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Old 08-04-2017, 01:46 AM   #1
Jsfucttruck
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87 V20 D/D and Road trip Burb

So I bought this gem on a whim. A good friend knew that I am a Suburban nut(#Burbslut) and called me and said the neighbor had a burb for sale. Naturally, I had to go look. It is a 87 V20 Chevy Burb. 6.2 Diesel(non Turbo)/th400/np208.
I drove out to The location to take a peak and got the info. The sellers ended up flaking on me, and after the second failed attempt to meet up i gave up. A few days later I got a call from them and they apologized about flaking on me. So I went and looked at the truck.

So I love the stacked 4x4 headlight front clip so I was sold already. Silverado, Tailgate, F/R a/c, power everything, and no 700r4. The headliner was shot but the interior was nice. It has some funky dents on the roof but no real issues that I could see then. Just a stock truck.

Batteries were dead. One was a tiny battery from a Honda, and the other was 20yr old deep cycle. It wouldn't take a jump with no surprise. I told the dude I would come back with a pr of fresh batteries and a cash offer. The For sale sign had $1800 listed.

I show up and wait 30 min just to find out the dude is passed out in his house. He comes out, talking up the truck that doesn't run yet. I put 2 newish yellow tops in, wait for the glows, and it fires right up. It smoked lightly for 5-10 min while I did a walk around. Only the rear tailgate window rolls down. Ac blows cold.

I took it for a test drive and it drove so nice(after getting diesel). No play in the steering, no suspension clunks, brakes worked great. The transmission shifted tight too. So I headed back.
After much haggling I told the dude this. "So I have been out here 5 times now, brought $400 in batteries, installed them, had to get fuel, and I know that this thing has been here for sale for 4 months. Regardless, I only brought $750 cash.


So I came home with this.
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Old 08-04-2017, 01:47 AM   #2
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Re: 87 V20 D/D and Road trip Burb

The day I got it.
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Old 08-04-2017, 02:02 AM   #3
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Re: 87 V20 D/D and Road trip Burb

So I drove it for a yr before things started to fail. I was having a overcharging issue and was popping headlights. After tracking down a bunch of bad chassis grounds, problem fixed.
A radiator failure on a Road trip to the monster jam world finals in Vegas had me getting a 4 row metal rad drop shipped to my hotel in Vegas. I literally changed it out the desert. The oil cooler hose failed On my way out of Vegas. Thankfully the In/out Hose has the same ends on it so I was able to loop it back into the block.
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Old 08-04-2017, 02:08 AM   #4
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Re: 87 V20 D/D and Road trip Burb

So I drive this truck everyday. It is also our family Road trip rig. We travel to Medford OR 4-6 times a yr, Mountain Home Id once a yr,Booners Fairy ID 1-3 per yr, Yucca Valley, Winnemuca NV, Tahoe, and anyware else. I put 10-30k a yr on rigs. The fact I can get 18mpg in this thing is amazing.
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Old 08-04-2017, 02:24 AM   #5
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Re: 87 V20 D/D and Road trip Burb

But with the kind of miles I put down and the fact it is a 87. Things are going to fail, I was prepared for that. It only had 108k on the odo(documented company truck) but a few yrs on her.


Water pump, fan clutch, t stat, belts, hoses, radiator, ip and lift pump, injectors, glow plugs,controller, glow switch, starter, starter brace, starter cables, alternator, headliner and dash pad. It's been a $$$$ trail.

Most recent the crankshaft pulley and harmonic balancer failed and I nearly called it quits with the 6.2. Those two items are $$$!
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Old 08-04-2017, 02:34 AM   #6
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Re: 87 V20 D/D and Road trip Burb

I left it alone and stock for about a yr. All I did cosmetically was vent visors and paint the wheels black. I drove the sh#t out of it.
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Old 08-04-2017, 02:42 AM   #7
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Re: 87 V20 D/D and Road trip Burb

I bent a front leaf spring hitting a pothole in Quincy, and then a blow out in Grants Pass took out my fender and running board. I kinda miss those steps. Well since I needed a leaf spring, I somehow justified a 4" lift! I wanted a 2.5" lift but I had all the parts for a 4" .
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Old 08-04-2017, 02:52 AM   #8
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Re: 87 V20 D/D and Road trip Burb

After much searching and trading, I found a cherry pr of bumpers and some factory tow hooks. I would have figured that the tow hooks would have been factory equipt on a Silverado 4x4, but I guess not.
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Old 08-04-2017, 03:09 AM   #9
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Re: 87 V20 D/D and Road trip Burb

Hm. Wheels and tires. I had the stocker size tires for a yr after the lift. For a few Road trips I ran 35/12.5/17 Toyo mt's. They were a bit big and rubbed slightly off road so I found a cheap option for the stock rims.
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Old 08-04-2017, 03:10 AM   #10
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Re: 87 V20 D/D and Road trip Burb

Even found a warn winch bumper. 8274 is now on the wish list!
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Old 08-04-2017, 03:12 AM   #11
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Re: 87 V20 D/D and Road trip Burb

I had to part with a rusty 78 bod
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Old 08-04-2017, 12:29 PM   #12
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Re: 87 V20 D/D and Road trip Burb

