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#1 |
MidlifeCrisisUnderWay
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: 43rd State
Posts: 139
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Instead of ordering or buying a '17+ rig, I'm thinking of buying a restored '67-'72 Suburban.
I want to travel fulltime and tour North America with a reliable rig, but I'm really discouraged by post-covid production quality of trucks AND what the rig electronics is evolving into. With the ability of an entity being able to 'upgrade' a rig's software like it was a smartphone sends up huge red flags for me. In addition; the gov want to put electronic kill switches on all new vehicles starting in '26 sends up even more red flags. All that being said; I would opinions/thoughts/suggestions on the idea of long distance traveling in a '67-'72 rig. Basically; a K.I.S.S. kind of rig/manual everything: 1) Locking hubs 2) T-case 3) Full manual-shifting auto tranny The only luxury would be A/C. Good idea? Bad idea? Ugly idea? |
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#2 |
The Older Generation
![]() ![]() ![]() Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Montezuma, Iowa
Posts: 25,486
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Re: Long distance traveling in a '67-'72 suburban
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I have a hard time wrapping my head around the newer vehicles too. We just bought a '15 Equinox for the wife and I don't like it at all. I still drive our old '05 Buick Rainier with the 5.3 V8. Unfortunately, I sold my '69 Suburban before I got a chance to do what you are thinking. That was my plan when I built it, not as extensively as you are thinking but I have a daughter that lives in TX and my brother lives in GA so we were going to make s big circle from Iowa. The Suburban had a 350 crate engine, and a 2004r automatic overdrive transmission. I built it, and I wouldn't have been afraid to drive it anywhere. LockDoc
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Leon Locksmith, Specializing In Antique Trucks, Automobiles, & Motorcycles (My Dually Pickup Project Thread) http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=829820 - Last edited by LockDoc; 04-19-2024 at 05:40 PM. |
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#3 |
Post Whore
![]() Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Portland Oregon
Posts: 11,115
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Re: Long distance traveling in a '67-'72 suburban
Great idea! I've put over 50k on my Burban with very little trouble since I went through most everything after purchasing it. It's a 350/350 c10 with a Gearvendor with a Qjet parked on top.
Going to a newer Vortex or LS engine would get you better gasket sealing and MPG with minimal exposure to annoying electronics. Especially if you ran a carburetor. Back in a previous life I lived in Coeur D'Alene and my daily then was a GTO.
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Thanks to Bob and Jeanie and everyone else at Superior Performance for all their great help. ![]() RIP Bob Parks. 1967 Burban (the WMB),1988 S10 Blazer (the Stink10 II),1969 GTO (the Goat), 1970 Javelin, 1952 F2 Ford OHC six 4X4, 29 Model A, 72 Firebird (the DBP Bird). 85 Alfa Romeo If it breaks I didn't want it in the first place The WMB repair thread http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=698377 |
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#4 |
MidlifeCrisisUnderWay
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: 43rd State
Posts: 139
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Re: Long distance traveling in a '67-'72 suburban
nOOB questions:
1) What are the Suburban rear doors that open side to side called/referred to as? ....a) How common are those doors? 2) How common is a K20 Suburban? Last edited by CDA 455; 04-21-2024 at 11:13 AM. |
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#5 |
BlahBlahBlah
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Wa.
Posts: 19,863
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Re: Long distance traveling in a '67-'72 suburban
Most people call them barn doors. Not sure that's the official name given to them by GM.
Not sure on the other questions.
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#6 | |
Post Whore
![]() Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Portland Oregon
Posts: 11,115
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Re: Long distance traveling in a '67-'72 suburban
Quote:
This thread has the Chevrolet production numbers but it doesn't include the GMC numbers. http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=575238
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Thanks to Bob and Jeanie and everyone else at Superior Performance for all their great help. ![]() RIP Bob Parks. 1967 Burban (the WMB),1988 S10 Blazer (the Stink10 II),1969 GTO (the Goat), 1970 Javelin, 1952 F2 Ford OHC six 4X4, 29 Model A, 72 Firebird (the DBP Bird). 85 Alfa Romeo If it breaks I didn't want it in the first place The WMB repair thread http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=698377 |
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#7 |
Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Barber City, CA
Posts: 4,781
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Re: Long distance traveling in a '67-'72 suburban
barn doors open sideways, hatch and tailgate open up and down
this post should answer the production number question 67-72 Suburban and Panel production numbers good luck!
