r/suburban

Image 1 — Project Suburban 1500 v 2500
Image 2 — Project Suburban 1500 v 2500
▲ 47 r/suburban+1 crossposts

Project Suburban 1500 v 2500

Two different GMT400 Suburbans need some advice here.

1999 1500 Chevrolet 4x4 (first image lifted)

Bad:
Bad motor (bearing)
3 year out of registration

Good:
Good interior / leather
Lift / roof rack
Has 3rd row

$1500

1995 2500 GMC 4x4

Good:
454 motor / TBI starts / 51k miles
Bull bar / roof rack (probably worse mpg)

Bad:
Oil leaks / wet underside
Rough interior
Bearing noise passenger front tire
Seller can’t find a shop to do smog (not a major city)
Former LEO vehicle has running board brackets that are heavy duty like a tow hitch bolted through the frame - hopefully removable as it’s deadweight

$2000 (was asking $4k)

Seems like the ‘99 might be the better buy. If I had the room I’d buy both?

u/Sexual_Wookie — 1 day ago

Bench Seat Option

My daughter just went into her local Chevy Dealership prepared to spend $100,000 on a new Suburban.

Because of her family size she needs the BENCH seat option on the 2nd row.

She was prepared to wait for a custom build. The dealer told her that the BENCH SEAT OPTION could NOT come with motorized running boards, or the BROWN leather seat color, or the oversized wheels, or the black (not chrome) trim.

Is this accurate? Does choosing the bench seat automatically prevent all these other options???

She is really disappointed and now looking at options.

Anybody know if true customization is possible???

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u/Minimum-Gur9743 — 1 day ago
▲ 4 r/suburban+1 crossposts

Any recommendations for DIY?

I just scraped a pole coming out of a driveway. Wasn’t going fast, but it was a tight space. We don’t have money to pay to get this fixed right now. Is there anything I can do to fix it myself? Our vehicle is a 2023 Chevy Suburban LT.

u/Candid_Turnip_1992 — 1 day ago
▲ 3 r/suburban+1 crossposts

I have a 2013 suburban that’s been to the mechanic 3 times for the same issue. ENGINE HOT, AC TURNED OFF

.They’ve replaced both O2 sensors, the thermostat, and the coolant sensor. The engine isn’t really running hot as far as I can tell. Gauges don’t change, doesn’t smell hot or feel hot. Anyone have any suggestions?

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u/jm6398 — 1 day ago

2018 Suburban

My car was totaled. Some young kid, not paying attention rear ended me (I was stopped) so hard she blew out my back windshield. She didn’t have her lights (not even DRL) on in the rain. She was cited for following too close. I was taken to ER for whiplash. It’s been almost a month and my neck still hurts.

I had a rental for 10 days & now I’m without a car until I get the insurance check for a down payment.
The insurance valued my car at $28,600 and repair estimates at $16,980.

u/mygiveadamnsbusted22 — 2 days ago

Considering getting a high mileage 2016 Suburban

Found this Suburban for 6k with 315k miles, transmission replaced 10k miles ago. If I reserve $10-12k for maintenance/engine replacement to be all in for 16-18k, sounds like a good deal for me. Am I missing anything? Thanks

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u/al2code — 3 days ago
▲ 3 r/suburban+1 crossposts

Brake lights went out

2000 Chevy Suburban LS 4x4. 250K miles. Brake lights went out today on the way home. I've checked all the fuses for the brake lights and they're all fine. I replaced the brake light switch on the brake pedal a few weeks ago and its been working fine. Any ideas where I should start looking? All the lights in the rear are working (third brake light is working also). The rear running lights are working (same bulb as the brake lights), but when I hit the brakes Ive got nothing. Any ideas where to start ?

Edit: I've also recently replaced my multifunction switch on the steering column and its been working fine as well.

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u/NoSwagStanley86 — 3 days ago

Replacing window on my '15

Getting quotes to repair my windshield. All hovering around $750. My insurance deductible for windshield replacement: $750. What more frugal options have I overlooked for replacement?

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u/GLP-Infinity — 4 days ago
▲ 48 r/suburban+1 crossposts

2003 Suburban 8.1L with barn doors

I just installed lights and ceramic coated the paint

u/davidasetech — 4 days ago
▲ 4 r/suburban+1 crossposts

SUV for 6

Last year I purchased a 2010 Suburban 1500. The machine was completely rusted everywhere, needs a ton of work, and just general fun times with a 15 plus year old car. It has about 200k kms (125k miles)... I'm now seeing a 2011 suburban 2500 for sale. It has 70k kms (45k miles). I'm seriously considering buying it. The rust situation seems a bit better than what my 2010 currently has, plus this is the exact suburban that I want. Just wanted to get other's opinions on the frame and rust situation so I don't end up with 2 rusty suburbans.

