Chevrolet Suburban 2500 to Expedition EL

[Guipo]

A sad tale of woe, hopefully will have a happy ending. I was changing the oil in my old reliable beast of a truck, a 2001 Chevrolet Suburban 2500 with a 8.1L in it. During the oil change, I found a needle bearing stuck to the oil plug magnet.

After doing my research, I found that most likely this was a lifter starting to fail. We have a 3500 miles trip towing our 7500lb trailer coming this summer, and so my options were, replace the lifter and hope a bunch of metal isn't all over the engine, rebuilt the whole engine, or replace the rig.

My wife and I decided that the suburban was just too worn out to justify putting 8000 in to the engine, so we decided to shop around. When it comes to towing, my options were a more modern 2500 suburban, which go for 30k for a 2012, or a 2017 Expedition EL. So thats where we landed, and we're very happy!

We are doing a first tow with it next week to see how she does in the Sierras! I'm hoping that its not too different than my 3/4 ton Chevy! I'd love to hear your opinions on what differences I'll see!

Thanks for having a cool board!

Guipo

 

[ExplorerTom]

Welcome. Those 2500 Suburbans are treated like gold on some Chevy forums.

 

[Guipo]

Welcome. Those 2500 Suburbans are treated like gold on some Chevy forums.

It was truly a towing beast. I'm looking forward to comparing it to the Expedition, we're towing Wednesday to give it a shot.

 

[Plati]

from owners manual:

Your vehicle is designed to operate on
regular unleaded gasoline with a minimum
pump (R+M)/2 octane rating of 87.
Some fuel stations, particularly those in
high altitude areas, offer fuels posted as
regular unleaded gasoline with an octane
rating below 87. We do not recommend
these fuels.

For best overall vehicle and engine
performance, premium fuel with an octane
rating of 91 or higher is recommended. The
performance gained by using premium fuel
is most noticeable in hot weather as well
as other conditions, for example when
towing a trailer. See Towing(page202).

 

[ExplorerTom]

As far as octane goes: octane requirements decrease with increasing altitude.

It’s all about air pressure. It’s kind of like taking a stock vehicle, designed to run on 87 at sea level and filling it with race gas and expecting it to perform. It won’t- until you increase the combustion chamber pressure by either raising the compression ratio of the motor or cramming more air via forced induction. Higher octane levels are an increased resistance to detonation due to pressure and heat. At higher altitudes, there is less air pressure (less air available to cram into the combustion chamber) and therefore less need for higher octane.

I live at 5,500 feet and have been pumping 85 octane for decades.

 

[JExpedition07]

Well the 3.5L Ecoboost and 5.4L Triton are no competition for a big block pushing in excess of 500 lb ft of torque. and that is big block cubic inch torque.... real torque that’s unmatched by any. These rigs tow well but it’s not going to be like the 496 CID 8.1L that doesn’t even feel a load behind it. The expy will also squat considerable worse than your suburban did being a lighter duty chassis without a solid axle rear. Congrats on your purchace it should treat you well!

 

[Guipo]

Well the 3.5L Ecoboost and 5.4L Triton are no competition for a big block pushing in excess of 500 lb ft of torque. and that is big block cubic inch torque.... real torque that’s unmatched by any. These rigs tow well but it’s not going to be like the 496 CID 8.1L that doesn’t even feel a load behind it. The expy will also squat considerable worse than your suburban did being a lighter duty chassis without a solid axle rear. Congrats on your purchace it should treat you well!

We did a test run up to the mountains (5000 ft from sea level) with it last weekend. I can report she runs with similar power to the 8.1, with more RPMs needed to get up the hill. Actually, I was quite impressed with the towing ability. What I didn't like is the 1/2 ton springs in the rear. I felt much less confidence while towing with everything you can feel when the trailer is hooked up. I may be looking for a way to stiffen those springs in the back.

I also had to use the Load leveling springs set to just 5 chain lengths. Sometimes on the Suburban 3/4 ton, they would be way looser. I was a 1/2 inch higher in the front than before the trailer was attached, so not too bad.

 

[coolzzy]

I moved from a 10 F150 platinum Max tow to the 17 expedition EL for a similiar reason. How much does your trailer weigh? Mine grosses 6200 pounds and is 29ft long bumper to tongue. The passenger car tires they put on the expedition will make them sway more because the sidewalls are soo soft. I ordered a husky centerline TS 4 point sway control hitch that I'll be installing prior to my first tow run next weekend. It was cheaper than 4 new LT tires and will help with sway on the expeditions shorter than pickup 131" wheelbase.

 

[Guipo]

I moved from a 10 F150 platinum Max tow to the 17 expedition EL for a similiar reason. How much does your trailer weigh? Mine grosses 6200 pounds and is 29ft long bumper to tongue. The passenger car tires they put on the expedition will make them sway more because the sidewalls are soo soft. I ordered a husky centerline TS 4 point sway control hitch that I'll be installing prior to my first tow run next weekend. It was cheaper than 4 new LT tires and will help with sway on the expeditions shorter than pickup 131" wheelbase.

Mine loaded is around 7500 lbs. I wonder if we can get 10 ply for the 20 inch wheels .

 

[johnboneske]

Just making sure, you are happy/satisfied with your 2017 towing 7500? Good to know. I tow a 33ft Outback that weighs in about 6500 loaded with my 2003, and it doesn't have enough power. Everything else feel good and works good towing. I do have LT tires, Torque Pro app, a Prodigy Brake controller and a Equalizer E4 hitch