Just bought lowered 1990 Suburban
 

Just bought a 1990 lowered half ton Suburban from California. It is being shipped to me up in Oregon tomorrow. Can't wait for it to get here! 157,000 miles, super clean. Picture on the trailer was sent to me last night by the seller. All loaded up and ready to head my way.

Re: Just bought lowered 1990 Suburban
 

Great looking truck. Waiting for it to arrive has to be like waiting for Christmas morning when you were a kid.

Re: Just bought lowered 1990 Suburban
 

Thank you!

Yes, it is killing me that it isn't here yet. Should be here tomorrow afternoon. Can't wait to look it over, drive it and make it my own. Would like to update the wheels and it needs a couple minor things fixed.

Re: Just bought lowered 1990 Suburban
 

Nice Suburban! Do you know how the rear was lowered?

Re: Just bought lowered 1990 Suburban
 

I was told it has been C-notched but I haven't seen it yet to confirm exactly what was done. When it gets here I will find out and take some pictures.

Re: Just bought lowered 1990 Suburban
 

Wow! Beautiful. They're getting harder and harder to find in that condition.

Re: Just bought lowered 1990 Suburban
 

Yes they are. Especially a two wheel drive in Oregon. Almost everything here is 4x4. I have been searching for a clean 2 wheel drive for awhile.

Re: Just bought lowered 1990 Suburban
 

Willowrun - I checked underneath the rear and it has not been C-notched. Looks like an axle flip kit. Maybe about 3 inches of travel between the frame and the axle.

Overall I am happy with the new Suburban. The body is incredibly straight and the interior is clean. Has several little issues I need to address. First issue, which I fixed tonight, was electrical stuff. Needed a new battery (sitting since 2015) and one new battery terminal. Needed new marker light bulbs, tail light bulbs, and flasher module.

Needs the fuel sending unit replaced, some dash lights replaced, heater core replaced (has been bi-passed), and possibly some front end work. Front end feels sloppy over bumps and grooves in the road.

Has an aftermarket alarm I plan to rip out and a bunch of under the dash wiring that needs to be cleaned up and tracked down.

Also, couple of the door locks aren't working and the passenger side windows aren't rolling down. Maybe the master switch?

The door handle on the barn doors needs to be replaced.

So in summary a lot of little nagging issues need to be addressed. It seems to run good and the trans shifts fine.

It has a ton of factory options after reviewing the SPID. 350, 700R4 and 373 rear end. Tow package, interior upgrade package with the bucket front seats, center console on the floor and overhead, front and rear AC, and several other things.

I'll post some more pictures tomorrow.

Re: Just bought lowered 1990 Suburban
 

Couple more photos I took today.

Re: Just bought lowered 1990 Suburban
 

Very nice find!

If you don't mind, can you check to see if the stock shackles are in place and provide the leaf count in the spring pack? I'm trying to determine if I'll need to run the multi-hole lift shackles when I flip mine.

Re: Just bought lowered 1990 Suburban
 

Wish you were closer. I'd love to have those wheels!

Re: Just bought lowered 1990 Suburban
 

Love those wheels..

Re: Just bought lowered 1990 Suburban
 

Thanks guys. The wheels are nice, but I'd like to change them... Its been too cold, icy and snowy up here in Oregon this week to get much done on her. My next priority is to get the heater core fixed, and the door handle on the rear barn door fixed. I have an appointment next week to have the front end looked at. It felt pretty loose over ruts and uneven pavement. Guessing it could use an alignment at the very least.

Re: Just bought lowered 1990 Suburban
 

Man, I love those rims, what are the specs on those if you know? Thanks.

Re: Just bought lowered 1990 Suburban
 

Okay, the wheels are 17 inch Billet Specialties. Not sure if they are 8 or 10 inches wide. The tires on them currently are 275/40ZR17.

I took a couple pictures of the rear suspension for those asking about the lowering situation. Not sure I like how it has been lowered but it looks good none the less.

I'm taking it in to a local suspension shop on Monday to have it checked out. See what his recommendations are for making it ride better.

Re: Just bought lowered 1990 Suburban
 

Not sure why it is turning my pictures sideways. They are right side up before I post them.

My next project today was removing the rear barn door, door handle. It was broken. Took me a few minutes to figure out how to get the door open without a handle but once it was open it took me about 10-15 minutes to remove the old one. Will order a new one tonight from LMC truck. While I am at it I will order a new grill and headlight surround as it was damaged before I got the truck.

Still need to replace the heater core. Been to cold and icy outside to want to be outside long enough to replace it. I don't have a shop.

Re: Just bought lowered 1990 Suburban
 

A couple pictures of the front end. I think I am going to return the grill to factory. The custom grill is cool but I like the original with the chevy bow tie in the center.

Re: Just bought lowered 1990 Suburban
 

Nice burb. Looks like you may need to add some air shocks or notch or maybe some helper bags to keep that rear end from bottoming out on the frame. If you were closer i'd give you a free matching 3rd row seat.

Oh man, would love to have the matching 3rd row. Wonder how much it would cost to ship?
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Re: Just bought lowered 1990 Suburban
 

I think for now I am going to raise the whole truck up slightly. Take the lowering shackle out and put a taller spring in the front. Eventually I would like to do air on all four corners but don't have the cash right now. Also, I want to go to a 20 inch wheel instead of the 17.

Re: Just bought lowered 1990 Suburban
 

Looks likeyou have a factory shackle to me

Re: Just bought lowered 1990 Suburban
 

Thank you for the detailed photos of the rear suspension.

Looks like factory shackles to me too. I'll be flipping the rear on my Sub in the near future and have a set of air shocks for carrying loads. If it's too low (unloaded) without air in the shocks, a set of lift shackles or a notch will be in order.

As you may already know, with inverted lift shackles the amount of lift is halved when measuring eye-to-eye against your existing shackles. 1" shorter=1/2" lift, 2" shorter=1" lift, etc.

Re: Just bought lowered 1990 Suburban
 

RDrancher, youre welcome. Sorry it took me awhile to get them to you. Looking at that shackle now I agree, looks factory. For some reason when I first saw it I thought it was a lowering unit. Will have to study that a little bit more.

Now I am waiting (not so patiently) for my LMC truck order to get here. Ready to keep going on this thing.

Re: Just bought lowered 1990 Suburban
 

Just spoke to the shop working on my front end. Sounds like there were some loose bolts connecting my steering gear to the frame. While tightening those he saw that the frame was cracked around the steering gear. Solution is to weld the cracks and put a steel plate between the frame and steering gear to stabalize the steering gear. Also needs an upper left ball joint. Otherwise he told me it looked fine under the front end. Hopefully that will solve my "wandering" issues. He has to order the part so it'll be a little while until its finished.

Re: Just bought lowered 1990 Suburban
 

Frame behind the steering box has been welded and repaired and upper left ball joint has been replaced. Front end was aligned. Seems to drive better. Also replaced the clear tail lights with new stock ones and replaced the rear door handle which had been broken. Hoping to put a new replacement grill and head light bezels in tonight. Also hoping to find time this weekend to replace the heater core. I have been dragging my feet on that job...

Then it will be on to the fuel tank sending unit, speedometer, exhaust system, and headliner.

If anyone close is interested in the wheels and tires I am interested in selling them. Would like to find some corvette style rally wheels and a narrower tire size than what is currently on there.

More pics soon.