First time chevy owner with a '91 burb v2500
 

Just got a '91 forest-service-seafoam-green 4x4 2500 burb with 175k and I'm stoked. First time owning a full size rig. Coming from a 96 yota t100 with a wimpy 3.4 V6. The burb has a few "quirks" as is to be expected and I'm hoping for some knowledge from this community.

1. Tranny shifts rough from 1 to 2, slips in 2nd about 5% of the time, but shifts well between other gears. I know a new tranny/rebuild is in my future, but how long can I keep it rolling as is? I know I risk getting stranded but honestly, it's a risk i'm willing to take if I can realistically make it many months if not years as is.

2. Coolant temp indicator on my dash isn't working properly. It moves around when driving, but is not accurate. After driving around long enough to get the engine hot, the needle only goes up a few degrees, basically sitting on cold. When climbing a long pass, the needle moved up a few more degrees but not even to the middle. I know it's working to an extent, but far from fully. What needs fixing? The gauge? The coolant temp sensor? Something else?

3. I've got one of the rolly window tailgate models. I would have preferred the barn doors out of simplicity but here we are. The motor is garbage. I can get the window up and down, but only with great struggle and a good soaking in wd40. I'm tempted to gerry-rig an old truck canopy window on this so I don't have to deal with the motor. After taking the gate apart as much as I could, I see replacing the widow mechanism is going to be a royal pain in the ass. I can get a whole gate from a yard for $125 but the status of that window mech. is unknown. I've heard talk on the forums of a barn door swap but I think that's going to require a bit more fab-ing than I'm comfortable with. Any suggestions?

4. Front driver door is slightly misaligned. rattles on bumpy roads. whats my fix so I don't go insane on washboards and anything remotely close to offroad?

5. Lifting this bad *****; solid front axel means easy and cheap install. I want to keep it cheap but i don't want to **** up the truck. a 4" is all I need so I can eventually put 35s underneath. I have the v2500 model but can I throw a kit for a v1500 on there to get a smoother ride? i dont do any heavy towing and would appreciate a more supple ride to towing rigidity. blocks vs new leafs in the rear. any one better than the other?

6. Anything i need to be aware of? common problems with these models? anything besides fluids change right off the bat? is my timing chain good forever or do i need to do something about it?

Happy to be part of this community. Coming from yota forums I was wondering if you chevy guys were going to be as thorough but I see i can put my worries to rest. ]

Cheers,
Evan

Re: First time chevy owner with a '91 burb v2500
 

Pic man, pic!

Welcome!
You should have a 4l80e trans. Spend a few bucks and do a trans service on it. Maybe it will improve the shifting.

Coolant sensor is a known problem on these.
Make sure to run a 195 t stat. The fuel injection doesn't like 180 or 160 degree t stats. The connector to the coolant sensor also goes bad, they sell a replacement for that too.

I am not really any help on 3&4
I hate the tailgate window issues.
The door might need new hinge bushings and strikers.

5. The lift is the same. The only variations are the length of the rear leaf springs and if you have quad shocks up front. Your Burb should have 56" rear length springs.
Most lift kits are pretty stiff. Flexy kits from ORD are nice.

You could do a 52" front spring swap and a 63" rear swap. It might be more work than you want to deal with though. I

Avoid front blocks altogether. I never do more than a 2" rear block lift. Just shackle flip it or buy lift springs.

Re: First time chevy owner with a '91 burb v2500
 

Welcome!

Definitely post up some pics!

Jsfucttruck covered a lot of that..

I second the tranny service although i didn't think the 4l80e was in the square body suburbans but i could be wrong as far as i knew its either a turbo 400 or a 700r4, it sounds like it really couldn't hurt much at this point, and looking at the fluid coming out may give you an idea of how long you really have left. Could try some sort of additive if you felt like it.

Same goes for the coolant temp sensor, I think there may be 2 of them also (not 100% sure)

as for the tailgate issue is kinda 50/50 like you said could take the gamble on a junkyard gate or mess with it and try replacing the motor yourself. Personally I've never done one my self only heard the stories

I think theres a door alignment tool you can buy (depending on how bad it is) thats the one I've got but only used it once or twice

I've got 4" tuff country E-Z ride springs going on my suburban front and rear that are supposed to be a decent ride while still being able to haul/tow when needed, I got them along with a majority of my parts over at Off road Design

Honestly kind of sounds like the bigger problems were covered in most of these questions, I wouldn't think you'd have to worry about the timing chain unless you were going to take the motor apart for another reason then it might as well be replaced.

Sounds like a good start to a project! Gotta love these old burbs :metal:

Re: First time chevy owner with a '91 burb v2500
 

Welcome!
Can’t wait to see pics

Re: First time chevy owner with a '91 burb v2500
 

Welcome to the club.

I have a 1990 V2500 that I have been fixing up. I went with a Deaver Spring 4" lift front and rear with Bilstein 5100 shocks. I got rid of the quad shocks up front before I put my springs in and that helped the ride quality a lot. With the springs installed, I added a rear sway bar and the truck rides real nice now.

As for your door rattling, it is the plastic piece on the door striker that is probably missing. Just replace the striker and that should stop the door rattles.

1991 Suburbans came with the 4L80e if you have an overdrive transmission. I converted mine to a 4L80E from the turbo 400.

Here is a pic of mine with 33" tires. With these tires, 4.10 gears and the 4L80E, I can do 75 mph at 2500 rpms.

Re: First time chevy owner with a '91 burb v2500
 

Awesome lookin burb Ryan! Diggin the hd wheels too, you guys out west are lucky to have these clean burbs everywhere. Out here most of em are rotted to nothing :lol:

Re: First time chevy owner with a '91 burb v2500
 

^^^ Agreed, nice rig Ryan!

As Ryan pointed out, 1991 is the only year they offered the 4L80e in the 3/4 suburban. A rare bird but definitely an added plus.

ORD springs or Tuff Country or BDS are all decent lift companies. Ideally, rear springs are better than blocks. The other alternative is the shackle flip and keep your rear factory springs. Just depends on their condition.

Bilstein 5100's are a great addition too.

Re: First time chevy owner with a '91 burb v2500
 

Welcome to 67-72 and congrats on the purchase! Post up pics when you can.