blackandgold51
1/2 ton status
I heard about light 3/4 ton frames on suburbans . How light duty is it?
CK5
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Whats The Difference Between LIGHT 3/4 Ton And Heavy 3/4 Ton Frame?
- Thread starter blackandgold51
- Start date
As far as I know, the difference isn't the frame.
I could be wrong though.
Later 3/4 ton square body burbs could be had with either a semi-floating rear axle or a full-floating rear axle, with the full floater usually in big block 2wd's with the higher GVWR.
I don't think round eye burbs ever got the semi-floater, not sure GM was even producing the SF back then, so all the 3/4 tons got the FF.
They might have made some later 4wd with the FF, I haven't seen one though.
I could be wrong though.
Later 3/4 ton square body burbs could be had with either a semi-floating rear axle or a full-floating rear axle, with the full floater usually in big block 2wd's with the higher GVWR.
I don't think round eye burbs ever got the semi-floater, not sure GM was even producing the SF back then, so all the 3/4 tons got the FF.
They might have made some later 4wd with the FF, I haven't seen one though.
I recall frame thickness being a bit beefier. From memory there were three or four thickness' used on the Suburban between various models.
The 9.5" semi float axle came out around 1980, when GM was transitioning away from the D44s. After that point, 10.5" full floaters only happened on 2WD 454 suburbans. The round-eye burbs never got the semi-floater because it wasn't in production yet.
There are GMT-400 (1992+) 3/4-ton 4x4 Suburbans with the full floater, but no 80s square bodies.
As far as "heavy 3/4-ton" vs. "light 3/4-ton," that is referring to GVWR values that are not just related to frame thickness. There are several different sets of rear springs used on Suburbans from this year range (I think I found 5 options when I was looking to buy stock replacements, some years could have 52" rears or 56" rears, with varying numbers of leaves). Depending on the series, the rear axle could change, also (as Justin mentioned).
To answer your question more directly, a "light duty" 3/4-ton is still a stiffer ride than your current 1/2-ton Suburban. The larger the GVWR, the more that GM increased the suspension stiffness (count the number of leaves in the leaf springs). So if you don't often carry 2,000 pounds of cargo, you really want the lightest duty Suburban you can find. Unless you like rattling your bones apart when you hit potholes.
rampage
3/4 ton status
If this helps any ...
https://ck5.com/forums/threads/frame-thickness-thread.235499/
https://ck5.com/forums/threads/frame-thickness-thread.235499/