u/4ev3r-ev3r — 6 days ago
▲ 88 r/suburban+1 crossposts

Learn from my mistake:

I know most of you are geniuses and would never do this but my attempt at a cheapo anti theft measure might have cost me two brand new fuel pumps, two batteries and a new alternator!
So i bought this cheap fuel pump relay on Temu (I know…) that has an integrated on off switch. All you do is pop the old one out and install it. I did so, in the on position , the truck starts and runs, in the off position truck will not start. Anyway, when i git up yesterday, truck would not start- batteries were dead dead .9 volts!! Jump started her and after running about 5 minutes i smell burning plastic. I determine that its coming from my alternator. I check it with IR temp gun, the housing is 280+ degrees and the engine aint even warmed up!
Put the battery charger on and truck and it draws 30 amps fir 6+ hours and then sits there at 9 amps all day.

Stumped, I remove charger and continue prepping truck for trip, at first i thought I left some lights on all night. Figured i was gonna have to get new batteries. When night falls, go back out and see if something is on, had the hood up, all night and thought the courtesy light did this (it doesnt work most of the time) Then I hear it. sounds like water running, continuously like WTF? Truck is off, no key in ignition. Crawl under rear tank FUEL PUMPS ARE RUNNING(both of them, brand new, just installed a couple weeks ago)

The cheapo anti theft relay has only 2 pins, the oem relay has 4…When that relay is installed and switched to on, the pumps run. continuously regardless of truck ignition switch position.. So they ran all night until the batteries were dead. Truck now starts and runs. I figure the pumps ran fer at least 6 hours until both batteries were dead, and they ran all day yesterday while i was trying to charge the batts. I dont know if they were damaged, tanks are full, so they didnt run dry.

Questions:
Should I trust the fuel pumps? I’m planning a trip to remote National Forest….

Shouldnt a new alternator handle the load of two dead batteries for a few minutes?

I wonder if the relay would have worked properly if i had flipped it opposite direction? (it could go in either way)

u/Standard_Craft_9450 — 11 days ago
▲ 9 r/suburban+2 crossposts

Need Help, at my wits end

I’m having some trouble with my 1998 GMC suburban 1500 and I think it may be some sort of computer issue. Or a grounding issue
Possibly I believe it is the passlock II security feature in the car, the symptoms are as follows

Car will crank and start up just fine for about 1- 1.5 seconds then die or stall out, giving it gas with pedal merits zero change

When this happens, before I even turn the key to start position and it is in only the ON position I notice that the background lighting for the gauges doesn’t come on, when it usually does, and my interior lights don’t come on when they usually are able to when truck is starting normally. Also the door open alarm or “beep”does not sound when the truck is doing the no start thing

I have replaced the entire ignition switch and harness with brand new myself and it didn’t solve

This started during the hash winter we had this year in Ohio, towed the car to a heated garage where it sat for a few days and then it magically had the issue solved, now it is happening again, for a while I could get the car to work by turning the key past “ON” position but not quite enough to turn the engine over and firmly bumping the top of the steering column with my palm, seemed to jostle it into working as well as the back glow for the gauges and everything coming back to life however this isn’t working now. Also sometimes if I leave the key turned to the “ON” position for 5ish minutes it just randomly clicks all the gauge lights on and it then starts just fine. Another weird thing is the green “headlights on” indicator is turned on when it DOESNT start but goes off when the back glow for gauges starts working again, the headlights in this car are always on for some reason day or night, they too will not come on along with the gauges back glow and then will pop on when the car is going to start like normal, this is how I usually tell wether it’s going to start or not.

The reason I think it’s the passlock II feature is it seems to be turning the injectors off after I start the car. But this doesn’t explain why the car will start when the gauge lights and interior lights are working , and when they aren’t working the car won’t start
I have tried the 10 minute 3 times relearn process, disconnecting battery and reconnecting
Hooked up to a scanner and zero codes pop
I have three different keys for this truck and none make a difference
Also it is a brand new battery
I checked the grounds by firewall under the hood
Tried to check the ground under the steering column and they everything looks okay to me, though I will say while I’m very mechanically inclined as soon as it comes to harnesses and wiring I loose any ability, grounds don’t seem to have any corrosion or anything
This is a Wyoming origin car and has been in Ohio for about 1.5 years, so zero body or frame rust/corrosion. I drove it here 24 hours straight with my grandpa after he gifted it to me so it is very sentimental to me.
This is my first Reddit post ever so sorry if it’s too long I am hoping some of you guys have some ideas

Let me know if you have any ideas or need more information or need a video or photo or something, thank you for taking the time to read

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u/InterestingName3608 — 13 days ago