GMT400 Suburban as Base Overland Rigs?

[Luckie1999]

Hi all,

Hoping to get fully into the over-landing community soon with my first rig and looking at a suburban for the kids, dogs, and inside sleeping possibilities when solo or just me an the wife. I live in the Pacific Northwest and looking to explore all the old national forest roads and rough trails but don't need a rock crawler. Have about 10k to invest and have seen some good deals on '97-'99 burbs vs the GMT800 generation but from what I can tell from the spec sheets they only seem to have 6.6 inches of ground clearance stock and I'm worried that wont be enough. Even with a 4" lift and bigger tires (don't want to get too crazy with it), wouldn't that mean I would only be at the roughly 8.7 inchs of GC that GMT800s have? Any experienced opinions on the this would be greatly appreciated as my $$ is burning a hole in my pocket... Thanks in advance!

 

[zachammer85]

I'm pretty much in the same boat as you. I've found the k2500 to be a slightly better vehicle if you can find one. They're in the same price range as the 1500s here in Alaska. They have more powerful engines available, stronger axles and suspension, bigger brakes and about the same fuel economy as the lighter version.

While ground clearance is important, suspension travel is equally if not more important when traveling off-road. Depending on the type of lift you use will determine how much ground clearance you end up with. To me it comes down to torsion bar cranking or a drop bracket lift, the latter of which doesn't really add ground clearance, it just allows larger tires to fit with stockish suspension components. A solid axle conversion or Coilover conversion could net more/better travel and suspension articulation.

Hopefully someone more experienced than me will chime in with more info.


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[Luckie1999]

Hi all,

Hoping to get fully into the over-landing community soon with my first rig and looking at a suburban for the kids, dogs, and inside sleeping possibilities when solo or just me an the wife. I live in the Pacific Northwest and looking to explore all the old national forest roads and rough trails but don't need a rock crawler. Have about 10k to invest and have seen some good deals on '97-'99 burbs vs the GMT800 generation but from what I can tell from the spec sheets they only seem to have 6.6 inches of ground clearance stock and I'm worried that wont be enough. Even with a 4" lift and bigger tires (don't want to get too crazy with it), wouldn't that mean I would only be at the roughly 8.7 inchs of GC that GMT800s have? Any experienced opinions on the this would be greatly appreciated as my $$ is burning a hole in my pocket... Thanks in advance!

Thanks for the input. Yeah, lots of factors to consider for sure. In HS and college was always a old '60s muscle car kind of guy so handy/knowledgeable enough with engine repairs but still trying to get smart on all things suspension and lift related. Last thing I want to do is buy a base rig that is harder to modify or way more expensive to get up to snuff. If I could get to about 9-10 inches of ground clearance with good A/T tires and a winch I feel like I could tackle any area that I would be likely to attempt exploring on my own with the dog.

 

[W0lfpack91]

Ground clearance is helpful but not as big of a deal as you would think at first glance. Ground clearance is always measured off the lowest hanging point which should be your center Diff on the rear axle. Contrary to belief there is only two modifications that can increase ground clearance, one is Bigger tires and the second is Portals. Portals are a several thousand dollar investment as such dont often get consideration. A good set of 35" tires and a 3-5 inch lift would do wonders. Due to COG I'd be careful going beyond 5 or 6 inches lift untill you measure out the gains from the tire itself.

As I said though, clearance is not everything, another option would be armor up the undercarriage and put a good winch up front with a good set of lockers in both the front and rear diffs. Even on stock suspension it will go just about anywhere, and wherever it cant drive use the winch and drag it up. Combine that with either a SAS, which is easy on OBS GM trucks, or even just a 3-5 in lift and 35" M/T's and it would be near unstoppable.

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[W0lfpack91]

For reference this is my truck. It's a 98 2500 HD 5.7L. All I have in it is a detroit no slip mechanical Locker In The rear and an Eaton E-Locker in the front on stock tire size and suspension with traction boards and a hi lift jack and it will go anywhere and get out of anything.

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[Yroundrdn]

I've been very happy with my suburban. My build thread is below. This is a low budget built but gets me everywhere I've wanted to go as long as the trails were open. The G80 is a stock LS Locker and works great for me. I've had issues lifting vehicles in the past. Ya, I get some clearance but with it, vibrations, altered drive-train geometry, and more expense than anticipated. Since I had so little into this, and parts are so cheap, I just cut fenders and put in the larger tires. Though not for everyone, it has worked great for me. To go from 33s to 35s would cost a lot and that extra inch so I just stack rocks if needed.

 

[rayra]

Any stock vehicle's ground clearance sucks at the rear differential.

I've got 14" at the frame rails, have put on some Spohn boxed rear lower / trailing arms, some lift keys and haven't cranked it much. 2" spacer on original rear springs.
Rock-strewn dry river beds, any rutted forestry road, doing fine. Factory size tires, ~31.5, can reaily fit 33s, and some 35s with judicious trimming at the bottom of the wheel-well fender openings.

 

[nitro_rat]

As the gmt400 platform ages the superiority of the gmt800 platform is becoming more apparent. The shortcomings of the 4L60E have been addressed for the most part. The LS series engines have proven to be not only reliable but capable of impressive power with simple mods and/or tuning. Parts availability is good and cheap. There is still some decent aftermarket support.

3/4 ton rigs have the distinct advantage of front locker availability in both platforms.

 

[phsycle]

You're going on National Forest roads and want a 4" lift? Just get some good tires and go.

