AC or not to Ac is the question

[Originalthor]

So my suburban has no ac. I just picked up a suburban with factory air. I live in Canada and it gets warm but not crazy at least for the most part. I want to keep the truck as simple as possible.

Is it worth the while carving up the firewall and moving everything. The ac suburban is rough under the hood but the under dash stuff seams to be ok.

Or just go with vintage air down the road if I need it?

Or lol sorry. Is it possible to make the ac work with out all the vacuum stuff?

 

[Snoots]

You need the vacuum stuff to properly operate the heater and defrost as well.

 

[ReefkoiC10]

Im not wild about the size and looks of the factory ac on a c-10, but they work better than the vintage air units, the Vintage looks great as you really cant even see it! But that means they dont blow as cold and hard because the components are much smaller. I’m sure in Canada you’ll be just fine, if you lived in the south with tons of humidity and heat yeah you’d want the factory one I think.

 

[Rickf]

I had a CUCV Blazer and added a Vintage system. I sound deadened and insulated the crap out of it. It was not as cool as I would have liked in the front and poor in the back. I would think a burb needs f&r a/c.

 

[cstew47]

I took all of the HVAC stuff off of my 78 K5. I live in a temperate area and don't see the need for all of the complications and gas consumption. It really cleaned up the engine compartment.

 

[RecklessWOT]

It would be pretty much useless on a Suburban unless you went all the way and did rear A/C too. My truck is factory front-only A/C, and it might as well not even be there. For a single cab pickup I'm sure the factory A/C does a very good job in such a small compartment but the inside of a 'burb is like 3-4 times larger which is a big area to cool, and it's covered in about 50 linear feet of glass to boot. My truck on full blast only ever did a good job on cloudy days, it was basically just convenient for the defrost/dehumidifying capabilities, it could not keep up with the heat generated by the sun beating down on all those windows and gigantic metal roof. Generally it was cooler just to roll the windows down. I live in New Hampshire which is about as far north as you can get in the US (borders Canada) so it's not like I'm in some crazy warm place either. If you can live with it now the way it is, just save yourself the hassle.

 

[Originalthor]

It would be pretty much useless on a Suburban unless you went all the way and did rear A/C too. My truck is factory front-only A/C, and it might as well not even be there. For a single cab pickup I'm sure the factory A/C does a very good job in such a small compartment but the inside of a 'burb is like 3-4 times larger which is a big area to cool, and it's covered in about 50 linear feet of glass to boot. My truck on full blast only ever did a good job on cloudy days, it was basically just convenient for the defrost/dehumidifying capabilities, it could not keep up with the heat generated by the sun beating down on all those windows and gigantic metal roof. Generally it was cooler just to roll the windows down. I live in New Hampshire which is about as far north as you can get in the US (borders Canada) so it's not like I'm in some crazy warm place either. If you can live with it now the way it is, just save yourself the hassle.

Thats kinda what I was thinking. Its alot of real-estate to keep cool. My daily beater van has ac and I only use it while on the phone. I think I'm still gonna pull it all out and have on the shelf for if I ever find the rear ac unit.

I took all of the HVAC stuff off of my 78 K5. I live in a temperate area and don't see the need for all of the complications and gas consumption. It really cleaned up the engine compartment.

The engine compartment does look alot cleaner with it not all in there i agree. Especially when the ls goes in it will be nice and clean under the hood

 

[SirRobyn0]

So my suburban has no ac. I just picked up a suburban with factory air. I live in Canada and it gets warm but not crazy at least for the most part. I want to keep the truck as simple as possible.

Is it worth the while carving up the firewall and moving everything. The ac suburban is rough under the hood but the under dash stuff seams to be ok.

Or just go with vintage air down the road if I need it?

Or lol sorry. Is it possible to make the ac work with out all the vacuum stuff?

I live in the PNW, most people would say it does not get hot here and it certainly doesn't compared to say Arizona.

But I'm wuss. I do not like heat one bit. Anything over 70 is pretty much to hot for me. So I would put A/C of some sort in. I would use the stuff out of the other truck. For one thing it'll be cheaper. And while you have it apart you can inspect and replace anything that needs to be so it can be reliable.

 

[RecklessWOT]

I live in the PNW, most people would say it does not get hot here and it certainly doesn't compared to say Arizona.

But I'm wuss. I do not like heat one bit. Anything over 70 is pretty much to hot for me. So I would put A/C of some sort in. I would use the stuff out of the other truck. For one thing it'll be cheaper. And while you have it apart you can inspect and replace anything that needs to be so it can be reliable.

I can't tolerate the heat either, I'd rather it be -20F than 80F any day. I'm a complete b!tch when it comes to warm temps. But putting front-only A/C in a Suburban is useless, trying to rely on it on a hot sunny day is worse than simply rolling the windows down, it just can't keep up plain and simple. At least rolling the windows down gives the heat generated by the sun hitting the glass somewhere to go rather than baking to death in a fishbowl... You have a pickup, totally different game. Trust me, the dash A/C in a Suburban just doesn't cut it, gotta have rear A/C too, which is a much more involved swap.

