Any 1500 suburbans 2000 to 2006 body styels out there?

[chew246214]

I am at a crossroads... either buy a new truck or try to modify mine to do what I want. I am looking into the 2500 suburban/yukon XL or a fullsize 4x4 van (any of the conversions at this point)for a cross country go anywhere truck to bring the family along. What I can't decide is if the 2001 1500 suburban I have now will handle the "rougher" roads (Easier trails) with a lift,lockers, and better tires... Bumpers and winches are not of any issue right now that will be way down the road. I do not really see many on this sight... are the axles too weak? or is it just not cost effective to try to get the extra ground clearance needed in some rougher areas (fwanting to run 35's for the trips and 32-33's daily)? At this point I really don't know which way to go... Would love to build a soilid axle 80's to 90's 2500 suburban to travel in but really actually like the 1500 I have now.... Any pics or ideas would be great....

 

[chilliwak]

You could keep the truck you have now as a daily driver and then build up an old `Burb´ as your radical cross country truck. Solid axel trucks with a minimum 3/4 ton drive train is what you need for the rough stuff. How rough do you think you are going to go?:ylsmoke:

 

[chew246214]

I am really trying not to have 2 seperate vehicles... I do not plan on "hard" stuff, but being prepared to continue whatever obstacles I come across. I should add I am a jeep guy and do have a dedicated rock crawler (An xj cherokee with 37's fully locked, exocage, dana 60's front and rear) which I can't use with the family or load up and take out on the highway. This is what I am trying to avoid. I want something that can fit everybody with all our stuff into. Just spent most part of a week in the suburban covering 1700 miles in the white mountains and it seemed to work pretty well for us. That is why I am looking into using this truck as a platform and save some money. If I need to buy I might actually just go with a 4x4 van to give us more room inside. My father bought a quigley in 1990 unfortunatly a honda through the side doors ended that one in 1997..... Just not sure if I can justify the cash needed to buy one of those... I am actually liking the sportsmobile better with suspension options that have more flex and can fit bigger tires....

 

[chew246214]

Oh I should add to this that this plan is for a few years to be prepared. Our trip we just took was all roads, some dirt but all passable kids are too young right now to be doing long distance off highway traveling.... 4 and 1... so this is actually a process that I don't want to either buy or prepare the wrong vehicle for the job. Planning on cross country usa through moab, maybe canada, and definatly if wife allows up to alaska. Not going south of the border or overseas with the truck. I have done moab with a truck trailering one of my past jeeps, but want one vehicle to do the entire trip. Also do not want to "live" in the truck so whatever I prepare needs to have atleast 7-8 seats because I do use it for people often and do not want an rv... travel long distance and stopping in hotels (this part is for my wife) maybe a "few" of the nights will force us to camp so will take along our gear.

 

[klmore]

I have a 2006 2500 Suburban that I use and abuse. I like the 2500 because of the large 4L80 trans and the larger rear axle. I think the front IFS is the weak point on this truck. With that said even with a supercharged 6.0 and 37" tires I have never had problems with the front end. My friend has the 1500 version of my truck with 33's and he has replaced three transmissions and one rear end over the years.

I've had to modify some of the steering to handle the larger tires. Mainly a new steering box and a Rock Ram hydraulic steering kit from AGR, which improved the steering.

 

[chew246214]

thats the kind of info I am looking for... I know if the suburban stays on the road the 33's shouldnt be a problem it is once you hit the dirt and rocks that is a different story.... The 1500 I have now is comfortable and fully loaded.. I was origionally looking for a 2500 but this one fell into my lap for really cheap and been driving it ever since.. I am debating if I should build this or get another vehicle to build on.. either way it would need to be a daily driver and long distance/ off highway traveler. I do not want a single purpose vehicle hanging out on my driveway.... I am in the process of getting rid of non useful stuff I have now.. been a jeep guy for a long time now and really don't want to build another wheeler.

 

[klmore]

I understand the sitting in the driveway part. I hate to say it, but my Sub sits more than I like mainly due to gas consumption. I filled up for $126 yesterday and at 8 MPG it doesn't last long. Although with three kids and vacation gear I usually have it full on trips. I have really enjoyed having a trailer, because it allows me to take the family in the Sub and carry gear like I have truck bed.