Nice looking rig. Also have a similar rig that's also an every day driver. Best rig I have ever had and at 50k miles of driving per year, I'm half ways to 1 million miles. Highly recommend the Cummins engine conversion for saving money in the long run from less repairs and better fuel economy. But I did like the 6.2 diesel back in the day.
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1990 ¾ ton 4x4 Chevy Suburban
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-3.73 gears -2" Lift
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Old 08-04-2017, 11:24 PM   #13
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Re: 87 V20 D/D and Road trip Burb

Quote:
Originally Posted by Edahall View Post
Nice looking rig. Also have a similar rig that's also an every day driver. Best rig I have ever had and at 50k miles of driving per year, I'm half ways to 1 million miles. Highly recommend the Cummins engine conversion for saving money in the long run from less repairs and better fuel economy. But I did like the 6.2 diesel back in the day.
I definitely have considered the 12v swap. It is just out of the budget. Sounds like a sweet truck. Do you got a pic of the beauty?
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Old 08-05-2017, 12:56 AM   #14
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Re: 87 V20 D/D and Road trip Burb

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jsfucttruck View Post
I definitely have considered the 12v swap. It is just out of the budget. Sounds like a sweet truck. Do you got a pic of the beauty?
Finding an inexpensive donor truck and swapping everything over yourself is normally the cheapest way

to do this conversion.

Here she is after I painted it and the trailer. The paint has held up good even out in the TX sun.

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1990 ¾ ton 4x4 Chevy Suburban
-Cummins Diesel - 12 valve - factory rebuilt
-6 speed bullet proof manual transmission - NV5600
-Gear Vendors Overdrive - HX35 Holset Turbo
-NP205 iron transfer case
-3.73 gears -2" Lift
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Old 08-05-2017, 12:06 PM   #15
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Re: 87 V20 D/D and Road trip Burb

This is my kind of rig. Did you replace the cooler lines yet? I've read the best route is to have custom lines fabbed.
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Old 08-05-2017, 02:01 PM   #16
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Re: 87 V20 D/D and Road trip Burb

Quote:
Originally Posted by Edahall View Post
Finding an inexpensive donor truck and swapping everything over yourself is normally the cheapest way

to do this conversion.

Here she is after I painted it and the trailer. The paint has held up good even out in the TX sun.

She is a beauty. I almost scored a complete wrecked one at a killer deal once, but couldn't come up with the funds quick enough. Those deals come around rarely. Are you running the stock 10 Bolt and semi 14? I should have waited and gone with the 2.5" lift vs the 4".
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Old 08-05-2017, 02:11 PM   #17
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Re: 87 V20 D/D and Road trip Burb

Here she is bringing home the latest project. I blew out the semi float 14 bolt a wk later.
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Old 08-05-2017, 02:39 PM   #18
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Re: 87 V20 D/D and Road trip Burb

I needed some cheap all terrains so I went with these. Not the best tire, but the $600 mounted and balanced price was in the budget.
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Old 08-05-2017, 02:44 PM   #19
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Re: 87 V20 D/D and Road trip Burb

I blew out my semi float rear attempting a burn out in 4lo with the front hubs unlocked. Full float swap was then justified.
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Old 08-05-2017, 02:48 PM   #20
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Re: 87 V20 D/D and Road trip Burb

I blew the spiders out and chipped a tooth off the pinion gear.
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Old 08-05-2017, 03:03 PM   #21
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Re: 87 V20 D/D and Road trip Burb

In the midst of it all. I swapped the wrong ratio 14bff! I put in a 4.10 where a 3.73 was. Super lame. Over $600 to swap the right gears in. Gggggrrrrrrr. I didn't count right. So the dilemma now is to rebuild a 4.10 10 bolt front I got laying around or find a 3.73 ratio srw 14bff. I would prefer to get a 3.73 rear because of the rpms on roadtrips. I already was keeping the speeds below 60mph due to fuel economy and having the th400.
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Old 08-05-2017, 03:06 PM   #22
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Re: 87 V20 D/D and Road trip Burb

Pic
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Old 08-05-2017, 03:12 PM   #23
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Re: 87 V20 D/D and Road trip Burb

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Originally Posted by 68Timber View Post
This is my kind of rig. Did you replace the cooler lines yet? I've read the best route is to have custom lines fabbed.
Yes. I had a line failure on a road trip and was able to bypass the cooler and route it back into the block with the other hose! I eventually made a whole external cooler setup with a 30" finned flow through cooler with Parker hoses and fittings. I mounted the cooler between the frame rails behind the bumper in direct line of moving air. I covered the lines with dei heat wrap. I no longer sorry about that part of the system.
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Old 08-05-2017, 03:31 PM   #24
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Re: 87 V20 D/D and Road trip Burb

In the process of by passing the radiator oil cooler I decided that I wanted to monitor the oil temp. So I ended up getting a Cvr oil filter sandwich adapter with oil cooler fittings and proceeded to hawg out the internals to make it a flow through design so that I could use the oil cooler line holes for oil temp and pressure.
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Old 08-05-2017, 03:47 PM   #25
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Re: 87 V20 D/D and Road trip Burb

I bet every square body lover wishes these were in production.
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