Old Suburbans

[Zimnij Volk]

Hey there everyone!

I'm new to the forum, but I assume that was a little obvious from my first sentence. I looked for a good 10 minutes trying to make sure I didn't miss a welcoming section or the like, so hopefully I'm not blind...

Anyhow, I stumbled across this site by complete accident really, I had no idea what over-landing was. After a little curious research is seems to fit perfectly with my style and plans for the future.

As it goes, right now all I have is a Chevy C1500 Cheyenne. Luckily, with the new addition to our family we need a larger rig, and the wifey plans on 5 more, so no where else to look except for a Suburban for our future vehicle. I'm poised to buy one this month, and figured I'd go ahead and shoot this thread out to everyone here on the forum to see if anyone had a suggestion or two on what to look for.

We're looking for one somewhere in the years between 81 and 91 for the older body style, so if anyone would like to shout out some good years for that I'd appreciate it. Overall, I'd like to make this my DD for now, but take it camping and out for some fun in the mud. It still needs to be tame enough for loading small children though.

Thanks in advance for everyone's input!

~Volk

 

[Little Red]

what to look for when buying an older suburban

If you are looking at buying an older suburban I would buy one of the later years.
They went to TBI (fuel injection) in 1987 ½ and these suburban’s are better on gas and the engines are usually better and easier to work on than the older carbureted V8’s.
The most popular years are 89-91 due to the newer interior, duel headlight grill and some other small cosmetical changes as well as that they are usually equipped with a four speed auto transmission with overdrive. If you are getting a diesel suburban it does not really matter much what year you get but these are harder to find and usually more expansive. Also I would get one with barn doors in the back rather than the tailgate.

One off the things to look for is rust as a lot of these older suburban’s are very rusted. Otherwise parts are easy to get and usually fairly cheap and they are very easy to work on if you can do most of it yourself.

Also what is your budget? If you can afford it another option is to buy a Ford Excursion. An Excursion with a 7.3L diesel engine is one of the best full-size SUVs’ you can get in my opinion.

Hope this helps and Welcome to the site.
Also look around here in the domestic: full size and other section as there are lots of threads about older suburban’s and some cool built treads. (you can click on the link in my signature to see my built thread)

 

[FellowTraveler]

Old School

Your on the right track, I'd suggest 3/4 ton w/diesel if you can find one. If buying gas version because you can't find diesel then consider a future conversion to diesel.

You can play w/transmission and gear combos to get best overall mpg on/off road. Turbo 400 w/gear vender over/under drive is a great option.

Expense of operation and PM would be most cost effective too IMHO.

Best of luck with whatever you decide on.

 

[Rovertrader]

how abouit a 50k mile '83? Seriously:
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=55432

And welcome aboard- great site with tons of info. Cheers

 

[Zimnij Volk]

Little Red,

Thanks for the pointers! I recently found out about the lack of OD in the older ones, but I wasn't sure where they changed that. I'm definitely on the look out for rust, being from the West Coast as well, I can't help but look for it. Lots of old vehicles sitting and rusting away... My parent's old '88 Chevy was starting to get quite a bit of cancer just before they sold it off. And awesome build! I'm reading through it as I go. Although I'm in the same situation regarding wanting to get a 3/4 ton, but they're either mint and way out of my budget, or trashed. I'm finding a lot of half-tons in good condition and much cheaper. Have you swapped out the running gear?

FellowTraveler,

I do plan on a conversion far off in the future to either a 4 or 6BT Cummins for it. As it is also the family hauler which one would you suggest?

Rovertrader,

Minus the tailgate that Burb is awesome! ... And WAY out of my price... The wife would kill me...

 

[Rovertrader]

It seems pricey, but consider a cheaper example and the cost to get to this level will be much much more- and it has the 700r4 OD tranny...

 

[1leg]

I was once where you are now looking for a 81-91 suburban. If I was doing it over again I would change my priority list just a little. Barn doors are almost a must have on a lifted suburban. Its cheaper to put 3/4 ton axles under a half ton then it is to put a overdrive trans in a 3/4 ton. All half ton fron 1985 to 1992 got the overdrive trans automatic. A 454 TBI with a th400 trans only gets about 2-3 less MPG then a 350 with a th400 trans but you get a lot more towing power. the holy grail of suburbans is the 1991 3/4 ton with barn doors, came with the 4L80 overdrive auto. i looked for about 2 months and didn't find one until 3 days after i bought mine(1989), to make it worse it was only 10 miles away from my house.

you can find 73-91 suburbans in socal for around 1500-4000 all day long.

Old List,
Clean and rust free
4x4
TBI
Non-modified
¾ ton
Barn doors
Overdrive automatic
350
Diesel
454

New List-
Clean and rust free
4x4
Barn Doors
TBI
Overdrive automatic (1988-1992)
¾ ton
454
350
Diesel

 

[Zimnij Volk]

Rovertrader,

Sorry, I don't have that kind of money to spend.

1leg,

Thanks for the info. I found an 86 today that's in pretty good shape and they would negotiate with me over the price since I found some things wrong with it that would be a real inconvenience. It's a V1500, and I'm sure I saw OD in it ...although at first I thought it was another D. Today's just been one of those days I guess... Other than the usual peeling and light surface rust on the roof, it looks solid. The interior isn't half bad either which is a nice change.

Can anyone think of reasons not to get it?

