2000 Suburban K1500 budget low lift with 37"s

CrazyDrei

Space Monkey
On Board Air: Divorcing Puma compressor!

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I never liked the idea of having an onboard air system in my truck however I knew that someday I will eventually get around to it. I bought the Puma compressor/1.5 gal tank combo to see how well it works and I was pleasantly impressed. The price difference between just the compressor and the compressor and tank was $5 so I bought the combo knowing that I am getting way more than $5 worth of parts that I will be able to reuse when I finally get around to the install.

This is the first part of the install, divorcing the Puma, making a bracket and attaching it to the truck.

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My subwoofer has never worked because the previous owner had an aftermarket sound system which bypassed the factory amp, this should be as good of a place as any to mount the compressor, and there is even a huge air vent to help circulate the air.

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GM engineers, bless their made in China approach of keeping the trucks together with snap clips. Makes removing all the panels a tool-less job.

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This is what my drivers side rear area looks like. Subwoofer taking up valuable space and the facotry jack, not sure why I have not tossed it yet, and yes GM trucks even come with wheel chocks (on floor right side of the sub.)

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Puma is divorced, pretty easy, most threads are NPT except for the air hose that comes off the cylinder which is a 3/8" BSPP (19 tpi vs 18tip in NPT).

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First mock up with the first bag of junk that was within reach. Puma is an oil-less compressor, it can be mounted in any orientation including upside down. If there are any issues with the upside down mounting position I will cover that in later posts. However I guarantee that it will be at least 100F cooler upside down in the the air conditioned cab than it will be right side up inside the engine compartment that many Jeep and FJ40 guys run.

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Jack hold down brackets is in the way.

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Bracket was trimmed off to make room for the compressor.

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Yes that is a bed frame that I used to make the brackets.

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Still trying the get all the angles right so I don't have to alter the look of the rear "glove box"

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The final product, fits perfectly.

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Another angle of my bed frame, angle iron bracket. I wended a part of it and got tired of grinding the paint so it was way easier to finish it with drilling holes and running 1/4" bolts. I also used 5 self tapping screws to attach the bracket to the side. There are several layers in the body sheet metal, the screws are not sticking out the side.

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This is what the finished product looks like. Yes I used the exactly the same picture as I had in the beginning because it really is hidden well in plain sight.

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Next step is to figure out what to do with the tank. Run air and power lines and figure out what layout to use for the controls in the rear "glove box."

Stay tuned for more shenanigans!
 
Last edited:

rayra

Expedition Leader
Best use of the breadbox yet. Mine just has my lightweight shade awning and a roll of TP in it.

Consider something like 3" round soffet vent screens placed in the top tray / pull-out lid of the side panel jack storage area - or just pulling out that tray when you've used the compressor to help with cooling it off.
 

CrazyDrei

Space Monkey
Best use of the breadbox yet. Mine just has my lightweight shade awning and a roll of TP in it.

Consider something like 3" round soffet vent screens placed in the top tray / pull-out lid of the side panel jack storage area - or just pulling out that tray when you've used the compressor to help with cooling it off.

Rayra,

You're too funny, I think every Sub and Yukon XL out there has a roll of TP in the bread box. I was thinking along the same lines as far as removing the jack storage lid out to create better air flow from the subwoofer opening up and out the jack lid when the compressor is running.

I just got the tank bolted up and wires ran, will get the write up on the last part in the next few days.

Stay tuned for more shenanigans!
 

cheepsk8

Observer
Crazy, on my recent bed frame recycle project, I found it difficult to keep a drill bit sharp. Even using a lot of oil. What kind of bit did you use that made it easier to drill than grind and weld?
 

rayra

Expedition Leader
imao, lower drill speed, less pressure, let the bit do the work and keeping the bits from overheating keeps them sharper longer. Also helps accuracy and drilling / cutting to start with a punch, smaller bits, working your way up to a larger hole in a few steps in drill sizes. That goes for most drilling in heavy / hard metal.
 

CrazyDrei

Space Monkey
Crazy, on my recent bed frame recycle project, I found it difficult to keep a drill bit sharp. Even using a lot of oil. What kind of bit did you use that made it easier to drill than grind and weld?

Cheepsk8,

Great question. I have a Harbor Freight 29pice set. It was purchased over 10 years ago, I have bought another one since when it was on sale for $10 but have not touched it yet. I use the smaller odd-size dril bits to make pilot holes and the actual size drill bit to expand the hole. No oil and I go as fast as the drill will let me applying as much pressure as I can before the bit snaps.

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Harbor Freight titanium drill bits

imao, lower drill speed, less pressure, let the bit do the work and keeping the bits from overheating keeps them sharper longer. Also helps accuracy and drilling / cutting to start with a punch, smaller bits, working your way up to a larger hole in a few steps in drill sizes. That goes for most drilling in heavy / hard metal.

Rayra,

I really should go slow and less pressure but Harbor Freight drill bits were purchased to be disposable and 10 years later I snapped a 1/4" two years ago and 1/2" got too dull to use on metal about 8 years ago from drilling 20 holes in 1/4" steel. I do let the bits cool down between holes and that has made them last longer than I ever expected.

Stay tuned for more shenanigans!
 

rayra

Expedition Leader
"No oil and I go as fast as the drill will let me applying as much pressure as I can before the bit snaps. "

^^^ that's the OTHER way to do it

lol
 

CrazyDrei

Space Monkey
Hood vent update!

