#32: The Venerable Suburban Plus Coolant Lessons and a Weird Hatchback

Almost like it's for the fifth generation. It almost looks it looks to my eye that it could be just a Chevy pick up with a pick up

Or like a cap on it. Whereas. Oh, yeah, that's I mean, that's the great thing. I'm literally what is a suburb?

Yeah, it's they've just literally our trucks with caps on them. Welcome back

Life plus cars community a lot of fun things to talk about and I'm excited to get into it here today with you, Brendan

So

How are you sir? Thanks for asking that not you know wintertime not a ton going on, right?

Right. I think the most reason thing I'm working on is I bought a used plow

for my 22 Silverado

So like my truck when I bought it

I had put on it the push plates and all the wiring for a plow

But just never got a plow because they're expensive friend of the family had one that they're selling

But it didn't need a little bit of work

So I've been putting like new cutting bar edge on it and it's one of the ones that has like extendable wings

So just fixing up little things changing the fluid. I

Didn't plow with it once and yeah, it works great. So I'm very pleased about that. Yes

Excellent. I knew you were on the hunt for one for a little while there. So yeah

Yeah, and then right up your alley and the other thing I've got is up my buddy

Tyler his 66 Mustang is in the garage and we've been working on that on and off

You know through an amateur restoration just doing little stuff gas tank fuel lines brake lines

Some interior stuff gonna put a new fender on it. Oh, well, that's fun. Yeah, so it's just chipping away

I don't hear this winter and yeah

Mm-hmm. Yeah, I said how how many how often you can have a you know big heated garage

You know a buddy of yours that you can put this in you might as well take advantage. That's right smart man

Yeah, but yeah, that's that's what's going on over here. What about with you? Yeah, so

My all right. I mean all track right the all track that you're gonna buy. Yeah, so you can get a wrangler. Yeah

Always scheming always scheming. Yeah, you're yeah, you're all track. Yeah

It's it's great. I mean, yeah, I mean right now it's in full winter mode has the ski box on the top and

winter tires and wheels

continental

Viking like winter tires and they are

Amazing tires. I have to say like I really like them. I really like them

I I ended up going with them because I was in a bit of a pinch last

Last year when one of my old haka poetas blew out and they didn't have the haka poetas in stock and then continental fit because it's a

The factory 17 inch wheels on the all track are of odd size

So there aren't many

Tires that fit and so went with these continentals and they are excellent tires. They're actually a lot quieter than the haka poetas

Oh, good. Well, are they better road? I don't stud it or no. No, they're uh, studless. Oh good. Yeah

Yeah, I'm a big fan

No, I had when I bought the gti years ago

It came with a set of studded winter haka poetas and I mean they'll grip like nothing else

But they are so loud any other time of the year or like even in the winter even on any kind of pavement hot or cold

They're just so loud. That's just it. I mean really the reality is right

Like the majority of the time you're driving on dry pavement in the winter or wet like the times you actually drive in a snowstorm is

Pretty minimal if you really think about it, right?

Yeah, unless you are on a vermont

Back road

Every day. Oh, that's really the only case. I think you're driving for studded tires

Oh, yeah, your driveway is just straight up. Yeah. Yeah

So, yeah, love the continental tires. So a big fan. I'm not sponsored just a

Just a nice surprise because I'd never had continentals before so nice definitely a fan and

The I did stop in and paid a visit to the Mustang. I hadn't been back to the garage where I keep it for storage

So everything seems to be all good

Everything's I mean interior is dry. No

No, uh, no mice activity none of that. So that's good. The lower radiator radiator hose has a bit of a

Slow drip, which is why it was the coolant system was on my mind

Have you tried tightening up the hose clamp at all?

That's a good suggestion. Yeah, I'll follow up with that. I didn't do anything with it because I had to run

So that's good. That's a good tip. Um, yeah

Yeah, just put a piece of cardboard under it a little drain pan in the meantime and that's you'll be fine

That's right. That was under there. Anyway, so yeah, otherwise it's just continuing in

hibernation

Nice to see the car. It's nice nice to have it tucked away in a nice heated place. That's right

So that's the latest and greatest there. I mean, as you said winter is a quiet time for cars and car things. So just

just taking care of them and

Looking forward to summer driving

Oh, absolutely

Absolutely. Yep. Yeah, I've got the same thing all the ones in the the building

I just go out every once in a while and just make sure batteries are charged and stuff make sure it's still warm in there

But yeah, we'll just count down the days to spring. Yeah

Hey, let's jump right into some car tech. What do you say car tech life plus car tech

Right, so I mean, yeah, and you mentioned the cooling system on your Mustang something of interest to you

So maybe that's what we talk about. We talk about the cooling system in a car if you could

Yeah, I mean it's in part because I appear to have a small leak

But I just I got thinking about it. I mean as we've talked about in other episodes

I mean, I love cars. They've been I've been all about them my whole life

One thing I'm still learning about just how these cars work canyx of it the systems

There's so much there and I just love hearing from your perspective Brendan about these things that I think other people can learn about too

I mean Rango our episode where we got into fluids and all the different types we did touch upon

coolant and

Just how vital that system is and also how it's overlooked. So yeah, well said. You're absolutely right

It is it's the it's the most neglected and one of the most important fluids in a car

I mean, it's what keeps your car running in a proper sense, right?

