1989 V2500 Chevy Suburban

[SUBURBAN5]

What would you like to know about square body Burbs? I've been bumper to bumper on all the ones we used to have ( and several others in the wrecking yards lol).
There's a little more room under the hood ( especially on the early ones) and the carbureted ones, you can change the fuel pump on the side of the road in half an hour. Room inside is about the same, but the 400s are a little smaller on the outside. Easier to get in and out of tight drive thrus....

Like a stock 2wd burb vs gmt400 burb. Ride, handling and over all comfort. I just wonder if my dad would of bought one would I have loved that one more. Personally I feel like the 400s are the best body style lol. Didnt the 3rd row not have a space for your leg room like the 400s?

 

[HotWheelsBurban]

Like a stock 2wd burb vs gmt400 burb. Ride, handling and over all comfort. I just wonder if my dad would of bought one would I have loved that one more. Personally I feel like the 400s are the best body style lol. Didnt the 3rd row not have a space for your leg room like the 400s?

Yes, the third row on the square Burb is just on top of the floor, no foot well. If you're short( or a kid) or sitting by yourself, it's not bad. I've done it several times, when we had the third row seat in the Burb. Most of the time it was out though, needed the room to haul stuff. The 84 was our cruiser when we first had it( it was still nice then and it had AC which the 79 didn't).
Squares are easier to work on, particularly the AC and heater stuff, and dashboard is sturdier since it's metal. Dash pad cracks, get another one or put the rug on it. But they have the carb to deal with until 87, then you have TBI. And not so much computer and sensors and that stuff....
But the 400 is a little better in traffic since it is a little smaller, and a Vortec one will hold its own performance wise. And compared to anything newer, 400s are easy to work on, when you have to. If I got another square body Burb, I'd like it to be new enough to have overdrive and TBI, so 87-91 in half ton or 91 in 3/4 ton. My 90 had a 5.7& turbo 400 trans, bulletproof but no OD. Not good on the road with 4.10 rear end....great off the line for a big brick though!
Ride, they are not too different IF you have good truck shocks on them and the front end is in good shape. The 400 is a little more flexible in the body and frame; I definitely feel that on Houston roads! The 400 handles better, but part of that is that flexibility. The big sway bars on both ends help a lot there!
I grew up wrenching on square body trucks and Burbs, but I like the 400 platform too. Money no object, I would have several; a sportside, a 2 door Tahoe, a 2500/3500 pickup.....

 

[Jermu]

On the wrenchability of these, I have to say the gmt400 is probably nicer to work on, but it's really close to a tie. While the squarebody has more space around the engine and you have more room to fiddle with things, it also means you have to reach in further than you would in a gmt400. At stock height reaching that far in is a problem even for me and I'm a tad under 6'3", just to put that in perspective so ladders are a must

 

[Jermu]

Today I took the cowl open to see if the truck is leaking in from there, but surprisingly enough there wasn't too much stuff and I didn't find a spec of rust, which was weird...

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So this got me thinking, where the hell is it leaking from? Or is it really just bad condensation and lingering water from when I washed the inside, if it never got completely dry after that..? One thing's for sure, working in this garage is a grand pain in the ass, the front bumper is touching the front wall and I can't really move around the sides with how much **** is stored here...

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Had to climb in and over the engine bay abd sit on the battery to do anything on the passenger side

 

[HotWheelsBurban]

On the wrenchability of these, I have to say the gmt400 is probably nicer to work on, but it's really close to a tie. While the squarebody has more space around the engine and you have more room to fiddle with things, it also means you have to reach in further than you would in a gmt400. At stock height reaching that far in is a problem even for me and I'm a tad under 6'3", just to put that in perspective so ladders are a must

Yes I'm 5'7" in boots and I had one of those plastic folding step stools to stand on, to get under the hood on my 90 Burb. More room underneath means taller on top....
I keep that and a plastic milk crate in my 99, to stand on so I can boost myself up onto the edge of the front end, for leaning over it to do stuff like the cap/ rotor/ wires. But I had to do that on all the squares too....
I think back when the Chevy V8 was designed in the early 50s, the thinking behind putting the distributor at the back was that would keep water from getting in, like was much more likely on front mounted distributor engines ( very common on the Ford flathead which was their main competition). And back then there wasn't near as much stuff in the engine compartment anyway....

 

[Jermu]

Well that's a friggen sweet truck!

I just noticed your from Finland! theres lots of great music from there! such as Nightwish which just happens to be one of my favorite bands now a days! I really wish those bands were better promoted in North America and I had learned about them 20 years ago!

It's funny really how it goes, music from here doesn't really cross the atlantic, but when it does, it does so with a genre defining bang, like the only band that really ever made it big was hanoi rocks. And best part is that because it happens out in the big world, people here still don't really know how big of a band they really were, how big a star Michael Monroe is still today abroad, here he's more of just a casual old musician that everyone knows but nobody really knows what for Other bands that went big like nightwish, stratovarius or sunrise avenue never really expanded further than europe I think, but I'd wager they're bigger stars here than the first example, but then again internet is also probably to blame a lot too, since they're just that bit newer bands Either way, glad to hear you like 'em and due to the aforementioned reasons, I'm surprised you've heard of them in the first place

I still remember ABBA. Great band

Yeh, they're swedish, but close enough I guess

 

[texas tough]

wish I had kept some old style radiators.. the new plastic ones all leak or crack after several years..
im going to put that on my junkyard look list..

 

[SUBURBAN5]

wish I had kept some old style radiators.. the new plastic ones all leak or crack after several years..
im going to put that on my junkyard look list..

Unless you go aftermarket and buy a aluminum radiator

 

[Caman96]

Today I took the cowl open to see if the truck is leaking in from there, but surprisingly enough there wasn't too much stuff and I didn't find a spec of rust, which was weird...

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

So this got me thinking, where the hell is it leaking from? Or is it really just bad condensation and lingering water from when I washed the inside, if it never got completely dry after that..? One thing's for sure, working in this garage is a grand pain in the ass, the front bumper is touching the front wall and I can't really move around the sides with how much **** is stored here...

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Had to climb in and over the engine bay abd sit on the battery to do anything on the passenger side

I’ll bet it’s the drains that are backed up in your cowl. Ask me how I know. Not sure of square body locations but probably similar to a 400. You have to remove both plastic ducts on firewall and then fish something through from cowl area down. Again, not sure if similar on a SB.

 

[Jermu]

I’ll bet it’s the drains that are backed up in your cowl. Ask me how I know. Not sure of square body locations but probably similar to a 400. You have to remove both plastic ducts on firewall and then fish something through from cowl area down. Again, not sure if similar on a SB.

Wasn't nothing on the driver side at least, at least not as far as I could reach. The passenger side was a ***** because of the vacuum actuator and hwatnots in there blocking access, not to mention that I couldn't even get to that side of the truck, so can't say for sure, but I doubt it could be much worse than the driver side