Burb should be excellent for what you need. But don't discount a crewcab truck, 6-8' bed, and a hi-rise shell. That would serve you just as well. Gives you more headroom, and future flexibility in case you want to add on a slide in camper.

 

[Frogprince]

I run a 1998 K2500 Suburban here in the PNW and I don't see a point of a lift. Reason I went with a Burb over the truck was they are easier to find, and when you do they are normally cheaper for some reason. I plan to use it for some hunts where I will just camp out in the back and it will have more then enough space and be comfortable.

Most of the roads I have found around here don't require much clearance but require some skill to get thru. When I took it the Grand Mesa in Colorado I took it down some really technical roads and it made thru just fine.

Mine is the 7.4l with the towing package so it only gets about 12-13mpg on the freeway. In town it gets around 10 ish. Towing I saw 9-12 mpg. It has been solid and comfortable for some of the longer trips. Just have had random failures due to old age. Still will get in it and drive it Colorado again in a heart beat.

 

[jonathon]

Whatever gets you out where you want to go works. The GMT400 rigs are cheap and easy to keep running and cheap to buy. You can buy a $2k truck and put $1k worth of repairs and have a solid runner. I would not run a drop bracket lift on either a 400 or 800, to much stress for a weak front end stock.

I have a light duty K2500 ex cab long bed I use as a forest and camping truck. Slight crank and some 31” AT tires and it works great. 35” tires would make things easier, but I haven’t encountered anything that I can’t tackle with some planning. The downside is there really isn’t any margin for error in some of our very washed out forest roads. But, I have $3500 into it including new tires and a new red head steering gear.

 

[DailyExpedition]

I’ve got a 98 Yukon as my expedition rig and a 2005 Yukon as my city vehicle. The 98 is good but I am going to do an LS swap but only because I’ve put so much into it. If I started over I would go with a gmt800, for the simple fact that there are FAR more aftermarket parts and the LS engine is a superior engine platform, with tons of things you can do for power, the Vortec, not so much. I’ve seen nice Z71 burbs here in Dallas go for about $3500, so you can definitely stretch that 10k


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[zachammer85]

Not sure about the pricing in your area but you can probably find a nice excursion that may not be as refined as the suburban but it's very simple and rugged. They're virtually the same size as the suburban with 3/4 ton everything. Basically a superduty SUV. Opt for the v10 or 7.3 diesel engine. The 5.4 can't get out of its own way and the 6.0 diesel is prone to potentially catastrophic issues without proper bullet proofing.


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[CrazyDrei]

6.6 inches of ground clearance stock

Wow, that is pretty minimal and the 130" wheelbase doesn't help either.

ground clearance is important, suspension travel is equally if not more important

Torsion keys and spacers will raise the truck but not increase wheel travel. Diff drop will raise truck, increase wheel travel and increase center of gravity.

Ground clearance is helpful but not as big of a deal as you would think

Absolutely, skillful driving and a stock setup will get you way farther than you can imagine.

3-5 in lift and 35" M/T's and it would be near unstoppable

I have 2000 Suburban 1500. 3" body lift, 37" tires, crap load of fender trimming and no suspension lift. Same ground clearance, approach angle and break over angle as a 2019 2 door Rubicon from factory. Think about that one for a minute.

You're going on National Forest roads and want a 4" lift? Just get some good tires and go.

YES! These trucks are extremely capable, especially if you ave a G80 rear locker. Drive cautiously and you will get out of just about anything you can get into with the stock setup.

So to answer the OPs question, YES. What do you want to do and how much do you want to spend. 3" body lift will let you run 35" tires keeping low center of gravity. Yes, you will have to trim the crap out of the fenders for GMT800 and a little trimming for GMT400 trucks. 3.73 gears are great in both of these trucks upto 37" tires, if you tow a sub 2,000# trailer get 4.10 gears if you tow 2-5,000# trailer get 4.56 gears, if you tow more than 5,000# get a different truck. Keep in mind that anything you do to increase ground clearance will raise center of gravity. Go to a tire with a taller sidewall and your axle travel increases with the additional sidewall.

GMT400 Suburban 1500, 6" differential drop lift, 35" tires, 3.73 gears. Comfortably fit 6 adults and all the gear inside for 3-4 week long road trips, we camped in tents. 42.5 gallon tank and 16mpg was great.

GMT800 Suburban 1500, 37" tires, 3" body lift, front coilover conversion. 4.10 gears and rear detroit locker. Set up to go where no Suburban ever should. Over 75k OFF-ROAD miles over last 4 years in the southwest and still my daily driver, weekend adventurer and way more fun to drive than my GMT900 Suburban 2500. Despite my 37" tires, if I run them at 0psi I think I still have the same 6.6" minimum ground clearance.

Both GM400 and GMT800 platforms are excellent and have their unique pros and cons. Go look at a couple, drive a couple and pick up the first one you find in clean unmolested good shape. Then go out and hit the trails. Find out from the trails what you need and when you get back home get it, install it, and hit the trail again. These trucks have the appeal of a soccer mom mobile but are really durable and more capable than you might think, go out and play.

Hope this helped.

 

[AutoZealot]

GMT800 Suburban 1500, 37" tires, 3" body lift, front coilover conversion. 4.10 gears and rear detroit locker. Set up to go where no Suburban ever should. Over 75k OFF-ROAD miles over last 4 years in the southwest and still my daily driver, weekend adventurer and way more fun to drive than my GMT900 Suburban 2500. Despite my 37" tires, if I run them at 0psi I think I still have the same 6.6" minimum ground clearance.

Why is the 800 chassis better to drive than the 900 in the fun to drive department?