98 vs 99 Suburban

Sold my '99 because I hated it, always breaking. Don't know anything about the '98s.

been driving my 1999 tahoe 5 years now. just drove 171 miles flat and used 9.5 gallons of gas.(18 even mpg) just had my first problem yesterday after the 250 mile trip home from Mt Shasta to sacramento in 99degree heat and the regulator in the altrenator quit. caused the truck to die after the battery run down.

139.00 and two hours to replace. not bad for 5 years and 89000 miles of hard running. old john would buy another in a heartbeat

Thanks again, SnoMan! While testing a burb, is there anything I should be doing in order to get a good one?

The old body style Suburban (98) has thin front brake

rotors that tend to warp....

New Body style Suburban 99 & up have thick front brake rotors

that can last relatively 'forever' but these newer models (to 03)

have the front hub speed sensors affecting low speed ABS that may

need attention & cleaning.....

been driving my 1999 tahoe 5 years now. just drove 171 miles flat and used 9.5 gallons of gas.(18 even mpg) just had my first problem yesterday after the 250 mile trip home from Mt Shasta to sacramento in 99degree heat and the regulator in the altrenator quit. caused the truck to die after the battery run down.

139.00 and two hours to replace. not bad for 5 years and 89000 miles of hard running. old john would buy another in a heartbeat ====================================== Hi, Don't understand how it took you 2 hours to replace an alternator, unless you didn't have the right tools, or replaced your stock AC-Delco Unit with some generic Auto-Zone deviate, and you ran into problems making the new one fit?

At $139, I suspect you did. I had mine go out on my '97 Tahoe, went right to Chevy, and a 'remanufactured" AC/Delco 105 Amp was $238 with core exchange. Yep, it was quite a bit more money, but I've heard some bad things about these aftermarket generic Alternators, that usually they only last about a year. Sure they give you a good warrantee (usually lifetime) when you buy thier top of the line unit from most places, but who wants to be under the hood repeatedly dealing with something like this down the road?

I looked at one, and it looked like I'd be shimming with washers, and whatnot.

Since the replacement was exactly identical to the original, changeout took about 15 minutes tops. All there was, was disconnection of battery, (1 minute), the removal of the Serpentine belt (2 minutes) removal of two bolts (another 3 minutes) and the disconnecting of 1 electrical plug, and a ground wire (another 1 minute)

Removal, and Installation went so easy, the parts guy couldn't believe how quick I came back with the old one for core charge re-imbursement. Mark

Per Mark D:

No tensioning issues? I'm thinking probably not bc of the spring-loaded idler I see on mine.

Could you do it all bare-handed (i.e. only wrenches, no levers or pry bars)?

At about 120k, I've been through 3 alternators already.... got a rooftop box... maybe I'll start carrying the next replacement up there along with required wrenches...

Well, i am 70 and now on 2 canes with a useless knee and it was 103 degrees, so i stopped for a cool iced tea.used to do it in 2o minutes too, but had to find a pipe wrench to twist the tensioner arm. also had to redo the wires that i had cut to see if the fusable link was bad.(it was ok but still 103 degrees hot.)also had to replace the battery that i had run down to drive home on and put the original back in. All in all, your cheap shot eas wasted on one who could beat you at anything when 10 years younger. so next time, i will e mail you to come and help me. "bet you wouldn't" old john ps: the serpentine belt was the hardest without the right tool oj. the alternator was a perfect fit and will probably run 100,000 miles. they were out of the "new " one at 169.95

Hello, Mark! You wrote on Sun, 7 Aug 2005 08:30:07 -0600:

MD> At $139, I suspect you did. I had mine go out on my '97 Tahoe, went MD> right to Chevy, and a 'remanufactured" AC/Delco 105 Amp was $238 with MD> core exchange. Yep, it was quite a bit more money, but I've heard some MD> bad things about these aftermarket generic Alternators, that usually MD> they only last about a year. Sure they give you a good warrantee MD> (usually lifetime) when you buy thier top of the line unit from most MD> places, but who wants to be under the hood repeatedly dealing with MD> something like this down the road?

MD> I looked at one, and it looked like I'd be shimming with washers, and MD> whatnot.

MD> Since the replacement was exactly identical to the original, changeout MD> took about 15 minutes tops. MD> All there was, was disconnection of battery, (1 minute), the removal of MD> the Serpentine belt (2 minutes) removal of two bolts (another 3 MD> minutes) and the disconnecting of 1 electrical plug, and a ground wire MD> (another 1 minute)

With best regards, snipped-for-privacy@comcast.net. E-mail: snipped-for-privacy@comcast.net