What tools to work on a truck?

[azure55]

When I say truck I mean a Suburban. I have been doing a lot of DIY work on my cars in the past few years, and have put together a fairly nice collection of tools, some good quality and some junk but it works. I just bought a Suburban, and have never worked on a large vehicle like this before. I am already buying a 3 ton jack and accompanying jack stands, but I'm wondering what other tools should I be thinking about buying that I may not have needed or thought about before? Some might suggest waiting to buy them when the job comes up, but come on....would that really help to continue a tool addiction?? I don't think so...

 

[1950mercury]

What year if its a 1978 sae tools

 

[General Geoff]

A BFH and some good quality pry bars are highly useful for brake & suspension work on a full size truck, if you don't already have one. Honestly, about 98% of the tools you'd use to work on smaller cars will work just fine on a Suburban.

 

[Mikerodrig27]

larger 6 point sockets. 19+mm

 

[Tim37]

It's a Chevy a gallon of gas and a match should fix u right up.

 

[trentonmakes]

It's a Chevy a gallon of gas and a match should fix u right up.

Lol
AAA membership for Fords.

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[malibu101]

I'd say a repair manual, preferably the factory volumes.

 

[whitetrash1]

Nothing crazy. A few larger sockets maybe. I would check to see if the brakes use a normal bolt or the hex bolt gm used for awhile. If so the hex socket for that.

 

[azure55]

Thanks its an 04 Suburban. Ya I guess it wouldn't hurt to get a bigger hammer and pry bar...

 

[sometoyotaguy]

I doubt you'd need anything too special. A good set of impact sockets and a long breaker bar will get the bigger stuff. Other than that, it'll be mostly wrenches and 3/8" socket territory.

 

[azure55]

Ok thanks...in that case, I would ask what about tools that are useful on Chevy specifically, such as front end tools, or other must haves or very helpful ones...any ideas?

 

[trentonmakes]

The tools you probly already have will be enough in most cases.
Maybe heat source? Oxy/acetylene, preferrably
A press for bushings, O/A would also work[emoji106]
Added from another thread, A grease gun.
Definitely a BFH, pry bars, cotter pins, and as mentioned Haynes manual is always good.

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[Sam'sAutoParts]

An axle nut socket if if you need to do any front end work, size depends a on if it is a 4x4 or not.

Other then that just your usual sockets and ratchets. Being an 04 it should be all metric

 

[Ponchoguy]

What year if its a 1978 sae tools

Not always. Some bolts on 1978 GM vehicles are metric. Typically, the accessory bolts changed year to year and were metric, the bolts in/through the block were old school SAE.

An MTS with both is handy when working on these vehicles.

 

[Ponchoguy]

It's a Chevy a gallon of gas and a match should fix u right up.

What if he doesn't smoke? No need for a match then....

 

[bigfunwmu]

You probably already have some, but a set of good flare nut wrenches for the brake lines you will be changing.

 

[bcradio]

A good air hammer with bits can help if you don't have one. Also, a good impact setup.

 

[velillen01]

Thanks its an 04 Suburban. Ya I guess it wouldn't hurt to get a bigger hammer and pry bar...

My brother actually bought a 2003 Suburban not to long ago. We've had to do some work to it (new rear shocks, water pump replacement, change diff oil, plus other misc stuff) and honestly there isnt any special tools we have needed.

On my brothers luckily nothing was rusted so it has been pretty easy to get everything off.

As for tools...

for brakes you will need a Torx T55. Least on ours you need it to undo the bolts.

Other than that its been mostly just common metric tools. A 10mm-19mm wrench and socket set will get most things but youll need a couple bigger sockets (35mm for the wheel nut...double check yours though) here and there.

You will want a couple extensions for your ratchets if you dont have any. A 6" is pretty much needed for the rear shocks. So get a nice 3", 6" 9" set and youll be fine on that end!

Torque wrench. You might want two of these. Some things take very little torque...like the water pump which two bolts were 11ft lbs whereas others are 75-90ft lb.

Other than those anything you need would be job specific and be something you could pick up when doing the job IMO.

 

[azure55]

Thanks all for the tips, I was a little intimidated by the idea of working on a larger vehicle but hopefully won't be too bad. Someone mentioned brake lines being replaced; are they known to rust easily on these vehicles?

(Especially since I'm in New York)

 

[velillen01]

Unless its been change....they should be the rubber lines so you shouldnt have ot worry about rust on the actual lines. Least my brothers '03 was the rubber lines.

I honestly prefer working on my tacoma and the suburban over a small car. More room

 

[bigfunwmu]

Yep, these generation of GM and Chevy trucks tend to have brake line issues as they age. Especially if not washed very much in the land of road salt.

 

[Sam'sAutoParts]

Yup keep an eye on the brake lines And the fuel lines. If your replacing any brakes parts like the calipers, plan on doing some hard and flex lines at the same time.

Keep an eye on your caliper brackets and make sure they are free, if they get seized the brakes get scary real fast!