RE: Attention Suburban Owners...

[wynot]

 jackgoesthepopup

And my only complaint was the Electric clutchs on the front hubs. sometimes they would engage and somethimes not. Or they would not sometimes disengage.

 I know what you mean.  That mechanism gets a torque buildup and you have to wait until it unbinds a bit, before the axle disengages.  Really not all that different from trying to disengage or engage 4wd, everything needs to be  just right .
 
 Still, having grown up with manual hubs, and having to engage them in the mud or snow - I think AutoTrac is just the neatest thing.  (As in, sometimes, I d forget to engage the hubs before I needed to.)

[Gamecock Camper]

 MattH
Hey wynot, I will probably not know if I can make it to the Eastern Rally until it is too late to make a reservation.  The DW is going to be in " THE WIZ"  at a local theatre, so there will be plenty of play practices to go to during the first half of the summer.  They usually don t announce the full practice schedule..... only the schedule for the " next"  2 weeks......

[wynot]

 Gamecock Camper
Yeah, Stopher, gotta hate that.  We sometimes get caught with  immediate  schedules.  Still, if you get a chance, might be nice to come up to the rally.
 
 Gotta question for ya.  Saw a listing for  Metro?  campground down near USC (College and Assembly?).  I don t remember that being there.  You know anything about it?
 
 We re looking at popping at Woodsmoke, or maybe over at Dreher Island when we re down visiting.
 
 Thanks for your help!
 

[Dee4j]

 MattH
Just got Rid of mine (1999) I had nothing but problems  the fuel injectors, I had a water leak in 2 places on requiring them to dismantle half the engine, the PC board for the windshield wipers and a water pump. the inside raeding light flakey, depending on how you touched it. I traded it with57,500 miles on it. I loved it for camping etc. but the repairs and Gas milage killed me. I had the 2500 with the big engine.

[NJDucks]

 MattH
We have a 97 GMC Suburban (1500 4X4).  It is a good truck, but hasn t been without it sproblems.
 
 Biggest complaint is the brakes.  They changed the brake design (went bigger I was told) in 98 or 99.  I ve heard lots of conjecture on why, but the biggest thing is you will be doing good to get 20,000 miles on yur front brakes.  After numerous brake jobs I found a mechanic that seems to know what he is talking about.  He says that the Suburban rear brakes don t self adjust well due to dust.  This means that the fronts end up doing the majority of the braking.  The key is to keep the rear brakes in adjustment.
 
 My next biggest complaint is the rear axle seals.  They leak all the time.  I ve replaced mine three times and only have 77,000 miles on the truck.  the first time was under warranty.  The second was on me and I got nailed by the dealer for $350.  The third time I took it to an independent shop and paid only $150 and the job seems to last longer.
 
 My only other major problem was the botom engine seal.  It started to leak and I ended up having it replaced just under the 5 year warranty (which I paid extra for).  I made sure they replaced the top seal at the same time- althugh I paid for the parts.  That would have been a $600 dollar job if it had happened a week later.
 
 Don t det me wrong - I love the Suburban and it pulls a 3500 lb. popup like it isn t there.  Just recognize they are trucks and if you tow it is considerded heavy duty use - and you will have repair bills.

[wynot]

 MattH
Remember, these trucks need to be backed up fast and braked hard to get the rear drums to adjust.  Something most people don t do.  If you don t, crawl under with your screwdriver or adjuster tool, and adjust the rear drums.  It probably wouldn t hurt to pull the drums off once a year and clean the brakes out periodically, the dust is a problem - nowhere for it to go - on the other hand, dust means the brakes were being used...  Another problem you can sometimes get with brake shoes that aren t used hard (as in only lightly touching the drum) is that they will glaze up on you, also providing no braking.
 
 Another place to look for ineffective braking is if the rubber brake lines get tired, they expand a bit more than they should, reducing the effective brake line pressure (and less braking effort).
 
 If you have leaks with axle seals, you probably have a wear pattern set up which will only not leak while the seals are new.  You probably need to replace the axle shafts to permanently fix it.