Daily Driving a Square Suburban

[RyanAK]

Hey, gang. Haven't checked in for a while. Life, ya know? But I'm considering going to a square-body Suburban as a daily driver and thought I'd solicit opinions. I've read threads on a bunch of sites, but I've always valued the thoughts that you all put forth. So...

I'm 40.
I live in Pennsylvania.
I'm married to a wonderful, understanding, supportive woman.
We got late-model kiddos. Spencer is 4. Nora is 2 1/2.
I want to make a change in my daily ride and need a sanity check.

Since turning 16, I've had a succession of used GM 4-wheel drive trucks. Started with an '86 S-10 extended cab, then a '91 S-10 Blazer, '97 2-door Tahoe with barn doors (loved that truck, but three transmissions in 18 months...), '99 Tahoe, '00 Yukon, and an '04 Z71 Suburban.

I had the '04 Z71 longer than any other vehicle. Drove it all over the country, including a 6,000 mile round-trip honeymoon to Yellowstone and the West towing a '72 Airstream Argosy with Samantha and Boomer the Wonder Dog. Mechanically that truck never let me down. Since we all like photos...



Actually, neither did the '99 Tahoe or '00 Yukon. Those two and the Z71 Suburban were all eventually traded because they had a pile of miles and the 'creature comforts' started to break. Seats got ratty, plastic cracked, electronic doodads quit working. You know. It was 'time'.

I'm now driving a 2011 Z71 Tahoe and for a number of reasons I'm not satisfied with it. For one, it's not a Suburban. As big as it is, me, two kids, wifey, and a dog fill that thing up in a hurry. Forget about a run to the lumber yard. For another, it's just too.... nice. I bought it with around 50,000 miles on it and it's really clean inside. The leather is gorgeous. I honestly cringe when giving the kids a snack in the back seat, letting the muddy dog jump in, or loading up the gear for a fishing trip. I mean, this is supposed to be a truck, right?

Plus I now have a truck payment for the first time in over 5 years. I don't like it.

Then there are all the little things that have been popping up on this thing. Nothing major, but they're seriously annoying.

For the last 10 months, basically since I made the first payment on the Tahoe, I've been trying to figure a way to get out of it. It's just not the vehicle for me.

So I'm very seriously considering a clean square-body Suburban as my everyday truck. My driving habits include a work week that currently involves a 130 mile one-way interstate drive twice a week to get to and from a project. Then maybe 20-40 miles daily the rest of the week. Most miles are small town and rural highway miles. Occasional interstate trips. I hunt-fish-camp, so we're on two-tracks a bit, but no serious 4-wheeling. And it snows in Pennsylvania. So 4x4 is necessary.

The '11 Tahoe is getting an average 16.5mpg and I get paid mileage for the 260 mile roundtrip to the project for work. So I don't think a change in fuel ecconomy is really going to impact me like it will some guys. I'm already used to thirsty trucks and getting the mileage check definitely helps.

I also own Earl. Some of you may remember Earl. He's my '71 C10 Suburban. This truck brings me a lot of joy and has been a great education in keeping up on these older trucks and what living without all the doodads is like. When I'm driving this truck, the only creature comfort I miss is a decent cupholder. And 4wd. Earl basically sits from November until May and whenever I'm going on unimproved roads.



I love Earl, but I may need to find him a new home to be able to raise funds make any transition to a older Suburban work financially.

Anyway... given the above, does making the switch to something like a '76 - '89 K10 Suburban with well maintained mechanicals and limited body rot make sense? I already know I'm good with the loss of 'features' and I'm prepared for the maintenance. My overall concerns are general reliability of a 35-year-old truck putting on something like 20,000 miles a year, and safety. Remember Spencer and Nora? But honestly, kiddos in the truck will mostly be limited to around our small town and the occasional road trip. But it's still a concern, even with their super-duper-high-end child safety seats.

Thumbs up? Thumbs down? Advice? Options? Thoughts on a non-OD truck for my situation ('76-'85 seems to be the years I'm most drawn to...)? Thanks, fellas!

Ryan
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