87 V20 D/D and Road trip Burb

[Jsfucttruck]

So I bought this gem on a whim. A good friend knew that I am a Suburban nut(#Burbslut) and called me and said the neighbor had a burb for sale. Naturally, I had to go look. It is a 87 V20 Chevy Burb. 6.2 Diesel(non Turbo)/th400/np208.
I drove out to The location to take a peak and got the info. The sellers ended up flaking on me, and after the second failed attempt to meet up i gave up. A few days later I got a call from them and they apologized about flaking on me. So I went and looked at the truck.

So I love the stacked 4x4 headlight front clip so I was sold already. Silverado, Tailgate, F/R a/c, power everything, and no 700r4. The headliner was shot but the interior was nice. It has some funky dents on the roof but no real issues that I could see then. Just a stock truck.

Batteries were dead. One was a tiny battery from a Honda, and the other was 20yr old deep cycle. It wouldn't take a jump with no surprise. I told the dude I would come back with a pr of fresh batteries and a cash offer. The For sale sign had $1800 listed.

I show up and wait 30 min just to find out the dude is passed out in his house. He comes out, talking up the truck that doesn't run yet. I put 2 newish yellow tops in, wait for the glows, and it fires right up. It smoked lightly for 5-10 min while I did a walk around. Only the rear tailgate window rolls down. Ac blows cold.

I took it for a test drive and it drove so nice(after getting diesel). No play in the steering, no suspension clunks, brakes worked great. The transmission shifted tight too. So I headed back.
After much haggling I told the dude this. "So I have been out here 5 times now, brought $400 in batteries, installed them, had to get fuel, and I know that this thing has been here for sale for 4 months. Regardless, I only brought $750 cash.


So I came home with this.

[Jsfucttruck]

The day I got it.

[Jsfucttruck]

So I drove it for a yr before things started to fail. I was having a overcharging issue and was popping headlights. After tracking down a bunch of bad chassis grounds, problem fixed.
A radiator failure on a Road trip to the monster jam world finals in Vegas had me getting a 4 row metal rad drop shipped to my hotel in Vegas. I literally changed it out the desert. The oil cooler hose failed On my way out of Vegas. Thankfully the In/out Hose has the same ends on it so I was able to loop it back into the block.

[Jsfucttruck]

So I drive this truck everyday. It is also our family Road trip rig. We travel to Medford OR 4-6 times a yr, Mountain Home Id once a yr,Booners Fairy ID 1-3 per yr, Yucca Valley, Winnemuca NV, Tahoe, and anyware else. I put 10-30k a yr on rigs. The fact I can get 18mpg in this thing is amazing.

[Jsfucttruck]

But with the kind of miles I put down and the fact it is a 87. Things are going to fail, I was prepared for that. It only had 108k on the odo(documented company truck) but a few yrs on her.


Water pump, fan clutch, t stat, belts, hoses, radiator, ip and lift pump, injectors, glow plugs,controller, glow switch, starter, starter brace, starter cables, alternator, headliner and dash pad. It's been a $$$$ trail.

Most recent the crankshaft pulley and harmonic balancer failed and I nearly called it quits with the 6.2. Those two items are $$$!

[Jsfucttruck]

I left it alone and stock for about a yr. All I did cosmetically was vent visors and paint the wheels black. I drove the sh#t out of it.

[Jsfucttruck]

I needed some cheap all terrains so I went with these. Not the best tire, but the $600 mounted and balanced price was in the budget.

[Jsfucttruck]

I blew out my semi float rear attempting a burn out in 4lo with the front hubs unlocked. Full float swap was then justified.

[Jsfucttruck]

I blew the spiders out and chipped a tooth off the pinion gear.

[Jsfucttruck]

In the midst of it all. I swapped the wrong ratio 14bff! I put in a 4.10 where a 3.73 was. Super lame. Over $600 to swap the right gears in. Gggggrrrrrrr. I didn't count right. So the dilemma now is to rebuild a 4.10 10 bolt front I got laying around or find a 3.73 ratio srw 14bff. I would prefer to get a 3.73 rear because of the rpms on roadtrips. I already was keeping the speeds below 60mph due to fuel economy and having the th400.

[Jsfucttruck]

Pic

[Jsfucttruck]

In the process of by passing the radiator oil cooler I decided that I wanted to monitor the oil temp. So I ended up getting a Cvr oil filter sandwich adapter with oil cooler fittings and proceeded to hawg out the internals to make it a flow through design so that I could use the oil cooler line holes for oil temp and pressure.

[Jsfucttruck]

I bet every square body lover wishes these were in production.

[Jsfucttruck]

I could use a few more of those pillar pods. My friend made this one for me, he does not want to make more. He said it was a pita. I got to find someone to make these for squarebodies and the 67-72 era trucks as well. I paid quite a bit to have it made.

[68Timber]

Chris Lucas sells those A-pillar pods, review of them HERE.

[Jsfucttruck]

Originally Posted by 68Timber

Chris Lucas sells those A-pillar pods, review of them HERE.

Wow that is awesome. Those are way cheaper than paying for a one off again. I most likely will order a few. I do have to say that I kinda prefer a whole pillar replacement. You will have to drill holes for the wiring and mounting anyway. I think he has a better angle on his too. Mine are angled up ever so slightly.

[Jsfucttruck]

My bad. Reassembly sucks. The high beam linkage rod to the back of switch sucks to hold together upon reassembly. I might have been cussing for a bit. I got it all back together. What a difference! I have two other columns waiting to fix now. I think I should be able to get them done in a reasonable amount of time.


After cleaning up, I found this.... Looks like I will be in there again soon. Fml. At least it feels tight.

[68Timber]

I don't have tilt but I'm adding intermittent wipers so I get to replace the switch. I'm also replacing the ignition cylinder. I've never been into a column like that so I'm not looking forward to it. Have you considered putting a 6.5 turbo on your truck?

[phillipm]

Great thread. Thanks for keeping it updated.

[68Timber]

Sweet. Which t-stat did you end up running?

[Jsfucttruck]

Originally Posted by 68Timber

Sweet. Which t-stat did you end up running?

I am running the stant unit. It has been the most consistent. But, I have not tried the OEM replacement since I swapped gauges and W.P.

[phillipm]

That's a nice looking pump impeller! Wow.

[Jsfucttruck]

Originally Posted by phillipm

That's a nice looking pump impeller! Wow.

I was quite impressed with the quality and cost.

$129 before tax was not bad.

[Jsfucttruck]

If it isn't one thing it's another. I was on my way home from work when my alt belt started squealing. I got home to find the adjustment bolt had snapped off and the alt rocked out of adjustment. The bolt was the one that came with the tuff stuff 140 amp alt. I was able to spin out the busted peice by hand and replaced it with a grade 8.


While I was there I replaced my fan with a derale/us motorworks 20" clutch fan replacement. Mine was slightly bent and had sharp edges from grinding on something at some point in it's lifetime.
The replacement I think was a 17120. It would has shallower profile but the fan blades are longer and it sits in the shroud nicely. 30 min later the bur b was back up running.
So the idle is a bit smoother and I suspect my water pump will last longer too. After a few hrs of driving in the mountains while my daughter naps in the back and I am very happy with it. The rad water temps are lower and I never cracked over 190 in the cylinder head gauge. It is a bit louder than the stock one but I got no complaints with it's functionality.

[Dieselwrencher]

Nice burb, and nice upgrades you have done to it. That water pump looks pretty trick.