I have a 2001 Suburban with 130k...given its age and mileage I'm paranoid that it is about to leave me (or worse - my wife) stranded. It has been very reliable (except for the window regulators, brake ecm, A/C and air-ride system) but I'm just waiting for a "no-start" situation. It does has a newer battery and spark plugs, but I want to do some work before winter and am looking for opinions on what I could expect to go wrong so I can pre-emptively replace the likely offender. I'm thinking starter/ fuel pump / alternator/ coil packs / radiator - which are all original - but don't really know what to expect in terms of service life from these. Which of those - or other item I'm not considering - are most likely to give out in the next 6 - 12 months. Any and all advice is appreciated!

After I take care of the basics - I'll move onto other pieces/parts

 

Serpentine belt, ALL hoses. Other than that, anyones guess.

 

New parts do not mean they are good. I would not waste money on those things. I have had to replace batteries, starters, alternators and radiators under warranty many times. Anywhere from right out of the box, couple of days, weeks or months. Belts, hoses and fluids keep on driving. I have never had to replace a fuel pump again after installation as long as it was a Delphi or AcDelco brand. As far I the coils (individual coils not coil packs)I have never had to replace one for any reason on a GM truck. Even if one or two went bad it would still be drivable.

 

Thanks for the info...I failed to mention I replaced the serpetine belt when installing a new water pump earlier this year.

Sounds likes I'll tackle the hoses next...they are all original. But I do want to do some preventative replacements as I'm planning on taking it a 2k mile round trip this December. The fuel pump seems the most complicated and least fun to tackle on the road...replacing the starter or alternator looks pretty straight forward and could be replaced just about anywhere. Thanks for the input on fuel pump brands

 

With 11 years and 130K miles, if all original, then I recommend replacing the coolant hoses and spark plug wires. Also replace coolant and most of the fluids. The brake fluid and power steering have probably absorbed a lot of moisture in that time. If you're really serious, then change out the transmission and rear axle fluids also. The transmission flush gets a lot of differing opinions, but at a minimum drain the transmission pan and top it back off with new fluid.

 

Unless you have a paper a@@hole, why throw parts at it that work? Hoses, coolent, tune up. I'd also suggest spark plugs with that many miles, they will be worn out. That will also boost gas mileage. You can't "know" what will fail. PM is only thing you can really do. Even new parts can be crap off the shelf. You replaced the serpentine belt, two things, first does this have the seperat a/c compressor belt? If so, replace it, second, this is a lesson I learned many years ago, I keep the old (then belts) belt in the vehicle in case you break, throw whatever the belt. At least you will have a temporary replacement to keep from being stranded, same thing with a wiper blade.

 

if you go by recommended intervals at 100k they want the transmission and transfer case serviced along with a tuneup, don't play around with dexcool make sure its flushed every 5yrs if not sooner

other than that just look everything over if the fluid doesn't look/smell bad or have a leak leave it be

and on another maintenance note check the cabin air filter since most people don't..i know the 01 pickups have them but don't remember 100% about suburbans

 

A major part of my "make sure I get back home" kit, is...

A few hand tools,
A Volt Meter
A Set of Jumper Cables, and
A good 20' Tow Chain.
(all the above in a box in the back)

The above works every time, doesn't cost anything to have available, and gives me a great deal of satisfaction that it's there.

 

Thanks again for all the good info...though I admit I don't know what is meant by paper a@@hole... I've done everything mentioned except hoses and plug wires in the last year or so (including air cabin filter).

I will add a volt meter and tow chain to my supply kit.

 

Crap money....