Like it right from overheating it keeps your oil from getting too hot provides heat for the interior of your car

And so I mean let's let's start with the basics

So the breakdown is the coolant the primary parts of a cooling system are you've got a radiator

You have a water pump. You've got your engine block

Obviously and all the coolant passages within it and then you've got your heater core, which is in the cab and

All that works together. So so passages run all in around the combustion

Chambers in your motor and your block and when the you know pistons fire from

The car running it heats up that metal and the way that they're designed to

Draw the heat out of it. So your car doesn't just you know

Sees from too much heat right is it water runs through it or your coolant your antifreeze and then

It's circulated through the system by your water pump your water pump

Has a thermostat that is also in it that keeps your car operating at an optimal temperature, right?

So if you look at a water pump on a car like on your all-track or my truck

You'll see that it has like the radiator tubes that go to and from the radiator

There's one on the top and one on the bottom

But you also see other tubes that come off the water pump that go towards your firewall

And that's for your heater core the whole idea of a thermostat in this setup, right?

Is as your car is cold and you're starting it and it's warming up

It pumps the warming up coolant to the heater core first so you can get heat in your cab, right?

Yeah, right. Yeah as your vehicle reaches its optimal temperature, which I mean they vary depending on the car

But usually it's somewhere in 180 to 210 degrees Fahrenheit is most thermostats

That's when they start to open and when they open that allows that big radiator hose tube to go from the water pump

To the radiator to circulate coolant through the radiator

And keep your car running at an optimal temperature

And that thermostat is constantly opening and closing because it goes through the radiator cools down

And then it closes a bit and then it gets too hot again. It opens up again

So there's there's many components in there that can fail and that's why I say it's so neglected

You mentioned your you know hose connections leaking one sign that your cooling system does need some type of help

Or maybe service is your hoses you'll see they might actually get like spongy or they might get like really really hard

Or there's leaks like you're seeing. Oh, yeah

And that could be a sign that maybe the hose actually needs to be replaced

But in your scenario even with the Mustang or how much you drive it like I would obviously first check and see

Maybe you just need to tighten up the hose a little bit

And that might take care of it, but it might need a new hose

You just you you don't know you'd know by if it's either really soft and squishy

Or if it's the hose itself as hard as a rock, then you'd know like, okay, I should probably change that got it. Yeah

But yeah, uh the cooling system. Yeah, and then you get into like yeah the water pump that has a

It's usually driven by your serpentine belt on most cars

Some cars that's driven by timing belt right like inside where the timing belt circulates through with your through with the

Cam shafts the crankshaft and all that usually the water pumps in there too

But that's a wear item a water pump is something that has a bearing inside it

And it's got these little propellers some are plastic some are metal

Those can go bad the gaskets can go bad like this 2010 Honda

I just did the timing belt on the water pump gasket actually failed

And just there's cooling all over the inside of there the timing belt was so that was a really good thing to replace

So that can go bad and then radiators can get punctured right or they can get clogged

There's there's so many different things but the overall theme or story or recommendation is

You know your cooling system keeping that up to optimal snuff is really just change your cooling out and then

I would say with like a thermostat or hoses somewhere around that 100,000 mile marker

Or sooner if you want to but changing your thermostat keeping an eye on all that stuff

Will make sure that your car is at the optimal temperature for as long as it can be trying to think anything else

If your heater core, you know, which is the the device that's it's like a mini radiator that works in reverse

Right inside the cap to provide each for you. Yep when those when those go bad those are

No fun to fix those because you got to get under the dash. I've done a few of those

Thankfully I had that replaced on the Mustang and you actually can access it right under the dash didn't have to pull anything out

So thankful that was a simple job

I remember picking it up from the garage and then seeing the green coolant in the passenger footwell and saying, huh, okay

Something's going on there. So yes, turned out to be a wiki. Yep heater core

Yeah, because you'll know like a good warning sign that your heater core in your vehicle starting to go is

Your windows will fog up when you have the heat on and or you will obviously smell like kind of that sweet smell

Because antifreeze has the glycol in it. So it's got a little bit of sweetness smell to it. So

Oh, it's good to know. Yeah cars

I mean if there's anything that I can tell the listener about a cooling system on a car is you do not

Want your car to overheat that can ruin your engine if you are say you're driving down the interstate and you see your temperature

Gauge is starting to spike up to territories. You've never seen it pull over and shut the car off

Don't drive it to the point where there's steam just billowing out of underneath your hood because you've done more damage than you can imagine

So with the steam coming off in that scenario, is that like actually like the coolant boiling off at that point? It's so hot

Correct. Yes. So all they're all designed that they have a pressure

You have a radiator cap on top of your radiator that has a pressure

That's designed to keep your cooling system boiling point at its highest point

But if you I mean it's possible to get it hotter than that and if it will it will boil over

And eventually something will break whether it's a radiator hose or the plastic melts on your radiator or whatever it is

And it will spray all over the engine compartment or it will just boil off and never

Open a hot radiator cap wait for it to cool down and never work on a cooling system. That's hot that you'll just you'll scald yourself

Yeah, gotta be very careful. Yeah. Yes. Yeah

I mean, this is all really helpful for me and I hope the listener as well just these common

Systems that are just integral to your car's engine its performance

Just day to day driving and it's interesting hearing the many components

I think coolant and then realize oh, there are so many different pieces to this

This the thermostat the water pump the radiator the heater core all the hoses and with um

With the water pump. So is that it's the is it in name only because there is I mean

We're talking about antifreeze and coolant, but I mean it has a water content, right?

