
All that talk about what Chevy isn't doing and how they left the market, yet not a single mention of the Chevy Colorado? It's currently the only mid-size domestic pickup. And can't you get one trimmed out with remote reservoir shocks and a locker and a bunch of other trick offroad goodies? And they even offer it with a diesel. Maybe you didn't mention it because if you take one offroad, the side air bags are known to pop.