The Wifes 72 Suburban

[MAC71]

I decided to start a thread of my wife's 1972 Custom 20 Suburban. This is her daily driver and we also us it as the family vehicle for our four kids. I am going to start this from a few years back when we bought it up to its current state and will then try to keep it going as we slowly make improvements.

The first photos are of the truck when we first got it in 2004.

[MAC71]

A few more of what it looked like after I bought it and then with a new set of wheels.

[MAC71]

The original 8 lug wheels were 16.5 rims so when I bought new ones I decided to go with 17 X 9 in rims. I was going to use a load range D or E tire since what was on it was load range D. But the problem that I ran into was that the shortest load range D tire that was wide enough for a 9 in rim was a 265 75 r17. It fit just fine on the rear but hit the finder just behind the front bumper. We tried a 245 tire but it would not seat on the rims. I ended up using standard load 275 60R17 tires.
I also have a 71 P/U truck and with 275 60 R15 tires on 8 in rims it handles much better over a stock sized rim/tire combination. But on the Suburban it handled awful. I think that the problem is that the tires side wall is just to soft for the weight of the Suburban. Also this is a C-20 with a 402 TH 400 and a dana 60. If you drive behind the Suburban you can see it bouncing on the tires, even if you over inflate them and drive behind it, it looks like the tires are under inflated.
Still have this problem and I am considering changing rims again. Was thinking of going to the late model 2500HD rims. Unsure what tire will fit the best on this truck with that rim. Any one know?

[MAC71]

A little side story about when I bought the truck. I had to fly from VA to MO and pick it up in the middle of winter. When I got there I found my self in the middle of a snow storm with large snow drifts. I test drove the truck an was satisfied with it and left MO for a long drive back to VA....in the snow. Not a single problem with the truck, did not use any oil and I only need a few stops for fuel. I made the trip all in one shot and arrived home at about 3 AM. The next morning I strapped in the car seats and loaded up my family to take them on a ride but after backing into the street we discovered that there was no forward gears. Apparently driving have way across the country was more than what the old TH 400 could handle, but it got me home.

Later that day I had jacked the truck up and discovered that both rear coil springs were completely broken and there was on shock mount that was snapped off. So the only connection points for the rear end was one shock, the trailing arms, and the track rod.

That weekend I pulled the transmission and all the suspension from the truck to determine what parts I needed so I could start ordering and spending money. While taking it apart I realized that the rear brakes we sized and in no way working. This I think was a blessing in because when I went to remove the trailing arm s the bolts that attach the arms to the frames were rusted threw. I bet it only took about 20 LBS to snap them off. I tried to knock them out with a punch and they crumbled and the trailing arms separated from the frame. So with the trailing are bolts in this condition and the springs broken if the braked did work I might have lost the rear end!

Everything on the suspension was rebuilt stock with the exception of using polyurethane bushings and replacing the rear trailing arms with new ones from Early Classic Enterprises.

[MAC71]

Some more photos.

[drewskiren]

Your burb looks just like mine before I turned it into a pick-up.
Why is the rear end so jacked up? I think you need much lighter springs to let the weight of the vehicle even it out, and it will ride smoother.

[502ms]

Very nice
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[502ms]

Very nice! What color is the roof?
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[MAC71]

Originally Posted by 502ms

Very nice! What color is the roof?
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The body is a dark brown that is so dark it is almost gray and the top and lower sides is similar to pewter. Kind of a dark silver with a brown tint. Some one gave me the brown paint and the shade of sliver looked good with the brown.