Well, I just purchased my first diesel vehicle, after a long search for the right one. It's a 1999 Chevy Suburban 3/4 ton 4x4 with the 6.5 TD. The truck has 141,000 miles on it, but looks and runs like new, and its no exaggeration. I'm only the 2nd owner, and the original owner took very good care of it, and the condition of this truck just blew away every other suburban of similar vintage away. So, I'm very pleased with it. I just got it a few days ago, and haven't had a chance to drive it much yet (just got tags for it yesterday), and have only driven it at night after work.

Just had a few questions:

- I noticed under hard to full throttle acceleration, there is quite a bit of smoke coming from the exhaust. I can't tell what color the smoke is, as I've only driven it at night, so I'm seeing the smoke cloud left behind in the car headlights behind me in my mirrors. My friend who followed me home the night I got it said the smoke looked reddish colored?? Is that possible? The truck doesn't smoke at all under any other conditions, and it runs perfectly under all throttle positions. The turbo spools up fine (based on sound and power). I don't care about smoke at full throttle, as long as its not a sign of a pending problem - just want to make sure it was normal or not, because most of the other Suburban TD's I test drove didn't smoke much or at all under WOT.

- I think the truck could use new shock absorbers - I haven't checked yet, but I think they may be the originals. The ride seems a little bouncy to me, but then again it may just be I'm not used to the ride of such a large truck

Stingray:

I have a 95, 6.5 with 130,000+ miles. I purchased the vehicle with 58,000 miles [as second owner too] and with exception of replacing alternator, auxillary lift pump, and pump mounted driver (PMD) on the injector pump, I have had no other problems. The lift pump is an auxillary pump located underneath the driver-side portion of the truck that is a 12 volt pump that supplies fuel pressure to the main injector pump. Read some threads regarding problems associated with this so you will recognize the symptoms if it goes out. Not expensive and no big deal to replace. Do the same for the PMD. Mine went out twice (under warranty the first time, on me the second). You will find all the reading you care to regarding this little piece of electronics. In short, if this goes, replace with a remote-mounted aftermarket driver (don't let anyone talk you into to replacing the main injector pump (many mechanics will try this) until you are certain the PMD is not at fault, it usually is). You can buy the PMD fairly reasonably (compared to main injector pump) and do the work yourself.

As for the smoking, mine has always put out considerable smoke if you "hammer it" or place it under a load. If yours is like mine, it seems to smoke the most if you have done some easy driving around town and get in it to pass or something. Otherwise, no noticeable smoke.

Good luck, I like mine and plan to keep it for several more years (along with recently purchased D-max). Mine [95] gets much better fuel mileage than my D-max, but it is 2-WD. Still drives and handles good, but it should, it's a Chevy.