1/2 ton burb tow rig?

[NorCal_Chris]

How viable of an option is this?

Came across an 82 1/2 ton 6.2 with banks turbo, 700r4 4.10s on 35s elec brake controller and hitch.

Is this thing going to explode towing my blazer?

Do i need to factor in finding a 14b rear? A big tranny cooler would be a given.
no rust, no dents, paint looks fair
price is 2500

what say ye?

 

[K85 Octane]

I would factor in dropping the ride height, setting up a th400, and a 14b rear.

 

[imiceman44]

How viable of an option is this?

Came across an 82 1/2 ton 6.2 with banks turbo, 700r4 4.10s on 35s elec brake controller and hitch.

Is this thing going to explode towing my blazer?

Do i need to factor in finding a 14b rear? A big tranny cooler would be a given.
no rust, no dents, paint looks fair
price is 2500

what say ye?

I agree, a stronger rear, and tranny as well as a slight drop in altitude.
The engine should do the job well and the whelbase is good enough.
And it can double as a family wagon too.

 

[NorCal_Chris]

well looks like i need to comb over my funds and plan some stuff out.

My reasoning with this was that it has PLENTY of room for me and the wife and the little one, plus planning on at least one more.

Will make an awesome camping rig now that my blazer is less than ideal at that. I was wanting a diesel for milage, and torque, so that works.

I have access to 2 car trailers so im covered there. Guess i need to give this guy a call and give it the once over.

 

[MrSchaeferPants]

I'd say 3/4 ton running gear, just cause you're towing- the Suburban is a heavy mother, then add a trailer and a Blazer, which is heavy as well. 4.10 should be fine, 4.56 since you have OD in that 700r4. If you're towing, driving long distances. Keep that 700r4. They can be built up plenty fine for towing for long highway speeds. 35s and a lower rear gear ratio will even itself out for RPMS down the highway. Somewhere here there's a tire size/gear ratio chart.

The longer wheel base of a suburban will be nice for the trailer. 5th wheel would be sweet for towing, but it being a suburban... nice gooseneck and tandem axles with electric brakes, you'll be just fine. You can upgrade the hell out of a 700r4 to fix all of it's problems. Just don't tow in overdrive, till it's beefed up, and even then on flat highway.

BUT, all depends, how FAR will you be towing. If LONG distances at highway speeds will be the only use for that Suburban, then ya 700r4. Short distances, towing offroad to places to go camping, th400 makes a heck of a lot more sense.

I prefer a manual for towing, but putting a sm465 in for highway use...

All that and NOW you gotta factor in tranny swaps for a diesel. Auto or manual. IF you switch to anything you gotta factor in the RPM range of a diesel. So beefing up that 700r4 makes more sense to me, cause either way you'll be spending money.

 

[imiceman44]

I'd say 3/4 ton running gear, just cause you're towing- the Suburban is a heavy mother, then add a trailer and a Blazer, which is heavy as well. 4.10 should be fine, 4.56 since you have OD in that 700r4. If you're towing, driving long distances. Keep that 700r4. They can be built up plenty fine for towing for long highway speeds. 35s and a lower rear gear ratio will even itself out for RPMS down the highway. Somewhere here there's a tire size/gear ratio chart.

The longer wheel base of a suburban will be nice for the trailer. 5th wheel would be sweet for towing, but it being a suburban... nice gooseneck and tandem axles with electric brakes, you'll be just fine. You can upgrade the hell out of a 700r4 to fix all of it's problems. Just don't tow in overdrive, till it's beefed up, and even then on flat highway.

BUT, all depends, how FAR will you be towing. If LONG distances at highway speeds will be the only use for that Suburban, then ya 700r4. Short distances, towing offroad to places to go camping, th400 makes a heck of a lot more sense.

I prefer a manual for towing, but putting a sm465 in for highway use...

