Need Some Help 88-91 vs 93-99 Suburban

BPMOU

Observer
I have been searching and reading posts by others and Volk about choosing a Burb.

I used to have an 80 Series cruiser that I sold two years ago, and have been 4x4 less since.

Fast forward to two weeks ago, the two cars we bought within the last 18 months are two small for my now family of four. I am selling both cars, and needing to move to something bigger. I need room for a toddler seat, and a rear facing infant seat and my three labs plus gear. Based upon all of this, I am looking at suburbans as mentioned above. What I can't decide is between which body style/years.

I live in Denver, so some very mild wheeling, nothin crazy. Would like something big enough that I can sleep in when I go bird hunting, and be able to put in the BOB stroller and dogs. That being said, I only want to spend up to $4,000. For that amount it appears that i can get pretty good into the 93-99 suburban, or a nicer slightly cleaner 88-91 suburban.

My wife isn't a powder puff, but I have a feeling that she would like the 93-99 version best based upon interior layout.

Besides the solid front axle vs IFS. What do you guys think would be best for a young family. I am looking to get rid of both car payments and just have two paid for cars, one suburban, and one get around car that I will drive back and forth to work.

I am thinking that the 93-99 suburbans would give me better road manners, nicer/newer interior and some other creature comfort. If I can pick up a good specimen I would possibly drive it to Florida on vacation next year.

Any info or pointers that you guys can point out would be greatly appreciated.
 

Stoney126

Adventurer
I think it comes down what your total end goal is going to be. Are you looking at half tons or 3/4 tons? The interior really shouldnt be that big a deal as the seats are almost the same and newer stuff can be retrofitted to the older trucks for comfort.

Are you thinking gas or diesel? IF gas small block or big block?
Id go 89-91 Just cuz I like a solid axle. But you can always put one in later on the newer burb.
 

BPMOU

Observer
I haven't really made a decision on the 1500 to 2500. I know that I will be going gas though. My end goal is to have a vehicle that can haul my young family around on a daily basis, reliable, with the option of possibly towing a travel trailer in the next couple of years.
 

Stoney126

Adventurer
well all years will give the 350 or 454 option. 454 being 3/4 ton option. Throttle body injection on both until I think 96.
 

xpndbl3

Adventurer
For me it would be the 88-91 suburbans....OR the 97-99 suburbans that would have the vortec engine. Otherwise the earlier suburbans of that body still still have the tbi engine and not as much power or fuel economy. Then you need to decide if you go solid front axle or deal with the IFS issues that "may" pop up depending how hard you wheel. I can honestly say that the 3/4 ton is 100x's better if you plan on towing, and it's easier now to buy it and get the upgrades trans, better brakes, etc. initially. Otherwise you might end up with a low gear ratio in the axles and a truck that struggles to pull up hills and has saggy butt syndrome with any kind of tongue weight.
 

stewwalker

Observer
I have a 95 1500 suburban as a daily driver/hunting truck/expedition rig. I put a 3 inch body lift on it so I could fit 33" BFG A/T's. Other than that, it's pretty much a stock truck. It's taken me to baja and back twice and has logged thousands of miles on south Texas ranch roads. With the third seat out and the middle seats down you can sleep a family of 3 with no problems, I can sprawl out in mine even with a gun box/storage system in the back. Personally I think a 95 and up suburban is one of the best "mild wheeling" family 4x4's out there that wont cost a fortune.
 

bfdiesel

Explorer
What do you want the truck to do. Both options are going to haul your gear, dogs and family, but what are you looking for it to be capable of? Mostly creature comforts and highway/street or off road in the snow, mud and rocks where comfort is just being dry and warm?

When towing in the rockies you will want the 3/4 ton and big block. They have bigger brakes for stopping and more torque for climbing both of which are needed in the mountains towing.
 

BPMOU

Observer
What do you want the truck to do. Both options are going to haul your gear, dogs and family, but what are you looking for it to be capable of? Mostly creature comforts and highway/street or off road in the snow, mud and rocks where comfort is just being dry and warm?

