Full size diesel Blazer - military uhhhhhmm

[jatibb]

i like it.... i drive a 91 range rover now. 3" lift, 235-85-16. i often think, i could drive a suburban and probably keep the same mileage,if not better, have much more room, and certainly not be any more "cumbersome" driving around except for size. the old range rovers, though great off road tend to drive like a 28' mid 70s chris craft (hard to keep a straight wake) although
i can see almost every bolt on the range rover if i need to work on it. so... anyone with a 3/4 ton 4wd diesel suburban? what kind of fuel mileage are u getting? truthfully....

 

[jesusgatos]

We've had a lot of different 3/4-ton 4WD suburbans with 350's and none of them got much better than 10-14mpg, ever.

 

[Outback]

Ok, I'll add a few things. The 6.2 Diesel is, like the 2.8L V6 one of the WORST motors ever put in a motor vehicle IMO. THey were originaly Gas motors and were just never ment to be diesel's. Horror stiories abound ranging from flat out blown apart blocks from afterm,arket forced induction to major overheating issues due to the increased heat of diesels and the innability of the waterjacket design of the block being able to handle that extra heat and pressure.

The 6.5L Turbo was only slightly better and while, kind of like XJ's, reports varry, my god-father/"uncle doug" has had a 92 Burban with the 6.5 and went through a little over 3 motors and several re-builds chasing down silly little problems and had one catastrophicly fail due to a bad oil pick-up somehwere leading to ZERO oil pressure... It is a far better motor than teh 6.2 but in terms of diesel's even of it's era it's hardly reliable or powerfull. Personaly like I said above, I think that the old Blazers and chevy trucks were to me the only GM products worth a lick, since about 1990 you couldn't APY me to drive anything from GM.

So the old trucks... Personaly if I were choosing from a P/U or a Blazer I'd choose the Blazer because we didn't get quad-cabs back in the day adn a standard cab P/U is just something that I really wouldn't want to deal with from a livability standpoint. the Blazer with it's removable top would be really neat and would offer a range of options to explore and directions to take your build. however it seems that there are some very knowledgeable people here who've delt with these trucks ALOT more than I have nad are saying that the surplus Blazers are not as well set-up as the trucks so it becomes hard to decide... Maybe buy a Blazer and scrap teh drivetrain for a 6BT and soem other Junk-yard goodies liek better axles with better diff gearing???

Did any of that make sence, I'm on hour 11.5 of a 12 hour shift and I'm running out of steam...

Cheers

Dave

Hi Dave,
You are thinking of the 70s gas 350 engine they converted to a diesel. THIS is the sole reason why America doesnt have hardly as many diesels today as Europe does. Those engineers should have been shot........ Anyway the 6.2 and the 6.5 are very good diesel engines and in no way are related to that abortion! The 6.2 and 6.5 are not the absolute best but a very good diesel non the less. Also with todays info they can be made bullet proof if you have the extra coin to shell out.

 

[BlueBomber]

Hi Dave,
You are thinking of the 70s gas 350 engine they converted to a diesel. THIS is the sole reason why America doesnt have hardly as many diesels today as Europe does. Those engineers should have been shot........ Anyway the 6.2 and the 6.5 are very good diesel engines and in no way are related to that abortion! The 6.2 and 6.5 are not the absolute best but a very good diesel non the less. Also with todays info they can be made bullet proof if you have the extra coin to shell out.

that was a poor design. much like the 350c.i. big block. Left-over 400 blocks were mated with 350 parts (and some other odds and ends) to make a big pile of poo. one year production run, i wonder why.....

 

[1976K5Chalet]

A blazer would not be a bad way to go.
Power depends on your preference. I have converted both my Chalet (76 K5) and 79 K5 to TBI efi....a simple swap and tons more power and reliability...and parts can be had anywhere for the efi system. Add a chalet camper and or a 4 wheel pop top blazer model camper...there are others ie: Hallmark....but once you have her set up you have the perfect two man exploration rig that can go anywhere...
And yes i have had mine in places she most likely should have not been but it seems the camper weight actual helps with traction...lol.

DW

 

[matt s]

Glad for this thread. There is a military k5 diesel here on craigslist right now. I have these crazy ideas about mounting a flippac on it.........and the dream begins.

I do wonder about the diesel from a noise standpoint. I am a wildlife photographer and being a rumbling monster likely doesn't help seeking out the critters, although the gas milage would be nice.