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I started out with nothing - and I still have most of it |
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#8 |
BlahBlahBlah
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Wa.
Posts: 19,863
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Re: Long distance traveling in a '67-'72 suburban
Griots Garage built a 71 or 72 Burb 3/4 ton 2 wheel drive for road tripping. I couldnt find a comprehensive build on it, just pictures and some blurbs. I know there is a whole article on it somewhere that includes the build and the National Park tours they went on. Its orange with a white top and a nice roof rack.
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#9 |
Junior Member
![]() Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: Norwalk CT.
Posts: 34
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Re: Long distance traveling in a '67-'72 suburban
If your going to use one of these burbs for travel I would think about sound deadening. I just find mine to be quite loud on the highway. I did do a couple of 13 hour trips in it when I was a kid. Seemed very fun then, but that was in the seventies
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#10 | |
MidlifeCrisisUnderWay
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: 43rd State
Posts: 139
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Re: Long distance traveling in a '67-'72 suburban
Quote:
I'm 70+% deaf in my right ear and 40+% deaf in my left ear. Driving a 30y.o. or older vehicle I would want the opposite! ![]() I want to 'hear' as much as I can what the rig is doing. I can feel what the rig is doing; I just don't want to isolate what little hearing noise I can pick up. On a rig less than 20y.o.; a sound-proof cab is fine by me! ![]() |
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#11 | |
MidlifeCrisisUnderWay
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: 43rd State
Posts: 139
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Re: Long distance traveling in a '67-'72 suburban
Quote:
3/4-ton commercial = Panel Suburban |
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#12 | |
Senior Member
![]() Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Tucson, AZ USA
Posts: 7,260
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Re: Long distance traveling in a '67-'72 suburban
Quote:
Panel Trucks did normally have standard Barn Doors. I don't think I've ever seen a Panel Truck with a tailgate. Ambulances had Barn Doors. ![]() A shot of my SPID. No RPO for either tailgate or barn doors. One would be Standard, the other would be an RPO. Since it was a pretty basic model ,I would guess barn doors would be the option on a Suburban. Or course I have been wrong numerous times.. Getting back to the OP's subject of cruising with a Suburban: That's what I bought my Sub for -- working long distance locations. I had a '68 Shortbed Stepside, with a big crossbed toolbox on the back. Just not enough room in the bed for all my tools and gear, and then there was the security issue. Anyone with a Buck knife could rip up my tarp and get at my stuff. With no back seats, there was a lot of space in the back. Above the gear on the floor, I hooked a hammock -- strung diagonally from Passenger side B pillar to an unused barndoor bolt hole on the Driver's side. Sleeping in it was comfortable in the summer. In fact, as a test. I rode in back in the hammock while a friend drove around some residential hilly backstreets. When the truck turned left, my body swung right and vice-versa. Probably suicidal at freeway speeds -- and surely illegal -- but it was groovy. With a BBC 454 it was a thirsty beast, hence the nickname ''White Fang.'' But it would go anywhere.
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Every 25 years I like to rebuild that 292, whether it needs it or not. Last edited by '68OrangeSunshine; 04-24-2024 at 10:57 PM. |
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#13 |
Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: PNW
Posts: 3,587
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Re: Long distance traveling in a '67-'72 suburban
To the OP: In your initial post, you're saying that you would like to buy a restored Suburban. I would recommend reading through HO455's build thread since he bought a Suburban that someone else had gone through... and he needed to fix and rework a lot of it. It would give you a very good starting place for a list of things to check. There are probably other good build threads on here, and obviously LockDoc has a handle on putting together a nice one. It's always good when people ask questions, but for my own learning, I pull lots of good information from people's first-hand experience on their build threads. Vendors to use, materials to use, methods, etc. You've been a member a lot longer than I have here, so maybe my post is all old news. But recalling HO455's experience with an "already done" Suburban made me think about writing this.