Or like I'm curious where like it's water pump comes from

Yeah, so in cold climates, right or extremely hot climates you do like a 50 50 mix of

Antifreeze and then like fresh and drinkable water or distilled water

And that gives you a very good protection for freezing or boiling over right you can

Just run water in it if you want to you can but then you lose that protection for

The really cold or the really hot antifreeze with its properties and additives is designed to give you that extra protection

That's why it's uh, you you put them in like new england where we are like you have to and I actually have a little tester that

I test the cars and make sure that it's a good

Concentration of antifreeze before winter and before summer. So we have a little more extra boil over protection or really good freezing protection

I know uh on the Mustang Dave told me that he had uh went from a two core radiator to a three core

Radiator and I'm curious if you could talk a little bit about that and just the difference between them and it just improved

Is it improved cooling?

As a result of having that beefier radiator as compared to what would have been like the factory

Factory option with the with the engine with uh, I not quite sure on the ford

It could be that he just put in like a heavy-duty capacity like radiator that would have come to the car head factory ac

Mm-hmm

But the standard one would be a two core what the core is the core is basically how much surface area there is

Of coolant passing through the radiator that allows like when air is going through it right to to cool down

So two core picture that there's basically just like two lines running through it

And that's filled with coolant and it's just cooling that down

So the more rows the the more efficiently it can cool right that makes sense. Yeah

Yeah, well, I'm yeah, I appreciate the the walkthrough since I've looked at that and I remember him mentioning that when he was telling me about the

modifications he did including that upgraded radiator, so

Yeah, it just all it does is it just increases the the thickness of the radiator

Because like when you look at

The front of a radiator, right and you see all those little fins that go like you know zigzag like you know across when it refers to rows

It's talking about those right so one core is just one of those

Two core is two of those stacked on top of each other, right?

And then three is three rows so on and so forth

It just and like I said, it just means better cooling because you're putting more fluid through where this air is drying through

Either from your radiator fan or from driving which I mean it has added to

Chargability. Oh, yeah. I well, I mean I did the same thing on my 66 gto is I took out the two core

That it came with because when we got it out of storage, right?

It was the the bottom of it had rotted out

So it was junk anyway, and I put in a radiator that was for a car with air conditioning

Yeah, like that one didn't have it

But I put in one for air conditioning and it had one more row and it cools way better

Than a two core one wood

So it's just a good simple upgrade, especially for an older car that's notorious for running hot anyway

I appreciate the the walkthrough and it's yeah, it's just it's helping me to get to know my car

Just a little bit better each time. So

Appreciate the know how they're brendan. Oh, yeah

It's important especially on the classics to you know, make sure that your

Gages work and then just to keep an eye on them, you know, if they start acting funky or whatever

Then you just keep a mental note of that

I mean like I've installed in some of the older cars like actual

Aftermarket gauges that give you actual temperature readouts like the 66 gto just has a dummy light

That if it gets above a certain temperature, it'll just turn on a light and tell you

I'm like, yeah, it's that's not a good idea. Right. I'd like to see what the actual temperature is

Give us a little bit more data. Oh, yeah

light

So, yeah cooling system that there's a lot pieces there

Yeah, and your radiator fan or you might have a fan clot tree might have an electric fan

I mean, there's so many different pieces to it. All the cars are different

And then in terms of the just to say this the in terms of the fluid or radiator coolant

Antifreeze whatever you put in it that would be in your owner's manual

So someone wants to see that so I mean like all the old cars like you and me and with the Mustang gto

I just put in like typical green coolant and you're changing it every two or three years

But some cars like gm or Honda Volvo they have blue coolants or orange coolants or purple or

Whatever and you can change them every five or ten years. So it's uh, just put in it. What's recommended, right?

But do be cognizant of how long it's been in there. Yeah coming full circle from our conversation about fluids as a whole

Yeah last episode. Yep. Like plus car tech talking about cooling systems

Responsible for keeping us warm on those chilly days. That's right. Yeah, I think a lot of people if you were to ask them

They would not know that oh coolant. What do you mean? It heats heats my car. In fact, it does. Oh, yeah

Yep

Here we like to pick a theme whether that be a car or a car culture topic whatever it might be

We talked all about the Jeep Wrangler, which is one of my favorites

And this week I thought it'd be fun for Brenda to take take the lead with one of your faves. So

Well, I'm pretty excited

And I might even start tearing up a little bit

What we're talking about

Chevrolet

Suburbans as any other listener would know I am a big fan of the old Tahoe Suburbans

Yukon's Yukon excels. They are some of the best vehicles out there on the road

And I'm very thrilled to be talking about them. I didn't realize

Until recently that suburban is one of the oldest car names in the country

Same. Yeah, that's amazing. So it started in basically 33 34

1934 was pretty much the first suburban

They wanted to have like a basically a truck, but they wanted the whole people and stuff

So they had like an eight-seater what they called like I think a carry-all or something like it was

Yeah, it was the suburban carry-all that was what it was known as when it first began there in the 30s

Yep, amazing. And it was uh

instant hit

Right and it just quickly developed from there as you went through the 30s into the 40s

