C10 vs C20 Suburban.

[Ziegelsteinfaust]

I am looking at a nice C10 Burb to be my driver, and get rid of my 18 Silverado. Since used car prices are high, and I maybe off work for atleast year due to knee issues. I am hoping not, but I rather make a move when financials skew to my favor. If need be that is.

Personally I grew very fond of light duty C20's because of the bigger brakes for driving hard, but honestly this is a Suburban. I won't be doing that, and I need + want a nice comfy highway cruiser. Honestly I can't remember what it was like to drive a C10 anymore, and I have never driven a Suburban older then 2007.

The tires will be roughly 255/60r15's on slot mags or torque thrust wheels, and lowered to fill the wheel wells nicely.

So do you guys who have them feel the brakes are perfectly fine or wish you had more braking power. More then Hawk pads, and rotors can give you let's say.

[kwmech]

Given the weight of the Surburban I wonder why the factory even gave it a 10 designation. The 1/2 tons are ok if you are just driving around, but any towing at all they seem to fall short of stopping for my liking. Then there is the whole 10 bolt rear axle debacle. My current Suburban started life as a 1/2 ton and it is currently going through an upgrade to 8 lug and a full float rear

[Greg58]

I had several K-10 square Suburbans, plus 1 94 1/2 ton in the past. they made me switch to the heavy duties!
I was towing car trailers, and using them for carpentry work trucks. The 10 bolt rearends are weak, the 700 transmissions are weak, the brakes are small.
Switched to 2500 and never looked back, any savings in fuel mileage was eaten up by more upkeep and repairs.
If I was looking to go older, I would find a clean 2500, 99-06, good brakes, tough transmission, bulletproof engines.
Just my 2 cents, Greg

[Factory Guy]

I know on my 3/4 ton truck the brakes are massive and I have never felt uncomfortable trying to to stop a heavy load with that truck. If you are towing or hauling the 3/4 to brakes (IMO) are a must have. I know in the after market you can get upgraded brakes, however that being said the 3/4 ton disc front rear drum do really well in stock form.

[Ziegelsteinfaust]

I have spent about 30 minutes looking up tow ratings, and can only find C20 Suburban ratings. Which is 7500 I think as I already forgot. Luckily I don't tow to much, but I do have to do it once in awhile.

So it must be really low. Off chance does anyone know the C10 Suburban tow capacity?

If I buy one I will shoot for a 3/4 ton, and or convert a 1/2 ton if need be.

[kwmech]

Still have the owners manual for my 91. Nothing really that gives the info directly. Manual says to go off the 'frame mounted' hitch specs. 4000# dead weight with 400# tongue and up to 9500# with weight distribution at 1000# tongue. My 'burb was originally a 10 series 4x4. Bear in mind this was with a 10 bolt rear 3.73s with a gov-loc and a 700r4. Hope this helps

[Ziegelsteinfaust]

Not really, but it seems to tell me if I load correctly I can tow what I usually tow. Which is a car on a trailer for about 6000 pounds minimum, and 7500 max. The trailer I use has the load distribution, and trailer brakes.

Mind you I only tow a handful times a year, and pretty much just around town. Worst case towing is picking up one of my dads friends projects, but if I don't do those its no big deal. I did them for a free weekend road trip, and a few bucks in my pocket.

I am not talking about a travel trailer either since I don't ever see myself buying one. Unless I was retired, and lived in it cruising the country.

[Greg58]

Originally Posted by Ziegelsteinfaust

I have spent about 30 minutes looking up tow ratings, and can only find C20 Suburban ratings. Which is 7500 I think as I already forgot. Luckily I don't tow to much, but I do have to do it once in awhile.

So it must be really low. Off chance does anyone know the C10 Suburban tow capacity?

If I buy one I will shoot for a 3/4 ton, and or convert a 1/2 ton if need be.

3/4 ton Subs are out there, I'll bet less than 10% of what is available. They do bring a little more $$ than 1/2 tons.
My 87 Sub 2500 came out of New Mexico and TX. Belonged to a drag racer that pulled race cars around the SW.
454 and t-400, it loves gas but sure can pull!
Greg

[Ziegelsteinfaust]

In my area most 3/4 tons seem to be 4x4 or diesel.

I need a 2wd so I can lower it so my mom can get in. She is short, and 80.

Then diesels are expensive or trashed typically.

Luckily Suburbans use the same frames so a conversion would be easy enough, and have the strength.

[1976gmc20]

Step stool ?????

[Ziegelsteinfaust]

Originally Posted by 1976gmc20

Step stool ?????

I have shown her a guy who makes his mother do that to get into his lifted 4x4 truck. It looked like a 4 foot ladder.

She said no. The your written out of the will type of no.

So I will not tempt it. As she hated my silverado enough before I lowered it 2/4, and that was 2 years ago. I had toyed with the idea of air bagging the truck, but decided against it for various reasons. Recently she mentioned I should do it for her since her legs are getting weaker.

[LT7A]

Sounds like a cool plan, and good job getting out in front of your financial expectations. I grew up riding around in half ton suburbans and we towed an airstream, but I don't have any real way to judge since I was too young to drive. I have a trailering special c20 suburban myself. Bought as a parts rig with a 454, th400, 14 bolt. But ended up with a travel trailer that wants to be pulled by this thing, haha. Another case of a parts truck turning into a project for me. Anyway, I hope you'll do a build thread because I would like to follow along.