All that and NOW you gotta factor in tranny swaps for a diesel. Auto or manual. IF you switch to anything you gotta factor in the RPM range of a diesel. So beefing up that 700r4 makes more sense to me, cause either way you'll be spending money.

Either you don't know your terms or it was a slip, but gooseneck would not work with a suburban, the only setup would be a bumper pull. Gooseneck and fifth wheel are very similar and both put the pivot in the bed of a pickup truck or more precisely over the axle.
Still fine with a suburban, it's only 2" shorter wheelbase than a long bed pickup and I have done that plenty.
As for the 700r4 it probably would be fine and I would keep it until it shows signs of getting tired then swap it out or rebuild it better.

 

[diesel4me]

I have a friend in NH who travels all over the country looking for rust free vehicles to haul back here for resale,and he used a 80's 2wd Suburban C-10 with a 454/TH400 to tow several cars back from NC and FL over a two year period--said it towed better than any of the 1/2 ton pickups he ever used previously,he actually prefered 1/2 tons as they rode so much better and still handled a loaded trailer very well...
Personally I'd feel better with a full floating rear axle with that much weight..

I think the 6.2 will tow OK,but might not set any speed records towing...the turbo will help some for sure...

 

[MrSchaeferPants]

Either you don't know your terms or it was a slip

You're closer on the first part. I did mean bumper pull. Too used to thinking of tow pintles and lunette eye, since that's what I've mostly used in my towing exp. But when I was thinking bumper pull I didn't know the name of that style tounge so I didn't wanna say that there ball thingy.

 

[TheBeast_88K5]

Do it!!!!!

Then we'd both have diesel's!!

....

I know a guy that has 14bff's, all day, for $200.
You know it's cake to install one.

Buy it if it's worth a damn.

....
edit:

I suspect this is why you didn't tell me...

 

[imiceman44]

You're closer on the first part. I did mean bumper pull. Too used to thinking of tow pintles and lunette eye, since that's what I've mostly used in my towing exp. But when I was thinking bumper pull I didn't know the name of that style tounge so I didn't wanna say that there ball thingy.

I kind of figured, that's why I threw it in.

 

[shady]

for $2500 cant you find a 3/4 ton burb that already has a th400 and 14 bolt. plus already lower. sounds like less work to me. there out there all over from what I found while looking. Theres one for 2000 with a plow on it just down the road from me. and the military ones may even have the 1 1/4 tons under them.

 

[NorCal_Chris]

for $2500 cant you find a 3/4 ton burb that already has a th400 and 14 bolt. plus already lower. sounds like less work to me. there out there all over from what I found while looking. Theres one for 2000 with a plow on it just down the road from me. and the military ones may even have the 1 1/4 tons under them.

Yeah all that would be ideal, but I would rather have a diesel, wich seems to n
Be harder to find, plus this one has a turbo. And its rust free, wich isnt as easy to find in ca as everyone thinks. I could get a 14b for around 100 for no prob, and the 700r may do well enough that I can hold off on the th400

 

[shady]

I did have an 87 2wd 1/2 ton that had a 700r4 in it with the 6.2. The PO used it to to tow a 24' camper with 2 slide outs all over the country. It did hold up quite well I guess. they replaced the tranny once (had 189000 on it when I got it. Then I rebuilt it about a year after I got it. I dont know how heavy the camper was. I know the 1/2 ton is capable in reality, but it does only have a 5000# tow rating. Thats why I thought the 3/4 would be better. the 6.2 if you havent owned one is not as bad as they try to make it seem. Maybe with 6-7 thousand pounds it is, but I never towed with mine. I thought mine had plenty of power though. I do know the PO unhooked the A/C clutch so that it didnt kick in going up hills, said it would drag him down to a crawl in the mountains.

Plus I guess you could sell the tires if you lower it and make quite a bit back

 

[6.2Blazer]

A guy in our club uses a mid-90's 1/2 ton Suburban as a tow rig. It has about 250k on the clicker with a recent 350 crate motor and he rebuilt the 700r4 in his garage awhile ago. It still uses the stock 10b rear axle with no issues, but he does has a 6-lug 14SF sitting the garage.

