Duramax Suburban Project

[David]

Hello Fellow Cheers and Gears members.

So since I became unemployed, while I search for a new job I started to clean up to office of the few piles I had and came across the following:

http://www.thedieselpage.com/duramaxconversions.htm

I had purchesed my conversion book about 3 or 4 years ago as I was planning to convert my clean 1994 C1500 suburban to diesel. I still dream of having it that way but recently had a interesting idea I wanted to float out to the fellow Gear heads here and get some solid feedback. So here goes the questions / thought and I look forward to your responses.

I found a 2004 crewcab 4x4 GMC Duramax with 135,000 miles for 10K. If I was to buy this truck, remove the body, bed, etc would my 1994 c1500 suburban body fit on this frame?

I know I would have to adjust for the 4x4 connections and use at least a 2" body spacer to fit over the Allison tranny. I figure at this time since the 93-99 suburbans were so close to each other, I could pull out my existing dash and replace it with a more modern one, maybe even use what is in the truck.

My concern is the frame, I know the mounting points will be different and I will have to manufacture mounting points.

So what are your thoughts, feelings, etc?

Would it be better to get a late 90's 4x4 suburban and go that route with adding the diesel? This is my other thought on moving to a 4x4 with diesel in a suburban setup.

I have attached what my current Suburban looks like right now.

Thank you all in advance for your input.

[Robert Hall]

Interesting project idea...wheelbase would be different also, wouldn't it?

[balthazar]

I have a '04 Silverado CC 2500HD, wheelbase there is 153". Yours should be the 131.5" chassis.

How about giving the Suburban a slight body lift and swapping the powertrain? As long as you aren't pulling major weight, well beyond what's pictured above, I would think the chassis would handle that fine.

Edited October 28, 2011 by balthazar

[Camino LS6]

There is a company out there that does the Duramax/Suburban swap. I don't remember the name, or the details, but you ought to try doing a search for them. Maybe a swap kit exists? Might be better than a chassis swap.

Edited October 28, 2011 by Camino LS6

[Blake Noble]

For what you'd have in the whole thing, I'd honestly just buy a totaled Duramax pickup and a totaled later model Suburban and make one out of the two. Look for a '99 and up Duramax pickup that was rolled over with heavy damage to the cab and body work and look for a '00 and up Suburban with front end damage that lot drives. If you did things right, you would have about $10 to $15k invested and that's about what you would've spent on that truck you found to begin with, right?

[Robert Hall]

GM used to make diesel Suburbans...when did they stop making them?

[Blake Noble]

GM used to make diesel Suburbans...when did they stop making them?

When the '91 and up full-size SUVs rolled out. A friend of mine had an '88 GMC Suburban with a good ol' Detriot Diesel under the hood.

[Robert Hall]

GM used to make diesel Suburbans...when did they stop making them?

When the '91 and up full-size SUVs rolled out. A friend of mine had an '88 GMC Suburban with a good ol' Detriot Diesel under the hood.

The 6.5 turbodiesel was available in the '92-99 generation for some amount of time and on the Tahoe also according to the Book of Knowledge.

[Camino LS6]

GM used to make diesel Suburbans...when did they stop making them?

When the '91 and up full-size SUVs rolled out. A friend of mine had an '88 GMC Suburban with a good ol' Detriot Diesel under the hood.

The 6.5 turbodiesel was available in the '92-99 generation for some amount of time and on the Tahoe also according to the Book of Knowledge.

It was (at least in the 2-doors) and they are very,very, rare.

As for why GM didn't make the Duramax available in the Suburban, the story I got back then was that they didn't have the production capacity to even meet demand in the pickups - so no diesel for the Suburban.

Of course that doesn't excuse the fact that they still haven't managed to do it.

[Robert Hall]

GM used to make diesel Suburbans...when did they stop making them?

When the '91 and up full-size SUVs rolled out. A friend of mine had an '88 GMC Suburban with a good ol' Detriot Diesel under the hood.

The 6.5 turbodiesel was available in the '92-99 generation for some amount of time and on the Tahoe also according to the Book of Knowledge.

It was (at least in the 2-doors) and they are very,very, rare.

As for why GM didn't make the Duramax available in the Suburban, the story I got back then was that they didn't have the production capacity to even meet demand in the pickups - so no diesel for the Suburban.

Of course that doesn't excuse the fact that they still haven't managed to do it.

I would think they will for the next generation...with the new CAFE standards looming, I would think they would want to improve the mileage of their biggest gas guzzlers..

[GMTruckGuy74]

This is where the 4.5L Duramax diesel for the 1500's would come in handy, especially on the Suburban/Yukon XL models that could benefit from fuel efficiency to keep them fresh in the marketplace... of course those wanting a 2500 Suburban/Yukon XL with the 6.6L Duramax diesel will not be happy unless GM offers it too along with the smaller diesel.

[67impss]

GM used to make diesel Suburbans...when did they stop making them?

When the '91 and up full-size SUVs rolled out. A friend of mine had an '88 GMC Suburban with a good ol' Detriot Diesel under the hood.

The 6.5 turbodiesel was available in the '92-99 generation for some amount of time and on the Tahoe also according to the Book of Knowledge.

It was (at least in the 2-doors) and they are very,very, rare.

As for why GM didn't make the Duramax available in the Suburban, the story I got back then was that they didn't have the production capacity to even meet demand in the pickups - so no diesel for the Suburban.

Of course that doesn't excuse the fact that they still haven't managed to do it.

Working at the plant that is what I was told both before and after GM took full control. They couldn't build enough, applications are P/U's Express/Savana HD4500-6500(RIP) Van Chassis AM General

The plant was updated last year but only to update product not to increase production. They need to open a new plant or reopen an exsisting plant . The BabyMax would be the real answerwith the loss of HD trucks that would be taken up by 2500 Burbs and BabyMax for 1/2 tons.

[Z-06]

What is the annual production of the Du-Di engines?

[David]

So revisiting this as a potential project. I found this web site and they had a Pickup Truck Project they did that is pretty freak-in cool.

http://www.thedieselpage.com/features/project2-16.htm

I purchased their conversion book:

http://www.thedieselpage.com/duramaxconversions.htm

It is pretty cool, even a pattern on how to build your new motor base mounts that the Duramax mounts would connect to. They do say for Suburbans, you have to do a 2" body lift for the Allison transmission to fit in properly.

Your thoughts on this now?

[loki]

a coworker has done this. he loves it...but still only gets high 8's mpg pulling a triaxle camper behind him. best he's got was ~22 on the interstate.