Test drive Chevrolet Suburban 1999 - 2006 SUV

A thunderstorm of a gas station

Chevrolet Suburban: More than just an SUV car are different. There are small, medium and large. The Chevrolet Suburban stands apart from all of them. It is not just big - it is huge. Now in the secondary market you can find two generations Chevrolet Suburban, because the now produced car began to be done at the very end of 1999. However, much more often the previous version of the Suburban of the 1992 sample appears in the announcements of sale.
 
Before buying a Chevrolet Suburban, you should think tightly, is it really needed by a car of such dimensions? Still, its length is as much as 5575 mm. In Russia, Mercedes S-class and BMW 7th series have always been considered one of the largest and most prestigious cars. So, Suburban is longer more than half a meter! And there is nothing surprising that in the USA Suburban is classified by the category of trucks. And under Russian legislation, some versions of Suburban, in theory, cannot be controlled with category B rights, because the allowed mass Suburban (more precisely, its coolest versions) may exceed 3500 kg! Perhaps that is why some owners use their Suburban instead of a gazelle. But if at least once to seriously overload the car, you can subsequently encounter the need for a very expensive suspension repair. So it is better to treat Suburban precisely as a very large, but still light car.
 
Even on old cars, all kinds of electric drives that facilitate the life of the driver and passengers should work absolutely normal. And if necessary, the repair will not be difficult (the Suburban electrician is not overloaded with modern belldings and extremely complex computers), despite the fact that the prices for spare parts are quite affordable. True, often the details have to be ordered and wait 2-4 weeks. Although during operation, Suburban should still be monitored - if something is injected, even a fire can happen.
 
To date, many first -generation Suburban have some flaws on the cabin, but there is nothing to be done here - years. So refusing to buy a car you attracted only because he has a little torn leather driver's seat is not worth it. However, you need to use this fact to reduce the price, because a good used chair will cost $ 300, or even more. But non -working air conditioners (two of them in Suburban) should alert. Perhaps you just need to refuel the system for $ 50, but it is possible that you will have to change the compressor, tubes, radiator and other expensive things. And sometimes Suburban owners are forced to lay out more than $ 1000 for putting a conde (and this is taking into account the use of some used details).
 
The Chevrolet Suburban body is unanimously recognized as very strong (all body elements, with the exception of the roof, have double galvanizing). By the way, the basis of this SUV is a powerful frame, which seems to be able to serve even to the second coming. But it is still better not to conduct experiments on the body fortress on your own car and paint over all kinds of chips, which will appear sooner or later. Unfortunately, the paint on this American is not the strongest.
 
 
Is it enough to feed?
 
In the vast majority of cases, the V8 gasoline engines were installed on the giant Chevrolet Suburban 1992-1999. But sometimes you can find cars with a diesel engine. Moreover, two modifications. Until 1995, it was a Caterpillar engine with a capacity of 130 hp with a capacity of 130 hp, and after 1994 a turbocharged unit with a capacity of 182 hp, created by General Motors engineers, appeared. The latter differs not only in power, but also by much more moodiness. Masters do not especially recommend buying such cars.
 
Gasoline engines are also two types. Most often, a 5.7 liter motor is found. The Chevrolet Suburban made in the first half of the 90s, this power unit with central injection gives out 210 horses. But since 1996, an engine with a modern multi -point injection has appeared, so the power immediately increased to 254 hp. Probably, no one will argue that the volume of 5.7 liters is a lot. But GM believed that for the world's largest SUV this engine is not enough. And so the Chevrolet Suburban installed just a giant engine with a volume of 7.4 liters! He gave out 290 hp. And he had a torque of 556 Nm. There are few cars with such a power unit in Russia, but if you want to find the royal Suburban. But first, you should think about whether it makes sense to buy a car with just such an engine? The fact is that the 5.7-liter motor is enough for a dynamic driving, because Suburban 5.7 is able to accelerate to 170 km/h, and the acceleration time to 100 km/h is comparable to many cars. In addition, some details of the chassis of the SUV with a 7.4 liter engine are very different from more common versions with smaller engines. They are more expensive, and it is more difficult to find them.
 
