1993 K1500 Suburban

[BCK1500]

I have a '93 K1500 Suburban, Silverado trim, 7.4L 454, 4L80E trans, 3.73 gears (10 bolt, 8.5" rear), 6 lug hubs. I bough it for a tow rig and it does well with my toy hauler but I am lacking power and dont want to crawl up hills at 25mph. As far as I can tell I'm sitting around 7500-8000lbs, stopping it does well, I'm more concerned with acceleration from a stop, and uphill grades. My question is, how would I go about transforming my 1500 into a tow rig? 

[diyer2]

I would sell both rigs and buy a 2500.

Gas or diesel depends on how often you tow IMO.

[BCK1500]

Only have the one rig, was sold on the engine and trans. For the price I paid for the truck I'd rather swap the running gear and make it a solid camping/tow rig.

[diyer2]

So this 93 7.4 is a daily driver?

Someone may reply that knows more than I do.

I think the weak link is the motor.

Is it TBI.

The trans being a 4 speed isn't ideal.

The cost of transforming it maybe expensive.

 

[BCK1500]

Not a daily, bought specifically for camping. It is the tbi 454, but plan on worrying about the engine later. Not too worried about fuel mileage either. Ive been told by a few people to go up to 4.11s in the differentials.

[diyer2]

411's will help.

How much better may not be a lot.

My 93 Silvy with the 5.7 tbi had 200 hp.

My 12 5.3 has over 300 hp.

 

 

[carkhz316]

4.10s will make an appreciable difference, though ultimately you're limited by the powertrain anyway. Also, it looks like a 93 Suburban towing capacity is only 6500lbs anyway, which puts you way over your safe, legal limit. Only the 2500 Burb shows a 10k towing capacity, albeit with 4.10s. Make sure you're within your limits to begin with, otherwise you may have to upgrade rigs anyway.

[KARNUT]

I happen to have a 92 truck that’s like new. They’re good trucks if taken care of. I kept it instead of my 14 for a non daily. That 454 didn’t have a lot of HP but tons of torque. It comes down to how much you want to spend. If I was just going to do gear 456 would be my choice. That would lower the stress on the drive line but raise cruising RPMs. If that’s a problem gear vendors takes care of that. If memory serves a few people I knew back with the ss 454 woke up the engine up with heads. Depending on your skill set a swap to LS driveline from a salvage yard with the goodies from the donor vehicle could be the way to go.


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[BCK1500]

6 hours ago, KARNUT said:

I happen to have a 92 truck that’s like new. They’re good trucks if taken care of. I kept it instead of my 14 for a non daily. That 454 didn’t have a lot of HP but tons of torque. It comes down to how much you want to spend. If I was just going to do gear 456 would be my choice. That would lower the stress on the drive line but raise cruising RPMs. If that’s a problem gear vendors takes care of that. If memory serves a few people I knew back with the ss 454 woke up the engine up with heads. Depending on your skill set a swap to LS driveline from a salvage yard with the goodies from the donor vehicle could be the way to go.


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I plan on cam and heads later, what vehicles had the LS setup?

[KARNUT]

I plan on cam and heads later, what vehicles had the LS setup?

I had a 65 GMC step side with the engine, transmission, computer out of a 92 suburban. And an aftermarket AC that wasn’t under dash. If so inclined you could do an LS swap into your rig. My truck is a stroker with a Whipple, headers,MSD and built 700R4, 373.


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[BCK1500]

Just learned that a guy from work has a destroyed '99 K2500 with a diesel setup. Going to talk with him and see what I can get from it. I dont necessarily want to go diesel, but there is that option.

[KARNUT]

Just learned that a guy from work has a destroyed '99 K2500 with a diesel setup. Going to talk with him and see what I can get from it. I dont necessarily want to go diesel, but there is that option.

I think that’s a 6.5, I’m a little rusty on my years. If it is you don’t want to do it. They were ok empty, pulling not so much.


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[BCK1500]

Just now, KARNUT said:

I think that’s a 6.5, I’m a little rusty on my years. If it is you don’t want to do it. They were ok empty, pulling not so much.


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I think he said its the 6.0. I dont know much about the diesels.