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Considering a Suburban Tow Rig

Richcz28

Richcz28

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I have buyback numbers for my beetle and they are looking to be too good to pass up. According to the most updated VW news we will be parting ways November 1st.

If I did get a new truck I would probably also put the Fire Truck up for sale.

I would like the new truck to be a tow rig for the blazer. From some online research it looks to be that most 3/4 ton burbs were rated to haul around 10,000 pounds when properly equipped.

I would like to find one with 3 bench seats to haul friends north for skiing and to sleep inside in a pinch while road tripping. Also, the dog would have a climate controlled home for winter and summer travel.

I've looked at a couple burbs of the 1990-2006 versions and they have had major frame rot by the steering box. I'm beginning to think I should look for a newer truck. I'd like this truck to be a long term plan. I can easily put 10,000 miles on the road in the summer and another 10,000 during ski season. I imagine at some point I would pick up a wicked cheap econobox to offset some of the city driving I do.

I'd prefer to make payments at this point unless I found an earlier burb for under 6-7 thousand. If I go newer used, I'd consider spending up to 20k. I'd like to use some of the money from my beetle for a bathroom and heat in my barn this winter.

What options on the suburbans are must haves? What years do you folks recommend? Were there important gear ratio options and oil coolers to pay attention to? Am I dreaming? Is this totally not enough truck?
 
I checked out a 2010 that was for sale at the dealership by me today. They were asking 27k for the truck with 105k miles. It idled poor and the engine clanked quite a bit. It's the only newer 2500 around right now. The rear quarters were also already beginning to rot out. I wasn't really impressed.

I havent driven an 8.1 truck yet. I've seen a few but they were all too far gone to be a legitimate candidate. I'm yet to find one with the rockers attached.

Would a GMT400 platform truck be too old and too slow to be a reliable tow rig? Except for the frame rails, which seem to rot with equal vigor, these trucks are often more rot free by me than the 01-06 era trucks.
 
It sounds like the underlined problem is your part of the country :D. But seriously, if you are looking for a specific vehicle, probably the best thing to do is start looking out of state. Even with the cost to get it back to you, it will still be a better deal and you'll get a better rig than the east coast stuff that likes to rot after only 5 years or so.

My current truck is a 96 K2500 with the 7.4 vortec and 4l80e. It's been a really good tow rig (has 185K on it) and just keeps going. If I lived in an area that was more flat (we have some tall mountains in CO) then I would probably just throw a couple simple goodies at the motor just for good measure and keep rocking it. On the CO passes I slow down quite a bit when loaded down towing, but such is life.

I'm building my crew cab right now with an 8.1/NV4500 combo to tow. The 8.1 tows very very well. Most say it's comparable to a diesel in power without the turbo lag the diesels deal with. It's a thirsty bugger and will get ~10mpgs weather empty or towing heavy (my 96 gets 13 empty and 10 towing too, so comparable), so you probably don't want one for daily use, but if it's mainly going to be a tow rig with occasional other uses, it's one of the best IMO.

My brother has a 2001 3/4 ton burban that he tows with. Now, it's a sleeper for sure. He rebuilt the LQ4 6.0 liter with an LSX cam, redone heads, 8.1 injectors, custom tune, and an intake/exhaust system. Plus, he threw an 11.5" AAM axle in the rear with 4.11 gears....so his tows REALLY well for a 3/4 burb now. In stock form he could still tow his current setup, but it was a bit of a struggle.

Each of these rigs have their + and - to them. But I would seriously consider looking outside your state if you want to find something older that you want to keep for a while
 
I don't mind looking outside the state. It wouldn't bother me to fly someplace on a friday night and spend Saturday and Sunday driving home. That would give me a range of around 2000 miles at the very furthest. I just drove back from Seattle last week and it took 3 days.

I would be unloaded every weekend in the winter, but I could possibly spend 10k summer miles with the blazer attached to the back like I said before. I'd like a rig that wouldn't be afraid to tow out to the rubicon and back if I wanted it to.

