1999 Suburban tow vehicle

Hope everyone had a good thanksgiving.

I picked up a black Friday special on a 1999 Suburban I saw for sale sitting in someone's driveway. Best part of it is that my wife is excited about the truck and even her mom likes it.

Only downside is that it needs a little TLC: tires, brakes, AC isn't working, trans doesn't have 3rd or 4th and ohh yeah, it threw a rod on the way home.

But for $750 with 4 wheel drive that works (or did before the rod incident) and a clean body and interior, everyone is still liking it.

I was hoping to get some input on replacement motor and trans ideas. Right now, I am leaning towards a crate motor from the Chevy dealer for about $2050 for a 4 bolt main new motor, and rebuilding the 4L60 transmission (possibly beefing up the internals in the process). Any thoughts or recommendations?

ps I am planning to keep the truck for a while and use it to tow my V8 Morris :) as well as a family vehicle.

One of my coworkers suggested switching it to a diesel, has anyone on the forum played with a diesel conversion on something like this? If so any feedback?

The idea of updating to a newer drivetrain also went through my mind, but doing a little reading it sounds like a project and like it could get expensive. Again, any thoughts?

IF you read this far, thank you very much and looking forward to the ideas. PS not going to make it as a challenge car, need to get my Morris back out there and I have 2 other challenge car builds in mind with cars lined up.

-Tripp

Diesel conversions are a lot more complicated.

Slap a crate motor in it, rebuild the 4L60E or consider a 4L80E and drive it.

thanks NGTD, is the 4L80E a stronger transmission?

Low mile,5.7 used engines for these should be readily available, and cheap. Typically a well maintained one should easily surpass 200k miles. Hell,Iif i remember right, LKQ offers a short warranty on their used engines.
could upgrade to the more current 5.3 fairly cheaply as well.
Why spend the extra on a new crate motor?

Thanks TGMF, I figure finding a decent 5.7 vortec will end up running me $900-$1200 used if I get something decent (based on the they pull it for you salvage yard and ebay). So unless I get lucky and find a low mileage motor at the you pull it, looks like I will be over $1000 for a used motor, since I plan on keeping the truck for a while I thought the new motor might be worth the extra cash. Especially since one of my other coworkers has been keeping an eye out for a motor at the you pull it and is mainly seeing higher mileage stuff.

How hard is the upgrade to the 5.3?

I have thought of the junkyard motor, but just not sure on a 15 year old junk yard motor in my tow vehicle. I don't want to be sitting on the side of the road with a trailer. Not sure if it's worth the savings, given a new motor from the dealer is $2050, have you had good luck on the junkyard motors or is it as hit or miss as I would guess?

Easy Button:

GM Long Block from Jegs

$1980, free shipping to your door, 36 month/100,000 mile warranty, soup.

Thanks dinger!

tripp wrote: thanks NGTD, is the 4L80E a stronger transmission?

Yes. IIRC it is the transmission used in 3/4 and 1 tons.

Does the 4L80E (IIRC) bolt up and use the stock harness or does it need different wiring? Sounds like it is worth considering since I need to replace it anyway. Thanks

did some googling, doesn't sound too difficult on the swap for the 4L80E. thanks!

The 4L80 is quite a bit stronger. I also have a 99 Suburban but it's a 2500. I like the tougher drivetrain, but it certainly feels a lot slower/heavier than a half ton. I'm not sure what the weight difference is.

I think a 1500 with 4L80e would be a good compromise as the trans is definitely the weak link in a GM drivetrain.

Doing a little more research on the 4L80 swap, looks like the parts list can add up to more then what my initial googling indicated: -drive shaft -adapter harness -mounting bracket(s) -I assume my transfer case will still work, is this correct?

Has anyone done this swap? Can I just pull the trans, transfer case and drive shaft off a 2500 suburban or truck? Will it just bolt up with the adapter harness?

Is it worth the money for the additional parts on the swap vs rebuilding my transmission with some beefier parts?

Thanks for the input!

I just turned 300,000 miles on my 99 4WD Suburban. We bought it new and it serves us well.

