I've spent the better part of five years telling people how much I like our 2003 GMC Yukon Denali. Then I went and bought a 2017 Ram 1500 Laramie.
That probably sounds like a change of heart. It isn't. I still like the Yukon. In fact, if I could justify keeping every vehicle I get attached to, it wouldn't be going anywhere. But liking something and having it work for what you need next are two different conversations.
The Yukon has been our family road-trip vehicle, parts hauler, camera platform and general answer to the question, “Will it fit?” It's a 6.0-litre AWD Denali with roughly 276,000 kilometres on it. It's taken us places, carried Blake and a remarkable amount of gear, and given me a front-row seat to why people are still so attached to these trucks.
I've written about [why the GMT800 might be GM's best truck platform](/blog/why-gmt800-might-be-gms-best-truck-platform), and I haven't taken any of it back.
So why buy the Ram?
The honest answer is that I wanted a truck bed. My e-bike fits in the Yukon, but getting it inside is a production, and then whatever is on the bike is inside the vehicle with it. Add drone gear, camping gear and a five-year-old, and I started wanting the flexibility of a pickup more than I wanted another season of playing cargo Tetris.
I also wanted something newer and comfortable enough that we'd actually choose to take it places. That led to a lot of used-truck shopping, some false starts, and eventually a 2017 Ram 1500 Laramie for $26,900 CAD.
It has a crew cab, a 5.7-litre Hemi, an eight-speed automatic, and a two-tone interior that I liked immediately. The outside is two-tone as well: black above a brown lower section, with plenty of Laramie chrome. I know the current recipe is black wheels, black trim and a stance wide enough to annoy the neighbours. Apparently my recipe is “old man with good taste.” I'm comfortable with that.
I don't love owning another black vehicle. I could live without the brown carpet. But I liked this truck as a whole before I started imagining what I could change on it. That matters when you're buying something you hope to keep.
The honeymoon has involved a shop visit or two
I put Toyo Open Country A/T III tires in 285/65R20 on the factory 20-inch wheels. The truck already had roughly two inches of front leveling from its struts, which helped explain the stance I liked when the new tires went on.
The tires look fantastic. Then we tried to align the truck.
Seized adjustment hardware means the lower control arms need replacing on both sides before the alignment can be finished. I've bought NAPA TTX control arms and the replacement hardware; the work is still pending as I write this. I've also noticed a little rubbing at full steering lock while reversing, and we'll identify what the tire is touching when the truck is back at the shop. There's no victory lap to report yet.
It has been frustrating to spend money on a truck I've barely had time to enjoy. I still came home, looked back at it, and thought, “Damn, I love that thing.” Both reactions can be true.
The Yukon isn't suddenly the wrong truck
The Yukon has something the Ram hasn't earned yet: history. I know how it drives when it's packed for a trip. I know which details I like enough to fix, which ones I can live with, and why a clean GMT800 still gets people talking. The Ram is new to us. People have seen its introduction; they haven't watched years of ownership unfold.
And the audience response has been pretty clear. Our GMT800 stories are among the most-read pieces on this site. The videos about the Yukon draw people who own these trucks, miss one, or are trying to decide if an older one still makes sense. I understand it. That's exactly why I kept making them.
But a vehicle also has to fit the household budget. Right now we're putting money into the Ram and trying to sell the Yukon. I can't keep a second truck because people like watching it, however much I'd enjoy the excuse. If you're here for the GMT800, there will still be GMT800 stories on Driftwood Motoring. Owning Old Faithful gave me more than enough to say about it.
What comes next
First, the Ram gets its control arms and alignment. Then we'll find out whether that occasional full-lock rub needs a small fix. The muffler I keep daydreaming about can wait until the truck is properly sorted.
After that, I want to use Boomer as a truck: load the bike, take the camera gear somewhere good, and see whether a fourth-generation Ram can become the kind of vehicle you form an attachment to over time. I suspect it can. I'm not going to claim five years of wisdom after a couple of weeks.
The Yukon earned the name Old Faithful. Boomer still has to earn its stories. That's the interesting part.
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