I want to drive an '89 suburban 700 miles home, what should I know?

[gmbellew]

I'd get a couple shipping quotes and compare that to your 500-1000 budget for gas/motel/towing/repair/tool budget and see if the adventure is worth the trouble.

 

[Radiohead]

Sounds like a lead up to an episode of Road Kill, without the support crew or budget.

But it might end up like a bad episode of Shipping Wars.

I lean towards having it delivered, just because at this point in life my time has more value than a road trip for a rig. Even 10 years ago, hell yeah! Follow your heart but plan for your contingencies.

Best wishes for your new baby to make it home safe.

 

[TJ1978]

I had a truck shipped from AZ to VA and it was mostly issue free other than my bed liner disappeared and they lied how my truck was facing in transport. Honestly I'd look into having to shipped.

If you're seasoned enough with these trucks it may be fine but if you'll be relying on forum posts and the replies to help. I'd get it shipped.

 

[Thesiger]

Yeah, I'm all for adventure as a young buck. Like you guys are saying preparation is key. Time to raid dads tool chest!

 

[Thesiger]

@TJ1978 what companies would you recommend for shipping? Having never done something like this, what can you guys tell me that you discovered to save me from a few head aches? ha ha What is the best way for payment? What logistics are involved?

 

[RecklessWOT]

It's a TBI truck, so chances are the thing will be fine once you get some fresh gas in it. I live in NH and I bought my '87 'burb in Colorado basically sight-unseen (I had my old man go pick it up for me). I replaced the smashed out rear glass, drove it around town for a day or two to make sure nothing was crazy wrong with it, then drove the 2100 miles home. I had a few hundred dollars in my pocket, barely enough for gas and some cheap food. Zero left over for repairs. Slept at a rest stop the first night. Got stuck in a blizzard the second night, found a friendly place to crash out luckily, friend of mine I hadn't seen in a long time. I was running on fumes by the time I made it home. Unless the engine or trans goes out, you can make it home with a clunky front end or a bad wheel bearing or sketchy brakes, just drive accordingly... Squares are pretty much bulletproof, and the one thing that plagues all old vehicles that have been sitting is the carb- which your '89 doesn't have! Go for it man, go have an adventure! Best of luck

 

[SirRobyn0]

Since some folks have bought it up. I vote you drive it. Yes, it could go badly. But the worst thing that happens is there is a major failure and you park it somewhere until transport can pick it up or you rent a truck and trailer.

Setting $500 aside for fuel and motels is fine, but I would want access to more, even if it's in the form of a credit card. Around here you'd eat up nearly $350 of that in gas figured at 10 MPG, which you'll likely do a little better and I $5 a gallon. But then I've ha my go arounds with breakdowns out of town so for me I'd want more available. I remember one time while on a camping trip in the Jeep I had the power steering pump go out. So I went to O'riellys lucky they had a pump in stock which was I think $120, and I had a set of tools with me, plus camping tools, but I didn't have a tool to remove and press on the pump pully so I had to buy one which I think was $60, so by the time it was taxed I was at $200. Another time in the motorhome I had a tire blow out, bought a pair of tires which set me back near $400.

 

[squaredeal91]

Try to scrounge up several several feet of fuel hose, a set of return and feed hard line pieces to go into throttle body. I think you can make your own from brake lines and an inline fuel pump incase you need to run out of a 5 gallon can inside the cab or a smaller container under the hood. Don't forget fire a extinguisher or 2. I needed 2 once on a wheeling trip lol. This is what I try to carry now or something like this, it's reusable. havent had to use it for a long time. kinda Like big ray said, Better to have and not need than not have and want. I've had a few major breakdowns happen in bad places but made it home with next to nothing. Every situation is different, just stay cool and ride it out. If it Sounds like a solid rig. I'd go for it!!!

 

[Thesiger]

I feel I'm being tempted!

I see it this way. in four weeks, if this baby is still here, I'm going in. Otherwise, I have a plan B suburban I found closer that would also be an awesome rig. And if both these fail, I think God is telling me to buy an economy car (*Throwing up noises*) So we'll see.

About gas, I'm estimating I can get 13 mpg with the burb (Because I get a combined mpg of 12.1 with my full size very poorly tuned '86) And if I load up on extra gas here at home, it costs 3.40 here, I can save a lot of money for at least part of the tip back. Is this correct thinking?

 

[gmbellew]

I feel I'm being tempted!

I see it this way. in four weeks, if this baby is still here, I'm going in. Otherwise, I have a plan B suburban I found closer that would also be an awesome rig. And if both these fail, I think God is telling me to buy an economy car (*Throwing up noises*) So we'll see.

About gas, I'm estimating I can get 13 mpg with the burb (Because I get a combined mpg of 12.1 with my full size very poorly tuned '86) And if I load up on extra gas here at home, it costs 3.40 here, I can save a lot of money for at least part of the tip back. Is this correct thinking?

my 90 burb, with 3.73 gears, 3in lift, and 33x10.5xr15 BFG AT gets about 13mpg at 73-74mph. if you have no lift and it is in halfway decent mechanical shape, you ought to at least be able to get 13mpg burning down the highway at 70mph.

 

[Turbo4whl]

I drove 450 miles from Pennsylvania to N. Carolina to get my 1998 3500HD wrecker. (Hobby wrecker)

Many stops....for fuel.

 

[SirRobyn0]

I feel I'm being tempted!

I see it this way. in four weeks, if this baby is still here, I'm going in. Otherwise, I have a plan B suburban I found closer that would also be an awesome rig. And if both these fail, I think God is telling me to buy an economy car (*Throwing up noises*) So we'll see.

About gas, I'm estimating I can get 13 mpg with the burb (Because I get a combined mpg of 12.1 with my full size very poorly tuned '86) And if I load up on extra gas here at home, it costs 3.40 here, I can save a lot of money for at least part of the tip back. Is this correct thinking?

I would say yes it is correct thinking. When I threw out numbers I went with the worst case scenario. My C20 with 305 700R4 can do upper 15MPG on the highway empty, but if that suburban your looking at has 4.10's and no over drive it's going to be lower, how much lower we don't know until you start driving it I can't image less than 10, so is why I used that number.

 

[78C10BigTen]

Hey Ayd @AyWoSch Motors this sounds like a .... ROADKILL!!!! LOL

 

[Thesiger]

grew up watching roadkill in the early 2010s. Childhood coming to life baby!

 

[RecklessWOT]

my 90 burb, with 3.73 gears, 3in lift, and 33x10.5xr15 BFG AT gets about 13mpg at 73-74mph. if you have no lift and it is in halfway decent mechanical shape, you ought to at least be able to get 13mpg burning down the highway at 70mph.

my '87 TBI Suburban with 3.73s and a 700R4 got 16mpg on the highway stock (60 seemed to be the sweet spot if you can stomach going so slow). The lift and tires dropped it some, but still got better than any carbed full-size truck I ever had. I also think the 'burb is slightly more aerodynamic than a pickup, despite the same nose something about the way the air flows around the cab makes a difference.