Just bought this from my neighbor across the street. He's had it garaged for the last 9 years so it has a few little issues for repair but it looks about 2 years old. Can't tell you how thrilled I am to get one in this condition! He thinks maybe his mother sat in the back seat once but that would be the only time it's had more than him and his wife since it was new.

You will want to replace the rotted rubber rings around the Torx 50 door latch posts. They can be cut from rubber hose I think. They will keep your doors from bouncing and rattling.

The 4X4 hubs might need a little bit of lube to make sure they work without trouble. One of mine went bad at 44K miles and broke with the wheel locked in.

Not much else went wrong except the alternator.

A nice start. I could see about a 4" lift, bumpers, winches, a high output alternator, a roof rack and some driving lights forward and flood lights rear and to the sides.

quote:

Originally posted by SR4759:
You will want to replace the rotted rubber rings around the Torx 50 door latch posts. They can be cut from rubber hose I think. They will keep your doors from bouncing and rattling.

The 4X4 hubs might need a little bit of lube to make sure they work without trouble. One of mine went bad at 44K miles and broke with the wheel locked in.

Not much else went wrong except the alternator.

Already has garden hose onthe door latches. So far it needs a fuel pump and one rear wheel cylinder. Probably low on 134A. And it desparately needs a complete fluids change from the diffs to the radiator.

Nice find, Harry!

Keith

Hopefully someone switched it over to R134a already. If not you will have to do it. That is an easy project though.
The fuel pump is more fun than a barrel of monkeys. The 40 gallon tank has a skid plate over it. Once you let the tank down it takes a special tool to turn out the fuel pump access plate. With all of the GM/Chevy dealerships going busted that tool is now cheap on eBay.

You truck has low mileage but since it has the Dana 44 front axle it has steering knuckles that wear and require a special tool to service.
You might keep a sharp eye for that tool. Check your front spindles for any vertical play when you have the tires off. Take supreme good care of the front brakes to protect the front rotors. The front rotors are not too expensive but they are a colassal pain in the butt to change out. Setting the end play on the front hubs requires a dial indicator to do it right and it is tedious.

quote:

Originally posted by tiggertate:

quote:

Originally posted by SR4759:
You will want to replace the rotted rubber rings around the Torx 50 door latch posts. They can be cut from rubber hose I think. They will keep your doors from bouncing and rattling.

The 4X4 hubs might need a little bit of lube to make sure they work without trouble. One of mine went bad at 44K miles and broke with the wheel locked in.

Not much else went wrong except the alternator.

Already has garden hose onthe door latches. So far it needs a fuel pump and one rear wheel cylinder. Probably low on 134A. And it desparately needs a complete fluids change from the diffs to the radiator.

Thanks, Keith. SR, I appreciate the tips. It has a 134A system already and I had a local shop do the fuel pump this time. Access to the skid pan bolts is tight with a class III hitch installed and 25 years of road grime and rust didn't help. Runs fine now and I'll remember that about the hubs. I have a magnetic base dial indicator but it had a brake job not too long before it was garaged. So thankfully that can wait.

I wish I had a neighbor like that...

Rich, the funny thing is he never sells anything. He has two travel trailers ( one a really nice Airstream), a 56 Ford pickup among others rusting to death in a field, ad infinitum. Why he decided to sell the Suburban is a bit of a mystery to me but I ain't lookin' a gift horse in the mouth.

Is that carbureted or TBI? Great truck by the way, congrats. I own an '89 GMC Suburban and while the paint definitely shows it's age, it's solid and rust free. It's a 1500 with a 383 but it'll be getting a Ramjet 502 soon, once I sell a few of my toys!

It is a throttle body vehicle. It takes no special tools for either the fuel pump or taking the rotors off to machine them.
SR4759, I don't know your expertise but it ain't vehicle repair.

First year of TBI or so I'm told. I rebuilt a '90 TBI on a C3500 7.4L. Pretty simple device.

Glad the rotors are normal. Good news is the pads on the front were nearly new.

You would need a special socket or build one as I did. The fuel pump requires scraping a little gummy stuff off the pump unit spanner. Blow the trash off around it and tap the round spanner around with a chisel and hammer and lift the unit out. It has a low pressure pump as it is a TBI unit as mentioned above. I would personally do 15,000 mile fuel filter changes.

Thanks, I've rebuilt a couple of F 150 4x4 front ends; glad to know the Suburban will be similar. I think I have the right hub socket too. The pump issue was dropping the tank. I've got limited use of my left hand it just wasn't going well enough to put up with the hassel.

After 5 neck and back surgeries. My left hand is barely usuable.

Mine is Dupuyden's Contracture. It's curled up and won't open far enough to reach in tight spaces. I can still grasp if I can get into the right space.

Tiggertate, I've heard that too, however I guess some still came carbureted around '87 too. Regardless, it's simple and convenient. You got your hands on a great truck and I'm green with envy. I hope you get many trouble free years and miles off of it.
I currently have a very large spinal arachnoid cyst that has kept me glued to the couch. About 75% lost feeling in both hands and feet and pain all over. I have a high metabolism though and it's killing me! Doc said no lifting or strenuous activities...and a week before this diagnosis I was already preparing to take my motor out for replacing all the gaskets and rear main seal, plus I figured to use that time to put a little more aggressive roller cam in there. May have to give my mechanic a call.

Guess if we covet our neighbor's "Texas Cadillac" long enough...
-good things come our way.

Congrats on the sweet new ride, Harry! Enjoy~

Getting old ain't for pussies, eh? Thanks all for the complements and good wishes. Metalsmith, I hope you have an option to remove the cyst. Beware though, once you go "mechanic" you never go back. Until you're broke, anyway.