Tell me about the Burban

[2500SWATBurb]

My dad recently bought me a 1990 Suburban 2500 4x4. It has 63,000 miles on it and seems to be in perfect running order. Before I got her... she spent her entire life as a SWAT team vehicle in Atlanta and appears to have been maintained very very well.

14bolt SF 8 lug rear, 10 bolt 8 lug front. 241 TC. TH400 tranny ( I sure wish it had a 4th gear like the 4L80 )

I love the vehicle and plan on taking great care of her.

What are some things I should know? Any special knowledge I need to know about this particular year model or suburban?

I noticed when I changed the oil today that the drain plug had a magnet on it and had already caught some metal filings. Is that standard? Also.. it had a Baldwin E5 oil filter on it which is twice the size of the Fram I put on it. Are the baldwins good filters? Will the fram be ok?

 

[resurrected_jimmy]

Burb's are ungodly heavy, if you plan on wheeling moderate to hard stuff plan on going 1 ton for the axles. IMO 14SF is adaquate for that truck until you lift and go larger than 35's, the TH400 is bulletproof, and I really like the 241 t-case. There was a thread here a couple of months back about oil filters and most guys are of the opinion fram's are junk. I don't know anything about baldwin but I remember Wix filters kept getting mentioned as good ones.

What motor did your truck come with?

 

[2500SWATBurb]

Came with the 5.7... It has a nice high stance as it is.. It's a little bit higher than my Dads 91 2500 4wd. But it hasnt been "lifted."
Part of me wants to keep it stock height.. But I dont know how long I can do that. So is a lift out of the question with stock drivetrain? Even 3-4 inches running 35's?

I have searched and searched and cannot find a weight for the truck. Do you happen to know just how much it weighs with the 350?

I know it's a solid solid vehicle because my Dad was hit head on by a Camaro going 75 mph and all occupants in his Burban survived.. not so for the camaro. It was hurt, but not as bad as I thought it would be. (He no longer has it though ) The Burbans must be very solid.

 

[resurrected_jimmy]

4" lift and 35's should be fine on that drivetrain. I got slammed by a semi in a 7 car pile up on I-45 in houston in my 91 burb and walked away from it with a torn ACL (I was still standing on the brake when it was my turn to get hit and had my knee locked) the car in front of didn't look like a car anymore when the pulled my burb off of it, so yeah they work. IIRC a burb weighs in right around 7,000 lbs

 

[u2slow]

I have searched and searched and cannot find a weight for the truck. Do you happen to know just how much it weighs with the 350?

My '84 2wd 3/4-ton Burb (6.2L though) weighs right around 6000lbs empty. Take away ~200 for the gas engine, add maybe 4-500 for the axle, tcase, and extra driveshaft.

Say 6200-6300lbs?

 

[Classic Broncos Rule]

Fram filters are junk, Baldwin are darn good, but I prefer MotorCraft. Join this forum and check out the oil filter evaluations and other good stuff

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/