 

[AuroraGirl]

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YOU ARE AN AMERI-CAN NOT AN AMERI-CAN'T

I can't tolerate the heat either, I'd rather it be -20F than 80F any day. I'm a complete b!tch when it comes to warm temps. But putting front-only A/C in a Suburban is useless, trying to rely on it on a hot sunny day is worse than simply rolling the windows down, it just can't keep up plain and simple. At least rolling the windows down gives the heat generated by the sun hitting the glass somewhere to go rather than baking to death in a fishbowl... You have a pickup, totally different game. Trust me, the dash A/C in a Suburban just doesn't cut it, gotta have rear A/C too, which is a much more involved swap.

 

[Goldie Driver]

I can't tolerate the heat either, I'd rather it be -20F than 80F any day. I'm a complete b!tch when it comes to warm temps. But putting front-only A/C in a Suburban is useless, trying to rely on it on a hot sunny day is worse than simply rolling the windows down, it just can't keep up plain and simple. At least rolling the windows down gives the heat generated by the sun hitting the glass somewhere to go rather than baking to death in a fishbowl... You have a pickup, totally different game. Trust me, the dash A/C in a Suburban just doesn't cut it, gotta have rear A/C too, which is a much more involved swap.

I can't deal with the cold, but can tell you from 1sthand experience with the 91 Sub that the front only will not keep up.

So, went junkyarding back in 00 or 01 when there were squares in the local junkyards and got the pieces I needed and had it installed.

Mo better, and except for the wiring and resistor was all GM - hoses, rear housing and blower, rear AC switch.

I dont know if the vintage air could be used in conjunction with GM rear ac - probably, but I dont know.

Finding old GM parts or aftermarket replacements for them is IMHO the easier path.

The cheapest path is 260 AC.

Open the wing windows and drive 60 (pick your unis of mileage) per hour.

 

[Joe Voter]

May be handy havin the parts around, that was a good idea.
Maybe the future holds other trucks?

 

[SirRobyn0]

It would be pretty much useless on a Suburban unless you went all the way and did rear A/C too. My truck is factory front-only A/C, and it might as well not even be there. For a single cab pickup I'm sure the factory A/C does a very good job in such a small compartment but the inside of a 'burb is like 3-4 times larger which is a big area to cool, and it's covered in about 50 linear feet of glass to boot. My truck on full blast only ever did a good job on cloudy days, it was basically just convenient for the defrost/dehumidifying capabilities, it could not keep up with the heat generated by the sun beating down on all those windows and gigantic metal roof. Generally it was cooler just to roll the windows down. I live in New Hampshire which is about as far north as you can get in the US (borders Canada) so it's not like I'm in some crazy warm place either. If you can live with it now the way it is, just save yourself the hassle.

I did not think about the "front only" thing when I posted, and you bring up a very good point. I've owned in the past several full sized vans, and we use to have an RV that did not have a generator, so you could only run the roof air when plugged into shore power. What I use to do I had a clear plastic vinyl sheet that I'd hang behind me from the top bunk. So anyone riding in the rear didn't have A/C but they weren't sitting next to the dome either. If I was in the position the OP is in I'd install the front A/C and get something like like a clear vinyl sheet to hang behind the seat, if he drives it alone a lot. Ya, there will still be heat exchanged from front to rear but it will help make the A/C useful.

To be honest I'm sure a wimp in the heat, I wouldn't by a rig without A/C anymore. When I bought my truck I was not really looking for another truck when it was offered to me. My only question was does it have A/C, she said yes I said ok, I'll take it.

 

[Originalthor]

I did not think about the "front only" thing when I posted, and you bring up a very good point. I've owned in the past several full sized vans, and we use to have an RV that did not have a generator, so you could only run the roof air when plugged into shore power. What I use to do I had a clear plastic vinyl sheet that I'd hang behind me from the top bunk. So anyone riding in the rear didn't have A/C but they weren't sitting next to the dome either. If I was in the position the OP is in I'd install the front A/C and get something like like a clear vinyl sheet to hang behind the seat, if he drives it alone a lot. Ya, there will still be heat exchanged from front to rear but it will help make the A/C useful.

To be honest I'm sure a wimp in the heat, I wouldn't by a rig without A/C anymore. When I bought my truck I was not really looking for another truck when it was offered to me. My only question was does it have A/C, she said yes I said ok, I'll take it.

I would feel like a covid taxi driver with some plastic around me lol. Although it does remind me of when my inlaws had a rv and we took it on a pretty good trip and we closed the privacy curtains to keep the background noise from all the kids and wifes. It did stay pretty cold up there.

I'm for sure going to pull the whole system. Put it on a shelf and maybe sometime down the road I'll come across a rear unit and do it all at once. Or sell it lol.

 

[SirRobyn0]

I would feel like a covid taxi driver with some plastic around me lol. Although it does remind me of when my inlaws had a rv and we took it on a pretty good trip and we closed the privacy curtains to keep the background noise from all the kids and wifes. It did stay pretty cold up there.

I'm for sure going to pull the whole system. Put it on a shelf and maybe sometime down the road I'll come across a rear unit and do it all at once. Or sell it lol.

Sounds like a good plan. But it's really not a big deal to have that plastic, I would never have even thought about covid, I would just be happy to be at a comfortable temp, but that's me.