I introduce to you, the newest member of my fleet, the one and only...."Jimmy C". He was named within one minute of meeting my younger (4 y.o.) son...




1996 GMC K1500 Suburban 4x4

I have the original window sticker on this one owner, documented dealer serviced, 150,000 mile beauty. It is a bohemoth of a truck, but my wife and I decided we needed one of these things. It has a very smooth vortec 350 and 4L60E trans. The transfer case is manual, so no solenoids and wiring to fry or replace. The interior looks nearly pristine...especially for a truck that is almost 15 years old. It was a Mississippi truck, no rust, paint is great too. The first time I washed him, there was quite a bit of mud up in the fenderwells and frame, so I'm thinking he may have been a farm truck, or camp truck.

Brand new AC compressor, brand new rubber all the way around, tinted windows, etc etc etc. I bought it for $3700 cash, and for what this truck bluebooks for, I STOLE IT.

My wife and I decided we need a "doomsday" vehicle, in case we need to get outta here later this hurricane season. We've been nervous watching the BP morons, and wondering if a storm could rile up some of that mess and drop it on us. We're not taking any chances, if it gets ugly, we'll be ready to go, and have a frikkin 4WD BEAST to get us out of harm's way.

Oh, and I'll bet I could pull the Chevelle with it, too!!!

Nice 'burban, I got 2, one is a 1992 I got for $1,100 about 5 years ago with 157,000 miles on it, it has a tad over 325,000 on it, motor still ain't been out. Hands down the toughest one I have had, since I almost never unhook the trailer from it, and I can count the number of oil changes it has had on both hands, with a nosepicker left over. And I got a 1999 for $3,700 last year. It's a real sweetheart.

I think you will be pleased with it...

I already am. The thing is a HOSS. He has the tow package, so a nice 3.73 rear is setting under there, along with an external trans cooler, and runs a hair under 2000 revs at 70 with the OD. The ride back from where I bought him in Natchez, MS was cool because it is a hilly ride, and I kept the cruise on the whole way. He didn't drop into passing gear once going up any of those hills...good torque. The window sticker rates the 5.7 vortec at 255 horse/355 torque. The engine purrs. My wife likes driving it because she says it is faster than her Buick.

I'd like to put on a different set of wheels, and maybe see if the JY nearby has anything cool to yank and bolt onto him, like maybe bumper guards or a brush guard, spoiler, etc. He is wearing brand new 245/75/16 meats, but he would look much cooler with a set of Z71 sized 265/75/16 all terrain tires with a set of black steel wheels/chrome center caps.

You did great with that buy. I love those beast and had a few when I towed my open trailers to the track. I also towed the enclosed trailer too. They got plenty of room for stuff and the whole family. You'll love it.

I had a little trailer hooked up to him yesterday, borrowed my neighbor's flatbed 5'x8' to load my mower on and go across town to cut my bud's grass. Yup that's me, indebting myself to one person just to help another. Anyways, my '82 model snapper rear engine rider and garden wagon/trailer on that flatbed....Jimmy didn't even know they were back there. You guys would get a kick out of my mower, it is rated for an 8 horse robin-subaru engine, and I dropped a 14.5 horse briggs I/C on it. I had to modify the exhaust so it would fit and tilt like it is supposed to. The thing pulls wheelies when the clutch is fresh...but eats a clutch once a season too.

Man, I love this Suburban. The A/C freezes people out, and it is so comfy...it is like riding a big fat sofa down the road.

Well, as lame as it sounds, I finished making a "cold air intake" for him earlier today...only two trips to the junkyard and two trips to the parts store. I am in it for about $70. Not bad when they go for almost $300 new. Mine is right, too. I moved the battery over to the driver side, and am using the entire space between the fender and the radiator to house the exposed element filter. I used some plastic trim pieces and such I had laying around to box in a heat shield around it, and various elbows and slinky tubes from the JY to finish it up. It is a cold air setup more so than the silly through-the-fender stock configuration, and exactly how I believe GM should have done it from the beginning. It looks good and sounds good too. Nice and clean.

Post up a pic...

I just snapped this a minute ago. You can see what I did pretty good. I need to find a nice rubber cap with clamp to cover the hole where that "vortec" air silencer connects to the intake hat. I can't see how it helps airflow at all. There is more or less 6" of straight flow on either side of the airflow sensor, which it supposedly needs to give the right reading. I popped a hole in the new elbow piece for the intake air temp sensor, and it is getting air from all around the lights, and the opening where the duct used to run into the fender. Underneath the rubber flex coupling right before the air filter, there is a 6" length of 3" PVC, because I needed a male to male coupler in that spot. That rubber flex coupler was a good score at Lowe's for like 2 or 3 bucks. I think my install looks "factory". I need a few pieces of weatherstripping for the top of the heat shield and then it is done, I swear.

There is a very noticeable difference in throttle response, and it sounds tough as nails.

Nice work. That looks great.

Nice job!

Thanks!! It is holding up well, and stays nice and dry in there, too. Do you see the 3 black corrugated plastic wire looms that run across the fan shroud? There used to only be 1 there, going to the power dist block on the inner fender. I routed the new battery cables across there to catch the battery in its new home on the driver side.

Now I want headers.