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These Focus RS vents are tiny but seem to be functioning perfectly. They move just enough air for the temperature under the hood to stay below 170F measured with the Torque App for the intake temp while with the vents covered the temperature under the hood measures 200F measured with the Torque app air intake temp. Both were measured in 110F outside air temp after idling with AC on for 15 minutes.

The vents are doing exactly what I needed them to do. Now I can park for extended periods of time in extreme heat without worrying that the truck will overheat or opening the hood to circulate more air. Larger vents will not be needed after all.

Stay tuned for more shenanigans!
 

yoggie

Member
Hood vent update!

These Focus RS vents are tiny but seem to be functioning perfectly. They move just enough air for the temperature under the hood to stay below 170F measured with the Torque App for the intake temp while with the vents covered the temperature under the hood measures 200F measured with the Torque app air intake temp. Both were measured in 110F outside air temp after idling with AC on for 15 minutes.

The vents are doing exactly what I needed them to do. Now I can park for extended periods of time in extreme heat without worrying that the truck will overheat or opening the hood to circulate more air. Larger vents will not be needed after all.

Stay tuned for more shenanigans!

I am impressed those small of vents make that big of a difference on your big suburban! Very cool!
 

CrazyDrei

Space Monkey
Snorkel update!

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Several months ago I finally pulled the trigger on a snorkel. I got the 80 Series Land Cruiser snorkel and made it fit the truck just like many others have. It looked great, and even ran well however on long uphills and off-road in 4x4 low the engine felt like it suffocated and I started seeing many new check engine codes I have never seen before. I disconnected the snorkel from the airbox and put my old K&N cold air in.

My original snorkel install

Finally I had some time to tinker with the setup. I decided that the smallest section of the air intake system was the Mass Air Flow sensor at 3.5. The snorkel has a 3" choke point at the top where the air enters the snorkel and a 3" hole where the air comes out of the snorkel into the air box. Many people have run the snorkels as is with no problems but I did not like the choke points.

I can not easily expand the top of the snorkel so I decided to make the snorkel airbox junction bigger. I went from 3" to 4".

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First step was to trim the airbox plastic that was in the way of the air flow.

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There wasn't too much to trim but I cleaned it up a lot from the original setup pictured above. Not the air entering the airbox has a full 4" diameter unrestricted hole to go through.

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I cut the old 3" boot off and made the hole 4". I used a PowerTec 4" vacuum/dust collector gate as my 4" junction. I used a heat jun to mold it to the shape of the snorkel.

POWERTEC 70108 4-Inch Blast Gate for Vacuum/Dust Collector

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Silicone was used to seal the gap between the two plastic pieces and screws were used to hold the two pieces together. The screws do not interfere with the airflow nor the mounting.

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I used silicone to seal the inside of the 4" adapter to keep this a water tight system. I also siliconed the airbox but did not take any pictures. 4" new intake on the left (12.56 square inches) and the 3" old intake on the right (7.065 square inches). Visually the difference is minimal however increasing the diameter by 1" nearly doubled the area of the hole.

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Last but not least I changed the paper air filter out for a K&N look alike that I picked up on eBay for $17 shipped.

Bolted up the snorkel, attached the airbox to the snorkel with 4" silicone boot, hooked up the piping to the throttle and fired the beast up. It's been a month of commuting, highway and a couple 4x4 trails at 2,000ft and 8,500ft. No issues with the air flow, and no check engine lights.

Stay tuned for more shenanigans!
 

CrazyDrei

Space Monkey
More snorkel stuff.

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I used the aluminum pipe that came with the cold air intake to connect the airbox with the throttle. It's a cleaner and more manageable setup and I threw away the factory piping years ago and can not justify spending more money on this project.

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New K&N look alike air filter on the left and factory paper air filter on the right. Looks like the factory air filter is so deep that it was actually blocking some of the air flow into the airbox and the truck was not receiving uniform air flow. This could have cause the engine to feel like it was suffocating, throwing all the check engine codes as well as causing the check engine light to blink several months ago then I installed it originally.

New air filter is a much lower profile and does not interfere with the airflow into the airbox. The engine also runs much smoother and the intake temperatures are 10-20 degrees lower now then they were with the cold air intake measured with the torque app intake air temp.

Now that the snorkel is finally adjusted and working as I want it to in the extreme desert heat I might eventually get around to filling the voids on the underside of the snorkel with expanding foam and painting it black to make the final fit and finish look a little bit cleaner.

Stay tuned for more shenanigans!
 

cheepsk8

Observer
Crazy, keep us updated on how well that filter works. I’ve heard some people say that the K&N lets too much dust through and the oil can contaminate the air flow sensors. I don’t have first hand experience with this and know you will definitely put it to the test!
 

CrazyDrei

Space Monkey
Cheepsk8,

I have run a oiled and un-oiled K&N cone on my cold air for the last five years. It is way better and less maintenance in any climate that is not the desert. Daily driving and off-road adventuring in Las Vags I have to clean it and re-oil it every 3-6 months. Pre-filter did absolutely nothing so I took it off after two years. My general rule of thumb was that when the truck downshifted into 3rd on a particular section of my commute from work it was time to clean it.

This K&N knock off should function exactly the same way. I will update on the miles and months driven between changes to give everyone an idea.

As far as the sensors go, lol. Yeah about that, the dust has not yet interfered with any of my sensors but I do try to not run the truck too dirty. The fist year I had the oiled K&N I did not clean or re-charge it once. Since then, once a year I clean out the MAF with MAF cleaner and simple green the crap out of the tube that runs from the MAF to the throttle. Also I have to change my spark plugs every year or two because of the fine dust contaminants that are flowing through the filter get into the engine.

Stay tuned for more shenanigans!
 

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