bigmike585
Registered Member
Hey Everyone,
I recently signed up for this forum and posted a question about vibration/wobble coming from the a the wheels of my suburban. I got a bunch of feedback, good info, and ended up changing the tires out and the problem was solved.
Below are some pics of the suburban, its a 1988, half ton, 4x4.
Before new tires:
After 33x12.50r15 (Firestone Destination A/T's, price was right)
Here are a few others
It's got 137k miles on it, and been maintained very well. Everything works! The A/C has been converted to 134, cools the vehicle nicely, front and rear. The 350 purrs, tranny is crisp. Most everything looks like it hasnt been touched since someone at the factory put it on. I took it on a 14 hour road trip this weekend and it did very well, I was pleased. There is a noticeable power loss when cruising hwy speeds (especially with a 30 mph headwind) with the new tires, but I just deal with it by not getting in a hurry up a hill trying to go easy on the 700r4. I was proly doing about 75 mph the whole way with the speedometer being thrown off because of the larger tires. When I got to my destination (father's shop), I drained the front and rear diffs to change the fluids, I suspect they've never been changed. The rear diff looked fine, was full, just black. The front, was full also, just slightly milky. I was crawling around underneath it and noticed everything was spotless, zero rust, not even any dirt. You can tell it never left the highway (at least I could never get a vehicle's under carrage that clean). Paint is faded, and an awful color IMO, but I dont care, not a show vehicle.
I ran the 4x4 through the motions, drove it accross a shallow river, up very steep grades, and did well. The low range is super strong, feels very tight. The 33's with zero lift rubbed slightly in certain situations off road, for sure gonna need a lift. That's the next step, 4 inch, just want to steer clear of blocks in the rear. The rear end is pretty saggy, I need a lift that will level it out. Anyone know of a good kit?
I wanted to ask you folks to share any tips or useful knowledge of these vehicle, this being my first old chevy fullsize. Any preventative maintnence that can be done? Any parts that are more likely to go out, this stage in its life, that I can be prepared for?
I recently signed up for this forum and posted a question about vibration/wobble coming from the a the wheels of my suburban. I got a bunch of feedback, good info, and ended up changing the tires out and the problem was solved.
Below are some pics of the suburban, its a 1988, half ton, 4x4.
Before new tires:
After 33x12.50r15 (Firestone Destination A/T's, price was right)
Here are a few others
It's got 137k miles on it, and been maintained very well. Everything works! The A/C has been converted to 134, cools the vehicle nicely, front and rear. The 350 purrs, tranny is crisp. Most everything looks like it hasnt been touched since someone at the factory put it on. I took it on a 14 hour road trip this weekend and it did very well, I was pleased. There is a noticeable power loss when cruising hwy speeds (especially with a 30 mph headwind) with the new tires, but I just deal with it by not getting in a hurry up a hill trying to go easy on the 700r4. I was proly doing about 75 mph the whole way with the speedometer being thrown off because of the larger tires. When I got to my destination (father's shop), I drained the front and rear diffs to change the fluids, I suspect they've never been changed. The rear diff looked fine, was full, just black. The front, was full also, just slightly milky. I was crawling around underneath it and noticed everything was spotless, zero rust, not even any dirt. You can tell it never left the highway (at least I could never get a vehicle's under carrage that clean). Paint is faded, and an awful color IMO, but I dont care, not a show vehicle.
I ran the 4x4 through the motions, drove it accross a shallow river, up very steep grades, and did well. The low range is super strong, feels very tight. The 33's with zero lift rubbed slightly in certain situations off road, for sure gonna need a lift. That's the next step, 4 inch, just want to steer clear of blocks in the rear. The rear end is pretty saggy, I need a lift that will level it out. Anyone know of a good kit?
I wanted to ask you folks to share any tips or useful knowledge of these vehicle, this being my first old chevy fullsize. Any preventative maintnence that can be done? Any parts that are more likely to go out, this stage in its life, that I can be prepared for?
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and welcome to CK5. Its cool that you got the info you needed here. I've gotten alot of info here too. I have a near spotless 88 burb myself
If your interested in a small lift this is mine with 3" lift, no zero rate, and 33"s. I didnt want a full 4" cause as stated it makes the tires look wierd sometimes.

. Dang it!
Theres ways to make power in that motor and will be better money spent than gears. Unless your doing tons with 4.10's, then Go for it