And it always was based on

A truck design so it mimicked the Chevrolet truck designs through all of the eras

You know 47 to 54

They had that beautiful kind of rounded fender rounded top look came with all these different engine options

You know, they had their

Stove bolt in line six and they had

Inual transmissions and oh, it's just they're beautiful rigs. I I love the looks of the old ones

I mean Ian and I obviously grew up in the

You know the 90s, so we're probably partial to the

You know 80s 90s 2000s and beyond suburbans

But we always like to talk about with these like what is your favorite Ian of the old ones

So if you could pick from like, but I don't know just the old ones the old ones. What's your favorite? Yeah, oh my gosh

I mean, it's

They're just there's so many as as you can tell I'm having a hard time

Picking that one. Um, that's what you would probably be. Oh, I would I would say for me. It's probably

I really like the look of like the 55 to 66 generation

For like the old old ones. Yes. Yeah that look like it just looks very much, you know

Utilitarian just you know solid built vehicle. Yeah, I I really like that one

The case for both like the 55 to 59 fourth generation

I'm looking at a kind of visual history here of it. And then the fifth generation was 1960 to 66

Yes

And yeah, I'm a fan of that fourth generation for sure

I I never really liked the fifth generation with that flat nose

That kind of had that like weird looking

Flat front with like the blinkers and stuff up high right and yeah

I'm looking at it that almost like for the fifth generation

It almost looked it looks to my eye that it could be just a Chevy pickup

Would they pick up or like a cap on it whereas? Oh, yeah, that's I mean, that's the great thing about literally

What is this?

Yeah, it's they've just literally are trucks with caps on them. Yeah, I do

I think I'm with you on the fifth generation there just that it it has that signature suburban look

and

I do have to point out I'm looking at this website that has

History of all of them. I'm looking at a picture of the third generation, which is 47 to 55

And apparently this generation suburban was the inspiration for the HHR

With that which was a bit of a monstrosity, but the actual suburban itself from the 40s and 50s looks quite good

But I didn't I didn't know that

Not the travesty that is known as the HHR. Yeah, right. Yeah, so that's just funny how I would not have even placed it

But I totally see it now

I think I'm with you. I'm with you on the fourth generation that yeah that that looks that's a great truck

Oh, yeah, I mean that like as you go through the years with them too like I mean they were just

Instant hits, right? They're family haulers. They were used for everything. I mean police livery taxi use

I mean you name it. They were just

massive

massive success story with the suburban

And once we finally got into like, you know the late 60s, right with that that styling then you started to see like

Different bigger engine options

You finally got the five door suburban because I mean that's right the listener needs to like understand like it wasn't until like

I think it was the late 50s that you could actually get more than two doors on them

They were always just like two door and then just rows of seats behind the front two doors

And finally they introduced a third door and then like oh, obviously the back hatch opened up

But then it wasn't until the mid 60s late 60s that you got the four doors and then the rear hatch or barn doors that swung open

That's right. Yeah, I think that that sixth generation is my other favorite early. I mean

Look, it's when the suburban became its its own

Identifiable truck outside of the pickups that they're very as you said five doors the back hatch barn doors

It's it's oh, it's like much more suv looking now by the time it gets to the sixth generation

Yes, absolutely

And they really started to fit more of like a niche at that point, right?

Like they were like, all right, like they've they've proven that they're

Reliable that people use them for all these different things, but now we're gonna make it really about

Comfortability and people hauling. Yeah, we get past we get past

1972 you know in that era of GM truck and we get into the seventh generation

And that's the longest production that suburban's ever seen 1973 to 1991

Geez, it's almost 20 years of producing the same style vehicle. I mean that just proves it

That's right. How successful that design was and those I mean, I think those are some of the best-looking ones

Oh my gosh. I'm such I'm such a fan of the square body Chevy. Just pick a

Blazer suburban. I just love square body Chevy's they

Absolutely. Oh my gosh, some of my favorite vehicles. Yep. Now that my brothers get a 77 GMC. I want a 77 suburban

Oh, that would be a great get. Yes. Yes. So that's uh, that's when we really started to see

Uh

Chevy and suburban start to really kind of market towards

Every type of use right like they were really marketing heavy to like families like pull your camper pull a boat

Throw the family in it, you know head across country. I mean they were they had them in

Half ton models. They had them in three quarter ton models, which is the greatest thing in the world

And they had all these engine options when you get the inline six you could get a 307 350

They had the 305

They had the 400 cubic inch and then they even had the 454

Yeah, you should have a big block just it's amazing. It was just like the sky's the limit

I would love to go back in time

Into like the late 70s and going in order one just check all the boxes

Right, and then they had uh, they're coming out with like full-time four-wheel drive and they had

uh changed up the suspension system on them to make them handle better and

Uh stiffened framework and I mean they really GM has always put

A lot of time and resource into the suburban

And I mean it's just it's proven just time and time again that it's a venerable vehicle that's going to be around forever

So that's right. Yep venerable is the word. I mean just so

Standing the test of time here

And yeah, I mean there are very few other

Goals that you can identify that last as long as it has and then just individual model or generations

I'm 20 years for the square body. So just uh blows me away

Yep, I know. Isn't that amazing?

