I've got a '96 Bronco in pretty good shape.

I've always wanted a diesel truck, and I've always liked the large SUVs (Suburban, Excursion, etc.).

For some reason, the Ford gods have decided that Excursions and Broncos are worth insane amounts of money, but Suburbans still seem to be fairly reasonable on the used market.. I'm an engineer, and I can't pass up an optimized situation like that.

I'm not a mechanic, but I'm learning. I'm also not a Chevy expert, so I'm looking for advice.

If I wanted a 4x4 Suburban with an electronics-free Diesel engine and an automatic transmission (manual transfer case is fine), what era would you suggest I look at? I've heard good things about the "12 valve" Cummins Chevy used, and apparently the 6.5 from the 90's is decent with some prep work, but there may be a lot of electronic parts on those, and the right-wing gun-nut survivalist in me wants to avoid that. (If I'm wrong, please let me know!)

We have smog checks in Phoenix, but they aren't too difficult on a diesel... they basically check for black smoke and exhaust pipe diameter... I assume buying a truck old enough that it doesn't suffer from all the emissions crap is the best move... although, again, if there's something to avoid or something to look for, I'm all ears.

Thanks for any advice you can offer...

 

I suspect what I want is the late 80's-91 version... I didn't realize they kept the same design for that long...