Thanks 68TR250! Do you tow with it at all? Just trying to make the best decision given my parameters for fixing this one. I think maintenence plays a big role in why some go 300k mi fine and others get sold for $750 needing an engine and trans

tripp wrote: Doing a little more research on the 4L80 swap, looks like the parts list can add up to more then what my initial googling indicated: -drive shaft -adapter harness -mounting bracket(s) -I assume my transfer case will still work, is this correct? Has anyone done this swap? Can I just pull the trans, transfer case and drive shaft off a 2500 suburban or truck? Will it just bolt up with the adapter harness? Is it worth the money for the additional parts on the swap vs rebuilding my transmission with some beefier parts? Thanks for the input!

From what I have read on here in other threads, a rebuild may be your best bet.

When I suggested the 4L80E swap, I wasn't aware that it required changing that many items.

I think there is at least one guy on here that runs a trans shop and hopefully they see this thread. My understanding is limited, but if I recall the discussion was that a rebuilt 4L60E, with a cooler will probably out last the 'Burb.

I read an article online and it mentioned a couple items but looked straight forward. Then started reading more, price shopping and talked to a friend who owns a salvage yard, he was saying its $700-800 in parts to make the swap work. Figure I can rebuild for less.

Digger even deeper into my hole of uncertainty, the local transmission shop recommended against towing with the 4L60 so I found more info on the 4L80 swap: http://northtexasconverter.com/?page_id=8242

Looking at the shift solenoids, maybe I am condemning my transmission for a bad 2-3 solenoid. When the 3rd gear shift should engage, the transmission seems to go into neutral almost, I hear noise of something spinning but no engagement. I took this to be the clutches totally shot, but is there a way to check if just that solenoid went bad (given that I can't drive it due to the motor being bad)?

tripp wrote: I found more info on the 4L80 swap: http://northtexasconverter.com/?page_id=8242

It's worth noting that that swap writeup is intended for putting a 4L80 in a car. You will not need near that much work/parts. Here's a better writeup for doing the swap in a 4wd truck.

http://www.gmt400.com/forum/showthread.php?654-4l60e-to-4l80e-conversion-article-from-Four-Wheeler

thanks, I really appreciate the input

In reply to tripp:

Hey Tripp, It is a 1500 = 1/2 ton. It has a 350. I do tow with it but not sure how to reply to a lot. I've made a couple long distance runs - up to PHL ( 900 miles one way ) to PNS ( 200 or so one way ) to JAN ( 380 miles one way ) and lots of trips to SAV, to the Carolinas and around ATL. Usually picking a Triumph but have had an Exploder on there, Blazer ( numerous times ), Camaros, 530I, VW, Full size GM pick ups. I get a good solid 16-18 MPG normally ( drive it easy ) and 10-12 towing. Tires, brakes, a couple alignments and oil changes. We did have a problem where it wouldn't start - found it was some kind of anti theft crap. It also had the GM battery drain. Replaced the radio with an aftermarket unit and wired it differently and that fixed that problem. I did have to replace the fuel pump in 2006. Replaced a couple batteries. Exhaust is the original and the motor has never been opened up.

Now watch, I'm braggin on it and it probably won't start this afternoon!

In reply to 68TR250:

How are the door hinges and latches after 300k? The front doors on mine need some serious work at only 185k. It seems the hinges sag and then the striker/pin in the latch start grinding each other to shreds.

In reply to 2002maniac:

I've had no problem with door latches, striker pins on mine at all. I do have an '89 S10 Blazer ( well over 300K miles - speedometer stopped working in 2010 @290K ) that we had to replace both door hinge pins. I also have an '89 full size c1500 pickup ( bought new and has 306K miles )that needs the hinge pin replaced but that may have been caused by the accident when a deer committed suicide on the front end on it.

In reply to 68TR250:

Thank you for the input, I would say it sounds like you have some decent trailer time with your Suburban. Do you use an open or enclosed trailer?

I price shopped a local salvage yard (a they pull it for you place) and was quoted $400 for my pick of the 4L60E trans or $850 for the trans, transfer case and axles out of a 3/4 ton Suburban to do the 4L80 swap. Any opinion if its worth that much extra money and effort to get the beefier trans?