[GRADYS Performance]

For what you want to do buy a nice C10 Suburban and enjoy the ride when you have a passenger. I have a 1985 C20 Suburbans Silverado, For towing it is great but not needed for a daily driver. You have brakes on your trailer for that load when you tow the 7500#. Just make sure they work properly.

[THI]

If you are going to use it like a car, the C10 will be fine. If you use it like a truck, go with a C20. I currently have two 1978 trucks, a C20 Camper Special (Chevy) with the one-ton springs and brakes - the longer 56" rear spring makes it ride decently even though the springs are rated at 3,500# each. I also have a 1978 GMC K25 with the 52" rear spring rated at 2,700# each and it rides stiffer then the heavier longer spring on the Camper Specials. I have owned three square body Suburbans, a '79 C20 Trailering Special, '88 K20 and a '90 C1500 - they all had 56" rear springs and rode nicely, but springs used on the 3/4-tons were much better when loaded or a trailer hooked up.

[kipps]

Originally Posted by Ziegelsteinfaust

Luckily Suburbans use the same frames so a conversion would be easy enough, and have the strength.

It should be easy enough to find someone who'd trade front axle components with you. I know of two guys here in Virginia who'd be quite happy to put a k20 front end under their c20's.

[Corts60]

FYI, a lot of C10 trucks and burbs were ordered with the "Trailering special" package which usually gave it the bigger brakes and transmission cooler from the factory. My 78 C10 had the big brakes and my 86 c10 burb also has the bigger brakes installed. Although I never pull anything over 2000 lbs, I have had no issues with stopping.

[Palf70Step]

On a side note as a friend of mine found out, don't exceed the vehicles stated loadi/towing capacity. Even if you upgrade stuff, the sticker on the vehicle is what the police use. Its a pretty healthy ticket for overloading as my friend found out. (C10 burb pulling another his off road racing setup.

[kipps]

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

On a side note as a friend of mine found out, don't exceed the vehicles stated loadi/towing capacity. Even if you upgrade stuff, the sticker on the vehicle is what the police use. Its a pretty healthy ticket for overloading as my friend found out. (C10 burb pulling another his off road racing setup.

What numbers would law enforcement go by? I'm working with the truck in my signature, which has a 8600 gvwr. As far as I know, that number is only referring to the truck itself, and not the trailer. The combined weight is not written anywhere on the truck. Does a police officer go searching for 35 year old literature to find trailer ratings for a given truck?

Edit to add: I can't even find the trailer ratings for these trucks. Are they published anywhere?

[1976gmc20]

They didn't specify CGVWR back in those days.

Trailer ratings were only in the brochures and were very conservative, IMO. I think my 1973 K20 was only rated for about 4K# trailer weight for some reason (?). I had combined weight of about 14K# all the way to Alaska and it wasn't any problem except I should have had 10 ply tires.

A C20 will always be better than a C10 for towing but if you lower it you will have negated any factory tow ratings to begin with

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by 1976gmc20

They didn't specify CGVWR back in those days.

Trailer ratings were only in the brochures and were very conservative, IMO. I think my 1973 K20 was only rated for about 4K# trailer weight for some reason (?). I had combined weight of about 14K# all the way to Alaska and it wasn't any problem except I should have had 10 ply tires.

A C20 will always be better than a C10 for towing but if you lower it you will have negated any factory tow ratings to begin with

It will depend on how it's lowered.

[1976gmc20]

Originally Posted by SCOTI

It will depend on how it's lowered.

GM won't care after all these years, but any modifications like that would void the warranty or any sort of capacity ratings.

No clue what your glorious boys and girls of the CHP would say about it. Or your insurance company for that matter.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by 1976gmc20

GM won't care after all these years, but any modifications like that would void the warranty or any sort of capacity ratings.

No clue what your glorious boys and girls of the CHP would say about it. Or your insurance company for that matter.

I didn't see anywhere warranty was mentioned as a concern, only that of capacity. My point was a truck can be lowered w/o impacting the parts that were installed for said capacity.

[1976gmc20]

Originally Posted by SCOTI

I didn't see anywhere warranty was mentioned as a concern, only that of capacity. My point was a truck can be lowered w/o impacting the parts that were installed for said capacity.

Well, earlier there was some mention of a C10 not technically being rated for some of the loads that Z might tow, and law enforcement getting involved in that. So it's conceivable that some LEO might not think a modified vehicle is fit for towing some loads, despite the owner's assurance that it was all done right.

In MT you can get away with most anything as long as it's not grossly unreasonable, but I dunno about Commiefornia ....

[Nodnarb76]

I have an 87 2wd 3/4 ton burb. One thing I have found out is sometimes it is more difficult finding aftermarket parts for it. I have been thinking of lowering it for a few years now. I can find front coils, and a couple of places have lower spindles. I have yet to find someone who makes a C notch kit for a 3/4 ton burb.

[kipps]

Originally Posted by Nodnarb76

I have an 87 2wd 3/4 ton burb. One thing I have found out is sometimes it is more difficult finding aftermarket parts for it. I have been thinking of lowering it for a few years now. I can find front coils, and a couple of places have lower spindles. I have yet to find someone who makes a C notch kit for a 3/4 ton burb.

The pickup 1/2-ton and 3/4-ton frames are the same, except for the thickness of the metal. Supposedly the same C-notch components would work equally well for either one, unless the metal thickness throws the measurements off.

I don't know if this 1/2 to 3/4 similarity applies to the Suburbans or not.