How well do Tahoes hold up past 100K? Help

[r33p04s]

I'm over 100k (123k to be exact) and it runs fine a slight dip in rpm's at idle but then it recovers (probably an electrical problem I need to get checked) other than that it runs great!

 

[02tahoeindiana]

130k runs and drives great
no major problems
just tires

 

[Chads93GT]

Hit this a few weeks ago before the tahoe went into the body shop to have the entire rearend, passenger side, and front end replaced from that damn uninsured driver. grrrrrrrrrrr

 

[msanc87806]

No Worries

I'm thinking of trading my Nissan Pathy 4x4 in on an older (02-03) Tahoe. The Pathy is an 05. The Tahoe I'm looking at is an 02 with 86K on it. Visually it looks to be in great shape. I wanted to know generally speaking, how well these trucks hold up if taken care of? It will not be taken off road, etc.

I'm trading down getting an older, cheaper vehicle with more miles. I'm a police officer and have a take home car. I barely put 7K on my Nissan last year. I don't think I can justify having a high car pymt for something that sits in the driveway. If these trucks hold up well once over 100K and my payment will drop 100-150 a month I'll feel a little better about doing this. I just don't want to make a mistake that I'll be paying for years down the road.

This is my 1st post and other than driving the occasional Tahoe (which I love) I don't know much about them. Any help or advice you can give (good/bad/indifferent) is greatly appreciated. Thanks guys.

I have over 118K and it runs great. The key is to take care of it. I tow a 30 ft. camper. The only modification I've done is installed a K&N cold air intake.

 

[Eyepoppin Customs]

i have an 03 tahoe 5.3 flex fuel with 106,000 and i tow a 24' flat bed trailer with a 66 cadi on it and have had no problems yet.

 

[FergHoe]

'02 Tahoe 5.3 flex. K&N CAI and Flowmaster forceII 108K I baby it most of the time but now and again I hammer on it and its still going strong.

 

[crazyhoe]

2001 TAHOE LT 170,000 runs like new , but did had to rebuild tranny at 140,000. still with alot of power, runs great!

 

[Chads93GT]

237k so far. both hubs replaced, fuel pump, AC quit working last year, havent fixed it yet. cleaned the gunk out of the throttle body to fix the dying at idle problem.

Still going.................

 

[crazyhoe]

wow! I was thinking my hoe had too many miles already,237,000, man, chevy motors dont play! made to last, made in the U.S.A!!!!

 

[withac]

Careful with that 4L60E. Make sure its got good fluid and it hasn't been abused. I blew up 1 in my '93 Suburban and 1 in my '96 Tahoe. The tahoe is @ 178,000mi and the Suburban was at 300,000mi though. Tahoe has had both and engine and Tranny swap.

Most people here don't seem to talk much about the 4L60E's but on another forum I frequent I hear lots of talk about how they are prone to early failure, right around the 100K mark. Don't get me wrong, I love my 'Ho, but with that many people commenting on it there has to be something to it. I bought my 'Ho last December (it's a 2000) with approx 92K miles on it. Around April or May with about 97K on it the tranny went out, needle bearing in the sun gear. Didn't need a new torque converter but it did need a rebuild kit. I had a shift kit put in at the same time as well as the 'Vette servo. The 'Vette servo is a real cheap mod that about everybody will tell you to do. It firms up the 1-2 shift and can be bought for under twenty bucks. If you're handy you can do the install yourself. Not trying to scare you away, like I said, I love my 'Ho, but I would look carefully at the tranny and maybe even do a pan drop and filter change if you buy it.

Good luck and welcome aboard.

 

[withac]

They are on all joints of your front suspension. Remove your front wheels to get at them all and have the truck on jack stands. They are on your upper/lower ball joints, steering linkage, etc. usually you have to clean all of the old grease off around them to get at the zerks as they get covered up from sludge.

If you DONT know what a grease zerk is, I suggest...having a friend who does know take you.....to a john deere dealership to look at some tractors. Every metal on metal joint will have a zerk on it, unless it is sealed, such as......my mustang's ball joints, urgh. its been a couple months since i have greased mine so I dont recall how many there are off hand, you just have to look. Usually wherever there is grease buildup, there is a zerk. They arent hard to find, or get to.

Actually, some of the zirks on my 2K 4X4 were a real beotch to get to.

 

[bigskybassguy]

My first post on TahoeForum.com.

It was instantly evident that people here won't dare badmouth a Tahoe!

Sorry... I have to badmouth the tranmission.

I have a `97 (bought it used at 97,000). Trannie crashed and burned at 104,000. (Granted, I have no idea of the previous owner's PreventMaint.)

Remanu'd trannie installed, and it just crashed at 45,000 miles. I babied it, and it died. (Granted, again, it could have been a bad remanuf job... but for $2300, I'd expect a little "Like A Rock" performance.)

Sorry, but now looking down the barrel of a 3rd $2200 trannie job, I'm a little soured on that ***** 4L60E trannie in there.

 

[bigskybassguy]

Hey, "withac"... you mentioned the 'VEtte mod; where could I find out more about that? Did you get a remanu'd trannie, or what?

I 'm thinking my torque converter went south, and delivered nice helpings of metal to the trannie.

Sorry if I hijacked the thread. I just need answers badly.

 

[withac]

Hey, "withac"... you mentioned the 'VEtte mod; where could I find out more about that? Did you get a remanu'd trannie, or what?

I 'm thinking my torque converter went south, and delivered nice helpings of metal to the trannie.

Sorry if I hijacked the thread. I just need answers badly.

Do a thread search here for 'Vette servo and I'm sure you'll find all you need. I think one of the posts even has instructions on how to do it yourself. I might have tackled it myself but since I was having the tranny rebuilt anyway I had my mechanic throw it in for me. It's a real cheap part and it firms up the 1-2 shift. I guess there are other servo's that can be replaced too, I'm no expert, but this one is a very common mod and gives a lot of bang for the buck. I had my tranny rebuilt. Rebuild kit, Superior shift kit, 'Vette servo, didn't replace the torque converter. My mechanic is a retired GM guy who doesn't look at the book and see how many hours he can charge, he charges for what he actually does. He also gave me the parts at his cost. Total bill including labor was right at $700.

 

[Gordo]

My 03 denali has 103k and still going like new!! (knock on Wood)

 

[crazyhoe]

Bad move! Always change your torque converter when rebuilting a tranny!

 

[Aquinosteven]

im at 130,000 and have been towing with it since 100,000. i tow an 8000lb boat and the tahoe takes a beating but nothing has even happen to it. i think the most common problem it the throttle body gettin a little drity causing it to idle weird but thats it.

 

[ballsie]

Go to a Ford forum and see if you get the same responses about GM. I think we are all a little biased - but i have no problem with that!

 

[thedude337]

mine has just turned 100k its an 01 the only issues with mine is the auto ride suspension quit working( if any body knows a link on that pm me please.). now keep in mind the 5.3 motors cooling i think is a 100k service type thing but no biggie waterpump power flush and new coolant should be good for another 100k. other than that strong as hell love it. the tahoe to me is the perfect vehical. they are roomy lay down the back seats and its like a 6 foot truck bed. good comfy ride. when mine dies i think im gonnareplace my couch with the seats lol.:lol:

i used to drive fords. drove a chevy never looked back

 

[withac]

Bad move! Always change your torque converter when rebuilting a tranny!

If you were referring to me, I did it based on my mechanics recommendation. He said it looked fine, said he'd put one much more questionable back in his sons car and it ran forever. He said since it was his recommendation if it went south any time soon he's make good on it. That was last April or May and I'm still going strong.