Hi everyone. I have a new to me 1999 Suburban LS 4x4, old body style, with the 5.7L Vortec. I got it free in non-running condition. Didn't really need it, but I always liked the old square body, the body is rust free, and you can never go wrong with a truck like this, for towing or hauling stuff. Here is everything that was done to get it running, and it is now my daily driver to keep miles off my Civic Type R and our BMW X5. Complete rear end rebuild, new rear passenger axle, 4 new wheel bearings, new rear brake cylinders, new SS brake lines, new brake master cylinder, new catalytic converter and 4 O2 sensors, new plugs, wires, air filter, new tires, new fuel pressure regulator (fuel pump checked and good), new steering shaft with rag joint, other misc sensors. I think that's it off the top of my head. Here's my question. Truck seemingly runs well, but I have zero experience with American trucks, so perhaps this is all normal. When starting from a stop, acceleration seems adequate. It's not snappy or lively, but it'll get out of its own way. On the highway though, passing at 65 or above is sluggish. Honestly, passing in general is difficult. It will get to 100 mph given time, but nothing like the X5 which will cruise happily at 120 all day. The Type R though, 130 is when I'd shift into 6th gear. Point is, I may have a skewed view of performance, so I am looking for experiences of other people with these trucks. I mean, my wife's daily driver is a 2012 Prius, and it seems snappier than this truck. MPG runs around 13 to 14 mpg in mixed driving, which i think is the low end of normal. Truck has 174k miles on it, engine doesn't seem to use oil, sounds good, no abnormal vibrations, transmission shifts fine, transfer case works well. No check engine lights anymore, and no codes. Let me know what you guys think, and if there is anything I can do to improve performance to as close to factory as I can get on an old truck. I'm not looking for performance mods, just more of a restoration of lost performance. Thanks for any advice.

 

in my own opinion I think your perspective is a little skewed. in my 04 suburban to get up to an 85 Mph cruise I have to give it a decent amount of pedal, enough to get it up to 3100-3300 RPM then to stay at 85 im cruising at upper 2500 RPMs. I mean we're talking about a 6800+ Lb vehicle from 1999. it wasn't made for speed it was made for towing so it probably has more torque than horsepower. (it does 255Hp @ 4600rpm, 330 Lb-Ft Torque @ 2800rpm).

Hope this helped

 

Thank you, that's honestly what I was hoping to hear. That all is normal and I don't need to chase anything else. I just have zero experience with these trucks up to now. Thanks.

 

no problem! just let me know if anything else happens

 

Thank you, so far so good. I'm actually enjoying driving this thing a lot more than I thought I would. It still needs a lot of work, broken door handles, power door lock actuators, AC isn't holding pressure. And once i get these things sorted (I like to do a lot of the work myself), I'd like to get some paint restoration and get the dents and dings out. But it has this old school look and feel that I like.

 

Suburbans will drive like a lazy boy on wheels as long as you take great care of them And do basic maintenance.

 

also if you need any wiring diagrams to help you or part numbers I have access to a repair shop diagnostic database with anything you need so just let me know!

 

That would be amazing, thank you very much. I'll definitely reach out when the time comes. Thanks again for everything.

 

no problem