duramax transplant to '96 to '99 suburban

Ever wonder why GM didn't put a Duramax in a Suburban? Ford did this in their line.

Long story short, I need one(a Duramax Suburban). I have too many children and stuff i have to haul with me to use a crewcab(allthough i have thought about a hard toneu and a bed carpet kit). A suburban bodystyle still works best for me, but i need the tow capacity and economy of a Duramax. I would like to comfortably pull a 20' + enclosed someday. this is not within my reach now unless i bought a pricey all aluminum enclosed and traveled light. this would be doable, but not the best world scenario by any means.

It was about a month ago i met up with Mike(racebuicks) to pick up a car on 40 hwy. He loaded up a boattail on what I'm guessing is a 2000lb flatbed trailer. You do the math. I followed him in my '98 Suburban with a Vortec 350(255hp). He hit an on ramp and got on it(I assume he floored it -- i did) i barely kept up :shock: All he has is a hypertech and a boost gauge to my knowlage. it's a dually and gets simular if not better milage than my 350 :spank:

So hear is the thought. Buy a 3/4 ton Suburban(mine is a 1/2).i would suppose anything from 91 - 99 would work(Suburban lags behind bodystyle changes by a year or two for some reason.) Buy a motor and tranny from a duramax, $$$$ from what i am seeing... may run in to some better deals. transplant and sell mine.

This would take a bit of planning one the electrical side that i have not researched yet. something I would probably not have anissue with as this is some what of what i do for a living. a compllete drop out with ecm would facilitate this to the nearly the point of a no brainer. I for sure would like to come up itha COMPLETE game plan before i purchased anything for the build. this means how it would fit, any accesory swaps or modifcations, crossmember mods, motor mounts drive shaft(s),and electrical( i would make a complete schematic of any mods before hand, just to make sure i am making sense).

The question would be more along the lines of physical dimensions. would i be able to do this with a 4WD? I am certain this would be easier with a 2wd. dimensional issues with length, crossmembers, firewall, a/c box, etc.

Has any one seen anything on the net, far as transplants go? I havn't looked very hard yet. I though i would ask around for any prior knowlage or absolute no's or yes's. I know its not a drop in and plug in. but it seems to me that if the Duramax/Allison will fit dimenionally... the rest may come pretty easy.

Thoughts....

 

I've seen it done to a '97 (?) 4wd 'Burb a coulple months back in one of the off-road mags (Peterson's 4wd or something). He basically swapped the whole front end (frame and all) over to his 'burb. I think he does conversions now too.

 

Dayton is a big GM city, so I know quite a few people who work a various plants around town, including several who work at the Duramax plant. The story we get as to why the Suburan hasn't been modified to fit the Duramax, is that the Union that represents the workers that make gas engines, will only let GM produce/buy a certain amount of Duramax's. o No:

 

What is wrong with the 6.5 diesel turbo already in the 90s 2500 Suburban? Mine is a 4x4 that has 200 K miles, gets 19 MPG at 8000 lbs and has the same torque as the 454 of the same year (95).

Cheryl

 

Hey Brad...are you speaking of the current style suburban or the the last generation.

 

Sounds like you have ahad pretty good luck on a large amount of mileage. Unfortunatly have not been a big fan of those.... guess havn't heard much in the way of aftermarket support for them. Is this true?

 

Check out http://www.duramaxsuburban.com/

Dude advertises full diesel conversion of newer 'Burbs, so you might want to strike up a conversation with him and find out the tricks.

 

We owned a 93 6.5 that was an awesome truck. 200,000 miles with no problems. However, 93 was still a mech. pump setup. The later models were electronic and many had problems.

 

You should be able to swap in a Duramax and Allison if you do a body lift first. The cab on all the HD2500's or 3500's sit higher on the frame to clear the trans and give extra room for the turbo and exhaust on the back of the engine.

I have been told that the Duramax is planned for the next generation of GM full size utilities.

Dave

 

Had the secret Suburban with the Duramax in my yard, yesterday, it has a detuned diesel and transmission to fit in floorpan, it's a test vehicle for the fuel powered heater for the back section, and will probably be disabled shortly. All comments are correct, the Allison trans won't fit the Suburban floor pan, pretty sad planning, but it will happen eventually, as it makes sense, oops, makes sense, never know, but we will have to wait and see! The 2007I Duramax is the one to wait for, sounds like lots of torque and very quiet for a diesel, so maybe I'll keep the '04 till then!

 

I read somewhere, one of the magazines or the internet, 2007 is supposed to have a Dmax Burb. GM is supposed to change to the GM9500? series of truck for a complete redesign.

 

screw the dmax and go with a cummins! they are 5 times the engine! my uncle has one and he runs it off of vegetable oil. he recently drove to seattle and got over 150 mpg! right now he get over 2000 miles per tank of diesle

 

The new platform is called the GMT 900. The current is called the GMT 800 and the previous was the GMT 400. My company did all of the bodyshops for the 800 and we are currently working on the 900. And yes I have heard the Duramax will be available as all of these trucks will share the same floor as the current models do not. Just a little inside scoop.

 

The Duramax engine weighs 835 pounds and the Allision five speed weighs 300 pounds. All this weight is down low and should offset the body lift. I have an 04.5 2500 Silverado and it rocks. :laugh: The Cummins is a great engine but the truck and trans leave much to be desired.

 

.....I wonder if a DuraMax would fit in my SportWagon o No: uzzled:

 

SCT makes a tuner for the 6.5 turbo, but there is not much else out there. In my case stock is good enough, but I have had to get all of my parts at the dealer counter. The good thing is that is has needed very few parts. The injector pumps were made in Mexico and were all recalled. The trucks with the remanufactured injector pump have a green tag in the pump area. I honestly think they got a bad reputation because of the pump issue. I have replaced a fuel pump (NAPA), the vacuum pump, wheel bearings, lights and that is about it. It just keeps going and going!

Cheryl

 

interesting.... that would be a drop in.

I don't know... sounds like the duramax is not a good transplant.. not feasable in my eyes anyway. If i were to do somthing 6.5 would be the way to go. the more i look at it this a lost cause. ill have too close to a crewcab and a tonneu cover in time and money to be worth it. thsi threasa answers that question..


Thank you all for your comments. :TU:

 

What's wrong with a BBC

I have a '99 k2500 w/ BBC and 4l80e to pull my 28' enclosed. Sounds like a lot of work for not too much return to convert. Diesel running $2.25 a gallon where I am. Just how many miles per gallon are you gonna get pulling this trailer ? I'd have liked an Excursion w/diesel but the entry fee exceeded the budget. Looked at some V10 ones but still couldn't get the entry fee to fit. I really like the 'burb even though it burns gas.

Rich