Another towing question - 212SS and 2003 Yukon 2WD

[Lal4indy]

Still searching for a good tow vehicle - can't seem to find any low cost trucks. Have a 2008 Yamaha 212SS. Tow 15 miles each way - fairly flat, only a few small hills. See a 2003 one owner Yukon with 126,000 miles. Has towing package and 3.73 gear ratio on it.

Any thoughts on whether it wold work out well,

Tx

 

[2kwik4u]

Still searching for a good tow vehicle - can't seem to find any low cost trucks. Have a 2008 Yamaha 212SS. Tow 15 miles each way - fairly flat, only a few small hills. See a 2003 one owner Yukon with 126,000 miles. Has towing package and 3.73 gear ratio on it.

Any thoughts on whether it wold work out well,

Tx

You'll be fine with that.

I had a 2003 Yukon. Mine was a 5.3L/4spd/4wd unit with 3.73 gears. Towed a good number of things with it. Primary tow was our '98 Rinker 182. I would guess that boat around 4k lbs or so on the trailer. Dru my buddies 25ft cuddy home after he bought it from a guy that had a gravel driveway and his 2wd F150 couldn't get it up the gravel. Felt a shade heavy, but wasn't bad at all. Drug my dads Envoy from GA to KY on an open car trailer. Zero issues there either. Had a 28ft enclosed trailer behind it a few times. Full of data cabling, tools, and gear for a weeks worth of installation, that was probably about as large as I would want to go on that vehicle though.

That was my first GMC, and it was a GREAT vehicle. It did all the things really well. Road trips, towing the boat, moving people around. It was really a great vehicle. I traded it away with 186k miles on it for a '12 Ford Focus. Got to where I was driving 100+ miles a day, and we had sold the boat, so I didn't need the tow vehicle at the time. I had replaced the alternator, blower motor resistor pack, intake manifold gaskets, and both front wheel bearings at that time. The rest was "normal" maintenance.

Only real issue was the rear A/C system. That made the overall A/C system MUCH larger than a standard system, and all of the condensate in the system would run into the compressor if you parked the truck "nose down" on a hill. GM Engineers decided the compressor should be the lowest point in the system for some asinine reason. This would cause the compressor to surge, and if you did it enough would break the reed valves in the compressor and require a replacement. I got decent at putting compressors on, and draining/filling the system. Would have to do that about once every 18-20mo or so. Stupid designed system IMO.

Here's some pictures of it doing some work



I'm seriously considering a Yukon as my next vehicle. Love my GMC Sierra that I have now, so it'll be awhile though.........assuming the GMC electric truck doesn't work out for me.

 

[Lal4indy]

Nice - thanks, this is the 5.3 with 4 speed/overdrive. Just want something to tow with. Now I have to get it at a decent price!

 

[2kwik4u]

Nice - thanks, this is the 5.3 with 4 speed/overdrive. Just want something to tow with. Now I have to get it at a decent price!

I let mine go 8 years ago for under $5k. Had a few more miles though......For a 17yr old truck, I would think you're in that $5k-$8k range......or so, depending on condition.

Good Luck!

 

[Lal4indy]

I let mine go 8 years ago for under $5k. Had a few more miles though......For a 17yr old truck, I would think you're in that $5k-$8k range......or so, depending on condition.

Good Luck!

Yup. starting at 7995 - so we shall see