Drove home from Boone NC to Lynchburg VA today loaded like this, 75 mph most of the way, 223 miles. Probably 60 miles of net -2000 ft elevation change but otherwise rolling hills up and down. 2000 model with 285's, 3 in lift, gear on the roof, fuel cans full, and cargo area loaded with all my recovery gear. Ran about 170-180 (below my set point for fans on with the fan controller for the dual electrics), ambient temp about 75F most of the way. Truck has 240k on the original motor, still runs 38psi oil pressure at 2500 rpm on the highway.

 

Ships passing, nearly.

I drove home from Carrboro NC this weekend. Depending on which route you took, common highway in Winston-Salem and Greensboro or some common sections of I77. I must admit that a 233 mile drive sounds tame. My destination was SLC Utah, 2,100 miles.

I was sadly driving a Suburban and not my Disco. Too much stuff coming with us to fit in the smaller car. But I day-dreamed of a long road trip in the Disco the whole way!

Those stats on your truck are solid. Hope mine is that healthy at 240K miles on the clock.

How bad was it in west NC? My exposure was only the east. Passed a fair number of downed trees but no flooding. Looks terrible on the news.

 

I was coming down 421 to WS then 40 to 29N. D2 drives much better with the 285's at speed although I need to do the caster correction from the 3" lift. I much prefer my Avalanche for long highway miles (Suburban chassis), it will cruise 85 mph all day and stable as a rock. I am not comfortable with the D2 going over 75. Avi gets 15 mpg also. Video I shot of WNC:

 

I agree with the D2 not being great above 70mph. My P38 is far better, I’ve had it a lot faster than 70 and it drives beautifully.

 

I also agree that the GMT800 and GMT900 based Suburban and Avalanche are very comfortable highway vehicles. Mine is not the pinnacle they can be due to over-size tires and stiffer front spring rates that I am not thrilled with, but it was still a very easy drive from SLC to Chapel Hill and back. I averaged 15.0, with a topper and several hundred lbs of cargo in addition to three adults and a baby.

OTOH, that car is a pig on ice on a Wasatch mountain fire road. And the Disco is right at home.

 

Oh yeah, also a pig in a parking lot or around town, Disco feels like a sports car compared to the Avi.

 

Dang it Extinct. Now you have me browsing the used Avalanches.

 

Good ones are hard to find. I looked for a year. Anything that has been north of Virginia will likely be a rust bucket. Others are driven very hard. Very few are 4x4 which was a must for me. I finally found a good one in GA and had it shipped to me. Got lucky and it was a fully optioned 08 LTZ. I am in the process of putting air conditioned seats in it I got in a Junkyard, replacing the center section with perforated alcantara. Its has the electronic shocks, stability control, air suspension, memory seats, sunroof, dvd player, and the factory power running boards. 175k on the clock, put a $3000 transmission in it one month after I bought it. Had to replace starter, rear brakes, shocks, bump stops, valve covers, and oil pressure sender. Put a 180 stat in it and an external trans cooler. Turned off the AFM with HPTuners. 10in touch screen installed. It will be the last truck I ever buy. Thinking about putting a supercharger or turbocharger on it, I would like about 450 ft lbs at 2500 rpm.

 

Being in the west serious rust is not a huge concern. I found four GMT-900's, 2010-2011 year with less than 140K on the clock with clean titles. The stand out is a 2011 LTZ with 138K and the LC9 aluminum block flex fuel 5.3. White exterior, black interior. Only real concerns are I like the LT center console better, there is a dash cover that may be hiding dash cracks and the price is a more than I want to spend, though in-line with the other options in similar condition.

In the end I don't need another vehicle. But this is very tempting. If I did this then the X5 and 250 GLK would go, and the suspension mods from my Suburban would go to this, and the suburban would go back to factory suspension and tires. And it would become my wifes daily again which means I would need her buy in. She loves driving smaller cars, but with grandkids always going with her she usually needs the suburban anyway.

Decisions, decisions.

 

Yeah,all the dashes crack, I will be repairing and having mine covered in vinyl after repairing the cracks. I paid $3500 for mine but now have about $8-9 total in it with new tires, transmission, valve covers, brakes, radio, shocks, starter, radiator, transmission lines, bump stops, air conditioned seats, floor mats and new headlights.