Back when I was in middle school, my best friend’s dad had a ’77 Suburban in really good shape for being a ten-plus-year-old Michigan truck. Back then, I thought it was just a big, dorky wagon, but I was the big dork for thinking so. Now, this orange and beige ‘Burban is the camper hauler of my dreams.
Let’s start out with the good parts of this Suburban, and that’s most of it. The seller says it’s originally from Montana and thinks that the 47,730 miles on the clock are original. This Montana service tag from 25 years ago shows 43,149 miles. The pictures show a truck that seems to have no rust, although there are no undercarriage pictures in the ad.
The Scottsdale-trim interior is just as plaid as you hoped it would be. The selector on the floor tells us that this is a four-wheel-drive Suburban, so you can tow your camper and drive on the sand dunes. All that’s missing is a hazy ’70s sunset, a deep-western part in your hair, and a pack of Kools.
K10 Suburbans weren’t laden with big-block power. This 350, which is dominated by the engine compartment, produced 160 horsepower, and the 175-horsepower 400 was the step-up option. Behind the 350 is a Turbo 350, so a more reliable drivetrain you’d be hard pressed to find. Everything looks original under here, and the owner says that the engine and transmission work as they should.
There are a few issues which may or may not be important to you as a potential buyer. First, the seller disconnected the front driveshaft to replace the u-joints and never got around to reinstalling it, and that makes it difficult to check out the four-wheel-drive system. Second, there’s a minor exhaust leak, which is probably not a big deal. Third, the seller has used “patina sauce” on the roof and hood’s thinning paint, and that may not be your thing. I don’t personally like shiny patina, but it wouldn’t keep me from buying a cool old Suburban if that were the only thing standing in my way.
Now located in sunny California, this photogenic Suburban is on eBay with a current high bid of $8,400. It reminds me of a ’77 I saw for sale at a car show seven ago; it was a solid Suburban with an asking price of $5000. I should have bought it to relive those rides in my friend’s dad’s ’77. It’s going to take a little more to get into this one, but maybe you could bring back your own old Suburban memories.
Good memories, Aaron! It’s comical how small that 350 looks in the engine bay. Those 33s on 16-inch steelies look great on this rig. I only drove one of these back in the day and it felt strong in the 0-40 range then it was like someone threw out an anchor. I’d still take this one over a new one for longevity. Nothing’s more disposable than a truck with nine different computers and a CAN bus, except maybe a BMW with 9 computers and a CAN bus. Great job; looking forward to your future contributions!
Very nice! We sold a slug of Burbs back in the day. From ‘76 through ‘83 they were mostly 2wd 3/4 tons with 454/400 power trains. I would say that a quarter of the Burbs we sold were 4x4s, split equally between 350s and 400s. Very good trucks.
Front driveshaft missing? Well, if there’s going to be a component that gives more trouble than usual it would be the front driveshaft. People fail to get that grease needle for the CVU-joint. We got good at replacing CVUs, especially with those who installed those “male-enhancement devices.” My truck that sat normal for the entire time still had its original U-joints at 300K miles…
What a looker. Allowing color on color two tone gave way to some good looking vehicles, not all having white as a secondary color. The interior should be an extra padded seat with stitching rather than the Custom Deluxe plaid. Not that I haven’t seen it before. Looking under the hood and seeing ground underneath is refreshing.
It just dawned on me, that truck is running 4×60 A-C. There’s going to be a lot of solar heating in that greenhouse. It won’t be the most pleasant place to be when the temperature is in the upper 90s. Out west that might not be too much of a problem as the weather can change in an instant. But I have to say that I’ve gotten plain spoiled by A-C. The A-C is busted in our Avalanche and I don’t care to drive it in the sun. Hopefully things will straighten themselves out and I can get the system blowing cold again. In the meantime it’s 4×60. At least we’ve got power windows and a moon roof…
I grew up in suburbans, first a 70 or so 3door, that Dad towed a Jayco pop up camper to Nags Head/Myrtle Beach/and all the way to Colorado to visit relatives. He later bought a 74 in the days after I was driving and I used it on several occasions to tow broken cars home