The insurance company FINALLY paid me for the loss of my truck and a few days later, after 8 weeks of not having a vehicle, I got a 2010 Yukon Denali. I was looking for a Chevy Tahoe but having a hard time finding a used one for sale within 50 miles. I found one that a dealer was asking $997 more than it was worth, but otherwise would have been perfect for me. I put my ATV payments on hold since I was ahead on them, and it wiped out my savings to buy the Yukon, but I don't have to make payments on it. I spent the money I saved up for new furniture and a whole lot more, but since I was pulling the third row seats out anyway, they'll serve as a couch. I'll probably build a 2x4 frame to raise them off the floor a foot or so. 80 bucks worth of lumber ought to do it. I figure that's what a few 2x4s are going for theses days.
The only engine they put in the Yukon Denali that year was a 6.2 Liter. It puts out 50% more horsepower than the 4.8 Liter V8 I had in my Silverado. Actually it's around 49&1/4%, 403 HP versus 270, but I rounded it up.
When I took it for a test ride the dealer told me to keep it under 120. I did, but I got it up to 105 on the freeway.
I asked my brother who gave me a ride to the dealer, you want to see how fast it will go? He said, "No.", then I clicked my blinker, got in the fast lane and wound 'er up a bit.
It was fun but I'm not looking forward to trips to the gas station. I really don't drive much anyway. The Yukon is 9 years newer than my truck and has 100,000 more miles. I only took the one picture when I got it home, before I took it back to get detailed.
I still have to read the manual to learn how to program the locks, seat, steering column and all that stuff. And to adjust the pedals, and everything else I don't even know about yet. I programmed all 36 radio presets to XM stations yesterday. Right now things are set up to unlock all the doors when you shut the engine off. That's not a good idea in Flint. But don't take my word for it. Ask my next-door neighbor who was recently carjacked and has 8 broken ribs now. When I use the key fob to unlock it, I think it unlocks the front passenger door, but not the back doors. Maybe it unlocks all of them. I had my truck set up to not unlock the doors when I put it in park or when I turned the engine off and took the key out. When I used the key fob to unlock it, one press only unlocked the drivers door and I'll be setting the Yukon the same way. I bought all new lug nuts with locks for all 4 wheels today. No one will see them under the hubcaps, but I don't want anyone stealing those sweet 20s it has on it. Then I bought a new ball mount with an 8" drop, a 2" stainless steel ball, and a locking hitch pin. The hitch pin and lock on the end of it are black, so it's all color coordinated with the ball mount and the Yukon itself. The only thing left to do would be to get the ball blackened and that's a bit too much.
I bought some more gun stuff but I've been too busy to do much with it. I got an A2 carry handle mounted on the flattop upper of the Can Cannon and put my quadrant sight on it. Because of the knobs sticking out on the side of the carry handle I could leave the sight at 100 meters, not an option really, or have a minimum range of 300 meters on the sight. I have no idea how far an M200 blank will launch a 12 ounce can of soda with the sights set at that elevation, but the point blank range with the sight set for 100 meters would have to be pretty short. The X Products upper was a sloppy loose fit, which is okay for some things but not AR-15s. I like a nice tight one, and I reckon most of you do too. I even had an ACCU-Wedge in it and could not only move the upper up and down, I could rotate it around the barrel axis. There was daylight showing all the way around between the upper and lower, even around the corner and up the back of the upper. After I put a new ACCU-Wedge in it I could barely get it closed but it took the slop out. Here's a little tip: When you put a new ACCU-Wedge in, IF you have trouble closing the receiver halves, use a flat-bladed screwdriver in the corner of the wedge to press it all the way down and back . Some receiver and wedge combinations fit so loose you can just poke the wedge in with your finger and you're good to go. I kept the old wedge since it worked perfectly fine with uppers other than X Products. I'll post some pics of my other projects once I get them finished.
P.S. I also bought some license plate mounting hardware so I can put my vanity plate on the front. I think it only cost me $5 extra to have 2 plates instead of 1, but the first 1 isn't cheap.