By accessing this website, you acknowledge that Edmunds and its third party business partners may use cookies, pixels, and similar technologies to collect information about you and your interactions with the website as described in our
Privacy Statement, and you agree that your use of the website is subject to our
Visitor Agreement.
Comments
As far as the trim; the running boards on the Denali are more integrated and there is no door moldings - looks better, not as good for door dings. Interior is two-town seats, color matched steering wheel, black-wood trim, covers for the cup holders and pockets and a more finished console cover, although the standard console cover is nice for holding stuff.
Larger tires and better rims also, which are still worth replacing for looks.
Check the weight of the 01/02/03. If the weight of the vehicle increased, the towing capacity listed in the specs would be reduced.
-mike
If you know whether this unit can be dealer-installed, please let me know! Thanks!
I was told by the dealer that this is normal operation. I had it in before for the same problem and they replace the throttle body. Shouldn't the throttel body do its job by not letting me feel this surging?
Again the dealer said this is normal. How many of you see this in your rear doors? They said it was a design flaw and they can cut the trim off. Anyone else experiencing this?
Regarding your other issues, if you're not satisfied with your dealer's answer that everything is normal, definitely try another dealer. Your extended warranty will be honored there as well.
There are alot of discussion earlier in this forum (around page 134 and back).
How is the AWD Denali with 22's in the snow? Anybody have any experience with this? Already sold my stock wheels and tires so I can't go back.
Just wondered how difficult it would be with 22"s. The BMW X5's are not recommended in the snow with the 20" wheels, they tend to slide around a lot. Could the Denali be as bad?
It never hurts to bring chains if you have them, just in case you happen to be driving on an icy road or two...
I just bought some Z cables, do I need a set for the fronts and rears. I thought I read somewhere that cables are recommended only on the fronts on AWD vehicles. Can someone tell me if thats true for the Denali?
What is you average hwy mpg? We can still get 18 to 19 on the highway for longer trips.
How hard you drive it and letting it idle a bit can really hurt mpg.
-jay
--I try to avoid roads covered in deep snow and/or ice slick enough to warrant necessary use of chains/cables. For the most part, I've stuck to driving mostly on the well-travelled roads (e.g., I-80 between Sacramento and Reno/Tahoe)
--I still have the stock wheels, so I could always slap those on (along with carrying a set of cables that'll work on my truck) if there was a strong possibility of driving on roads such as those described in the previous point
Denaliman--there are two schools of thought regarding placement of chains/cables on AWD vehicles; ideally you would want them on all four wheels. If for whatever reason you have but one set of chains/cables, you could:
--Put them on the front wheels, since that's where all the steering and the majority of braking takes place...and we all know how important steering and braking is;
--Put them on the rear wheels, because if your vehicle starts to slide...more often than not, your rear will come around before the front (even more so since there are no chains on the rears to help aid in regaining some traction). Having chains on the front probably wouldn't necessarily reduce the possibility of a rear-end slide, I might venture to say...
Say, I use the same philosophy! That's why I live in Texas! ;-)
The 22's are just going to affect you on rough terrain as you don't have the sidewall cushion.
The other thing will be tread pattern. Are your tires M&S?
I run M&S 18's that are fairly wide as I drive occasionally on fire roads and ranches. I siped the tires which does seem to help with wet and snow conditions. I have found that in most conditions (a side from driving down a non-plowed road) that my Denali AWD gets better traction than my Blazer 4WD had with 33" All Terrain tires.
The 4.8l is really going to be a benefit when cruising on the highway. The city may or may not be better than a 5.3l as it takes about the same amount of energy to get the vehicle moving whether you have a 4.8l or 5.3l.
In some cases, the bigger engines can be more efficient for city driving as long as you don't put too much foot into it.
For typically city driving, 14mpg does not sound that bad for a big vehicle.
The Danger of Dubs
If you like, I'll search out a Texas ice storm link for you, Dilbertzzz :-)
Steve, Host
Not sure if you will see any improvement around the city for mpg. It will give you a little more performance, but using that performance will not help your gas mileage.
Used '03 Denalis are available on Cars.com in the mid 30's. If a guy was sharp he probably could buy a loaded Tahoe/Yukon with close to the same equipment for a lot less than a used Denali because of the better resale on the Denali. You'd have to wade through a lot of 4.8 engine, cloth units though and endure the Chevy salesman with the hand printed business card. With Denali there are basically only two options (as I recall), the sunroof and NAV. Most have a sunroof. Since Denalis are all comparably equipped, the purchase decision on a used one is easy. It comes down to miles, color and price.
And yes, my Toyo Proxes S/T tires are M+S rated...
Me? I'd pop for a Denali and enjoy the "somewhat better" equipment such as the 6.0, full time AWD, huge torque convertor, and monochromatic exterior. The late 70's Chev C10 pickup truck interior you just can't get away from. (Although I have seen Tahoes with the wood/plastic dash/door kits installed that looked much better than a Denali.)
If you see a vehicle with both, the DVD will be an aftermarket system.
This is not all bad as I think the aftermarket systems are better. The aftermarket systems mount the screen on the roof with the player under the seat (or wherever). The factory players are a little big and hunky hanging on the roof with the integrated player, where the aftermarket ones are very streamline.
When putting the aftermarket players in, some will have interior lights, it is best to hook up the light relay off of the interior door lights. Most installers will not take the time to do this. The interior light circuit with the dimming function will give you a clicking of the relay when the lights shut down instead of a hard off.
After testing and putting my tire cables on the front wheels I noticed that there isn't much clearance on the inside of the wheel area. The brake line is very close to the tire. This is probably why GMC doesn't recommend chains on the fronts. The cables only have a 3/4" clearance between the tire and the brake line. Next I tried them on the rear wheels. Much more clearance from the brake lines. When I go to Tahoe this weekend and if I have to put on cables, I will put them on the rear as GMC recommends.
Hoping it doesn't snow too much so I won't have to use the cables at all. I'll let everyone know how it turns out. Denali with 22" wheels in the snow.
I would question using chains at all. The traction of the Denali is really good. In fact I have found that I can go through heavy snow conditions as good with my Denali w/ 18" Michelins as well as my old Blazer with very aggressive tires (except 3' snow drifts but that is due to ground clearance).
Chains are a pain in the a--, and I would bet that you would not need them, but always good to carry if you have them.
One thing that I have noticed on mine is if stopped on a hill in really thick snow (try to pull out of a drive), I did get alot of tire spin with and without the DSC. The second gear on that GM Trans will start the vehicle in second and makes a world of difference if stuck.
Have a great time in the snow. If you are in CA, it will be a great weekend - alot of snow coming!
One question for all you experts. I was looking for a specific color combo and stumbled across 2 at a dealer that was near enough. Turns out they had the early 05 pricing which helped out a little more with the price. I knew, however, that this meant they were earlier in the model year as well. The one I bought had an invoice date of 10/14/04. Is there anything that has been fixed or updated since that time that I should be aware of?
Thanks,
Lee
Didn't need the chains although the weather forecasters were predicting heavy snow flurries. Just for everybodies FYI. It is very seldom in Tahoe that the Highway patrol announces that all vehicles even 4 wheel and AWD's must put on chains. When it usually gets to that point they usually close off the roads until the plows can clear them.