Yep, it's just amazing. But yeah that that era of them some of my favorite looking

The only downside to them is their fuel economy, but hey

All right, but smiles per gallon. That's right. He said that's right. Yeah, they weren't necessarily thinking about it at the time

So yep, just pile the kids in hitch up the boat camper and just go

Yep

But yeah, yeah, but getting getting past that era with the 70s and 80s and getting into

1992

When gm came out with the next generation suburban totally redesigned in 1992

That has got to be and I'm sure it's because we're millennials, but it's got to be one of the most iconic

Looking suburban

I mean, it's I mean, it's pretty much is still the square body, right?

It's just like the front clip changed a little bit and they put so much effort into

The

refinement on body panel fitment on sound deadening on quality of materials for the inside. I mean

This generation between 92 and 99

has got to be

the

Best that gm ever made in terms of thinking of the customer

Yeah, and and creating something that just had a quality to it

That's just unsurpassed. I mean you could you could get these with the 57

You could get three-quarter ton models with the 454. They even had diesel models in them

I mean, I loved it too and they had the you know a little bit shorter than the suburban

They had the Tahoe you could get a two-door Tahoe. Oh, yes

Like they went all out on these vehicles

And I mean you and I grew up with these and like I'll never forget like the first time riding

And I think it was like a 94 suburban and it was just like that dark red interior

With like a maroon exterior and I was like this is the most comfortable vehicle I've ever sat in and and I was like

Seven years old. Oh, yeah. I mean it is such an icon. Yeah, you're right that I mean as millennials here

We are and that it's just when I think suburban

I think of the eighth generation and it's just yeah, it's it's they put so much into creature comforts

And yeah, I had a similar experience where neighborhood friends had gosh, it would probably probably yeah, like a

95 suburban and it had like the

Centurion

package on it with like all the wood grain in it and the leather

So this thing was in addition to it being already a comfy

kind of a

Spec it was just like oh my gosh, this thing is like a living room on wheels

And that was my first introduction to suburban

Um, and then yeah another neighborhood family had a 2500. I thought that was the coolest thing

I'm like, whoa, wait the wheels are different and it says 2500. Why does it look bigger?

Like yeah, oh and it was like that sky blue two tone over

Like, uh, yeah, it's sort of that desert beige color. It was like, oh my gosh

This is just such a beautiful truck. Wow. Oh, yeah, the two tone. I love the two tone on those

Yeah, I just remember thinking like wait, it comes in a 2500

Oh, yeah, I mean you know me. I'm all about the three-quarter ton like I just they're

incredible. I mean they

Like buying a one ton pickup truck, but you can haul the family and a giant boat behind it

I mean, it's just great. I give you everything the suspension upgrades the brake the frame all of it

And it's just a people mover. I don't know why gm quit doing the

three-quarter tons and one tons and those I just I don't I don't understand

I mean, obviously it's lack of sales, but I mean my god

Yeah

Right. I mean you could do everything

that

a truck could plus then

Take the whole family with you. So and then I mean, yeah, you

I'd see oftentimes that people would take all the back seats out and then it just really is a truck. You just like it's all like

Yeah, I mean, I've done that. I've taken the seats out and you put a mattress back there and you just drive across country

You just sleep right in the back. It's great. Yeah, there's nothing like it on the high school plus cars episode

Cole we talked at length about this generation suburban his family had two of them including a 92 and then a

98 so he's very very uh

well versed in suburban's

Oh, yes

Oh my gosh, I just there's something that draws you in and maybe that I'd be curious if we talked to other people of our generation

whether they're

But into cars or not

I feel like if you mentioned the the name suburban they have some kind of picture in their head of either

their family had one or a friend or just yet they were all in the

You know the pickup line before school and after school and at all the soccer games

I mean just list the sort of like stereotypical place you'd see a suburban and it was there

Yep, right. Oh, absolutely. I mean they're I mean that that is a vehicle that is just like it's one of the family

I mean, it's yes. No question. Yes, and like especially that generation, right that eighth generation, which is the

the gmt

Oh, I can't remember what they call it 400. Is that the I think that's right. Yeah. Yeah gmt 400 is the eighth generation

Maybe it's just because of millennial, but like I immediately think movies and yes work and stuff like that

Like there's always suburbans and all of those. Yeah

Always anytime you see a movie and there's any government. It's a suburban. It's a black suburban. Yeah

Like blacked out windows all that. Yes, like any special ops or anything like that

It was just a fleet of suburbans flying down the highway or whatever

Yes, and then every disney movie that had a family

That was the that was the vehicle that they'd roll up in pretty much pretty much

Yep, and then yeah, then we get to the next generation the ninth generation the gmt 800, which is my probably my personal favorite

Um, just because I still own one of these and that was right in the air of when I got my

Driver's license and my dad had a 2004 gmc seara

And now I have an o4 suburban three-quarter ton

But uh, I I really think that these are some of the best built ones

that gm came out with

they

The thing that gets me about the 2000 to 2006 metal suburbans is I will see them for sale

All over the country to this day

And if you find them like in washington state or montana or places where they don't salt

Like arizona like they'll have like three or four hundred thousand miles on them

And they're still running strong. Yeah, you know, it's like maybe one needed a transmission

And like maybe one's interior isn't too good

But it's like that thing is still looks like they came out of the factory. So it's a it's amazing

It's amazing how they just they really hit a quality on those

That is I mean, unfortunately, I think unsurpassed to this day

I my favorite part about that ninth generation gmt 800

Is the three-quarter ton you could get the 8.1 liter the 496. That's my favorite part about that generation because

