Another Suburban Lock Problem (1991)

[ballencd]

Folks,

I recently purchased a 1991 V1500 Suburban. The little wings used for turning the ignition key were broken and the ignition key cylinder was hard to turn. In addition the "key in the ignition" beeper beeped all the time even if the key was removed and the door was open. The key did not fit the doors of the vehicle either. I purchased a replacement cylinder from LMC truck, installed it and removed the switch contacts to stop the beeper for good. That problem solved.

My current problem is that I only got the one key for the vehicle and it did not fit any of the doors. I have several round and square keys (from my old M1009, 1988 V10 Suburban, 1991 V1500 Suburban both old and new) and none of them fit into the door cylinder at all. I would like all doors and the ignition to use the same key in the end if possible. LMC sells a set of two keyed alike cylinders for the front doors and a seperate rear door cylinder but not keyed to match the front. I have also seen elsewhere a set of cylinders (three for the two doors and a trunk) that are keyed alike but I don't know if the truck cylinder will fit the rear of the Suburban. From the pictures it looks like it might but wanted to know if anyone in the forum would know if that will work.

The pictures are of the drivers door cylinder and the rear barn door cylinder and the key that fits my new ignition cylinder.

I have read here that the cylinders can be changed to be keyed alike but the ones I have don't look like they will come apart without damaging the exposed front face of the lock cylinder? And there is the problem that the new ignition key does no even go into any of the door cylinders.

Any help would be appreciated. I bought this vehicle to use the rear doors on my 1988 V10 Suburban but it is in too good shape to part it out so I am going to fix it up and drive it.

ballencd

[ballencd]

Nobody knows anything about locks? What confuses me is that none of my keys will even go into these lock cylinders.

[Ski-me]

You will always have two keys.....that's just how they keyed this era of truck. The square one is for the ignition switch only. The round one unlocks all the doors.

If you can't find the proper round key for any of your existing locks, you might be able to take all of the cylinders off and have a locksmith match a new key to all of the cylinders.

Or you can buy 2 new sets from LMC and take to locksmith to have all 4 matched to one key.

There is also a lock for the center console and the rear tailgate. When I talked with my locksmith, he said that each year, 89-91 had a very slight difference in the parallel groove so not all round keys will slide in to all door lock cylinders. A little confusing to me really.

I ultimately installed a new ignition cylinder and lock, as well as new door cylinders.

[Ski-me]

The letter stamped on the key has something to do with the year, I believe.

[Ski-me]

http://www.carlocksandkeys.com/blog/...nd-key-blanks/

A little more info

[ballencd]

Jeff,

Thanks for the reply. I've attempted to reply two times now and it disappears. Strange.

So I will make this one short.

I read the article and learned some interesting stuff on the GM locks. They could have made it easier for sure. Both my M1009 (military 6.2 Blazer) and my current DD (1988 V10 Suburban) had just a round key that unlocked/started everything. The military blazer used the same key for all the CUCV vehicles GM made in the 80's and my 1988 was a rescue vehicle in its former life so I'm sure it was reconfigured to make it easier to keep up with. That being said, I was surprised to find that none of the keys (both round and square) would fit into my door locks until I read the article that is. I have found a supplier that sells a four cylinder kit with the ignition, front doors and rear barn door cylinders all keyed alike. I will have to swap out the new ignition cylinder I just put in but they will all match. I could not find a 3 door kit to match and it will be much easier to have only one key so I will most likely go that route. I will continue to look for a three door set that might be re-keyed to the ignition but it might cost more then whole kit.
Thanks again for your help and info.
Charlie

[kwmech]

Just take everything to a Locksmith and tell him what you want. He will tell you what can and cannot be done

[ballencd]

I found a set from "Classic Parts" that includes both doors, ignition and rear doors locks. No black, so chrome will have to do. Thanks Charlie

[ballencd]

So....I ordered from above mentioned dealer and got a set of keyed alike locks that fit the ignition, doors and barn door in the rear! The ignition was "BLACK" but the rest were chrome. They look great! Job completed.