Long distance traveling in a '67-'72 suburban

[CDA 455]

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?

[LockDoc]

-
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

[HO455]

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.

[CDA 455]

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?

[CG]

Most people call them barn doors. Not sure that's the official name given to them by GM.

Not sure on the other questions.

[HO455]

Originally Posted by CDA 455

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?

Commonly referred to as "Barn Doors". I believe all K models came with them unless special ordered with the hatch and gate.

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

[Killer Bee]

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!

[CG]

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.

[dadsburb]

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

[CDA 455]

Originally Posted by dadsburb

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

Interesting point you bring up.

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!

[CDA 455]

Originally Posted by HO455

Commonly referred to as "Barn Doors". I believe all K models came with them unless special ordered with the hatch and gate.

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

Would:
3/4-ton commercial = Panel Suburban

['68OrangeSunshine]

Originally Posted by HO455

Commonly referred to as "Barn Doors". I believe all K models came with them unless special ordered with the hatch and gate.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=575238

I have a '67 K/10 Sub with lift hatch and tailgate. I have not memorized my SPID, but I think it was the other way around. If you wanted Barn Doors, you checked that option. I can't remember the official GM term for Barn Doors, either.
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.

[LT7A]

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.

[LT7A]

Originally Posted by '68OrangeSunshine

I have a '67 K/10 Sub with lift hatch and tailgate. I have not memorized my SPID, but I think it was the other way around. If you wanted Barn Doors, you checked that option. I can't remember the official GM term for Barn Doors, either.
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.

Pictures and more about adventures White Fang please! ; )

[CDA 455]

Originally Posted by LT7A

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.

You bring up an important/concerning point:
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.

['68OrangeSunshine]

Originally Posted by LT7A

Pictures and more about adventures White Fang please! ; )

I'll work on that.

[HO455]

Originally Posted by '68OrangeSunshine

I have a '67 K/10 Sub with lift hatch and tailgate. I have not memorized my SPID, but I think it was the other way around. If you wanted Barn Doors, you checked that option. I can't remember the official GM term for Barn Doors, either.
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 hijack! I hope the OP doesn't mind. Looking at the 67 dealer information on the GM Heritage site it appears that neither door was an option per se. But each door configuration was the basis for a specific model. So that's why the doors aren't listed on the SPID. I don't have a good way to post the page and I shouldn't be cluttering up this thread any more.

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/

[CDA 455]

Originally Posted by HO455

Getting back to the hijack! I hope the OP doesn't mind. Looking a the 67 information on the GM Heritage site it appears that neither door was an option per se. But each door configuration was the basis for a specific model. So that's why the doors aren't listed on the SPID. I don't have a good way to post the page and I shouldn't be cluttering up this thread any more.

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/

HOLY TOLEDO!!!!
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.

[HO455]

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.

['68OrangeSunshine]

" 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.

[CDA 455]

Originally Posted by '68OrangeSunshine

" 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. Idoits.

Vortec motor and 61K.
No thanks.

A cannibalized project indeed.
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.

[bnorth]

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.