Oh, I love a big block and that is an amazing motor amazing motor

They came out with that motor to compete with the diesel. It does a very good job

Yeah, there's so many flavors of the suburban both in trim levels and

Yeah engine choices. It was I'm reading here in this this visual history

It says that they brought out the z71 package in 2001 for the suburban

So that was where they they brought out like that off-road specs kid plates

And yeah, and all the off-road bits and such and then also

Quadrasteer came out for this generation too like you could get a yeah suburban

I don't know if you've ever had any experience with a quadrasteer

I've driven one or I've never owned one. It's yeah, it is amazing

It didn't take off well

Because it was a super expensive option to start like when they first came out

It was like seven or $10,000 option. Yes, and then GM they only had it for like

Two or three maybe four years offered. Yeah, didn't last long end

They dropped the price down to like a thousand dollar option just to try to sell it

And I remember my dad when he was ordering his truck

He looked at getting a quadrasteer one because it was a thousand dollar option when he looked at it

But they said you couldn't plow with it and he was like that's so stupid because it would be so handy to

Well, right

Would let the the full wheel turning like because you can get into tight places

So he didn't get it the people I know that have had it and it's still has a major following to this day

They say it's just incredible. So the quadrasteer right it turns the rear wheels

Opposite of the front wheels in slow maneuvering

So you could go into like parking spots and stuff right and then on highway speeds

It would turn them in the same direction as the front tires to be better trailering stability at highway speeds

Uh, I mean, it's a genius thing. It essentially cut the turning radius of the suburban down to like a Honda Civic

Turning radius

Which is just amazing right for a giant suburban. Oh, yeah, so I mean, it's a very neat idea

And I think it's very very impressive that they offered it on the half tons in the three-quarter tons

Um, they had it in the half ton like Denali trucks and then they had it in the suburban

Uh, but yeah, just it didn't take off. I mean, I wonder if it did if we'd still see it today

I mean, we're starting to see a little bit of it similar right and like Hummer and

Well, right. Yeah the crab walking stuff like that. But yeah, but yeah, it's uh, it is that's a very interesting option

And you don't see it very much for sale. But yeah, it's cool. Very cool. Very cool option. Yeah, that dimension is

Anyone's listen to the show like my oh four

Three-quarter ton suburban is that's like my favorite vehicle. It's the perfect combination of

Comfort with ease of getting in and out of it for me

reliability

like it's

Got just enough technology in it to be

Fun to drive and easy to drive but not too much where it's like

Overwhelming, you know, like screens everywhere and stuff like that right just enough tech

But oh, yeah long enough. Yeah, and it's not new enough that like I can't work on it myself like electronics stuff like that

So, yeah, yeah, it's I do. I love it. I absolutely love that Reagan

I really wish the GM would still make them like they made though that generation

You know getting into the next generation, right the 10th generation that was from 2007 to 2014 the gmt 900

Uh, I actually think that these were some of like the cheapest ones

Like I mean, they're still good suburban's but like when you get inside them

Like you just if it seemed like they really downgraded it in this generation. Yeah, there's just a lot of plastic

Whether seem or plastic everywhere

Yeah, just very generic and like for me too like the the seats in the previous generation were so comfortable

And then the 10th generation they were just like, uh

So right, I mean we're doing with like this is I mean this 10th generation debuted in 2007 like on the eve of

I mean GM going bankrupt the

Recession just yeah, we're talking about like it's just it's not a good time period for cars in general

So just you can see that reflected and just the quality

Just depreciating in this generation. You just kind of even just looking at the styling of it. It's sort of just like

Kind of yes, it has an age well

It has not aged well and it is it's just it's really cheap

Like it's no other way to put it like it's just for for what a suburban is for how much they cost like that 07 to 14

Range just seems so cheap and looks kind of cheap feels cheap

right

But I mean, you know once again though, they still like they still had the three-quarter ton ones and they still had a couple different engine options and

I mean they they sold well obviously, but

And in that generation too, we saw like active fuel management and

You know bluetooth and backup cameras and all that jazz coming to play

Yeah, this is when tech really began to take over for I mean all cars, right? Like we just oh, yeah

It just started to seep in more and more

As as the 2010s went on

Yes

Yeah, and then I I mean I think like the the next generation the one after that is they called the k2 xx

The 11th gen when they started in 2015 that to me was almost like a a they went back to that 2000 to 2006

Generation and they were like all right like let's make the interiors better and let's make them a little more reliable and

Yeah, I really like the looks of that generation too

And it's just they back to back to the like really just a reset of sorts just it's much

Boxier it's harkening back to that traditional

Look of a suburban long slab sides

They've just as opposed to just sort of the blah roundedness of the prior generation

This just looks the part like you can tell like okay. Yes has presence whereas the other just didn't so

Yeah, I like this a lot too

Oh, absolutely. Like I had my uh 2017 GMC you come that's right basically

It's basically a Tahoe just a short suburban right and I mean that thing was amazing

I drove that all over kingdom come over to national parks all around and it never skipped the beat and it was so

Comfortable to do that in and it got really good fuel mileage for what it was

I mean, I think I average like

Maybe 20 or 23 on the highway like it was pretty impressive. It's really good for

