Chevy Suburban?

[ganchan]

I can't resist the urge to covertly eyeball every van and minivan in every parking lot for its potential livability. Lately I've run across lots of Chevy Suburbans for whatever reason, and I wondering how viable they are for vandwelling (and as a potential tow vehicle, in case I wanted to add a small trailer someday). Anybody here own of these wagons, or whatever they are?

 

[minimotos95]

They have a decent square footage but you don't have much in the way of height, even worse than my van. I want to say the floor everywhere behind the center console is pretty flat, maybe varying a couple inches.

I have seen high tops and pop tops installed on the 73-90ish suburbans. So that might be an option.

I've thought about it along with it's shorter brothers the K5 blazer and tahoe and it seems quite doable to me but I already have a van.

 

[Wabbit]

You prob saw this recent post, but in case not....

https://vanlivingforum.com/Thread-Hobo-RV-SUV-to-RV-Conversions

 

[ganchan]

Good info. They sure look big from the outside, but floor-to-ceiling height is a whole' nother thing....I'd like to be able to sit up. (I'm 5'11")

I think I'd be better off with a Grand Caravan or Town & Country, though. Or maybe a Sedona. The Sienna is a good vandwelling prospect too, but I doubt I'd get as good a deal on a used one....

 

[LeeRevell]

I too have wondered about the 'Burb. Love to see a raised roof conversion! The length would be comparable to a minivav, but with much better towing capacity.

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

The Suburban is essentially a station wagon body on the pickup truck frame.  It's available in 1/ 2, 3/4, and 1 ton versions.  It's main advantage, to my mind, is that there are 4 wheel drive versions available, making it ideal for boondockers who want to get WAY back off the roads.

Regards
John

 

[Ken in Anaheim]

Can't remember where but I read that the T Sienna has MORE cu. in.'s of room than a Suburban.....and definitely better mpg.
   But, personally, when I look at the prices being similar for a Sienna and a full size cargo van, I think the extra cargo/living space in the cargo van far outweighs the minor difference in ACTUAL fully-loaded-mpg's.
KinA

 

[Bdog1]

Check the "hobo RV" post here for a video of a Sub camper.

 

[Bdog1]

https://vanlivingforum.com/showthread.php?tid=12205&pid=119614#pid119614

 

[wagoneer]

These things are beasts big motor big weight expect 10-12 MPG. early ones had 350's 7.3 hightop 4 wd would interest me.

 

[LucyImHome]

Hmmm, so to add a high top to a 'burb, the same procedure as doing it to a van? I have an '86 'burb, and was thinking I should sell it to get a cargo van or camper van or ??? But..... I am rather enjoying the burb, very comfortable to drive. 12 mpg, more than I thought it'd get. And it does what it's supposed to do, like start, run, turn, stop, make heat, clear the windshield of rain.....so yeah, hmmmm

 

[highdesertranger]

a little heads up they never made a 1 ton suburban. a 7.3 is a ford motor so you won't find that in a burb. however burbs came with 4wd, and are good tow vehicles. if it was me I would go with the 3/4 ton. highdesertranger

 

[minimotos95]

They did however offer the 6.5L diesel and the big 8.1L gas V8 if you want some serious torque.
the 6.5 was also available in the shorter tahoe and yukon. even in the 2 door versions.

Adding a hightop would be the same process as a van if you can find one, I bet they are spendy.

 

[highdesertranger]

yeah and the non electric 6.5 diesel is actually a pretty good diesel despite it's bad rap. it will easily double the fuel economy of a gasser of the same vintage. it's also the cheapest diesel available the government is still using them. you can buy a brand new(not rebuilt) and improved one for 7k. highdesertranger

 

[Almost There]

I don't recall ever seeing a listing for a high top for a suburban but then I never deliberately went looking for one so who's to say.

If they don't make one, then the answer is to measure carefully and see if the length of a van purposed high top will fit. If it's too short that's not a problem cause you just leave extra roof in place either front or back but if it's too long then you've got a problem cause you can't stretch the suburban nor shrink the high top.

 

[LeeRevell]

Not that hard to shorten it. Fiberglass is easy to work with. Helped my Dad rebuild his destroyed FG boat after a bad road accident. Kinda like a huge model kit. Hehehe.....
The right adhesive and it goes back together. The top can have a section cut out and then reassembled. Width can be adjusted too.

 

[Almost There]

Not that hard to shorten it.  Fiberglass is easy to work with.  Helped my Dad rebuild his destroyed FG boat after a bad road accident.  Kinda like a huge model kit.  Hehehe.....
The right adhesive and it goes back together.  The top can have a section cut out and then reassembled.  Width can be adjusted too.

See, now I've done a lot of 'modifications' over the years, but I've never played with shortening a whole fiberglass top, wouldn't have imagined that chopping it up to do a major would be do-able.

 

[highdesertranger]

I have a fiberglass sleeper on my truck. I stretched width to fit my service body and deleted the side windows. the hardest part I had was finding panels for the fills, but I waited and found some after that it was easy peasy. highdesertranger