1991 suburban 6.2 diesel

[michael13]

Join Date: Jun 2010
Posts: 1





6.2 diesel towing capacity
greetings everyone

i am new to this forum with a questions regarding towing capacity

i am in the market for a 1991 2500 suburban with a 6.2 diesel, truck looks good on paper, and the price is right , i will actually see it in few days.

in researching the truck online i get confusing information about the towing capacity and performance.

could any of you give me a hint about the capacity of the truck
i am looking to tow an 1973 airstream argosy a weight of about 5800 lb and would like to be OK in mountains and not be the slowest creeping up a hill .......... that's the idea behind a diesel....... right

Does anyone have experience with this truck
any assistance is greatly appreciated
Thanks

Michael

[RickDavis]

I had an 84 6.2 diesel . Unless they went to a turbocharger in the intervening years it is underpowered and gets worse at high altitude. When crossing I 80 in wyoming with a 22 ft trailer it was really underpowered.
Replaced it with a Dodge Cummins in 99. Now I 80 in wyoming is flat. ( with bigger trailers) The Turbo is what makes the difference

I owned 2 of them when they were new but I believe I would go some other route in the used diesel market today.. The fuel economy was decent, just underpowered.

[TomW]

There's a thread over on this diesel forum that appears to answer a lot of your questions.

Tom

[michael13]

Originally Posted by TomW

There's a thread over on this diesel forum that appears to answer a lot of your questions.

Tom

Thanks Tom

Yep, that is me that started the thread over in the diesel forum
trying to make an educated decision

[TomW]

Originally Posted by michael13

...Yep, that is me that started the thread over in the diesel forum
trying to make an educated decision

Really.

Tom

[HowieE]

I had an 87 6.2 that I installed a 3.73 rear, a Banks turbo and a Gear Vendors Splitter on and towed a 34 ft cross country and all over the east coast.

Now that said I would not suggest that level of expense for that old a truck today.

Another factor. The hills on the east coast are harder pulls than those on the west coast. Yes the west coast are longer but generally not a steep, holding to the 2% grade requirements for most interstates.

If you intend to tow with the 6.2 you MUST install an exhaust gas temperature gauge before towing. Temperatures above 1200 degrees, common when towing in the higher gears, will melt the valves

[Wabbiteer]

Read the other forum post and linked through to see the truck - the biggest warning flag I see is surf rod holders on the front grill... just a few runs through the surf wake up rust beasties in places neer' heretofore seen by mere mortals...

[74"Twinkie"]

Here's my story for what it's worth. A little over 4 years ago I put a 1950 GMC Suburban body on a 1982 1/2 ton 2-wheel drive GMC chassis with the 6.2 diesel and 700-R4 transmission. This was before I bought and rebuilt a 1974 26' Argosy. For 2 years I put 12,000 on the Argosy with the original 82' Suburban drive train without any problems except one- lack of power. No problem doing the seed limit except on hills (not the slowest, but close). A little over 2 years ago I burned up the transmission and had it rebuilt with a not lock-up torque converter which worked better (less hunting between gears). At the same time I added a turbo-charger from a 6.5 diesel motor (keeping the boost under 5 psi) and adding a fuel system and tank for running on used vegetable oil. This set up worked well for 2 years (added power from the turbo made hills manageable but still a challenge) until the crankshaft broke. I replaced the motor with a "conversion motor" -NOS Humvee 6.2 block with 6.5 heads. I also changed the tranny to a 4L80. The 700R4 was still working fine but never really trusted it for towing. The original 6.2 set up was made for economy and used within it's limits was fine. I believe the changes that I've made have made it an adequate tow vehicle but time will tell. Hopefully this has helped you in your decision.

[michael13]

well i think i will keep hunting for the right TV ...... looking now at a 2500 suburban with a 454 engine and tow package

i found out that the diesel was a 1500 set up


any feedback on this set up???????

[RickDavis]

Just to add to what 74 twinkie said, I sold my 84 6.2 to a friend and it also eventually died of a broken crank at about 250,000. Didn't mention that in my original post but perhaps it is a chronic problem??

I also had some 454 engines in the ancient past. They ate fuel but they had plenty of power. Much better than the non turbo 6.2

[74"Twinkie"]

Everything is a trade off. With my fresh conversion motor and tranny I get 15.2 mpg on vegetable oil while towing. I also had a 1986 3/4 ton Suburban with a 454. Like Rick says, It will pass anything but a gas station.
"If you feed it, it will run"