For that engine and the size of the truck

Yeah

Yep, and I mean it's still and that's just it it still is a truck right like it's that same platform as the truck it's

uh body on frame and

They just add the cap on the back still to this day. So

But yeah, I mean so that that I really like that generation and then you know 2021 22 right we got into the

The newest generation that we have now

Yep, our generation. Yep. Yes, and I do uh, I do very much like the looks of them

I don't like the price

That would be one thing. I'm not a fan of with the brand new ones. I do

I have had the privilege to drive a couple of them

and

They're phenomenal vehicles and I mean if I had a 100 grand just lying around it was like you got to go buy a car

I'd buy a brand new suburban in a heartbeat. So

Yeah, the new ones are very well reviewed. They've they've just maintained that

excellence that suburban is known for that they've now I mean rekindled

And kept that going. Yeah, it's it just again you look at it like yeah, it just

Just it's pure suburban to its roots and it's just like if you need a big

family hauler

That is going to pull a boat pull a camper

And just and bring your four kids if you have them and just like this is this

This is the truck like this is the vehicle for you. I feel like there's still a place for that

Even in this era of pivoting towards more hybrid more ev

Smaller vehicles. It's just like they're

The suburban still sells really well

It does it's one of the best selling suvs in the country

Which is amazing if you consider that the base price starts at like 64,000 dollars. Yeah, it's not cheap anymore

It is I mean even I mean they've they've always been but you know on the more expensive side

Right, that's true. Yes, but they're at this point. It's I just I don't know who can afford these

I mean because you're talking about that used to be forever

I mean at least from like the 90s up until

Recently it was basically just suburban

LS or LT

And it was like you want leather or not

That's it you

And then you've got like high country and you've got

I mean, yeah, now you can even get the rst, which is the sport truck version

Yes, I mean they've got all these different models now. They've got the the premiere. They got this, you know, I whatever

It's all all different trim packages. I I mean it kind of goes back to what I've said about

I really wish that they would bring it back to just you get a suburban LS

Or an LT and then here are the options just you pick the options now it's it all comes down to you know packages, right?

Right. You want the auto dimming mirror? Oh, that's part of the convenience package for $2,200. It's like, okay

Well, can I just get the mirror? No, you can't do that

Nope, no have to check all the but you know just the package box not

Yeah, it's no longer making it unique to

What you want? I mean you just think about those that mean you're looking at the

Earlier suburban from this list and to buy one of these older ones now and that if you are fortunate to have

A build sheet or a window sticker and you can just see that. Oh, wow somebody was really intentional with how they built out this

This truck you can't do that anymore

Yep, it's true. Yeah, so there you have it

So, let's see. Let's just summarize it real quick. And I mean, it's it's a vehicle name plate that's been around one of the longest

US history the suburban

It wasn't exclusively gms forever. It was used by a few different ones over the years

But it's one of the longest name plates and it's always meant

for

big hauler moving people

Uh, you know reliability

And I really think over the years that gm especially has been a good testament to that

I know yes, I know and like where it connects to life plus cars that we need to talk about

Is I don't know like we talked about briefly with colby and his

Suburbans like with my suburban like I

Think there are certain types of cars that really connect people more than others

And I believe the suburban is one of those cars and like what I mean to explain it

What I mean is like

If you meet someone

Who's not a car person at all

And you say like, you know, oh like what about like this and a suburban like they might be like

Oh my gosh, like, you know, we did this family road trip and it was in this suburban and this or like

Like I even know this friend that was like, yeah, I learned to do doughnuts and like a suburban like, you know

Back when I first got my license in like 2003 and it's like it's the greatest memory ever and like yeah

We named it, you know birtha or all these stories

And I mean they're they're the ultimate road trip vehicles. They're the ultimate people haulers

They're the ultimate tow

Toy haulers there. I mean they're everything. I mean you can load up your kids your dogs

You know all the luggage you need hook on to your travel trailer and you're gone and it's like there

There aren't many vehicles out there that fit that bill

Yeah, it's so true. I mean we we talk about all the time how many we all have a car story and that's in part with the

We will have to hear on the podcast and we'll talk about I mean

I would be so curious to ask

just every day people have like

So do you have a suburban story and a bit more often than not people could probably identify something

Along the lines of because there's so much life that happens in and around a suburban just because of

what they do and what they offer and where they take people and

What you do with them whether it be hauling people or or things or going camping

Yeah, it's really endless like what you can do with suburban, which makes it such an icon

Absolutely. Yeah, very well said Ian and it's true. It's it is. It's amazing how that

Car can connect more people than other cars. It's just it's it is impressive very impressive

Yeah, we are big fans over here at lifeless cars and you currently own two of them. So

I do I've got no four and then I've got a

96 sitting in the garage so

And if the listener out there if you have a suburban story

Let us know life plus cars at gmail.com

We would love to hear more about people

People's tales with suburban's what you do with them. What the family did. Where'd you take them? There's yeah got to be so much out there

Absolutely, please do share

We know what we like to end with a little bit of silly sort of fun

car

Shopping of sorts on craigslist. So

Brendan. Yes

Did you find you? I am going to pull up craigslist right now and I am going to look for for the theme of this a

Chevrolet

Hicks, I'll be while I'm looking for one. What do you got man? All right, they're two very different cars

I just went on craigslist opened up cars and trucks in new hampshire and just started scrolling through

