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SUVs Chevrolet Suburban & Tahoe Chevy Suburban
939 messages, Last post on Nov 03, 2009 at 4:44 AM
You are in the Chevrolet Suburban & Tahoe Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & tidester
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The Granddaddy of SUVS deserves its own unique discussion! Steve, Host |
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I'm thinking about buying a '96 Suburban with a Diesel engine. i've heard that Chevy put a low quality diesel in the 80's era suburbans and that the duramax is quite good. Do any of you know about who made the diesel they used in '96? Was it reliable? How about the transmission? I've heard that there were some problems on the transmissions used in '96- can anyone confirm that? mbreen
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Steve: Good thinking! My fave hill got 14 inches the past 24 hrs... time to GO!! Cheers! Paul
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Replying to: hammerhead (Dec 08, 2004 4:38 pm)  Steve, Host
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Scheduling is the problem here... I may get to escape for a day next weekend - hopefully our discount coupons will be here by then, or we'll sneak up & take advantage of our midweek passes. I owe the kiddo a trip for his birthday too... owing him a ski day is a good problem to have! (obligatory on-topic: I'll take a couple of his friends too, which means the Suburban which means I gotta get the coffin box mounted too) Cheers! Paul |
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Replying to: mbreen (Dec 07, 2004 8:29 pm) As for the '96, Duramax is the company that makes the engine. I think GM learned their lessons about crappy trasmissions and have been going with Allison trannies. Unfortunately, my diesel experience has only been with the 80s models. If I come across anyone with a 90s Duramax diesel (I assume it's 6.5L), I'll be sure to ask and relay their response here.
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Replying to: new_daddy (Dec 09, 2004 2:15 am) It's as if any "external forces", whether from uneven roads, wind or turbulence, can severly influence the steering.. feels like some unseen hands are pushing the truck around. We've gone to the dealer of course with receiving the usual BS and nothing solved. The closest I've come though to a possible solution is from a mechanic telling me he's experienced the same problems with his late model Silverado, on the same stretch of freeway in fact, and that simply changing from the stock Firestone tires solves it!!?? Alignment and balancing shows no problems btw. thanks for any info! |
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Just thought I'd add a bit more info on the symptoms: in my non-expert opinion, it doesn't seem like bumpsteer because going over speedbumps at non-perpendicular angles for example, doesn't result in any steering action as one arm cycles relative to the other. But what I do notice is something almost the opposite--at high speeds, going over bumps *straight on* so that both sides of the suspension cycle together, there's always a side to side shift. The degree of sideways movement depends on the speed and sharpness of the bump. Lastly, none of this happened with the previous generation 98 Sub this one replaced (despite the older one having a soggier suspension, more body roll, etc). |
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...this does seem to be more of a design flaw in the newer trucks/SUV's than anything else. The only issue I've ever really noticed is how the front end does seem to blow around pretty bad if you're driving on a really windy day--it takes a very firm grip and correcting. But this is excusable, at least to me, because the trucks sit so high up and are pretty much like tall flat boxes getting hit with the wind. On the other hand, yes, the steering is kind of odd. It never really bothered me, but my father hates that one part of my mother's trucks (had an Avalanche and now a Suburban), as the front end just seems to wander around despite your input...like there's slack somewhere in system. Really noticeable I guess, if you get on a bouncy roadway at higher speeds and are trying to keep it straight. As far as the tires, I'm really not sure, but the Goodyear Wrangler HP's that were on our Av did seem stiffer and made the truck handle more crisply than the Firestones on the Suburban, which, while not horrible, are clearly not the greatest when it comes to tires. They probably do make some difference though. |
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Thanks for the input. So this seems to confirm that it is as you mentioned, more inherent of the design as my mom also complained of the same characterstics in another 04 Suburban she borrowed once.. .. I'm considering changing the tires.. and I wonder if some kind of aftermarket steering stabilizer would help..
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