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question about 6.5TD Suburbans

crashandburn

crashandburn

1/2 ton status
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I'm thinking about getting a mid to late 90's Burb and making it your basic battle wagon. My question is about the axles in them. What axles did they come with, and were they different on the 1500 versus 2500 other than being 6 vs 8 lug? Also, how strong are these IFS front ends? I am pretty gentle about wheeling. I see the pickups with 35s and 37s all the time with the stock front end. Are they strong enough, or ticking time bombs?
 
i dont no about the diesels but my buddy did a 6" superlift on a '99 1500 burb with 35" MTRs and beat the snot out of it. wheeling and driven daily. the only thing that let go was the rear end. he split the carrier in half. but ive seen 2500 burbs with 14bFF im not sure what years they came in though. and as for the front ends,i dont no much other than with my friends 6" super lift,it came with its own CVs. never an issue though. maybe someone else can give u more info.
 
The 1500 Burbs will have the 8.25" front and a majority will have the 10-bolt rear (I've never personally seen a 1500 Burb of this age with the 14SF rear axle, but I know they were available in the 1500 pickups). 2500 Burbs with 8-lugs have the 9.25" front and either the 14SF or 14FF rear axle.
 
A 6.5td burb in the 90s will most likely be a 3/4 ton, 8 lug no matter what is on the door. My friend had a 1500 with 8 lug wheels. 14ff rear and 9.25 front.
 
9.25" front?!! Wow, that's way more HD than I expected. I know the suspension travel leaves a lot to be desired, but with some fender trimming and some 37's I think I would have enough of everything else to be just fine off road.
 
ya my friend and I were really surprised with how it did offload with the IFS up front,and an oem limited slip rear
 
1BEATK5 said:
A 6.5td burb in the 90s will most likely be a 3/4 ton, 8 lug no matter what is on the door. My friend had a 1500 with 8 lug wheels. 14ff rear and 9.25 front.
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I would say that likely something on this truck was not factory, probably a replacement door and/or trim. I have never seen a factory 1500 truck with the 8-lug configuration.

For the OP, I don't know if I would get too excited about the 9.25" front axle. Every 8-lug IFS Chevy I know of had this setup, and I wouldn't really call it bulletproof when it comes to bigger tires or hard off-road use.
 
6.2Blazer said:
I would say that likely something on this truck was not factory, probably a replacement door and/or trim. I have never seen a factory 1500 truck with the 8-lug configuration.

For the OP, I don't know if I would get too excited about the 9.25" front axle. Every 8-lug IFS Chevy I know of had this setup, and I wouldn't really call it bulletproof when it comes to bigger tires or hard off-road use.
Click to expand...

Do some research. his truck is a 1500. i have seen atleast 2 others also.
 
1BEATK5 said:
Do some research. his truck is a 1500. i have seen atleast 2 others also.
Click to expand...

You must be talking about a 1500HD, key being "HD". If I am correct these were only available for a few years in the 2003-ish timeframe and in the crewcab/shortbed pickup configuration. Never seen a Suburban, any other body style pickup, or anything built prior to that which came from the factory as a 1500 with 8-lugs.
 
Nope. I think his is a 95'. I'm talking old body style. I will see I i can find a picture of one. If I i will have my buddy send me over some pics of his truck.

I'm on my phone right meow, but when I get home I will post some links I found
 
GM did some funky stuff with trucks in the 90s. My parents had a 96 diesel 4x4 suburban 1500 and it had 8 lug axles. The 9.25 in front and a 14b semi-floater. Only the true 2500 got the full-floater from the factory. Besides the rear axle the main difference was the 1500 had a slightly lower weight rating then the 2500, was also available with either 3:08s (4x2) or 3:42s (4x4). My parents had the 3:42s and would easily get 20+mpg on the highway. The only way you could get a 8 lug 1500 suburban was if it was a diesel.

My folks had the truck for 11 years, was a very good/comfortable truck. Still wish they had.
 
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Chev...0748417?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item3a6ca35c01

http://www.gmt400.com/forum/showthr...n-1500-8-lug-6.5-diesel-suburban-will-it-work

The base engine for all variants was the small-block 5.7 L (350 cu in) V-8. The big-block 7.4 L (454 cu in) V-8 was optional for the 2500 series. The optional 6.5 L Turbo diesel was available on all models - though rare on the 1500 series. The 6.5 L Turbo diesel used in the Tahoe was reduced in power to 380 lb·ft (520 N·m) torque due to the limitation of the 8.5-inch (220 mm) axle capacity. 1500 Suburbans with the 6.5 L Turbo diesel used the 14 bolt axle from the 2500 series.



i text my buddy and his has a 14sf not a 14ff like i said earlier.

gmc-suburban-3975270_b_0e69ccff2abed370.jpg
 
Have to admit that is a new one to me. Sounds like this was a Suburban thing only? I've seen Tahoes and 1500 pickups with the 6.5 and they were 6-lug. The 6.5TD Subs seem pretty rare but I will have to pay more attention to what the door badge says. Now that I think about it I've never seen a 6-lug 6.5 Sub, as identified by the air intake holes in the front bumper, always saw the 8-lug wheels and factory fender flares and didn't think much about it.
 
Yep was a 90's suburban thing, they got the non egr engine too. The 1/2 ton pickups and tahoes/blazers got the egr engines. They also made a light duty 2500 which was 6 lug and had egr stuff. Actually the holes in the bumpers are to feed extra air to the trans and engine oil coolers.
 
Chevy torsion bar IFS sucks.

Lifting it just opens a bag of worms.

1/2 ton or 3/4 ton or 1 ton IFS is just a fail in these trucks. Even just tires bigger than stock and regular abuse will wear out the steering, ball joints, unit bearing hubs, and the bushings. Forget keeping it aligned.

Been there, done that, wouldn't ever do it again.
 
8lug1500sub.jpg


Ebay Sub...1500 8 lug, 6.5 TD.
 
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