Overview The GMC Savana is one of those vehicles that refuses to die. Same basic van. Same frame. Same work-truck bones. Since 1996. I’ve had these things on lifts with 300,000 miles and duct-taped wiring harnesses still hauling plumbing supplies every day. From a drivetrain perspective, the Savana is basically a Silverado in a box….
Overview The fifth-generation GMC Yukon XL showed up for the 2021 model year riding on GM’s T1 truck platform. Bigger truck. New suspension. Independent rear setup instead of the old solid axle. And buried inside all that new hardware sits the same basic drivetrain concept GM uses across its big SUVs and pickups. One transmission…
Overview The earlier version needed cleanup. A few points were too loose, a few were stated harder than the factory record allows, and with drivetrain work that matters. On the 2015–2020 GMC Yukon XL, the transmission story changes depending on engine, trim, and whether the truck is rear-wheel drive or four-wheel drive. Same body. Different…
Overview The 2007–2014 GMC Yukon XL is one of those trucks that can either be a solid long-haul family hauler or a very expensive lesson in GM driveline history. I’ve worked on a lot of these. Enough to know that you do not judge them by the badge, the trim, or how clean the leather…
Overview The 2000–2006 GMC Yukon XL sits on the GMT800 truck platform. Big body. Real frame. Old-school drivetrain layout. No weird engineering experiments here — just a longitudinal automatic tranny bolted to a transfer case and two driveshafts like a proper truck. I’ve worked on a lot of these. Hundreds across Silverado, Tahoe, Suburban, and…
Overview The fifth-generation GMC Yukon landed in 2021 and GM changed a lot underneath the sheet metal. Independent rear suspension. New electronics everywhere. And a 10-speed Hydra-Matic transmission running the whole show. Sounds great on paper. In the real world… it’s a mixed bag. I’ve had quite a few of these Yukons roll through the…
Overview The fourth-generation GMC Yukon (2015–2020) runs on the same truck bones as the Tahoe, Suburban, and Escalade. Big body. Ladder frame. Real truck drivetrain. And when you’re talking about reliability on these things, the transmission and transfer case are where the money usually disappears. I’ve worked on a lot of them. Fleets, tow rigs,…
Overview The third-generation GMC Yukon (2007–2014) sits on GM’s GMT900 truck platform. Big body-on-frame SUV. Real truck hardware underneath. That matters when we start talking about transmissions and drivelines. I’ve worked on these things for years. Same guts as Tahoe, Suburban, Escalade. When one rolls into the shop with 120,000 miles (193,000 km) on it,…
Overview The 2000–2006 GMC Yukon is pretty simple on paper. That helps. No manual. No CVT nonsense. No DCT. Just old-school GM truck stuff: 4L60-E, 4L65-E, and on the heavy-duty Yukon XL 2500, the 4L80-E. Then you layer in the transfer case and front axle hardware, and that’s where this platform starts separating the decent…
Overview The fifth-generation GMC Sierra showed up in 2019 and it’s still rolling off assembly lines today. Light-duty Sierra 1500 trucks sit on the GM T1 platform. The big boys — Sierra 2500HD and 3500HD — landed a year later with a totally different heavy-duty drivetrain setup. I work on these trucks all the time….
Overview The 2014–2018 GMC Sierra sits in that strange middle period where GM trucks were getting more complicated but still carried some old-school hardware. I’ve worked on a lot of these. Hundreds probably. Some run forever. Others show up in the shop with a shudder that feels like you’re driving across rumble strips every five…
Overview The 2007–2013 GMC Sierra sits on GM’s GMT900 truck platform. Big trucks. Body-on-frame. Built for towing, hauling, job sites, and long interstate miles. And underneath all that metal sits a mix of transmissions that range from “pretty tough” to “yeah… this one’s going to cost you.” I’ve worked on these since they were new….
Overview The 1999–2006 GMC Sierra sits on GM’s GMT800 platform. Good trucks. Tough frames. Solid engines. But the transmissions? Depends what you bought. I’ve worked on these since they were still rolling into dealerships under warranty. Some of them just keep going forever. Others… the tranny eats itself around 150,000 miles (241,000 km) and the…
Overview The third-generation GMC Canyon showed up for the 2023 model year riding on GM’s completely redesigned midsize truck platform. New frame, new electronics, new driveline layout. A lot changed all at once. From a drivetrain perspective GM simplified things—almost aggressively. One engine family. One transmission family. Rear-wheel drive or AutoTrac four-wheel drive. That’s it….
Overview The second-generation GMC Canyon (2015–2022) is a pretty traditional truck underneath. Longitudinal engine. Rear-drive base layout. Optional part-time 4WD. Solid rear axle. Old-school stuff. And that’s good news. Usually. I’ve worked on these trucks since they started showing up in shops around 2015. Same basic platform as the Chevrolet Colorado, same driveline pieces, same…