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Good gmc 1500 suburban buy?

yakmastermax

yakmastermax

1/2 ton status
Joined
Feb 4, 2012
Posts
165
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Location
Albuquerqu NM/ Austin TX
Hey everyone, I bought a k5 earlier this year with the intention of restoring it and making it a nice DD/ ski truck but as it turned out, it had a ton of bed and floorpan rust as well as needing a transmission swap. As per many forum members suggestion, I looking into finding another k5 in better condition as apposed to dumping money into fixing the rust. I didn't find any other K5s but the other day I was a jack in the box and came across this:

20120626_134520-Copy.jpg


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4 wheel drive, 1989 sle suburban gmc 1500, tbi 5.7
new ac compressor and condenser
new shocks
air adjust in the rear for towing? :dunno:
interior looks good
no floor pan rust as far as i can see
automatic

the owner is asking 2500
should i jump? what are the common issues with the 1989 tbi 5.7?
thanks for the input guys

new ac
 
It hard to say without a lot more pictures, and without driving it, but I'd offer $1.5k and see if he takes it. Maybe go up to $2k or a little more. Looks nice to me.
 
Looks nice, go look at it with a flashlight, then if you see any rust don't tell yourself oh its just a little, a little rust warrants further investigation.

89 is a good year, TBI, 700 for a trans, 241 t case.
 
I have an 89, never been stranded unless I wanted to be. Granted I paid $20 and put a battery in it, been driving it every day to work since then. It's been 2 years now this month!!!
 
update: I talked to the guy more, he said again how great of shape it is in, he says he commutes it about 30 miles daily. however i found out the mileage which is 250xxx :eek1:

are suburbans rarer than k5?
 
Hate to say it, but i'd hold out for a 2500. Perferably a 91, for the OD trans.

I don't think the half ton axles / trans are really up to the task fo dragging the suburban weight around for a long time, let alone towing, or loading it with people/cargo.

With everyone around here upgrading blazers to 3/4 ton axles, why not start with a factory 3/4 ton?
 
but 3/4ton suburbans never got real axles ......

So if your wanting to build somthing, that looks like a good start
 
Never? To be totally accurate, the 73-78 3/4 ton 4x4 burbs got a 14bltff and a d44. 79-84 got 14bltff and 10blt front. 85-91 got a 14bltsf and 10blt front.

I think that burb your looking at is a bit over priced at $2500. I think $2000 would be max on that.
 
2000$ max it is. as far as axles go, this truck would never actually go off road, just meant to get my crap around for college. I would prefer to buy in austin. that red portland burb looks amazing but there has to be a catch
 
Burban like that for sale around me would be no less than $4000. I dont know how many I looked at for sale in the $2-3k range that had no rust in their ad or when I talked to people on the phone and when I showed up it was a rust bucket. I finally gave up on finding one and started the paper work on borrowing money for a 88 one ton, same day I happened to come across the one I bought for $800. Id buy this one in a heartbeat for $2500 cause there are none for sale like that around me that nice. Good luck no mater what you do.
 
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