I have a 93 4WD 3/4 ton GMC Suburban. I need a vehicle to tow a car trailer and make Home Despot runs, and go on scuba diving in Mexico every once in a while.
The truck has 260k miles on it. I replaced the transmission 12 years ago. Reverse died on that tranny. The current transmission, a GMC rebuild with only 38k miles on it now won't shift into 4th gear (OD). The truck has a transmission cooler.
This problem started a year ago. I use the truck mostly for short runs so I was able to live with it.
I was hoping the problem was something simple like a vacuum leak or a bad solenoid valve but after driving on the freeway today on a warm spring day going up a grade, I'm convinced I need a new tranny. I'm going to be moving to Arizona soon so I need a reliable truck to haul all my stuff.
So my options are:
Fix the truck- new transmission and 5 new tires. The tires are 9 years old and one started delaminating today. I got home on the spare and it just got me home when it died too. The spare was probably original.
Donate the truck and replace it with another used truck.
My Suburban is a bit of an eyesore. The roof is rusty, the paint is bad, ABS, AC and radio don't work.
Right now it makes sense to just get another truck out of Craigslist but with what? There are lots of options.
Another Suburban (1/2 ton or 3/4?)
A Ford F150, or half ton Silverado or Dodge pickup?
I'm in analysis paralysis mode
