Question of body types Suburbans and Tahoes

[joep88cheyenne]

My early childhood recollections, late 50's and 60's of these vehicles were 2 door, 3 door and early 4 doors "boxes" called Suburbans. Somehow as I got older I heard of "Tahoes" and pictured them as smaller vehicles. Now I acquired a 97 Tahoe and my original picture went out the door.

So when did Tahoes come about and what is the major differences in them. This question came about because a couple of days ago saw a newer Tahoe that looked extremely large.

Not looking for the down to the mynute details but overall in looks and wheel base and drivetrain.

 

[Coveman]

The Chevrolet Tahoe (and the GMC equivalent Yukon) are full-size SUVs from General Motors. Chevrolet and GMC sold two different-sized SUVs under their Blazer/Jimmy model names through the early 1990s. This situation changed when GMC rebadged the full-size Jimmy as the Yukon in 1991. Chevrolet waited until 1994 to rebadge the redesigned mid-size S-10 Blazer as the Blazer, renaming the full-size Blazer as the Tahoe. For the 1995 model year, the Tahoe and Yukon gained a new 4-door model slotting in size between the 2-door models and the longer wheelbase and higher passenger capacity Chevrolet Suburban and newly named GMC Yukon XL.

Originally in 1935 chevrolet called it the “Carryall Suburban”

 

[454cid]

...Chevrolet waited until 1994 to rebadge the redesigned mid-size S-10 Blazer as the Blazer

I've never thought of them as midsize.

OP, The Suburban is even larger than the Tahoe.

 

[MatSLO]

1992-1999 Suburban was made on the GMT400 platform which started in 1988 for fullsize GM pickups. All Suburbans are 4-door (at least GMT400 and newer).

1992-1994 were years when Blazer (essentially shorter and 2-door version of the Suburban) was available.
They can also be called the K5 Blazer, just like previous generations.("K" denotes 4WD; "C" in C1500 truck denotes 2WD).
One should not confuse the K5 Blazer with the smaller S-10 Blazer which was made on midsize (compact?) truck platform and is of course not part of the GMT400 family.

In 1995 the Tahoe started, in 2-door and 4-door form. I guess the 2-door is the new name for the K5 Blazer. The 4-door can be viewed as either the longer version of the 2-door, or the short version of the Suburban.
They are all essentially the same, just with different wheelbase and overall length.
The 2-door was available with either 6.5 turbodiesel or 5.7-liter gasoline V8 called Vortec (essentially the 350 smallblock Chevy). I think the 4-door could only be had with the 5.7 Vortec. Suburban additionally had the option of 7.4-liter big block V8 (not sure about the diesel).
They were all based on light duty fullsize trucks (1500), Suburban was also available in beefier 2500 form.

GMC versions were called Yukon (Tahoe equivalents) or Suburban (same as Chevy Suburban).

In 1999, Cadillac Escalade was introduced (as competition to the succesful Lincoln Navigator), a luxury version of the GMT400 Tahoe (I don't know if Cadillac had the Suburban equivalent back then)

After 2000, GMT800 platform was introduced. 2-door versions were gone. GMC version of the Suburban was from then on called Yukon XL. Cadillac version of the Suburban is called Escalade ESV.


As to why the new Tahoes look so large to you - well, most vehicles have grown in size in the last 20 years. For example, modern midsize pickups are almost as big as fullsize pickups from the 80s or 90s...
Compare the dimensions of each generation of the Tahoe here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Tahoe

 

[MatSLO]

Interesting video from 1995:

xc_hide_links_from_guests_guests_error_hide_media

 

[joep88cheyenne]

Thanks. Yeah they have grown. Just being behind and then beside the newer Tahoe I saw gave me pause as to the real difference in them. Mine had the 5.7and 60e tranny ( coughed up and lung and had to have a rebuild.) It had a )2 sensor that would not stay reset, and when I found my 88 cheyenne I traded it. I needed an open top bed for things and I got back into a pickup. I have owned a 55 step side, 62 wide short bed, a 69 long bed, skipped the squared bodies and now into the 400"s.