Building a Bulletproof Squarebody Suburban: Community Input Requesting

[buffydores]

LT7A and RDrancher: Love the input. I concur with y'all's thinking. I want to run a skinny 33" tire. Probably a 16" rim. My max would be 18". There are too few tire options at 15" these days. Boxed frame. Coils. I'm gonna try to think through the Raylar 8.1 and Allison 1000 6-speed. The gearing looks good on the transmission and I think you can get them to talk together. Just need a competent guy on that transmission. I'd add tons and tons of insulation. Get rid of the spilt windows. Improve on the window actuator motors. Tons of relays controlling electric.

[Bluestep]

I have had a '89 V1500 Suburban since 1992. I would say if what you want is a good reliable vehicle get one and restore it to original. There is no need to go to an aftermarket air conditioner as the stock one works very well, the windows don't need an "upgrade" just lubrication and rubber seals that are in good shape. It drives me crazy to see people throw money away on aftermarket stuff that is supposedly an upgrade when all the vehicle needs is maintenance and repair. The original equipment parts are engineered to work flawlessly for a very long time and are usually manufactured to a high standard that I don't feel is there for many aftermarket parts.

Our Suburban still works very well and I would trust it for any long distant drive. I am always amazed how short a turning radius the old style straight axle has compared to newer vehicles. It is a comfortable car with a pretty decent ride.

[buffydores]

I totally appreciate your viewpoint. For the most part, I like original stuff. Just look at my Blazer build below. But, the old stuff has limitations. The factory AC cannot remotely keep up with the heat we experience down south. When the square bodies were built, speed limits were 55mph. It's 75 mph for most of our highways now. A double overdrive transmission can give me manageable fuel economy. We can also make the riding dynamics better. I like the old stuff, but a better version of it.

[buffydores]

I'm leaning L96 / 6L90E with a roots supercharger. I've been trying to figure out if NP242 guts would work in a NP241. Probably not. I'd love to be able to have full time four wheel drive. Rear axle will probably be a AAM9.75 out of a 6.2 K1 truck. I still think the 10 bolt may be the ticket up front with some beef. The D60 would be great, but think for my purposes overkill and heavy.

I've moved away from the 8.1. It's just poorly supported.

[SBTork]

Originally Posted by buffydores

I'm leaning L96 / 6L90E with a roots supercharger. I've been trying to figure out if NP242 guts would work in a NP241. Probably not. I'd love to be able to have full time four wheel drive. Rear axle will probably be a AAM9.75 out of a 6.2 K1 truck. I still think the 10 bolt may be the ticket up front with some beef. The D60 would be great, but think for my purposes overkill and heavy.

I've moved away from the 8.1. It's just poorly supported.

I can't help at all on your transfer case question, but it is a good one and maybe someone will know. Your engine/trans idea is great and I think ideal for your goal. I believe you're correct in thinking a beef'd up 10 bolt up front will be ideal too. I believe off road design has chrome molly axle shafts available for them and I think those alone would be more than durable enough for a daily/trail rig. Looking forward to this build as I am a huge fan of your K5!

[rpmerf]

Originally Posted by Bluestep

I have had a '89 V1500 Suburban since 1992. I would say if what you want is a good reliable vehicle get one and restore it to original. There is no need to go to an aftermarket air conditioner as the stock one works very well, the windows don't need an "upgrade" just lubrication and rubber seals that are in good shape. It drives me crazy to see people throw money away on aftermarket stuff that is supposedly an upgrade when all the vehicle needs is maintenance and repair. The original equipment parts are engineered to work flawlessly for a very long time and are usually manufactured to a high standard that I don't feel is there for many aftermarket parts.

Our Suburban still works very well and I would trust it for any long distant drive. I am always amazed how short a turning radius the old style straight axle has compared to newer vehicles. It is a comfortable car with a pretty decent ride.

Was thinking the same thing. Between me and my father we've had about 4 burbs (87, 89, 94, 97), a Blazer (89), and 3 pickups (70, 87, 99). The biggest issue on just about all of them has been rust. Engines and transmissions have been perfect past 200K. A couple of them had issues in the rear, but nothing a rebuild didn't fix. Overall extremely reliable.