Hope For Big T's 94 Suburban

[Husker6.5]

So, you think reaching 400,000 miles on the odometer is a major accomplishment? Try rolling over 1,000,000 miles!

Lincoln man turns over the odometer by driving vehicle more than a million miles

Ben Welch says he averaged about 40,000 miles a year in his 1994 Chevy Suburban and traveled to every corner of the continental United States.

journalstar.com

 

[MrMarty51]

The body and paint looks real nice too.
Funny that the article mentions that the engine has the original timing belt too.

 

[Husker6.5]

Yeah, I think the reporter is mechanically impaired. I think they meant timing chain.

 

[dbrannon79]

I saw that too on the "timing belt"

also am at aw about him driving in 106 deg weather and not having a belt on the water pump! I can't figure out how the engine didn't seize up due to over heating.

 

[Stoney]

Damn and I thought mine was doing good at 320,000.... A million miles is a whole lot of miles to put on One engin

 

[dbrannon79]

just like our rigs, I bet his nickel'd and dime'd him the whole way LOL

 

[Stoney]

@dbrannon79 that's a fact.. these rigs will nickel and dime you too death, but for some reason there addicting...

 

[Will L.]

Did I miss what engine trans they said?
My suspicion was gasser, they outlasted the 6.5s in the fleets usually.

 

[Husker6.5]

Did I miss what engine trans they said?
My suspicion was gasser, they outlasted the 6.5s in the fleets usually.

Yeah, if you look at the pics in the article, it has a 5.7 in it. C1500 Suburban.

 

[Stoney]

Damn that makes me even more impressed..

 

[dbrannon79]

Usually a gasser would wear out the cylinders before hitting 400k due to no cylinder lubrication like a diesel has, but I have heard of gassers going further.

 

[Husker6.5]

Usually a gasser would wear out the cylinders before hitting 400k due to no cylinder lubrication like a diesel has, but I have heard of gassers going further.

Well, if you read the article, he works (an exec) for Conklin (a major Ag equipment manufacturer) and ran nothing but Conklin synthetic lubricants in it and had regular fluid changes and maintenance.

The idiot reporter's story is also inaccurate in many places, such as the "timing belt" bit (as well as evidently he can't read an odometer, either, as the picture shows it at 700 and some change miles, not 7000 and change, evidently he doesn't know that last digit is tenths of a mile) as it did have both heads, not "the head", rebuilt at just shy of 600,000 miles.

I know that because I saw this Burb at my local grocery store parking lot (he lives over in my corner of town I found out) and had a conversation with the owner prior to the Pandemic. I commented to him when he was getting out and I was walking back to my car about how nice his Burb looked, was it a 93 or 94? He said a 94.

I commented that it must have really low miles on it to be looking that nice and he said nah, its got just over 850 on it, believe it or not.

My response was something like really, no way. So he said here, take a look and opened the driver's door and let me lean in and look. Yup, odometer was sitting at 853 and change.

So then I kinda smart-assed asked him how many transmissions he'd gone through in that time and he told me it was the original transmission, that he had it and the differential serviced and fluid/filter changed, as well as all other fluids/filters, per the GM recommended Service Intervals. He then told me that the only major work ever done to it, other than normal brake parts replacements and tie rod ends/ball joints, was to have the heads reconditioned because the valve guides had begun to wear and the stem seals were starting to leak at about 580,000 miles five years ago and oil consumption was up as a result as well as a slight puff on cold start up.

I asked him how he put so many miles on it every year to rack up that many total and he told me that other when home, it was all highway miles as he traveled from Conklin dealer to Conklin dealer servicing accounts, etc.

 

[ak diesel driver]

Hwy miles are way easier on a rig

 

[Big T]

Somehow I missed this thread. For the record, the ‘94 has 295K miles on it and is currently parked out in the backyard, owing to my wife asking me to move it while she was down in Fullerton. It is running well and It is waiting for new upholstery, headliner, then a full body paint job. I drive it periodically.