I appreciate the opinions of you guys in the mountains. I know people out west don't think of the east coast as having mountains, but highways in Pennsylvania have some serious hills.
 
It sounds like the underlined problem is your part of the country :D. But seriously, if you are looking for a specific vehicle, probably the best thing to do is start looking out of state.


for the win^^^
 
Richcz28 said:
I don't mind looking outside the state. It wouldn't bother me to fly someplace on a friday night and spend Saturday and Sunday driving home. That would give me a range of around 2000 miles at the very furthest. I just drove back from Seattle last week and it took 3 days.

I would be unloaded every weekend in the winter, but I could possibly spend 10k summer miles with the blazer attached to the back like I said before. I'd like a rig that wouldn't be afraid to tow out to the rubicon and back if I wanted it to.

I appreciate the opinions of you guys in the mountains. I know people out west don't think of the east coast as having mountains, but highways in Pennsylvania have some serious hills.
Click to expand...

From the sounds of it then, I would consider an 8.1 burban. The way to spot the difference in the early to mid 2000's between a 6.0 burban compared to a 8.1 burban is the rearend. The 6.0's got the semi-float 14 bolt with more than likely 3.73 gears. The 8.1 burbans got the full float 14 bolt with more than likely 4.10 gears. All these burbans had 4l80e's (or 4l85e's depending on the year) behind them. This tranny is plenty good enough for what you are going to do. You can usually pick up the 8.1 burban's for cheaper than the 8.1 trucks since most didn't want the huge body of the burban (don't know why, they are really nice, especially with kids and keeping gear out of the weather) and the 8.1 truck versions got the Allison behind them which makes them more desirable. Plus, you are not going to gain much as far as mpg's go between the 6.0 or the 8.1. Like I said, the 8.1 will get roughly around 10 mpg's no matter what. My brother gets about 13-14 empty, and 9 while towing with his built 6.0 (when his 6.0 was stock with 3.73 gears it was the exact same). So you will get much more power in the 8.1, especially on the low end of the rpm range which is fantastic for towing while getting roughly the same mileage. Plus, with a simple tune to the computer on a stock 8.1 (couple hundred bucks), you will really wake it up.

Hope all this helps in your choice. Keep looking, you will find something that's a good deal!
 
Man, it's not everyday you see a dually suburban....no matter what the year. That's a pretty cool rig. It's priced higher cause it's a littler more rare and it's really clean.

@GWeakland620 or some others are the guys to talk to about 6.5 diesels. I have never owned one or towed with one...I usually stick with gas motors
 
I agree, it's wicked cool. I'm going to go check it out. Any 6.5 towing thoughts would be great to hear.

I would think the not towing mileage would be significantly better than an 8.1.
 
 
Now we're talking, Richard. I like this idea better than what we were tossing around last month. :thumb:

I haven't towed mountains with the 6.5, but I have driven several and towed around the farm country. It's quite a noticeable step up from the N/A 6.2 that you have in the fire truck. I would be more than happy with it (but then I've towed smallish loads with my 6.2/3.08 combination happily, too). The burb body will give more options passenger-wise, you mostly just need to find one that isn't rusted out. Look out West. Take Christmas/Thanksgiving vacation and hit up the West coast.

I have one friend with a 1994 K2500 diesel Suburban (14bff and airbags in the rear). He wanted to go drag racing, so he threw a 6BT under the hood for moah powah. Tows a 37' motor home across the rockies and hasn't ever complained (at least, not to me).

Not saying you should throw a 6BT at one of these rigs (though it would be cool), but I offer this as verification that a rig of this year range is capable of hauling quite a bit. More power makes it happen more quickly, the important parts include brakes, cooling, suspension, etc. And did I mention brakes? I can tell you exactly what it's like pulling a car hauler with a 4-cylinder Ranger. Power was limited, but it wasn't the worst part. Brakes are your friend.


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A 6.5 Suburban with the towing package would be fine for your needs, IMO. And a GMT-400 Suburban would save you a whole pile of money vs. a newer one (though newer ones are cool, too). :)


:popcorn:
 
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