Thoughts on GMT800/900 Tahoes?

I’m looking for a new family camping rig. This will be used primarily for long road trips and traversing miles of backcountry roads (San Rafael, Cap Reef, Moab, etc). We won’t be doing any hard trails. I have a Jeep for that.
Most likely, I’ll do a small lift with 33” tires.

What are your thoughts on a Tahoe? GMT 800 or 900. I’ve never had one. But I’ve heard good things about the 5.3 V8.
My main concerns are the transmission 4l60, and the cylinder deactivation on the 900’s. But perhaps not a big issue, as I have a family member with a 2016 and 150k trouble-feee miles towing a 7k lb Airstream all over the country.

Ones I’m looking at have under 170k miles and are priced under $8k.

Thanks for any feedback.

I have a 2017 Tahoe. I don’t really daily drive it but use it for work so lots of long road trips and I’ve towed a boat plenty with it. It tows like a half ton suv. I personally wouldn’t make it my choice to tow a 7k trailer. But other than that I really enjoy it for an older suv. Still drives great still has a comfortable interior and has been relatively easy to work on.

I’ve had both, my current daily is an ‘05 Yukon I gave $500 for.

My brother used to run a business rebuilding 4l60’s, he said the #1 killer is overheating them. So I ran a Tru-Cool 40k cooler on my old ‘07. I have one to install on my ‘05, just haven’t done it yet. Another good upgrade is the corvette servo.

The DOD/AFM on the gen 4 gmt900 can be deleted, there’s shops in Utah that can swap the cam, lifters, and flash the ECM to eliminate it. Interior is newer, so it’s nice to have that.

Both units have issues with gauge clusters down the road, especially the 800’s. Generally speaking they can be fixed from different vendors.

I don’t think you can go wrong with either, but if you’re going to spend up to the higher end of $8k, I’d expect lower mileage and maintenance records. I see both of these units with around 170-200k selling for around $5k quite often.

GMT800 2500 > GMT800 1500 > GMT900.

IMO, GM nailed durable engine design with the GenIII V8s. Going with a 2500 nets you the 4L80 (or better), which ups the vehicle's overall durability even more... and gets you upgraded brakes/axles/suspension/etc, which is all good for towing. I realize no vehicle is perfect, but if you want an SUV tow rig to buy and drive for a quarter million miles or more, it is very difficult to do better than a GMT800 2500.

Now, back to the OP. You specified a Tahoe, which is available in the 1500 configuration only. I'd suggest stepping up to a Suburban/YukonXL just to open up the option of a 2500 (though the longer wheelbase will be a plus for towing, also). If you simply cannot or will not entertain this idea, then upgrading the 4L60's external trans fluid cooler is a must. (You could certainly do this with a 4L80, too. For the record, I did install the upgraded Tru-Cool 40k external cooler on my 2500 Suburban. It definitely lowered my observed fluid temps in all conditions.)

As I type this, our shop has a GMT900 Tahoe trade-in with its GenIV 5.3L engine ripped apart due to the cam/lifter issue. I suppose one cannot say that this issue will affect every GMT900 out there, but the odds are high enough to make me steer clear. YMMV

Here is an idea of the size comparison between the stock external trans fluid cooler and the Tru-Cool Max 40k one:

Just last night the wife's 05 escalade gave up the ghost on the 4l65e. It supposedly had a new/reman put in right before she bought it in 2021 while I was away on Uncle Sam's dime. I've also had an '04 yukon xl I bought as a band-aide when her '07 was having trans problems with a 6l80e (rebuilt with red clutches, koleen steels, sonnax valve body parts, etc.) before I left. The 04 and 05 are higher mileage, and I've rebuilt the 4l65 in the 04 recently, but I still wouldn't put faith in a 4l6xe to tow a 7k trailer with the family on a semi/ regular basis. Take it for what it's worth, but I'd prefer a 4l80e all day long, every day, including Sunday. Neither of my wife rigs towed anything over 1k intermittently to the shop when my 97 k2500 wasn't available.

1969honda said:

... but I'd prefer a 4l80e all day long, every day, including Sunday.

Click to expand...

According to what I've seen Matt Happel (of "Sloppy Mechanics" fame) say, a 4L60E and 4L80E can be interchanged provided you reposition two wires at the harness plug where it connects to the transmission.

I, too, am a huge fan of the 4L80 and would suggest any 1500 owner upgrade to it if they intend to tow anything substantial (or even if they don't).

Thanks for the input. Sounds like the transmission is something I need to watch. I won’t be towing with it, at least not on a regular basis and definitely not anything close to 7k lbs. Probably a trailer full of mulch or yard debris once a year.

One feature I want is the z71 package for the rear locker. Maybe not a huge deal but it’d be nice to have.

Regarding the Suburban - I would actually prefer a suburban over the Tahoe. But garage space is the issue. Cannot fit a Burb in, unfortunately. I almost bought a 2004 2500 a few months ago, but found I could not fit one in.