Well, I'm selling my '97 pickup (it's up on Craigslist now) as I realized I'm a 'Burb aficionado tried and true. I had a 1997 Suburban for 8 years up until 4 years ago and have kicked myself in the ass for selling it ever since. It's especially painful as the guy I sold it to lives 10 miles from me and I see it rolling around every now and again causing me massive heartache. Anyway, as much as I like my pickup, it doesn't get all that much use (transporting the motorcycle once and hauling 12ft siding another) that a 'Burb couldn't do. Though I could have gotten a NBS or NNBS, I've always been attached to the GMT400's. I think they were the best looking of all the generations.
I've been perusing FleaBay and CraigsScam for a couple of months looking for a very specific 'Burb. I wanted the 2500 with the Detroit Diesel 6.5 L65 (VIN "F"). I didn't even bother looking at 1500's on 8 lug suspensions (VIN "S") as they have the lower output L56, smaller brakes, and I think half-floater axles. Of primary importance was (1) L65 (2) under 150K miles [tough to find these days] (3) not butchered to an extreme with crazy mods (4) decent body (5) clean interior [all of them have ripped driver seats] (6) 14-bolt full-floater, 4.10 geared posi rear [GT5, G80 RPO codes] and (7) 1996-1999 I wanted white but "settled" for black. I'm happy!
I found this gem up in the Bronx (surprise) for $4500. That's $1,500 - $3,000 less than what most diesel subs go for in the North East. The guy was a "pseudo dealer," who bought this truck off a guy in the area who had it mostly in storage for a few years supposedly. He was going to ship it to the Dominican Republic but somehow could not due to some law about only cars that are 10 years old or newer or something like that.
Anyway, it's far from perfect. The power-steering pump was upchucking so I replaced that yesterday. The brakes were on the floor due to Hydroboost pressure failure because of the Power Steering Pump. The tires were shot and dry-rotted . Ordering new Fuel Revolvers and 285/65/18 Terra Grapplers from RimZone. The bumper was this horrific (in my book) ARB looking thing you can see in the pics. I sold it this weekend for $50. I replaced it with an LMC smoothie with round lights and two grills. Much cleaner look. Gave the thing a complete detail inside as it was musty and somewhat dirty. Huge improvement.
Anyway, I'm very, very happy to be back in the 'Burb game! Many more mods to come.
I've been perusing FleaBay and CraigsScam for a couple of months looking for a very specific 'Burb. I wanted the 2500 with the Detroit Diesel 6.5 L65 (VIN "F"). I didn't even bother looking at 1500's on 8 lug suspensions (VIN "S") as they have the lower output L56, smaller brakes, and I think half-floater axles. Of primary importance was (1) L65 (2) under 150K miles [tough to find these days] (3) not butchered to an extreme with crazy mods (4) decent body (5) clean interior [all of them have ripped driver seats] (6) 14-bolt full-floater, 4.10 geared posi rear [GT5, G80 RPO codes] and (7) 1996-1999 I wanted white but "settled" for black. I'm happy!
I found this gem up in the Bronx (surprise) for $4500. That's $1,500 - $3,000 less than what most diesel subs go for in the North East. The guy was a "pseudo dealer," who bought this truck off a guy in the area who had it mostly in storage for a few years supposedly. He was going to ship it to the Dominican Republic but somehow could not due to some law about only cars that are 10 years old or newer or something like that.
Anyway, it's far from perfect. The power-steering pump was upchucking so I replaced that yesterday. The brakes were on the floor due to Hydroboost pressure failure because of the Power Steering Pump. The tires were shot and dry-rotted . Ordering new Fuel Revolvers and 285/65/18 Terra Grapplers from RimZone. The bumper was this horrific (in my book) ARB looking thing you can see in the pics. I sold it this weekend for $50. I replaced it with an LMC smoothie with round lights and two grills. Much cleaner look. Gave the thing a complete detail inside as it was musty and somewhat dirty. Huge improvement.
Anyway, I'm very, very happy to be back in the 'Burb game! Many more mods to come.