 

[chasespeed]

Yep. When this state changes its inspection, emissions laws AGAIN for diesels... my whole driveline is going into one of those CUCVs... I would use a pick up... but... I got a kid, and would like the ability to put her in the back-seat...

Chase

 

[ntsqd]

We've had a lot of different 3/4-ton 4WD suburbans with 350's and none of them got much better than 10-14mpg, ever.

My ~165k miles '91 TBI 350/700R4/241 Sub on 285/75's with 3.73's has gotten 15.6 mpg at a rough average of 75 mph. Back off to 65 in OD and the mileage plummets. Pull it down to direct and the mileage comes back.
With a decent set of heads and some 4.11 gears (to allow optimum engine rpms at 65) I suspect that I could push on 18-20 mpg pretty hard. That is actually my game plan, but in an FJ60 and if the Sub doesn't sell soon it will become the donor. Which would be sad because other than paint it is a very nice truck.

 

[1976K5Chalet]

For shix and giggles...

The rear seats in a chalet are firmly mounted to the bed floor...and come standard with seat belts....


DW

 

[RADAR12]

suburban

Hello to everyone here . I enjoy seeing all of the builds and am looking forward to posting pics of my current project. i have a 90 v1500 suburban which I converted to diesel a couple of months ago and plan on many upgrades in the future. In regards to the 6.2 : production started in the early 80's and ended in i believe 93 . Overall i like my 6.2 , it doesn't make big power but the purpose of the engine was fuel economy. I see mid to high eighteens mpg driving a mix of city and highway. This is with a crappy muffler , short factory tires and a convetional air filter. With all the future tweaks i should see 20 mpg. Not to mention it will run on everything (trans fluid , wmo, and wvo). i would guess 22 -24 mpg highway. Not bad for something that heavy and aerodynamic as a cereal box .

 

[RADAR12]

Sorry , forgot to add 3.73 / 700r4 /241 and 235/75 15 tires

 

[jp0863]

The 6.2 is fairly reliable. GM got a bad rap with diesels when they tried to convert a 5.7 to diesel... didnt work out well. the 6.2 and 6.5 are good engines, although underpowered. As far as an expedition vehicle, i think a military blazer would be a good starting point. with a few upgrades to the drivetrain it can be even better. I have 4 kids now so i had to get rid of it, but it worked great offroad and got about 18mpg. The 6.2 makes its torque right off idle so it feels about the same as a 305 small block powerwise, but will last longer than the gas engine by a long shot.

i tried posting pic's of it, but it wont let me... if you want to see it send me your e-mail and ill shoot you some..

 

[logom]

I am enjoying this thread because I have an '84 cucv blazer. My goal was to build something that could run the rubicon but also some expedition trips as well. I put an 8" lift and 40" tires, one ton axles, 5:13 gears. The 6.2 is gutless but has never left me stranded. I've collected a used banks kit and nv4500 to help in the power department. If I had to do it all over again, I would have picked up the military Blazer AND the 1 1/4 ton truck. Put the axles in the truck with 37" tires and called it done. Then kept the truck motor as a spare. Not sure what kind of mileage I'm getting yet but picked up a used 43 gal fuel tank for it so that will help my range at least. My best suggestion would be to pick up a dodge with a cummins that has the nv4500 and transfer case with it and just swap the whole drive train including axles. More money and time, but no power problems.

 

[Snafu]

I absolutely loved my 1986 K5 and seriously need another someday...but I've always heard some mixed results on the diesel.

From what I understand it was a gas engine retrofitted to work as a diesel...so there's questions of reliability. But I'm too enticed not to get one myself. Look on Autotrader.com and you'll find hundreds of them!

Rust was a huge issue with mine though. The truck was rotting to pieces from all the salt of Kentucky. It had the 305 which did pretty good for all the crap I threw at it...The truck never gave up on me, always managed to get me home....and then break down

 

[Snafu]

The 6.2 is fairly reliable. GM got a bad rap with diesels when they tried to convert a 5.7 to diesel... didnt work out well. the 6.2 and 6.5 are good engines, although underpowered. As far as an expedition vehicle, i think a military blazer would be a good starting point. with a few upgrades to the drivetrain it can be even better. I have 4 kids now so i had to get rid of it, but it worked great offroad and got about 18mpg. The 6.2 makes its torque right off idle so it feels about the same as a 305 small block powerwise, but will last longer than the gas engine by a long shot.

i tried posting pic's of it, but it wont let me... if you want to see it send me your e-mail and ill shoot you some..

Ah-ha...now I've got the info straight!