Well after reading lots of threads, and asking questions about the pros and cons of the 89-91 Burb to the 96-99 Burbs I ended up with a 2002 Suburban LT 2500 with the 8.1L, and automatic transmission with 123K on the clock here in Denver.
The overall goal of the truck will be running around town for the wife and kids, and heading up to the high country on forest roads and mild trails to enjoy the mountains and do some camping. It'll also be the vehicle I take hunting. At this point it sits pretty high, and its on 245/75/16's. I am hoping to be able to go a size or two bigger without a lift. I was running Toyo MT's on my 80, but I am wondering if there is anything else out there now that may be great on road as well as in the snow and the mountains?
The vehicle shows as a AZ vehicle all of it's life, but does have surface rust on the frame and undercarriage. Nothing serious, just looks ugly. It has an aftermarket exhaust on it that's pretty rusty as well.
I had the vehicle gone over by my mechanic, and he found a few things, but nothing that looks major for a truck that cost me $5K.
Here are a couple of pics after I gave it a washing.
As of now, I need to get the baseline things taken care of. Here are the things that need to be taken care of from the mechanics inspection.
I am getting it detailed by a guy I know who owns a mobile detail company in a couple of weeks just to clean it up from the previous owners.
Outside of that, I am going to start getting caught up on the other PM stuff. Replacing diff fluid and having the tranny serviced/fluid swapped. I just changed the oil to the M1 High Mileage, and the Napa Gold filter. The big difference between this vehicle and the 80 Series LC that i had was the forum support. This vehicle seems pretty straight forward though.
I am trying to figure out how to determine the options on it by the VIN though.
It's got Hankook Dynapros on it right now, and they are practically new, so I will keep them on until they wear out and then switch to another tire as mentioned above, just don't know which tire yet.
Never had a vehicle that I paid cash for with no car payment, so it opens up some more options then I was able to do in the past.
Should be a pretty fun family hauler. Any guidance or things that I should watch out for etc. are greatly appreciated.
Cheers!
The overall goal of the truck will be running around town for the wife and kids, and heading up to the high country on forest roads and mild trails to enjoy the mountains and do some camping. It'll also be the vehicle I take hunting. At this point it sits pretty high, and its on 245/75/16's. I am hoping to be able to go a size or two bigger without a lift. I was running Toyo MT's on my 80, but I am wondering if there is anything else out there now that may be great on road as well as in the snow and the mountains?
The vehicle shows as a AZ vehicle all of it's life, but does have surface rust on the frame and undercarriage. Nothing serious, just looks ugly. It has an aftermarket exhaust on it that's pretty rusty as well.
I had the vehicle gone over by my mechanic, and he found a few things, but nothing that looks major for a truck that cost me $5K.
Here are a couple of pics after I gave it a washing.
As of now, I need to get the baseline things taken care of. Here are the things that need to be taken care of from the mechanics inspection.
- Oil Fill Cap - Done
- Coolant Tank Cap - Done
- Flush and Replace Brake Fluid - Will get done this week
- Front Shocks Leaking - Vehicle has auto-ride and each shock is $300+ from GM. Planning to remove the auto-ride system and have the computer sent out and reprogrammed without the code to check for the auto-ride. If you switch to none OEM shocks it will cause the dash to light up like a Christmas tree. Can't decide which shocks to go with here. I was thinking Bilsteins until I read the thread about going with shocks that can be rebuilt. Lots of good ones out there, but would like to stay south of $125 per shock.
- Trans Mount Collapsed - Getting estimate from mechanic this week.
- Motor Mounts Torn - Getting estimate from mechanic this week.
- Trans Oil Cooler Line Seaping - Need to figure out how to fix
- Power Steering Hose Seaping - Need to figure out how to fix
- Exhaust Stud Broken - Getting estimate from mechanic this week.
I am getting it detailed by a guy I know who owns a mobile detail company in a couple of weeks just to clean it up from the previous owners.
Outside of that, I am going to start getting caught up on the other PM stuff. Replacing diff fluid and having the tranny serviced/fluid swapped. I just changed the oil to the M1 High Mileage, and the Napa Gold filter. The big difference between this vehicle and the 80 Series LC that i had was the forum support. This vehicle seems pretty straight forward though.
I am trying to figure out how to determine the options on it by the VIN though.
It's got Hankook Dynapros on it right now, and they are practically new, so I will keep them on until they wear out and then switch to another tire as mentioned above, just don't know which tire yet.
Never had a vehicle that I paid cash for with no car payment, so it opens up some more options then I was able to do in the past.
Should be a pretty fun family hauler. Any guidance or things that I should watch out for etc. are greatly appreciated.
Cheers!