The 'Burban Chronicles.....

[Average Joe]

Originally Posted by LT7A

I enjoyed reading your thread. Do you guys still have the Holiday Rambler? I snagged a presidential 3000 a while back - yours is much nicer. Your Suburban sits just right. I like the little bit of rake that you have with those tall rear tires. I'm sure it doesn't lift the front tires off the line with the 3.07s, but I'm not sure I would want to mess with 14 MPG with a 454. Gives me hope though for my rig. What will it cost for those extra three MPGs improvement? I think a big consideration for me in what you're pondering is whether or not the turbo 400 is hunting for gears. If it's not... But, whatever the case though, cool rig and I appreciated your perspective as you talked about family priorities etc.

Hey thanks for the reply and kind words! The Holiday Rambler has rambled on. We sold it around 2017 iirc. Unfortunately at 26’ long it was a lil too big to fit easily into a lot of the boondock campgrounds we liked. Additionally it was expensive to tow anywhere of distance. Yes I can achieve high 13 mpg empty but as soon as a 6500lb parachute gets added mileage plummets. I saw 6-8 mpg with Rambler in tow. As a family we went back to a tent and a lil gear trailer I built for our camping needs. The fuel bill for some of our 3-4000 mile trips we later took would have been astronomical dragging the HR. They are incredible well built trailers! Good luck with yours.

The Burb does run really well for what it is. It is hard to justify changing a proven combo. The current 454 is getting tired though. I’ve owned that motor longer than my Burb in different vehicles and have never even pulled a cylinder head on it. She’s earned a rebuild. In fact it will live on in yet a 3rd vehicle I own eventually. The Burb will be getting a different 454 that’s already .060 over. Its short shaft TH400 will move with the OG big block to my Nova. It’s long overdue for a drivetrain upgrade as well. In short I’m playing musical motors thanks to GM interchangeability. :

The fact the TH400 was needed elsewhere helped sway the 4l80 upgrade. Plus I , like so many other enthusiasts here, can’t stop improving these mousetraps. Errrr rat traps…lol. I realize how much extra fuel I could buy versus the cost of the swap. I’m hoping to be in it for less than $1400 though. Motor rebuild aside.

[LT7A]

That all sounds good. With trips of that length, you do stand a chance of getting your money back with savings at the pump. Sorry to hear that the HR is gone, but I understand, especially if everybody's cool being in a tent. Lot less upkeep and less than 1% of the weight.