 

[Northwoods85]

2500 'burb

I just got back from a week-long trip in the Black Hills and was very satisfied w/ my 2000 3/4 ton suburban. Averaged 14.5 mpg on Hwy from WI & 13.5 mpg in the hills and back country.
I wasn't hauling anything - just loaded w/ family & camping gear.

 

[hillbillyjake]

i'll vote for building what you got. i noticed that you said a couple times that you really like it. for me that always makes the truck easier to work on. i have a '00 tahoe (1500 of course) that i really like. the 5.3 seems to be a very good motor. good, smooth power and decent mileage. i've got 285's on mine and i'm still getting 14 mpg

if you have a rock buggy with 60's, i think that the ifs will be at teh back of your mind whether its 1/2 or 3/4 ton. to be honest i donth know if there different between the 2 trucks. i also think that if your easy witht tright foot the rear will survive fine.

the tranny. well, i think about mine everyday btu it keeps on going (4l60e). its at about 142k right now so i baby it. put a big cooler on it go. good luck

 

[chew246214]

I actually took the 18 inch a/t's from a 2010 silverado z71 265/65/18 which is almost 32 inches tall which drove great on the truck (went on my silverado) to 265/70/16 michelin ltx m/s...also just threw on some bilstein 5100's.. the truck does drive even better on the road with just under 200,000 miles.. but it is exactly what I need right now... just trying to figure out the future... BTW maybe the way I drive but even with the 18's I was averaging 17-18 mpg combined which I think is great a little better with the street oriented michelins... I can't complain at all about that... But with the lt285/70/17's I just took off my 05 silverado there was a huge difference in mpg... (one of the reasons I took them off)

 

[BPMOU]

Just searched and came across this thread. That picture of the 2500 with the trailer looks like an awesome rig.

I posted in this forum trying to decide between the 89-91 body style of the 96-99 body, and ended up with a 2002 Suburban 2500 with the 8.1 L with 120K on it in pretty good condition for an awesome price.

I hope to get ours to the point of the one in post above looks like a awesome rig.

I was content with either a 1500 or 2500 as long as it was good mechanically. I just lucked out on the 2500.

With the current market and gas prices, you may be better off building what you have at this point though.

 

[2 E L O]

Check out 02TahoeMD's ride. He has done an incredible job building his Tahoe to meet offroad demands.

02TahoeMD

 

[goin camping]

I'd suggest you build up what you have. a 1/2 will easily haul your family and take enough stuff for all of you to go camping. It will also handle dirt roads and moderate trails very well.

Since you are already a rock crawler I doubt you'll have any problem recognizing which trail to avoid.

Yesterday like BPMOU we bought a 2001 2500 with the 8.1 but we only bought that set up because ours also has to pull a trailer. If not for that we would have got the 1500.

 

[chew246214]

Ok so as things go I ended up picking up another 1500 suburban identical even in color just the first one was a 2001 with 220,000 miles to a 2005 with no joking 18000 miles and garaged... I couldn't say no to the $13000 price tag... fully loaded again this time no rear dvd but who cares. Looks showroom new drives perfect full documented history... a retired couple bought it new to pull a popup across country and relize they hated the trailer thing sold the trailer and bought a class a and a little car to tow. This truck has only been used to toodle around cape cod (where they live)... even a brand new set of tires in the deal..... I didn't realize how worn out my old one was until I drove this one.... looks like not too much prepping except maybe bumpers, skidplates and transferring a winch over to prep for the trip. I have no mechanical worries at all with this one.... just change fliuds and go whenever I can actually do the trip.

 

[justcuz]

I modified my wife's 2000 1500 Suburban with Hummer H2 rear springs, 285/75x16 tires on stock wheels a mild inner fender trim. When the G80 gov lock blew apart I replaced it with an open carrier and a Lock-Right Soft Locker. I still want to install some 3/4 ton t-bars up front and later I will build some strong rocker protectors for it. I also want to upgrade the tie rod ends before I use it too much more off-road. Right now it is just a dirt road cruiser, nothing very challenging. The soft locker did work great at my friends ranch in Wyoming, he was real surprised how far we went in 2wd on a day cruise we did one day.