GM Truck/Suburban Online Forum

"FJ80WaitinForaLSV8" (fj80waitinforalsv8) 01/15/2014 at 12:00 • Filed to: None

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Anyone know what the best Suburban/ GM truck forum is? I am considering trading my FJ 80 land cruiser for an eighth generation Burb but want to do some research on best years - it was produced from 1973-1991 - and possible engine slash transmission swaps. I am fortunate, as a land cruiser owner, to have an excellent forum online (ih8mud) and am looking for something similar. A lot of what I have seen thus far is full of mindless dribble and poor grammar.

Thanks in advance-

HammerheadFistpunch > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/15/2014 at 12:02

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wow, jumping ship? I guess Jonsey isn't getting around to that 6BT swap soon enough? To be fair, This is exactly what I would be doing if I was jumping the Toyota ship

For Sweden > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/15/2014 at 12:10

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Trading a Land Cruiser for that generation of Suburban? Are you mad?

505Turbeaux > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/15/2014 at 12:12

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ih8mud is great. I jump back in the convo everytime I get a new 4wd.

I think you are going to be looking at more what you CANT swap into one of those. As far as I know there aren't many poor years, just bad engines and transmissions. If you are going to swap doesn't matter. I have a friend with a 6.2 diesel and a 4 speed stick, 2wd that has to have 600K on it now (ex phone company truck), but I know some of the later auto transmissions were weak.

jariten1781 > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/15/2014 at 12:16

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Hrmm...don't know a forum. Had one and it was a decent truck. It was definitely designed for a 55 mph national speed limit...hated being much above 60. The 350 never gave me any problems and had over 280k when I sold it with lots of heavy towing. The distributor crapped out all the time though. Best A/C I've ever used...could cool down the entire massive vehicle in no time.

So: data point.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/15/2014 at 12:21

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Unrelated to best forums, I know a little about them - my mom's driven one for nearly 20 years. I can tell you:

The last few years, the wiring changed and became slightly more squirrely. This came up when swapping a late body onto mid-80s internals.

A nice option to be on the lookout for is the rear A/C unit: without it, the back seats don't cool or heat worth a damn.

Do not, repeat DO NOT get a 4wd with the "heavy half-ton" axles. These are recognizable by being six-lug. The brake system used absolutely blows, and that pattern/spacing/etc. is nigh impossible to get larger than a 15" wheel for that works well. Lug centering is poor, lugs are inch with a funny centering angle (or something) that seems to lead to constant vibration issues.

Related to the previous point, if you see a solid 4wd with 8-lugs, BUY BUY BUY

If you get a diesel, get a high-flow intake manifold if you can. It crowds the injection pump less, so when you (inevitably) have to swap injector bleedback lines, you will only swear one metric fuckton instead of five.

Further diesel advice: the combination filter/water separator/fuel heater is basically about eleven billion leaks waiting to happen. Further, changing the filter on it is obnoxious and can cause you to crack the whole thing. Chuck it for something better if you have an excuse.

Further further diesel advice: injectors are fiddly, and major auto-part rebuilt ones are literally hit and miss.

Trans advice: the 700R4 is the devil. If you can get it rebuilt by a genius, however, you may get 120k+ between rebuilds. If you go back far enough, I think the burbs have a TH400 or something (at least, 2wds), so you dodge that bullet.

Beware body rust. Rotting kick panels/door sills and rear quarter are epidemic: check their solidness.

If you get one with double rear doors, check how tight they are. With advanced miles and/or lots of rear door use, the entire rear body warps and squeaks, squawks, and rattles.

A lot of running boards equipped on these are quite shitty.

Check to see if all the control stick functions work. That thing is a total asshole to replace/rebuild. Older ones are less complicated, less prone to fail.

Roofline paint is prone to fail, check it.

That's about all I can think of off the top of my head.

Nibby > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/15/2014 at 12:22

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Sort of unrelated, but I once registered to ToyotaNation and looked at their Camry galleries... some hilarious poorly modded cars. Worth a visit.

NeilR > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/15/2014 at 12:23

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All you'll ever get from a chevy forum is mindless dribble and poor grammar. Stick with the Toyota, they're better than 'burbs in nearly every way.

Takuro Spirit > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/15/2014 at 12:23

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Full Size Chevy is a good one.

There were a few more I frequented when I had my Silverado, but this was the best.

offroadkarter > Takuro Spirit 01/15/2014 at 12:27

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I think this is probably the site to be on.

Thisnewformatisrubbish > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/15/2014 at 12:52

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They are about the easiest thing to work on, ever. Pirate4x4 will have a section dedicated to them.

FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 > For Sweden 01/15/2014 at 14:37

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I don't think so. My LC needs a new motor and engine swaps are very costly. The Burb will be easier to work on and modify. Plus I've wanted a larger car than my LC for a while.

FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 01/15/2014 at 14:38

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This was quite helpful thank you very much.

FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 > jariten1781 01/15/2014 at 14:38

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thanks for the tips

FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 > HammerheadFistpunch 01/15/2014 at 15:04

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Not necessarily jumping ship, just weighing all my options. The cost estimate for the 6bt kit is about $5,000 add to that a $3,000 engine plus a $3,000 rebuild and a rebuild of the toyo tranny and we are talking serious coin. Looking much more seriously at the LSx conversions, however, the wiring is scaring the piss out of me. I figure the only way I would make that work would be to go carbureted.

So I figured I should do my due diligence and check out these Burbs since and engine swap should be way easier. I don't see the math penciling out too well though since I would be buying an older vehicle than my FJ80 and then making all the off-road modifications that I have already done to my car.