looking at a suburban

[cal30_sniper]

Originally Posted by sbc383rulz

i dont agree with the 6bt statement, those axles were never desgined for that weight or torque. the 1st gen dodge cummins had a hd dana 70 and were known for breaking them.

The 14 bolt FF rear in that 3/4 ton is more than adequate for a stock 6BT. The 454 they put in many of those burbs was 375 ft-lbs of torque stock, and there are many running around in them that are far from stock that aren't having problems.

Originally Posted by sbc383rulz

diesel are only expensive to work on if you do a complete rebuild, yes a full rebuild if done yourself can be about $3000. that 4bt if driven normally (meaning not overrevved or lugged way down) will last on average 3 times as long as a small block.

Sorry bud, but just about everything is more expensive when it comes to diesels. Anything you can do with a diesel of this diminutive size can be done much cheaper with a gasoline engine, except get the kind of gas mileage diesels are known for. Then again, you can buy a BUNCH of gas for the cost of a diesel swap (for most people, it actually won't ever pay off). That little 4BT will be working so hard most of the time that the gas mileage won't even be that good either. Did we mention that diesels are heavier, harder on suspension, don't handle nearly as well, and wear through tires much faster?

Originally Posted by sbc383rulz

you cant say that there are plenty of un molested suburbans around to build because while that may be the case where you are it isnt everywhere, good suburbans around here are hard to find and you pay alot for them because 4wds typically get wheeled and the 2wds have already been scrapped with bad transmissions.

I lived in that part of the world for several years just recently. Clean 3/4 ton burbans are not that hard to find at all. You can buy a real nice one for the $4000 price quoted earlier in the thread.

Originally Posted by sbc383rulz

im not debating gas vs diesel im debating that a low horse diesel engine is not comparable in any way with a low horse gas engine.

i drove for many years a isuzu pup with the c223 diesel, it wasnt fast but it went the same speed with #2000lbs in it. the c223 is rated for 58hp and 85 or so tq in about a 3000 lb vehicle, yet again not fast but diesel power ratings dont truly equal the same as gas.

This idea that you keep trying to run with is probably what bothers me the most. The kind of fuel you put into an engine has absolutely no bearing on the "quality" of power that an engine makes. Dynos don't care, and neither does your truck getting up a hill. 165 ft-lbs of torque is exactly that, no matter how its being made. The only real difference, is that 4BT only makes a little power over a very short power band. Even a stock SBC makes equivalent power over a much longer range. So while you're downshifting once or even twice to get up a hill, that 350 is going to be gone. Not only that, but the diesel engine is going to have to be run with very long gears to keep it in its powerband. A gasoline engine with tighter gears will be that much further ahead with the same amount of torque. Plus, you'll get a lot more improvement if you throw $1000 of speed parts at a SBC than you'll ever see out of twice that much sunk into a 4BT.

4BTs are great in smaller Jeeps, light trucks, and other oddball swaps. They never have had a place amongst the fullsize truck community. Diesels do great for what they do, big diesels hauling heavy trailers, small turbo diesels in light cars getting great gas mileage, or medium-large size diesels in heavier vehicles getting great gas mileage on long highway trips. Put any of those diesels into a daily driver situation around town, and it'll get the same mileage that a gasoline motor will get. Put a miniature diesel engine in a 7500lb truck with 35"+ tires, and you are going to have a very unhappy combination. That's just the facts. All the experience and opinion in the world doesn't change hard facts on paper.


Now, Back to Topic, I would be very leary of that burb, just because of personal experience that I've had with these kinds of builds done by previous owners. As a general rule of thumb, anything that has been touched that wasn't properly documented is most likely messed up, not done to specs, and will have to be done over. People that don't keep any kind of records when making major modifications like this to a truck are usually the same people that will slap any old thing together and call it good. You will have many more headaches trying to straighten out (or even figure out) a previous owner's undocumented mistakes, and it will cost you far more in the long run, than just buying a fairly original one and starting from scratch. I wouldn't pay more for it than the shell is worth, because that's very likely all that you will end up being able to use.

-cal30sniper