Now let's talk about the largest and, perhaps, the main drawback of this car is fuel consumption. Chevrolet Suburban absorbs gasoline in completely unthinkable quantities - in the city cycle it easily eats 25-30 liters per hundred! And if you constantly start from traffic lights, then up to 40 l! The owners of the Chevrolet Suburban are doing everything possible to somehow reduce fuel costs. For example, they constantly check the pressure in the tires. It turns out that the slightest deviation from the norm adds to the consumption of 0.5-2 liters of fuel! It is also necessary to remember that the spark plugs should always be in perfect order - on our gasoline they can become unusable after 10 thousand km. And when the consumption grows to 40-50 liters, here you already need to check sensors, nozzles, etc., by the way, when operating Suburban, you need to try to ride a empty tank less-in this case, a gasoline pump is more often broken (its price is $ 200-250).
 
V8 gasoline engines are very reliable. With proper care, they are able to serve, it seems, forever. Motor service is quite simple - only every 5-7 thousand km to change the oil, as well as an air filter. In addition, it is necessary to clean the radiator annually, otherwise the engine can boil. Sometimes, of course, the V8 requires repair. Most often, this is either the need to replace oil grinding caps ($ 200 with work), or installing a new crankshaft insert ($ 150-330 with work). From time to time, on some machines, you still need to change the roller of the timing chain worth $ 30-50 (the chain itself serves unlimitedly long). However, we must not forget that despite the huge resource of V8 engines, to this moment, some of them are already in a very worn state, and the overhaul of the unit with a volume of 5.7 liters (not to mention 7.4 liters) costs several thousand dollars.
 
Requires calm
 
In the first two years of release, Chevrolet Suburban was equipped with a full -wheel drive system, where the front axle was connected using a special lever on the floor. Not too convenient, but there are no complaints about the reliability of such a scheme. After 1993, buttons began to be installed on the cars, when the front axis or low gear comes into action. The reliability of the button system also does not cause complaints, although occasionally it begins to fool (this is due to breakdown of an electrical mechanism, which costs $ 300-500).
 
When operating Chevrolet Suburban with a similar drive system, the main thing is to ensure that only the rear wheels rotate when moving along dry asphalt. Otherwise, in a couple of years, a cross -wheel drive is easy to ditch the transmission - the repair will cost from $ 500 to $ 2000, depending on the breakdown. Subject to the elementary rules of use, Suburban owners usually encounter only the need to replace the solenoid connecting the front axle, and the crosses of the cardan shaft. In the first case, the costs will be about $ 120, and in the second - $ 80. Sometimes gear seals or handouts flow ($ 30-40).
 
But on the Chevrolet Suburban, made at the very end of the 90s, there is already a modern Auto Trac transmission. After pressing the Auto 4WD button, the front wheels are connected automatically when slipping. This is very convenient, because thanks to Auto Trac you can not think about how many wheels are spinning now and on which coating the car is located. By the way, it should be noted that there are other cars where you also do not need to reflect on the transmission modes - Chevrolet in small quantities also produced the rear -wheel drive options for Suburban.
 
The automatic Chevrolet Suburban gearbox needs only one thing - fresh oil, which is better to pour every 20-25 thousand km. Although not. In addition to timely maintenance, the machine also requires a calm driving style. If you prove to all others that you are not just a very large, but also a fast car, then the box is still able to fail. But in most cases, the repair of the CEP CHEVROLET Suburban is not too expensive - $ 500-800. By the way, a Suburban machine with a 7.4 liter engine is more tenacious (there is a slightly different box there).
 
The calm and reasonable driver has a Chevrolet Suburban suspension very rarely when it requires repair. We just need to not forget on each (and recall, it is necessary to pass every 5-7 thousand km) to syringe some details in the chassis ($ 15-20). In this case, the main details of the chassis and steering will work without problems for 100 thousand km or more. Although if necessary, their repair will not be too expensive. For example, the ball support in the Chevrolet Suburban can be changed separately, and not with the lever (the first part costs $ 50-70, and the second - $ 400). Well, the rear spring suspension when driving on a more or less good coating serves unlimitedly long. True, grief driver periodically contact the services, who managed to break the springs (they are changed in pairs, which costs $ 700-1000).
 
But you should not wait for anything good from the shagged hub bearings - you will have to buy the entire hub assembly, and this is almost $ 300 for each.
 
The brakes of the large and heavy Chevrolet Suburban need to pay increased attention (the drives are in front, and the drums are behind). Masters advise them not to save and buy only expensive and good pads. Experience shows that the pads are best changed even before the moment they reach the condition. Thus, you can significantly extend the resource of fairly expensive discs (usually nothing happens to drums). And you can give another advice - when replacing the pads, the first 200-300 km should be avoided by sharp braking, giving the blocks to be lost. Otherwise, you can cheat discs.
 
Text: Denis Smolyanov
 

Source: Mkobil magazine [20.06.2005]