I had a 1993 1500 2 wheel drive suburban with the 5.7 and 4L60E. It had 280K miles on it when I got rid of it. It had the transmission and rear axle rebuilt, but never had any issues with the motor. I took care of it, but did not necessarily baby it when I drove it. I hauled trailers that I really had no business hauling and drove at speeds that would have gotten me a serious talking to by officer friendly if he saw it. It was a great vehicle and never let me down. I really liked the fact that most everything on it was still repairable by me with no special computers or equipment. Now I have a 2001 2500 4X4 8.1 suburban. I really like the new suburban, but it has had several electrical issues. The ABS module was acting up. It is an expensive part, and even more so if you have to get someone else to replace it. I was able to find out how to re-solder the connections on the circuit board and repair it. The dash cluster has issues with the gear shift indicator and mileage not showing up most times. Apparently this is a solder joint issue as well. I need to take it apart to re-solder these connections as well, but haven't had time to bother with it. I had a cam sensor go out and apparently they dont make them for the 2001's anymore. I was able to find out there were a total of 4 left in the country at GM dealerships in this nation and I bought 2 of them. Issues like this really rub me the wrong way. I like the vehicle, but I really do not like all of the failure prone fluffy garbage that vehicles come with these days. They designed these new engines with cam sensors, crank sensors, individual coil packs and a distributor did the job just fine before. The 8.1 and 4L80's are good items though, and hopefully they will live for a while. I am getting really tempted to build an older suburban and get rid of this new one, and if I had more time I would probably do it. For the money mine would sell for I could build a really nice older suburban that would be more reliable than mine now and would be lots more heavy duty.
I do recommend the 2500 version in whatever year you get though. The 4L80E's are lots more heavy duty, and even if you do not tow or haul heavy, they will last longer. The rearends are beefier and they are just generally a lot more heavy duty than the 1500's. I am not sure a 6 inch lift with an independent front suspension is a good idea for a suburban, but I certainly am not an expert on the subject. IFS is more fragile than the straight axles for sure, and when you start messing with axle joint angles, and add in big tires and off road use into the equation you are likely to break stuff often. If you really feel like you will be going places that you need a lift like that, you should probably consider the older generation with the solid axles, or go ahead and plan on converting the new one to a solid axle. The cost to lift it with IFS would most likely be very close to the cost to swap in a solid axle, and there is no comparison about durability. I think in general, Suburban's are great vehicles for what they do. They haul anything you can fit inside, or hook to it. They are roomy and comfortable. They are reliable. They are cheap to repair. They are as good on gas as a lot of smaller vehicles are. The only negative is that it is not a jeep. That seems obvious, but it is big and heavy and simply will not be able to go lots of places where a Jeep can. They are plenty capable, but have their limitations.
