1987 GMC Suburban

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dinvent93

Junior Member
Joined
May 31, 2024
Posts
1
Reaction score
5
Location
El Paso, TX, US
First Name
Alfredo
Truck Year
1987
Truck Model
Suburban 1500
Engine Size
5.7L 350 small block
Recently I found my dad's suburban again, and I'm planning to fix it up. It has a possible bad lifter since it sounds like Satan's drum. Shops want to charge 1,000 to 2,500 to fix it up I said hell no. I do all the repairs on my 2008 Toyota and I been told if I can work on the Toyota myself then a 1987 Suburban should be cake. I can't risk messing up since it's one of the only things my dad left me before he passed. Any ideas where to get a repair manual? I can't find anything on YouTube and I'm tempted on buying a Haynes manual.
 

ali_c20

Full Access Member
Joined
Sep 20, 2016
Posts
1,346
Reaction score
1,949
Location
Austria
First Name
Alexander
Truck Year
1974, 1979
Truck Model
C20, K5
Engine Size
350, 350
Welcome from Austria. Get a repair manual and a book for rebuilding small block engines. Best would be a shop manual.
 

JamesSam

Full Access Member
Joined
Feb 15, 2023
Posts
1,660
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4,554
Location
VA
First Name
Sam
Truck Year
1987
Truck Model
Silverado V10
Engine Size
5.7 L 350 v8
Welcome from VA.
 

Strick

Full Access Member
Joined
Nov 25, 2020
Posts
1,425
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3,523
Location
Dunn, NC
First Name
Harold
Truck Year
1979
Truck Model
C20 Crew
Engine Size
350
Welcome from NC. Chilton manuals are usually more technical than Haynes even though they're the same company. I agree with the previous post about an SBC manual also. There should be plenty of information out there on the web as well. Good luck.

HS
 

saltdog

Supporting Member
Supporting Member
Joined
Aug 9, 2020
Posts
81
Reaction score
89
Location
US
First Name
Mike
Truck Year
1983
Truck Model
K20 Suburban
Engine Size
350
It's not a bad job to do even with engine in the truck. When I got mine years ago the EFE (exhaust butterfly) had failed closed so it basically cooked the lifter and cam. Swapped out the cam and lifters and been running great ever since. For the cam, I did have to remove radiator and cut the center support on the radiator mount. Great time to replace all the other stuff like water pump etc.
 

legopnuematic

Licensed Junk Dealer
Supporting Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2016
Posts
2,612
Reaction score
6,883
Location
MO
First Name
Spencer
Truck Year
1971, 1̶9̶7̶4, 1976, 1979,1̶9̶8̶5, 2002
Truck Model
Dart Swinger, Sierra 10, C10 Cheyenne, C10 Big Ten, Silverado 10, Ram 2500
Engine Size
225/6, 350 c.i., 350 c.i., 5.9l Cummins
Welcome from Missouri.
 

Cyrillious

Full Access Member
Joined
Aug 25, 2022
Posts
141
Reaction score
112
Location
Toronto
First Name
Cyril
Truck Year
1980
Truck Model
K10 Suburban
Engine Size
350
Welcome to the group. The Haynes manual #24064(420) has been helpful on some jobs but not as much on others. You will need supplemental online material if you have tailgate window wiring issues.
 

Fat 454

Full Access Member
Joined
Jul 24, 2012
Posts
115
Reaction score
188
Location
Australia
First Name
Andy
Truck Year
1973
Truck Model
C20 Suburban
Engine Size
454
Go to ebay and type in GM truck or C10/20 repair manual. There are a number of sellers that supply both OEM paper manuals, as well as soft copies on disc etc. Not that i'm recommending or anything but I have bought a number of books from "faxon autolit" as one example. Also, well worth getting the OEM BM parts book for the year of your truck. The exploded diagrams are worth their weight in gold for understanding how everything goes together, and how to identify replacement parts.
 

JamesSam

Full Access Member
Joined
Feb 15, 2023
Posts
1,660
Reaction score
4,554
Location
VA
First Name
Sam
Truck Year
1987
Truck Model
Silverado V10
Engine Size
5.7 L 350 v8
Go to ebay and type in GM truck or C10/20 repair manual. There are a number of sellers that supply both OEM paper manuals, as well as soft copies on disc etc. Not that i'm recommending or anything but I have bought a number of books from "faxon autolit" as one example. Also, well worth getting the OEM BM parts book for the year of your truck. The exploded diagrams are worth their weight in gold for understanding how everything goes together, and how to identify replacement parts.
@Fat 454 Andy when you say OEM BM parts book, do you mean the GM service manuals?
 

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