I bought the 03 because I was daily driving the 89 and it was giving me issues and I was tired of trying to keep it on the road while I was working on my 90 trying to get it back on the road as well as a one ton axle swap. I was to the point I needed to buy rims and tires for the 90 and what I wanted was about $3k. The wife (now ex) suggested something newer instead of putting the money into the 90 at the time. While that wasn't necessarily a dumb decision, part of me wishes I would've continued on with the 90 instead. I was actually looking for 3/4 ton or one ton crew cab 4x4 trucks and they were all at least $10k and up around me but Suburbans equipped identical to the trucks were all $3k-$6k it seemed. Some higher than that but a lot of them were in that price range. So I bought another Suburban, the 89 set for a bit and then started turning into a crawler, the 90 is drive able but needs work that I really don't want to do as I'm still trying to one ton swap it someday.
I almost immediately had to rebuild the transfer case in the 03 due to pump rub. I put an upgraded pump housing from Merchant Automotive as well as a new back case half and all new bearings, clutches, chain, etc. So that was a quick $1k. Then had to rebuild the front end and I put in some leveling keys and lifted the front about a half an inch to level it. I wish I would went more and done something to bring the rear up some too. When I looked at this thing it was in February, in the dark, on a rainy night. I pulled into a bank under their awning and tried to look under it the best I could but between it still setting so low even being a 3/4 ton 4x4 and me being a big guy, I wasn't able to check it out as good as what I wanted. That and I think I got over excited to find a 3/4 ton 4x4 Suburban with the 8.1 that wasn't all beat up and rusted out with a fairly decent interior and at the right price for me. LOL. Lessons learned I guess.
38,000 mile, 307 cid, 3-speed manual. Spent most of it's life as a Fire Chief's vehicle and then became the Fire Departments Parade car. You know how Firemen keep their stuff clean and polished, lol. They finally sold it and the buyer took the antenna's and communications equipment out and repainted it. Still has all the call numbers for emergencies taped to the sunvisor.
