SEMA Suburban

[Tow Me]

I am partial to the factory look of these, but this one is still pretty sweet (besides the Tapout logo all over it)! The black mirrors, handles and wheels are a cool change.

[vectorit]

Yea, I am with you on the original look on these.
Though I appreciate all of the time and effort put into this rig.
Is that glare, or is the front door to fender seam all buggered up?

[Hart_Rod]

That's pretty sweet. I think it's just a reflection.

[propaint81]

no there was really tapout logos on this thing

[sgaylord]

I saw this in person. The body work was nice. I agree with you guys, this is not my thing either but I can also appreciate all the work that went into this too. I think this was the only 67-72 burb at SEMA. I don't remember seeing another one.

[kev2809]

with the exception of the tapout stuff all over it i think this thing looks sick...anyone got any info on it?

[Frizzle Fry]

I like em low and I like big wheels but that one really doesn't do it for me.

[Sacramento70]

THATS PHAT

but not my style, im a little partial to original

[sgaylord]

Here are a couple pics I took.

[JimmyFloyd]

that cluster just doesn't look good. Everything looks squished. Factory would have been better.

[ERASER5]

All that work and no 4th door? Looks like a lot of bolt on stuff with a nice paint job. I guess they need to study Kevin and Friz. Just my .02

[Cumminpwr11]

how did they get the door handles black like that???? thats bad a$$! is it powder coated or anodized or black chrome?

[laydc20]

that thing is sick!

[Sublvr72]

wow, I was at SEMA and I didn't even see this. Nice truck for sure!

[big_al_71]

It looks terrific!!!

[63chevyll]

i love painted dashes also

[capev86]

yeah.....i agree that a more normal ride height would have looked better. a sport truck suspension height would look good with those big wheels. when the frame is notched and the truck sits so low you have to hack up the wheel wells (or lose them altogether) its just no longer a truck to me. at least he kept the body pretty stock (no chopped top....yuck) and just spiffed it up with some custom paint....now that is what i do like....nice paint jobs that accentuate what the factory planned. this truck is all show and no with a ride like that.....it wouldn't survive long up here in maine.

[jmedero]

What do you think the susp mods are? Any one know or want to take a guess.

[Sublvr72]

air bags and notched frame out back

[kev2809]

Originally Posted by capev86

yeah.....i agree that a more normal ride height would have looked better. a sport truck suspension height would look good with those big wheels. when the frame is notched and the truck sits so low you have to hack up the wheel wells (or lose them altogether) its just no longer a truck to me. at least he kept the body pretty stock (no chopped top....yuck) and just spiffed it up with some custom paint....now that is what i do like....nice paint jobs that accentuate what the factory planned. this truck is all show and no with a ride like that.....it wouldn't survive long up here in maine.

i havent met one person who doesnt like this truck...chopped and all



i dont think moving or losing the wheel wells is not all that big of a deal. its a s.u.v. , not a truck. when its aired up, it looks just like a sport truck suspension height and you would never know it....

[capev86]

um....the suburban has always been a pickup with a wagon body on it, so yes it IS a truck (that's an all inclusive word that includes full size vans). its not some little car based crossover.....it is a TRUCK....DESIGNED to haul loads, pull trailers, drive over obstacles that would take out a car's floorboards (even the 2wd's are good at that).

i do like the work put into the paint and bodywork on the sema burb. but i like to keep the basic design of the truck intact.....flat rear floor, wheel wells intact, etc. i want a truck that sits like a truck....something i'd be happy to drive down the road, not something resembling a dukes of hazzard victim badly in need of a flat bed. before the west coast decided it was cool, tucked wheels were a sign that the springs were shot or the bottom end had rotted out and the body had settled around it......explain the logic in why that is cool.....it escapes me. i would take that sema burb body and drop it on a more realistic chassis and then i'd feel like i was driving a truck and not a giant car. the paint and trim on that truck are definitely cool. i like factory bodies with fancy paint jobs.

kev2809...just remember that you live in texas.....it is flat as a pancake compared to new england.

[kev2809]

lol...i still dont think its a truck. sports utility vehicle, imo thats a different category than a truck. some suv's come with 3 rows of seats, explain to me how you haul stuff back there with that little of room like the truck. you can tow your stuff around with damn near anything, you see cars do it all the time. and since you dont think tucking big wheels up in the fenders isnt cool...im assuming you dont like hartrob's laid out suburban, frizzle and kevin's chopped down and laid out suburbans? amazing work of art to get these big wagons on the ground, and they good too. about the only thing i dont like on that butban, is the tapout logos. every thing else, i think he nailed it.

and i know texas is pretty flat compared to everywhere else, but that doesnt mean you still cant bag and drag it up there in maine!

