1500 vs 2500 series

I am interested in purchasing a used Suburban. We tow a 5000 lb travel trailer. Would you recommend the 2500 series, or will the 1500 be sufficient for my towing needs? Thanks.

I have a 99 2500 and towing with it is very easy. I feel very little pull when towing. The down side to the 2500 is the gas mileage. I have the 7.4l and get 10m.p.g. in the city. I had a hard time finding a 2500 in my area(Chicago) that wasn't already beat up. I wound up picking one up in Texas. Good luck with tour hunt.

John

Grumpy,

Your Suburban sounds totally bad a#$. That thing has a huge engine. Did you get it on Ebay? The Texas Suburbans on Ebay all look like they are excellent shape. Would you get a diesel if you could do it over? Thanks.

Sorry about not repling sooner, but I was on vacation. I'm undecided if the deisel would have been the better way to go.They can be a lot of work in the winter if you don't keep up on the maintenance. I found mine on e-bay,and after i e-mailed the seller a question he called me and we made a deal over the phone. I found out later that he was just getting around paying the commision to ebay. Yes, he was a car salesman from a dealership,and the vehicle was not nearly as nice as it looked in the pics. I should have walked away, but I like to get ripped off every once in a while so I can have something to bitch about. My point is be patient and look at a bunch of subs so you can have a better feel for what is good and what is garbage.

Grumpy,

That is wild how the guy just ended the auction like that. I have noticed the Ebay trucks selling for like 6k to 8k less than local dealer prices in my area. I guess my biggest fear would be getting stuck with a salvage title truck from Katrina. Do you think it would be crazy to just bite the bullet and get a 2008 with the 22 mpg engine, and the 100K drivetrain warranty?

My only concern with buying new would be having to deal with the service advisors. They rate at the top of my list if scum bags! I don't think they can tell their own mother's the truth. At least you would have a warranty to back you up. I would would want to find a dealership with a service department that you can deal with. Good luck.

I had a 93 1500 w/350 towed well, but the 2500 with the stock big block was like night and day. I could accelerate up hills, didn't get blown around as much while towing. My trailer is about 9000lbs loaded. I added the blower to the stock 454 and ran that 28,000 miles before I built the 509. A friend of mine was repowering his boat with a pair of 540's so I pick the 502 up cheap. I freshened that added aluminum heads and put the blower on that. It will out pull most diesels and run high 13's in the 1/4. The older 6.5 diesels run good with a small trailer or a big trailer and level ground. The guy I bought the 502 from pulls his boat with a diesel suburban. He can get twice the milage I get, but on some hills he is in 2nd gear and only doing 45 mph.

Rob

Boost,

Your Suburban sounds like a real beast. The diesel Suburbans are like from the 1990's right? I can imagine those would have no problem towing my Wilderness. It's a 24 footer, and weighs 5,600 loaded. If I get one of the older diesels, how much should I put aside for repairs? Also, we are in Michigan, so would I need the cold climate kit for it?

Boost,

Your Suburban sounds like a real beast. The diesel Suburbans are like from the 1990's right? I can imagine those would have no problem towing my Wilderness. It's a 24 footer, and weighs 5,600 loaded. If I get one of the older diesels, how much should I put aside for repairs? Also, we are in Michigan, so would I need the cold climate kit for it?

Try to find a 96-99 Diesel, they run better than the older ones. As far as repairs, if it's in good mechanical condition, just keep the fluid and filters changed and it will run a long time. For winter, diesels have a block heater to keep the coolant warm. I have one on mine ( not needed but its nice getting in a warm truck) I have it on a timer to come on @ 5 am, so when I leave @ 730 its warm. My friends boat is about 8800-9000 lbs we make a trip to NH twice a year with our familys and boats. On level roads I wish mine was a diesel, he gets 14-16 mpg towing compaired to my 8 mpg. But on some of the larger hills he is back to 2nd gear and almost redlining it. The convertor on mine will unlock and/or drop to 3rd. There was a article in Diesel Power Magazine 3-4 months ago, they compaired a diesel and a big block suburban. You might want to check that out.

Here are some pics
http://chevytruckworld.tenmagazines.com/gallery/BigBadBurb/200250.jpg

http://chevytruckworld.tenmagazines.com/gallery/BigBadBurb/200251.jpg

http://chevytruckworld.tenmagazines.com/gallery/BigBadBurb/184408.jpg

Blower
http://chevytruckworld.tenmagazines.com/gallery/BigBadBurb/103494.jpg

509 on the dyno
http://chevytruckworld.tenmagazines.com/gallery/BigBadBurb/259963.jpg








Rob

Dude, your Suburban is a monster with some serious horsepower. Here is a diesel Sub I'm interested in on Ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=006&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=160139388163&rd=1,1

Dude, your Suburban is a monster with some serious horsepower. Here is a diesel Sub I'm interested in on Ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=006&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=160139388163&rd=1,1

Not bad looking, the only thing that bothers me is, the vin says its a 1500 and so does the door, but its got 8 lug wheels like a 3/4 ton and a 14 bolt axle. GVW is incorrect too, 1/2 tons are 7200lbs and 3/4 tons are 8600lbs this says 8050lbs? Plus the frame, axle,etc is rusty. Mine sees salty Northeast winters and looks twice as good. I wonder if this is a Katrina flood truck with the vin of wrecked 1/2 ton, so it doesn't have a salvage or flood title.

Rob

Yeah, I was kinda thinking the undercarriage looked like it had been thru about 10 Michigan winters. Thanks for the heads up. Its certainly more of a challenge finding a decent diesel Suburban. The gassers are everywhere.

I searched for mine for 4 months everything I found was a 1500 w/ 350. I found mine about 100 miles from my house. It was well maintained the guy had all the service records from new, it was garage kept, and used mainly as a tow vehicle for his boat twice a year. It only had 19,000 miles on it when I bought it in '02. You could try searching new car lots on sundays, looking for recent trades, that how my friend found his, plus they gave him a great deal. It was traded on Saturday and he bought it Monday.

Rob

I too am in the market for a suburban to tow a 7500lb travel trailer when needed. Wife will use it as her weekly vehicle for work and taking kids to school (about 150 miles per week).

I am thinking regular gas engine would be best for my situation since it will be a car driven daily as well. We will travel all sorts of roads on camping trips taking us on hills and flat land.

What series and year would you recommend for my situation speaking from experience?