I rescued a Suburban from possible demolition... *PICS*

[1972]

Disclaimer - I know very little about these old Suburbans other than the fact that they look AWESOME and I had to have one.

My friend and I were out cruising my '72 C10 through the country to go look at a house he want's to buy... then I spot an old Suburban sitting in the weeds at someone's house. A week later we go out and talk to the lady that owned it and she said I could buy it for $200. We went this weekend and picked it up.

It was parked a few years ago and never drove again because it needed a muffler and tires. It is a 3/4 ton 2 wheel drive with a 250 inline six with a 1 bbl carb and a 3 speed. It wasn't pumping fuel, but would start with starting fluid, so I put a new fuel pump on. It pumps fuel now, but the gas is real old and nasty and it still won't run without spraying starting fluid in it. I will work on it more as time permits. It has some bad exhaust leaks too. The trailing arms (control arms?) are JUNK.



I have a few questions for you guys:

Are the rear control arms the same from 1/2 to 3/4 ton and from truck to Suburban?

Is there anywhere that sells new arms cheaper than LMC?

Can a guy (me) who knows nothing about carbs rebuild the 1 bbl on my 250?

How does the 250 do for MPG in a Suburban?







And now some pics. I ran out of quaters at the car wash, so there's still a little dirt on the passenger side rear quater.

[Longhorn Man]

SCORE!!!

That's a pretty good lookin truck... esp for 2 bills!

[Aarons72s]

Sweet I wish i could find a deal like that. Go to a junk yard that has any 63 - 72 chevy truck with coils and you got yor trailling arms. Why pay LMC big money for something you can get for next to nothing at a junk yard. Good luck with your new ride.

[Longhorn Man]

Aaron, you have to remember, in some parts of the country, there's no such thing as good trailing arms. I can point out 3 trucks here on the west side where the trailing arms have broke just while the trucks were sitting.

[Aarons72s]

I know in the north the road salt is not nice. My 72 orange and white spent 10 years in indinapolis, IN. And yes my trailling arms were rotted too. But every time I go back east and see a 67-72 I check it out. Some of the arms seem to be ate up others look ok. I think It just depends. Heck I have even seen trucks here in Oklahoma with rotted trailling arms and the rest of the truck was fine. I was just suggesting to the owner he might try the local junk yards first and if He cant then look further.

[1972]

Thanks guys. It isn't often that I see any 63-72 trucks in any of the junk yards around here. I have seen a few brought to the scrap yard. I may go to the scrap yard and tell them what I'm looking for and ask them to save any donor trucks for me. LMC will likely be my last option.

[Aarons72s]

I just thought of another way since you live out in the country. Look for a pickup bed trailer from the same years. The bodys will likely be shot but the rear chassis parts might still be usable. The 69 trailer I have has the eaton in it and a good bed that I got for free. So be on the lookout for trailers made from are old trucks. Hope this helps.

[Canadian694x4]

Nice Score!

[1972]

Thanks everyone for the compliments! I sent a link to this thread to my girlfriend who is visiting her mom for a few weeks and she said it looked like a Hearse! I asked her if she would ride in it with me... and she's like "well... I don't know..." I told her she is going to need a Hearse if she doesn't ride in it! (She knows I'm just joking, though).

Originally Posted by Aarons72s

Look for a pickup bed trailer from the same years. The bodys will likely be shot but the rear chassis parts might still be usable.

Good idea, I'll keep my eyes open.



.

[1972]

The more I look at this 'Burb, the more I realize that it's not a project I have the time or money for right now. I'm thinking of listing it for sale... maybe ebay.

Decisions... Decisions...



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[krue]

Looks like you got a good deal. I'd get it running before I made any decisions, besides if you decide to sell it, it will bring more money that way.

[LUV2XCLR8]

Originally Posted by Longhorn Man

SCORE!!!

That's a pretty good lookin truck... esp for 2 bills!

[1972]

Originally Posted by krue

I'd get it running before I made any decisions

Well... I got it running today! I wasn't getting any fuel at the carb inlet, so I replaced the fuel pump, then had plenty of fuel coming out of the filter. But, it still wouldn't run. I took the top off the ol' MonoJet and it was dry inside. After breaking loose the float-needle-thing it ran great and I took it out for a test drive. It ran well and handled good and has INCREDIBLE brakes. I've searched the site for pics of home-brew trailing arms and I may try to fab some of my own for this thing if I can't find an affordable set of used ones.

Thanks for the support and encouaragement.



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[krue]

It's a shame it would cost a fortune to ship trailing arms, 'cuz around here I've only ever seen one set rusted enough to worry me and that truck sat on the ground for at least 10 yrs.

[low burb]

When we were re-doing my brother-in-laws 3/4 ton truck, last week, we noticed several places that were reinforced compared to a 1/2 ton. One of the things was the trailing arms. They had a plate riveted to the top and the bottom of the arms.

[Demmit_Hemmit's 65]

I see you say your location is "in the middle"...........where are you located??????? If you're close to me I have a salvage yard that has over 100 60-72 trucks in it.............maybe we could find you some trailing arms.............I'm in Indiana...............Hemmit

[1972]

Originally Posted by krue

It's a shame it would cost a fortune to ship trailing arms, 'cuz around here I've only ever seen one set rusted enough to worry me and that truck sat on the ground for at least 10 yrs.

There aren't even very many 67-72 trucks around here to get parts from, and the few I do see are junk. I have a friend who goes to Mississippi quite often... and I think FedEx will ship arms for about $30 each... if you would have some to sell, that is.

Originally Posted by Demmit_Hemmit's 65

I see you say your location is "in the middle"...........where are you located??????? If you're close to me I have a salvage yard that has over 100 60-72 trucks in it.............maybe we could find you some trailing arms.............I'm in Indiana...............Hemmit

I live near St. Louis, Missouri. I'm about 320 miles from you. I still need to go to the local pick-n-pull's and see what they have... but I can't recall ever seeing anything in them older than a '73.



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[Aarons72s]

So any updates on your burb, 1972.
Aaron

[qksilver]

I have a few good sets.........