When towing in the rockies you will want the 3/4 ton and big block. They have bigger brakes for stopping and more torque for climbing both of which are needed in the mountains towing.

I need it to do the following in the order below.

1. Safely haul around wife, kids and dogs. Will see probably 90% street and highway. Needs to have good AC and heat. I may have mentioned I have two little girls :) they will need comfort as this will be the family vehicle.
2. The other 10% - Driving up into the mountains, off highway trails, nothing crazy, we do a lot more scenic offroad trips mixed in with camping. Also being very capable in the snow is a great benefit.

I am thinking that the mid 90 body style may be what I am looking for. I can understand the value of a solid front axle but, for what I am looking for, I need something that can handle light to medium offroad duty occasionally. Heck, it will be paid for in cash, so if I get the bug and want something more wild, I can always do a SAS down the road.

If I was to go with the 90's it appears from previous posts that the 96-99 would be the best to look for. I can find a lot of these locally for sale, and several are 2500. How is the reliability on these vehicles?

Part of my coming from the 80 Series, has a little bit of skepticism over non-toyota reliability.

Any info or guidance is greatly appreciated.
 

bftank

Explorer
if you leave the ifs alone. it can be reliable. use e rated tires. the vortec is a better motor than the tbi. 3/4ton is the way to go if you want to haul people and cargo. better springs and rear axle. the late model is going to have the full floater 14 bolt rear and the 89-91 is going to have the semi floater rear. you can't get a 4x4 3/4t 89-91 with a 454, you can with the later models. the later models have stronger frames to handle the forces the ifs puts on them. the late model 3/4tons have the 4l80e where as the 1991 is the only one that has the 4l80e in the early models.

i bought an 89 because it was cheap and easy to modify lots of aftermarket support.

either one would serve you well. you would be ahead of the game with a late model 3/4t with the ff14 rear and the 4l80e trans. stronger frame.

i vote to start with the one that is cleaner, younger and stronger. it will be easier and less frustrating starting with a truck that you can do something with reliably from the beginning, and not have to worry about modifying right away.
 
go with the newer truck. i was in the same situation as you last summer. i looked at a very clean 89 sub from AZ that i really liked. what i noticed was the classic styling, solid front axle, cheap parts, ect..., but the wife was not as excited. i ended up with a '00 NBS tahoe and really like it better. the wife does too. it so much more comfortable than the older truck for our 90% on road/ 10% fire road and back road truck. i also have 2 little girls that need to be comfortable. rear heat and a/c takes care of this. i really like mine alot.

i think if yuou look around a little bit you could find a real clean 3/4 ton sub with a 14ff and a big block. update the maintenance, put on some new tires and go have fun. good luck
 

BPMOU

Observer
Thanks for the great feedback guys. That helps a lot. So I have been looking locally for the 96-99 Suburbans, and I can find a lot of them in the 1500 but only a handful in the 2500. In addition, the 2500 that I am finding seem to be asking a lot more.

Based upon my previous needs for this vehicle, what will i be missing if I go with a 1500 as opposed to the 2500 besides the motor?
 

xpndbl3

Adventurer
2500 gets bigger brakes, better tranmission, bigger rear end, more payload and towing capacity, usually a posi rear end, deeper gears, and bigger radiator, a trans cooler, and a oil cooler etc.
 
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goin camping

Explorer
Thanks for the great feedback guys. That helps a lot. So I have been looking locally for the 96-99 Suburbans, and I can find a lot of them in the 1500 but only a handful in the 2500. In addition, the 2500 that I am finding seem to be asking a lot more.

Based upon my previous needs for this vehicle, what will i be missing if I go with a 1500 as opposed to the 2500 besides the motor?

Mostly towing ability.

Anybody know how much better mileage a 454 Vortec gets over a 454 tbi?
 

xpndbl3

Adventurer
1-2 probably, the biggest increase is in the tbi motor to the vortec motor for both power and mileage though.
 

BPMOU

Observer
Those are all pretty substantial gains over the 1500. Based upon all of that, what type of average mileage per gallon can I expect from a vortec in the 1500 vs 2500?
 

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