95 Suburban New Owner - Some Issues

[capt512]

Good Afternoon Everyone,

I posted this on another forum as well, but got no replies at all, so hoping for some assistance on here.

Hope everyone had a good Christmas. I recently purchased a 95 Suburban K1500 for a winter vehicle. I bought it fairly inexpensive with 175,000 miles and have done some work to it. However there are a few things I need some forum help with.

First off, things already done since purchase:
AC Delco Plugs, Thermostat, Distributor, & Rotor Button
Monroe Sensatrack Shocks x4
Passenger ABS sensor
All new lights and grill
Oil change, fuel filter change, air filter change, coolant flush
Misc odds and ends

Problems I have:
1. Blower motor makes the ticking/clacking noise when on low which from the forums appears to mean it needs replacement. I purchased a replacement but after yelling for about an hour gave up on it for the time being, will try again next week. Any tips on how to get to the top screws?? Also the blower motor when on at any speed, constantly fluctuates. It will blow hard for 20 seconds (estimated), then slower for 20, and back and forth. Will the motor replacement fix this?

2. This truck rides rough...I mean real rough. As in I've owned probably 5 different older trucks (including an 89 Chevy Silverado 4x4 Pickup), and this truck rides much rougher than any of them. I checked the leaf springs and they appear to be factory rusted up leafs. Don't appear to be the 2500 leafs, so no sure why I'm getting beat up. THIS is my biggest problem, its really getting frustrating. Any reason why a 99 Suburban 1500 4x4 would ride so much softer? I put on new shocks hoping that would help but it did nothing.

3. Steering is much more difficult than any of my other vehicles, not crazy no power steering bad, but definetly not easy. Again any reason why a 99 Suburban would turn much much easier? No play visible in any front end or steering components, beside a little bit of play in steering wheel (1"?).

4. Last thing that bothers me, the stereo in this truck is horrible. I am not an audiophile or stereo junkie. But most all Suburbans I have been in to me sounded pretty darn good stereo wise for factory. However this one sounds like listening to AM radio all the time. No base at all, not very clear. Problem with headunit?



Thanks for any help you guys can provide!

Jonathan

 

[lesterl]

#3 99 Had EVO steering, differnt gear on the 95. (is it just real hard to turn? Will the wheel return to center if you take your hands off the wheel? - be careful with that) Might be PO tightend the steering gear down too much - check the rag joint also.

#4 Could be the paper cones on the mids are toast or not hooked up, mine has components in the doors and the drivers mid was toast, sounds much better with a new speaker. (on my 98 Sierra)

#1 Prob need a new motor for the noise. As far as the surging, does the voltmeter tend to waver in the same manner? Could be that the motor replacement will cure if the voltmeter is steady.

#2 I dont know how to determine how rough your rig is, do you have 4ply passenger tires or are they LT's or higher ply tires?

 

[capt512]

Thanks for the quick reply.

Good to know about the EVO steering, had a feeling that was the difference. The wheel usually returns to center, but not always. Its not real hard to turn, just harder than most vehicles. Rag joint looks good.

All 6 of the speakers are hooked up, didn't see any real noticeable damage to the cones, so didn't know if it was a known problem with either the little amp box or the headunit.

The volts stay pretty consistent and there are no signs of fluctuation other than the fan speed thing. Hoping the motor will cure the issue.

The tires are new (new when I bought the truck) Michelin MTX tires and have ratings showing a very high ride comfort level. I have them inflated to 34 PSI all around and litterally every little crack in the road (as in if you drive down the road and really look for cracks) is felt. Like if you drove a Silverado pickup with no weight in the bed and 65PSI of air in the tires.

 

[lesterl]

Those are LT tires (8/10 ply, had some once after some 4plys and they do ride rough... nice tires tho, you are gonna have to get use to them - you are darn near rolling on tires that are solid under the tread.....)

Rag Joint on both of my rigs looked good, but when I tore the shaft out it was sloppy as hell on the Tahoe (114k) and bad on the Sierra (287k).... Part was $10 at parts store and $5 of Stainless bolts/pinch nuts at hardware store...

Motor may cure your issue as the bearings are probably toast and causing drag sometimes fluctuating your fan speed, if it is noisy it should be replaced anyway....

The under seat Amp drives the 2nd row speakers IIRC (does on my tahoe)....
Put you hands over the grills on the MIDs and play something with some bump, fade speakers front/ back, side/ side and see what you get....