 

[stewie]

Barn doors are almost a must have on a lifted suburban.

I have never had barn doors. My 4" lifted Suburban has a tailgate which I really like. What is it about Barn doors that most people seem to prefer?

Stewie

 

[njtacoma]

engine options

1leg, I agree that the big block is the better choice if towing is involved. They seem to get the same mileage if a trailer is attached or not. The small blocks seem to really suffer mileage if you hook up a trailer.

I didn't think they offered the 454 in the 4wd 88-91 suburbans. From what I've read online there seems to be a couple people that claim they've seen a factory version, and others dispute they even exist.

I'm looking for a 1/2 ton 350 700r4 to add 3/4 axles under. (Although I have a friend with the much coveted 3/4 ton 91 with barn doors. It causes me to stumble)

 

[shovelbill]

i'd seriously wait to find a TBI truck(87-91).......i don't know when they went to the serpentine belt setup, but my '90 K5 has it and i rather prefer it. spend the time and money to get a rust free rig from Texas or SoCal etc. it's much cheaper to drive/transport home than repairing rust.

if you are patient you'll find an oil burner 3/4 ton and that's as good as it gets......after you add the turbo. a mint 1/2 ton is a better platform than a beat 3/4 ton to start....axles are easy to swap and a simple 14 bolt semi floater is a simple upgrade that would be fine for most anything you'd want to do if you keep it "tame enough" with maybe a 3" lift and 33-34" tires.

with a family i'd sure want the dual AC setup too.

this is a very sturdy and reliable setup for most anything....fantastic company too:
http://offroaddesign.com/catalog/3inchliftsystem.htm

I have never had barn doors. My 4" lifted Suburban has a tailgate which I really like. What is it about Barn doors that most people seem to prefer?

i'm not sure either......much less to go wrong i guessand ease of loading?. i prefer the tailgate, i think it's more versatile and adds length to the floor.

 

[Little Red]

Little Red,
Have you swapped out the running gear?

Swapping the half ton axels for ¾ ton axels is definitely on my to do list but it is one of the more expensive mods I want to do so it will have to wait for now. And swapping the 350 for a Cummins, well it is on the wish list for now (maybe after everything else is completed)

What is it about Barn doors that most people seem to prefer?

If you are out in the middle of nowhere and your window motor in the tailgate goes out, you can not even open the rear without damaging it.
Plus if you think about mounting a spare tire carrier or gas cans on the rear bumper you can mount them to one side with barn doors and still be able to access the other door without having to move the tire out of the way or take off the fuel cans first.
And I think the main thing is ease of operation and faster access with barn doors.
(you don’t have to get inside first to roll down the window)

 

[1leg]

Barn doors give easier access to rear of the truck.

 

[Larry]

For gas, 1987-1991 are the best of the square body style Subs. Any year of 6.2L diesel Sub would be alright. As someone mentioned above, big blocks were not offered in any 4x4 Suburban until the new GMT400 Suburbans came out in 1992.

I have been staring at this Suburban for a while on Craigslist. It is a nice stripper with a manual trans and TBI 5.7L and barn doors. Almost exactly what I would want. I dig the color too! The bad thing it has some odd rust on the doors for a Colorado native truck. This thing must be from another state which it could be hiding a lot more rust under the rubber floor mats. The aftermarket A/C would make me a bit nervous though. If I lived closer I would love to check it out.

 

[87GMCJimmy]

I gotta comment on the barn doors vs tailgate debate. There is one item that you can switch to that equalizes it somewhat: a manual rear window crank! My Jimmy is a totally base model rig, manual everything and has a manual rear window crank, this allows access from the outside with no electricity needed. I can't imagine it being a hard swap either, just would have to change out the guts of the tailgate. That being said, yes, the barn doors will still be even more reliable but heck, I just wanted to make it clear that there are options! :elkgrin:

The offroad design 3" kit is excellent, that's what I have on my Jimmy, the only thing I changed is I went with Bilstien 5150 shocks. You will definitely want to upgrade to crossover steering while you are at it. With a bit of fender trimming and some relocated bumpstops you can very easily run 35's (I swapped in 1 ton axles which (aside from a huge strength upgrade) also add around 3/4" of lift, and I run 37" tires).

I would definitely look for an 87 or newer with as clean of a body and interior as you can find! As these trucks get older, good body and interior bits get harder and harder to find and if you want everything 100% you'll be spending $$$! The mechanical bits are no problem to swap around, the parts interchangeability on GM's is INSANE!!! :coffeedrink:

As said the 87 will get you a TBI 350 and (in 1/2 ton form) a 700r4 for overdrive. Swap in a semi floating 14 bolt rearend for a bit more beef and you are good to go for a mild build. Convert the frontend to 8 lug and swap in a 14 bolt full floater and you'll be better set up! But, if you plan on running a Cummins down the line, go ahead and swap to a Dana 60 front and 14 bolt full floater rear. The 60 will bolt right in, the 14BFF will too if it is out of a 3/4 ton, if it is from a 1 ton, the spring perches will need moved.

The best axle setup is out of a CUCV 5/4 ton pickup. This gives you a 60 front and a 14BFF rear with a Detroit locker and 4.56 gears. If you run 37" tires, the 4.56 gears are perfect! (this is the setup I went with) You do need to move the spring perches but a kit like this one makes it easy:
http://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com/catalog/14BSS.html