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#14 | |
Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: PNW
Posts: 3,587
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Re: Long distance traveling in a '67-'72 suburban
Quote:
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#15 | |
MidlifeCrisisUnderWay
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: 43rd State
Posts: 139
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Re: Long distance traveling in a '67-'72 suburban
Quote:
I don't want to have to go through a beautifully restored rig and find many minute issues/problems that need remedying. I just want to get in a drive 300 miles a day (Idaho to Prudhoe Bay, AK for example). The only thing I want to be concerned with is what a new or near-new vehicle owner would be concerned with: oil changes/fluid levels etc. If we were in pre-2019; I'd just order a new rig and be done with it. But we're not. I'd be willing to pay a new vehicle price for a mint/original-condition '72 K20 Suburban. But it would have to be new-vehicle trouble-free condition because I'm going to use/drive it like it was a '24 vehicle. It's not going to be a Saturday car-meet rig; it's going to be used. |
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#16 |
Senior Member
![]() Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Tucson, AZ USA
Posts: 7,260
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Re: Long distance traveling in a '67-'72 suburban
I'll work on that.
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Every 25 years I like to rebuild that 292, whether it needs it or not. |
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#17 | |
Post Whore
![]() Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Portland Oregon
Posts: 11,115
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Re: Long distance traveling in a '67-'72 suburban
Quote:
![]() Okay back on subject it looks like the OP just missed this one. But it may be worth his time to follow up and see if the deal fell through. https://bringatrailer.com/listing/19...10-suburban-6/
__________________
Thanks to Bob and Jeanie and everyone else at Superior Performance for all their great help. ![]() RIP Bob Parks. 1967 Burban (the WMB),1988 S10 Blazer (the Stink10 II),1969 GTO (the Goat), 1970 Javelin, 1952 F2 Ford OHC six 4X4, 29 Model A, 72 Firebird (the DBP Bird). 85 Alfa Romeo If it breaks I didn't want it in the first place The WMB repair thread http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=698377 Last edited by HO455; 04-30-2024 at 08:14 AM. Reason: -2 spelling |
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#18 | |
MidlifeCrisisUnderWay
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: 43rd State
Posts: 139
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Re: Long distance traveling in a '67-'72 suburban
Quote:
![]() ![]() ![]() Thanks for sharing! Your link is an excellent example of an option that also begs the question: Are vehicles in that auction website prescreened? Is it possible to end up with a Bondo-mobile/garage-weekend resto project with a decent paint job? $61,000 is about what new trucks ordered go for. |
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#19 |
Post Whore
![]() Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Portland Oregon
Posts: 11,115
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Re: Long distance traveling in a '67-'72 suburban
Sounds like a good question to pose to the folks at Bringatrailer before bidding. What are your rights to refuse the vehicle after you've won an a auction? Because from time to time I see vehicles relisted for various reasons on the site.
__________________
Thanks to Bob and Jeanie and everyone else at Superior Performance for all their great help. ![]() RIP Bob Parks. 1967 Burban (the WMB),1988 S10 Blazer (the Stink10 II),1969 GTO (the Goat), 1970 Javelin, 1952 F2 Ford OHC six 4X4, 29 Model A, 72 Firebird (the DBP Bird). 85 Alfa Romeo If it breaks I didn't want it in the first place The WMB repair thread http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=698377 |
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#20 |
Senior Member
![]() Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Tucson, AZ USA
Posts: 7,260
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Re: Long distance traveling in a '67-'72 suburban
" 69 C/10 4 wheel drive" Wait what. It's got '67 front fenders, '68 hood and grill
. maybe '69 body. Four wheel drive is a K/10. Idiots. Vortec motor and 61K. No thanks.
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Every 25 years I like to rebuild that 292, whether it needs it or not. Last edited by '68OrangeSunshine; 04-30-2024 at 04:53 PM. |
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#21 | |
MidlifeCrisisUnderWay
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: 43rd State
Posts: 139
|
Re: Long distance traveling in a '67-'72 suburban
Quote:
IIRC; the rig was converted to 4WD. However; If everything/all short-comings are disclosed, If everything that moves works properly, No shortcuts, And I can reasonably drive from Sarasota FL to Prudhoe Bay AK and back six times, It would definitely be an option. |
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#22 |
Registered User
Join Date: Aug 2020
Location: Salmon Arm BC
Posts: 169
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Re: Long distance traveling in a '67-'72 suburban
Unfortunately I think you're going to have a very hard time finding a suburban done properly in that price range and you're relying on someone's word that they went through it as well as they say they did. It seems that for those looking to resell it is common to cut corners and throw some lipstick on it. The guys doing it properly are doing them to keep or are very high end shops where the finished product costs a multiple of what a new 2024 would cost.
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1970 C10 l/b 292/4spd Build: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=811062 |
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