1989 GMC Suburban "Trail Boss" conversion

[shrineboy]

Well last week did not go as planned with 3-4 days with 20-30 mile an hour sustained winds made it a little hard to work on stuff outside so I didnt get any work done on this and had to just take the Tacoma camping with the scouts. The suburban does quite a bit of wandering on the road and there was a new drag link in the back when I bought it. Had the kid shake the wheel back and forth and there was a bit of wiggle at the pitman arm so I went ahead and replaced it.

It helped but wasnt the cure, It still wants to wander but now only above 45-50. I have a weld on steering box brace and an XJ steering shaft to go in, still need to check the rest of the steering components and do an alignment/castor check.

We did have nice weather for camping though, 70 during the day but chilly at night (35-40 degrees)

Well last week did not go as planned with 3-4 days with 20-30 mile an hour sustained winds made it a little hard to work on stuff outside so I didnt get any work done on this and had to just take the Tacoma camping with the scouts. The suburban does quite a bit of wandering on the road and there was a new drag link in the back when I bought it. Had the kid shake the wheel back and forth and there was a bit of wiggle at the pitman arm so I went ahead and replaced it.

It helped but wasnt the cure, It still wants to wander but now only above 45-50. I have a weld on steering box brace and an XJ steering shaft to go in, still need to check the rest of the steering components and do an alignment/castor check.

We did have nice weather for camping though, 70 during the day but chilly at night (35-40 degrees)

You may want to consider this to help with bump steer.

 

[warrpath4x4]

You may want to consider this to help with bump steer. View attachment 826311

Ya ive thought about it but i dont want to have to lift this thing any higher than it already is. As this thing sits the rear cargo space is about my stomach and i dont want to need a step stool for the scouts to get stuff out lol

 

[warrpath4x4]

So when I bought the suburban the guy said it leaned a little to one side, It was on a hill so I didnt really notice it. Since having it home I have noticed that ya it does lean to the driver side, looks like the driver spring is just sagging compared to the passenger side. Last night I pulled the tape out and the driver side is 1.5 inches lower than the passenger from the fender lip to the top of the hub. I debated several ways to "fix" it while being cheap (contradiction in terms lol) and decided just order a new set of Tuff country leaves for just the driver side. It was hard to swallow cause one leaf pack is $270+/- when both pairs of 4" springs i ordered for the stepside were only $200, but I really dont want to lift this thing any higher.

So waiting on the leaf spring to show up and new U-bolts from ORD because I do not reuse U-bolts.

 

[warrpath4x4]

Built a simple bracket and mounted a GMRS on top of my CB, still need to wire them in. I am very new to the GMRS radios so please let me know if there will be interference between the radios or not.

I mounted them offset so I can mount a switch panel closer to me

 

[warrpath4x4]

Well I had planned on taking this to the Veteran Overland Memorial Day Muster but that didnt happen, ran out of time and waiting on parts to show up.

while waiting for parts I installed the new headlights, they are SMD sealed glass lens conversions to convert to an H3 bulb

ditched the wiring nightmare of a stereo install (on the left is the old, the right is the new pigtail)

and with a new head unit I had to upgrade the rest of it, new speakers under the dash pad, 6X9's in the rear side panels (because crutchfield was wrong on size), and a powered 10" sub under the back seat.

little bit of a difference

 

[warrpath4x4]

I was trying to get this thing ready to go for a trip and that did not happen so I quickly yanked the CB and GMRS out and threw them in my tacoma. Ive realized that this thing wont really work how I wanted it to for hauling scouts and "overlanding". I put new leaf springs in the front and it still leans to the driver side, I added a zero rate and it still sits unlevel. The frame has to be tweaked but i cant see where. So it just sat over the summer as we were busy with scouts and different plays my kid has been in.

I picked up a one ton parts truck for my stepside I am building so I have all the parts to build the 44/12 bolt from the stepside which i was going to do and put them in my kids 72 K5 but am second guessing giving him a daily driver in high school with lockers, beadlocks, and 37's lol. soooo... I am thinking of building the 44/12 and throw them in the suburban and use it go ice fishing (hoping for good weather) and take the scouts sledding and winter camping.

Trying to remember all the parts I have from the stepside for the axle swap, 4.88 gears, 12 bolt mini spool, zip locker front, chromoly shafts front/rear, crossover steering (maybe highsteer also), ORD cross member, steel diff covers f/r, 37" M16 swampers on beadlocks, and from the parts truck a shackle flip and ORD front body mount/spring hangers. The suburban has the funky 4" lift springs with extended hangers, I have a set of 08? HD leaf springs and the shackle flip to install, I may have to play around with spring packs but I have several laying around.