[capev86]

the word "truck" covers everything that is not a car. full size body on frame vans that come in 1/2, 3/4 and 1 ton chassis, suburbans AND pickups are all trucks, technically speaking. blazers (even the s10 variety) are also trucks. the word truck refers to the chassis and the type of things it will be use for.....hauling, towing, all the stuff that (most) cars are not rugged enough to do much of. hate to break it to ya, but a "pickup" is only one kind of truck, not the definitive type. read an issue of vintage truck and you will see that pickup doesn't own the word truck. there are dump trucks and tractor-trailer trucks and many other trucks that are definitely not pickups.

a suburban is a truck, pure and simple....just it's a station wagon body instead of a pickup body. it has the same chassis, drivetrain, front sheetmetal, etc. "sporty utility" is just a modern acronymn they hung on truck based station wagons. now they use the term to cover crossover car based tall wagons and mini truck wagons too. for a long long time, the only thing a suburban could be called was a truck. it is no more a car than a pickup is.

when you chop out the HD frame, drop it and bag it, you are turning a beautiful, classic (and impossible to replace 'cause they ain't making any more) TRUCK into something less appealing to drive than my economy car. i say go do that with some worthless late model that there are plenty of. i am all for restoring old iron, not butchering it.

i have heard the argument that the suburban is too big to be an suv and that it is just a truck based wagon. others say the jeep was the first suv because it was a 4x4....thats just an extra driveaxle, nothing to do with the body style or the basic architecture/intended uses.

as for hauling stuff....my dad put a third row seat in his 72 burb with piggyback bolts and there were several times he had to pull the seat for hauling large items (furniture, etc when helping my aunt move....she was moving a lot in the late 80's/early 90's. his 84 and 87 burb's had/have the flip down middle row seat and removable back row which is an improvement. when you do that you get an 8 foot bed that will carry as much as a long bed pickup with a cap. even with the seats up you can put a queen size mattress inside. anything bigger goes on the roof rack or in a trailer.

i could bag it and drag it up here, but it isn't very practical. i bought my suburban for what it is to begin with.....a beautiful old truck that reminds me of my childhood. i have absolutely no use for all that fancy aftermarket stuff. i am just running urethane bushings, big sway bars, braided brake hoses....a very economical and easy to install improvement that doesn't detract from the feel of the truck and doesn't require cutting up the frame. it maximizes the great design that gm gives us right out of the box. i will be towing with my truck (i have a big heavy camper), going to classic car shows (not pimp my ride shows), haul the family, help move stuff....all the things that a suburban is perfect for. i do appreciate the fancy paint jobs and work that goes into restoring the body, i just wish that wasn't exclusive to slammed vehicles.

the stock 2wd setup is a good compromise between handling and ground clearance. i am not made of money, nor am i worried about getting 1st place trophies at a trailer queen show. air bags are much more complicated and there are more things to go wrong with them than a simple coil spring setup. you have to run lines, mount the tank somewhere, etc, etc. i might put an air system in a first gen F body if i was a professional racer. but it just seems out of place on an old truck.....kinda like the back end of a car filled with subwoofers and computer screens. it may look "interesting".....but do you really need all that $^%&*@?!! i don't sit next to my car and talk about the 50 or 100 grand i sank into it.....i drive it down the road. i like sitting up above all the cars. i drive my car when i want something low to the ground. i would get very tired of having to remember to pump up the springs every time i went in and out of the driveway....i have a dirt road with lots of rocks sticking up and my dad's driveway is a steep incline. sometimes the car scrapes.....so why would i want my truck to sit lower than that?

one funny thing though......a suburban is considered a passenger (commuter) vehicle whereas a pickup gets the "commercial" moniker. technically speaking, you can't drive a pickup on storrow drive in boston......hehehe....

however you call it, a carryall, truck wagon, suv.....the suburban has been and always be a truck!

[IAFF2407]

i remember having this debate with my Dad when he had an El Camino, I told him he had a wagon with a roof chopped of. He told me to pound sand threw out his GVRW rating, I said what would you haul Lead? because that's all the room he had for.

so on that old arguement I'll call my Burb a SUV (so I can't call myself a liar). but when I went to Livrats for the build I took out the seats and hauled a tranny, large gas tank, air bag, fenders, bumper, tool box, 2nd torque converter etc, etc., while pulling a utilty trailer with a caddy motor. thats what a truck can haul.

I won't even look up the photos of Longhornman's load when he "road tripped" his new Burb from CG = truck.

either way I love the Burb thats in post #20, I think the SEMA Burb is two much in your face......and I also bid on the Teal 4X4 that budder71 bought.

whatever you do to it, it's still a Burb, drives like an old tank (compared to my truck) and I love it and would sell the Sierra before the Burb.

[Longhorn Man]

this can be argued all day long.
An El Camino is legally a truck
An HHR panel is considered as a truck by GM, and the feds let it slide
Same as the old vega panel


Yet, many states call the old burbs station wagons, my registration shows that ohio is one of them.

Some people can't learn to accept what other people think is an upgrade, or improvment. In all reality, most of us are like this on one thing or another. Some people are more outspoken on it than others, and some people, refuse to look past what they know.
I have 2 things to say on that...
you can't teach an old dog new tricks
and
the problem with people who know everything, is you can't teach them anything.

The benefits of air ride have been covered, the fact is, that other than cost, they are better in just about every way. This is why busses and big trucks (yes, trucks have air ride) have had air ride for many years.