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Senior Member
![]() Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Mifflinburg, PA
Posts: 304
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Daily Driving a Square Suburban
Hey, gang. Haven't checked in for a while. Life, ya know? But I'm considering going to a square-body Suburban as a daily driver and thought I'd solicit opinions. I've read threads on a bunch of sites, but I've always valued the thoughts that you all put forth. So...
I'm 40. I live in Pennsylvania. I'm married to a wonderful, understanding, supportive woman. We got late-model kiddos. Spencer is 4. Nora is 2 1/2. I want to make a change in my daily ride and need a sanity check. Since turning 16, I've had a succession of used GM 4-wheel drive trucks. Started with an '86 S-10 extended cab, then a '91 S-10 Blazer, '97 2-door Tahoe with barn doors (loved that truck, but three transmissions in 18 months...), '99 Tahoe, '00 Yukon, and an '04 Z71 Suburban. I had the '04 Z71 longer than any other vehicle. Drove it all over the country, including a 6,000 mile round-trip honeymoon to Yellowstone and the West towing a '72 Airstream Argosy with Samantha and Boomer the Wonder Dog. Mechanically that truck never let me down. Since we all like photos... ![]() Actually, neither did the '99 Tahoe or '00 Yukon. Those two and the Z71 Suburban were all eventually traded because they had a pile of miles and the 'creature comforts' started to break. Seats got ratty, plastic cracked, electronic doodads quit working. You know. It was 'time'. I'm now driving a 2011 Z71 Tahoe and for a number of reasons I'm not satisfied with it. For one, it's not a Suburban. As big as it is, me, two kids, wifey, and a dog fill that thing up in a hurry. Forget about a run to the lumber yard. For another, it's just too.... nice. I bought it with around 50,000 miles on it and it's really clean inside. The leather is gorgeous. I honestly cringe when giving the kids a snack in the back seat, letting the muddy dog jump in, or loading up the gear for a fishing trip. I mean, this is supposed to be a truck, right? Plus I now have a truck payment for the first time in over 5 years. I don't like it. Then there are all the little things that have been popping up on this thing. Nothing major, but they're seriously annoying. For the last 10 months, basically since I made the first payment on the Tahoe, I've been trying to figure a way to get out of it. It's just not the vehicle for me. So I'm very seriously considering a clean square-body Suburban as my everyday truck. My driving habits include a work week that currently involves a 130 mile one-way interstate drive twice a week to get to and from a project. Then maybe 20-40 miles daily the rest of the week. Most miles are small town and rural highway miles. Occasional interstate trips. I hunt-fish-camp, so we're on two-tracks a bit, but no serious 4-wheeling. And it snows in Pennsylvania. So 4x4 is necessary. The '11 Tahoe is getting an average 16.5mpg and I get paid mileage for the 260 mile roundtrip to the project for work. So I don't think a change in fuel ecconomy is really going to impact me like it will some guys. I'm already used to thirsty trucks and getting the mileage check definitely helps. I also own Earl. Some of you may remember Earl. He's my '71 C10 Suburban. This truck brings me a lot of joy and has been a great education in keeping up on these older trucks and what living without all the doodads is like. When I'm driving this truck, the only creature comfort I miss is a decent cupholder. And 4wd. Earl basically sits from November until May and whenever I'm going on unimproved roads. ![]() I love Earl, but I may need to find him a new home to be able to raise funds make any transition to a older Suburban work financially. Anyway... given the above, does making the switch to something like a '76 - '89 K10 Suburban with well maintained mechanicals and limited body rot make sense? I already know I'm good with the loss of 'features' and I'm prepared for the maintenance. My overall concerns are general reliability of a 35-year-old truck putting on something like 20,000 miles a year, and safety. Remember Spencer and Nora? But honestly, kiddos in the truck will mostly be limited to around our small town and the occasional road trip. But it's still a concern, even with their super-duper-high-end child safety seats. Thumbs up? Thumbs down? Advice? Options? Thoughts on a non-OD truck for my situation ('76-'85 seems to be the years I'm most drawn to...)? Thanks, fellas! Ryan
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Ryan - WANTED: '60-'66 4X4 Suburban/Carryall Meet 'Earl', '71 C10 Suburban - Sold, but not forgotten... Meet... yet to be named, ‘78 K10 Suburban Daily Driver |
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