He doesn't pull a Blazer but has a custom high-deck tri-axle trailer that probably weights 3,500 lbs. and pulls two built "Samuria's" on it........I say built because they are substantially heavier than stock as one has a 4.3/TH350/203 to 300 doubler with Toyota axles and 38's, and the other has a 302/C6/D300 with Toyota axles and 35's, so I'm sure both cominbed weigh more than a typical K5 and then add in the heavy trailer.

 

[shady]

the mid 90's burbs have a 9000# tow rating for some reason. I could never figure out what was so different over the 80's ones

 

[gotblazers]

I got my 91 3/4 ton rust free suburban with a near new professional paintjob just a few months ago 8 hours south just below Santa Barbara. 144k on the ticker TBI'd 454 w/4l80E (overdrive For the win ) Weight dist. hitch. Power everything (even power mirrors ) great interior with A/C and heater working.

I paid 2k for it . I would keep lookin if i were you. Also IIRC i have a tow rating of 9500 so im totally legal to tow the k5.

 

[Pookster]

the mid 90's burbs have a 9000# tow rating for some reason. I could never figure out what was so different over the 80's ones

It shouldn't have been that dramatic- Primary differences is that some of the burbs came with like barely any springs in the rear. My 82 2wd 6.2 burb was like driving a caddy. I think I counted 3 leaf springs in the rear. It couldn't haul that much stuff before the tail was near the ground.

 

[Brady]

I picked up a 87 3/4ton suburban for 1500 with 58K on it 3 yrs ago.It is clean with no rust.Has the 5.7TBI/Th400/np208 with 4:10 gears in the axles.10bolt and SF14bolt.I tow a 20ft tandem with my pretty heavy buggy on it no problem.Buggy has TBI454/sm465/205/D60/FF14bolt on 38's.I can cruise at 70(about 3000rpm) all day and still speed up to pass.I am planning on putting a FF14 in it at some point.Just to get the bigger brakes and not worry about the c-clip.

 

[Zeus33rd]

For towing, I'd keep lookin. Turbo'ed or not, the 6.2's are disgustingly gutless, even unloaded. Add any kind of weight and you'll be holding up traffic everywhere you go. In '82 those engines were rated at 130hp & 240lb tq. The turbo helps, but just not enough. I'm not just talkin out my ass either...I owned an '83 K20 w/6.2 and drove a '79 c30 with a swapped in 6.2 w/banks kit. Driven countless hummvees and cucv's being in the army as well. The only vehicle I'd want a 6.2 in would be a shortbed 2wd run around truck, for the mileage. That's all the 6.2's are good for.

 

[imiceman44]

For towing, I'd keep lookin. Turbo'ed or not, the 6.2's are disgustingly gutless, even unloaded. Add any kind of weight and you'll be holding up traffic everywhere you go. In '82 those engines were rated at 130hp & 240lb tq. The turbo helps, but just not enough. I'm not just talkin out my ass either...I owned an '83 K20 w/6.2 and drove a '79 c30 with a swapped in 6.2 w/banks kit. Driven countless hummvees and cucv's being in the army as well. The only vehicle I'd want a 6.2 in would be a shortbed 2wd run around truck, for the mileage. That's all the 6.2's are good for.

Well I would have to disagree:
Everyone seems to think that a tow vehicle should tow without breaking a sweat and going 80 MPH up a 10% hill.
Well I have towed with a 350 gas powered truck, with a 454 gas powered truck, with a 6.2 N/A diesel truck and a 6.2 with banks turbo diesel truck.
They all slow down on hills, some feel more the load than others and they all did the job.
Now I agree the cummins truck I was in ( I didn't drive it) but I could feel the power there yes, but it still did the same job a little faster.
If one can't afford the cummins, or the gas mileage of a nice built 454, they can still get the job done on a lower budget.