 

[warrpath4x4]

Since buying this thing it has stumbled and tried to die and sometimes did die when hitting the brakes but not all the time. I ordered a TPS and IAC from Rock auto, standard brand and was just gonna replace both since sensors/electrical are getting old on this thing. Pulled the TPS and it was already a replacement unit (someone's been down this road) went to pull the IAC and it was finger tight at best. Went ahead and replaced it anyways since i was there. Runs like a top now, no stumble.

 

[warrpath4x4]

Well i thought the IAC being loose was the problem but the stumbling and dieing came back.

i was reading where others were having the same problem and it was their fuel pressure regulator, i found an ACDelco one for $50. i figured this would fix it as this was the old one when i removed it.

I had yet to give it a tune up (i know should have been done already) so I did that, and it needed it.

crusty coil got replaced with an MSD coil

#1 spark plug

rust powder came flying out when i took that boot off

And its still stumbling when braking, going to change the fuel filter as i already have one and im sure it needs it.

 

[wikun]

Nice I have a 98 Tahoe that is soon to be in my driveway. The old man parked it and diagnosed it with a bad fuel pump. I know that when I came back from deployment in 2010, my 98 sierra went about 3 miles down the road and then died. Turns out it was a plugged fuel filter. Changed it on the side of the road in San Diego and it ran till the day I sold it. I am thinking that possibly this new tahoe may have the same issues. Hope yours is just a plugged filter too. Following.

 

[warrpath4x4]

Put a new fuel filter in it and its still stumbling when letting off the throttle. While researching the problem i found out/remembered the IAC needs to be reset after replacing so I did that but no real change. Figured I would see where the TPS voltage was reading 0.79 closed and 4.5 wide open, drilled out the mounting holes some and its now at 0.64 closed and 4.34 wide open. still stumbling but maybe not as bad. It idles just fine (not sure at how many RPM's with no tach), runs fine when on the throttle, when you let off it its almost like the RPM's drop too far and it starts stumbling but now if i hit the brakes it usually brings the RPM's back up enough to where it smooths out.

I am wondering if i should pop the plug out of the throttle body and adjust the idle stop screw? I have thought about replacing the fuel pump but it smells like it is running rich.

I have a tach and a new EGR valve on the way. recently replaced parts are plugs, wires, cap, rotor, MSD coil, fuel filter, TPS, IAC, CTS, O2 sensor, fuel pressure regulator.

 

[warrpath4x4]

Put the new EGR valve on, had to pull the throttle body to do it so replaced the hard throttle body gasket while i was there. Finally got time to drive it last night and it did not stumble at all ... until I pulled in the driveway and put it in reverse, stumbled and died. started right back up and finished backing in. While the throttle body was off i drilled out the cap for the idle stop screw but have not made any adjustments yet, the tach is supposed to be here today then i can watch what the RPM's are actually doing.

 

[warrpath4x4]

The steering has never been great on this thing and I have some parts to upgrade it (steering box brace and u-joint steering shaft) and a crossover steering kit minus a new box for when i swap the new axle in, but i wanted to make it better in the interim. I couldn't see buying new tie rod ends for current setup just to ditch them later so i figured I would break out the crossover steering and just use the tie rod (knuckle to knuckle) parts... good thing I did because I did not as complete a kit as I thought I did. So I ordered an ORD heavy duty (1.25) tie rod and some tie rod ends and a new steering stabilizer. I opted for the pre threaded tie rod out of convenience.

well it wasn't "as" convenient as I expected.

the ends bottomed out before the whole assembly was to the correct measurement

they were about an inch to long

so i just used the portaband and cut about an inch off the end and chamfered them and got everything installed

it drives safer but there is still a little play, might be the frame, might be the rag joint, all the tie rod ends have been replaced now.

 

[vintageracer]

Vintage vehicles are so much fun!

 

[Overlandtowater]

Looks great. Wish I could start again with a square body.

 

[warrpath4x4]

next weekend im supposed to be picking up an 88 3/4 ton suburban frame (frame, fuel tank, rear springs), I am not looking forward to swapping the frames but I am going to take the chance to install some spare ORD parts I have laying around (shackle flip, engine cross member, front hangers, front springs). I need to build the axles out of my stepside (44/12 bolt with 4.56 gears, selectable locker front, posi rear, crossover steering, chromoly rear shafts) for it. should be able to have a rolling chassis ready to swap drivetrain and body