I didn't even put anything in as far as manual or

Car or truck anything I'd sent. I was just let's just see what weird and strange things are out there. So two of them

That popped up here

We have a 19

31

Ford woody wagon

Oh

Yes

Yep

Whole wood sides

It's even got like the like the window

That you put in on the sides and then it has a main 1931 plate on the front and talk about basic here

I mean looks like it's in great condition for what it is. It says very nice condition runs and is fine

It is fine. It is fine

and

You don't see very many woody wagons pop up and particularly of like this vintage

I feel like when you see woody

wagons at car shows or cruises or whatever they tend to be some of the more like

Cars from the 40s. I feel like not some of these early. So this is an early one 31 Ford woody wagon

very cool

Black over like a beige two-tone here. I mean just of that arrow the spindly wire wheels. Yeah, really cool old

Woody wagon here. So popped up nice. That was uh, yeah, that was actually even before the suburban came to be so

But somewhat in the same

Style though. I mean a big

I mean lots of seating here

Yeah, I mean that's that's the the Ford og suburban or

Expedition or

Whatever you want to call it. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, exactly. What was your second one?

My second one is something

Uh in the words of multi python that for something completely different

We have a 2007

Mazda 6 hatchback hatchback five speed

And you may be wondering ian why

Why this car like what are we even looking at here? Well, no, why not? Why not this car? So

it is a

Mazda 6 as mentioned and what's so cool about this car

Is that it looks like the sedan they made a sedan of this generation?

But this is the hatchback and when you open it it looks like it opens up like a hatch

It's very cool. I've seen one of these in person and uh,

So it for all the world looks like a sedan and then you pop the pop the back and it's a full hatch and it's a five speed

Mazda makes great little cars of this era

110,000 miles

It's uh, that's a beauty that would make someone a great first car

Yes a unique fun first car and very usable because that whole back opens up like a hatch instead of just a trunk

Yep, isn't that unique good old Mazda. So that one you don't see very many you see a lot of the

sedans

Of that era for sale, but you hardly ever see these hatchbacks pop up. So that's why I

Took note of that one

Nice, so those are my two craigslist picks this week

The 1931 what woody wagon and a 2007 Mazda

6 hatchback five speed

Very nice very nice. So I did find a suburban

Okay, and I think it's the one we got to talk about the craigslist find suburban. So

She's down in brooklyn

$1,600

It's got 190,000 miles on it, which hey testament to how they last that's true

But looking at this thing this has had some hard miles. It looks like the passenger front fenders had some

fly-by-night rust repair or as Derek Bieri would say

Rebuild yes

Yep, the driver's side is not looking too good or the captain side

missing a couple lights and a couple dents in there

Looks like it's been painted in some way or shape on some of it

But it's not honest to God not bad for the miles in the age

Inside's a little dirty

The back's a little stained

Just a little few stains looks like it had tint on it, but it's been peeling off

Seats are kind of wearing out, but hey that's back when they did real leather

Oh, it is leather. Yep. Yep. Yep. Not bad. She's got the center console

This is an LT four by four. So she got the five seven. Yep

Yep, I don't know if it has oil pressure or not because in the picture it's running and it's up to temp

But the oil pressure is pegged at zero. So

Yeah

It's uh, yeah about that. Yep. Yep. It's an interesting rig

But it is a beautiful silver color and it's got that tan interior and

Back when that baby was new that was probably a

$36,000 rig 35 36 which by today's standards like 80. So there you go, right

What a bargain. Yeah for 1600 bucks. You too could be a suburban owner

Yeah

Now I think the the find of this one is definitely that 31 woody wagon. That is beautiful

Yeah, that thing's great. I love it's got the curtain side for the windows

That's what I was trying to get the word. Yeah curtain side windows. Yep push them on

Yeah

It's nice condition runs and is fine

Runs and is fine. I think that'll be uh

All I can think of is Dwight from the office. It is your birthday. It is your birthday period

Yeah, no Ian definitely wins that craigslist find right there. Well, thank you for some fun ones here

Always fun to wrap up with all some silly fun here on craigslist. You just never know what's going to turn up

Oh, absolutely

Yep, that Mazda was a good find too. That's something I'd even consider buying

Yeah, that's a great first car life plus first cars

That'd be a great candidate. There you go. That's that's another segment

Well, and we're just wrapping up here

Yes, Ian. Thank you for taking some time to talk about suburban and

Oh, what what a what a fun thing to talk about. I do love me some suburban

Oh, yes, I know you do. So I picked that for you and knew we have lots to share lots to share

Yeah, well, yeah, make sure the for the listener if you have any suburban stories or

Any names for cars on the suburban front you want to share with us or you have any questions about cooling systems

Or if your car is making funny noises and you don't know what's wrong

You can just reach on out to life plus cars at gmail.com

Or you can find us on

Instagram

Yep, that's where most active

Yep

Yeah, just like Brendan said, yep, yes over there

Just thank you for joining us for another episode and uh, yeah, feel free to reach out anytime

We'd love to hear your car stories because that's what we're doing here is we are we're curating car stories

One wonderful mile at a time. That's right. You got it, Brendan

Always a pleasure and yes, thank you all for listening and we look forward to talking to you very soon on the next episode

#32: The Venerable Suburban Plus Coolant Lessons and a Weird Hatchback

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