500 Miles and a Word on "Dependability"

[Alex V.]

I had the occasion for a rare treat this weekend in taking the Suburban out to Land Between the Lakes (South of Paducah, KY) for a camping trip with my wife, BIL/sister, and two friends from MO. The 'Burb often sits for a week or two at a time, and very rarely gets driven more than 75 miles in a day. I enjoy driving it a lot, but the truth is the body and chassis are just getting worse and fixing one thing at a time is a much less efficient approach than just mothballing it until I can do a ground-up restoration. Still, one way or another I wind up at least taking it into town every couple weeks, or to the drive-in on a whim, or something. I made the decision I had to drop the gas tank last week to fix the broken strap and find why it leaked when more than half full - pinholes right above the seam, where dirt had accumulated inside the frame rail. Without the time or money to get a new tank I cleaned it and slathered JB Weld on, getting it all reassembled with 3 hours to spare before wifey got off work and we headed out Friday evening. The tank fix worked, and with the voltage regulator contacts pinned open with an alligator clip (as I've been doing since the VR gave up last fall) we rolled West down the interstate. Sitting right in her sweet spot at 62-65 MPH netted 14.0 MPG over the 185 mi. trip, with 3 people (plus my 4 month old niece) and quite a bit of camping luggage. (Estimated total weight of 5,300 lb.) We used the 'Burb for all our running around in the park on Saturday and wifey and I camped out in it that night (My 5'10" can stretch out fine in the back!). My BIL had left early Friday on his '72 Honda CL175 and backroaded the whole way, but with the chance of rain and a sore butt he opted to load it up for the ride home - upping the weight to more like 5,800 and squatting the 'Burb a little in the rear. Back up the interstate we hauled, losing just less than 1 MPG because of the weight. Over the weekend I got a notion and retrofitted the stock snorkel air cleaner lid with a 9" pie pan to see if it really was choking it down (I've wondered for a while now) which revealed even more that my jump from .061" primary jet to .054" on the 4G was a little too far. (I knew I'd have to move back up from .054" but went low initially on purpose.) 80 degree temps, the extra weight, and the leaner mixture caused by the now-open air cleaner moved the temp gauge up about 2 needles' worth under sustained speed, but it didn't climb any further and wasn't giving me any bad feedback other than throttle response so all was well. By the time we rolled in the driveway we'd logged 540 miles over 3 days, with no forced down time, no need to add any fluids or touch a tool to it out of necessity.

Some of you probably gauge dependability differently than I do, but I look at it like this: with one box of standard tools, two spare parts on hand (fuses and a points set), and simple observation and conservative, gradual tuning changes, I feel I'm about as well equipped to take my tired, unrestored, 330,000-miles, 49-year old Suburban away from the shop as I am any vehicle that is no longer under manufacturer's warranty. The more "superior" aftermarket parts I slap on it to find the easy way out of finding the perfect timing curve or the right jet combo, the more things there are to fail that I can't walk into an auto parts store with and walk out with a replacement, or set up a problem I can't troubleshoot with a standard repair manual and a multimeter. A lot of people wouldn't think about riding my BIL's little Honda that far alone, but with a fresh tune-up, a small tool bag, and the knowledge he's gained by maintaining it himself, his confidence was apparently justified in that the only time he laid a wrench to it was to pull a plug to check his mixture at the end of the ride. They didn't make these rigs weak or prone to breaking down right off the assembly line. More maintenance intensive? Yes. But they were designed to be used just like anything else. An LS engine is undeniably superior to a carbureted 350; an electric fan indisputably decreases parasitic drag; disc brake conversions definitely perform better; but they're no less immune to entropy than any of the original equipment. Happy motoring, ya'll.