2001 Suburban suspension suggestions or links?

[mchambers]

I have noticed that the ride on my Suburban is getting rougher and tighter feeling. Thinking it is time to redo the suspension. Looking for suggestions or links to threads that have had favorable results. My local shop only wants to replace with factory replacement style products but I would like to improve it to better than new.
My goal is to keep it below 7' total height with roof rack.
What I am looking to do is:
replace shocks on all four corners.
replace Universal joints due to clunking when shifting into gear
replace with same or would love to upgrade to better brakes.
Service transmission
service rear end and replace seal
check steering components since I have a very slight play in the steering

Anything else I am missing? After 15 years are there any components or seals I need to replace while I am having the work done?
Also if you happen to live in the Durham/Raleigh NC area do you have a local shop that you like for more than your average wham bam thank you ma'am suspension work?

 

[rayra]

stabilizer bar end links.
stabilizer bushings.
ball joints.
possibly control arm bushings.
your torsion bars may be fatigued.
rear trailing arms (sold as complete units with bushings in them, very inexpensive.

rockauto.com has the very lowest prices I've found anywhere. And they have a range or vendors from cheap to major name vendors, to suit your wallet.


There's a good bit of Suburban factory suspension discussion in me 'Hey Vortec Guys' topic - http://www.expeditionportal.com/for...Vortec-Guys!-Sierra-pickup-Suburban-Yukon-etc

 

[mchambers]

Thanks Rayra. I have found bits and pieces in various threads but I was wondering if someone had written up a thread that had more details in one place and my searches had failed to find it. I check out the thread you listed above. Have a great one

 

[Stryder106]

For suspension - go to Eibach Springs. Check out their Pro Truck Sport shocks. My 2002 Avalanche was the project truck for these shocks and they are seriously good and reasonably priced. Thick shafts, high and low speed valving, ride great on the road, perform great offroad. My buddy is the R&D Engineer there and he created these shocks when I was complaining about lack of options for our vehicles and wanting a shock that drove well on the street yet would excel offroad, be sufficient for heavy load or towing my race car, and would work whether I was crawling along or bombing through the desert.

During the design process, he would dyno the shocks, put them on my Av, we would go drive it in different environments, dyno them again, make tweaks, do it all again, and again and again until we were both happy. Check them out, you won't be sorry. There are a few different versions - mine are the Pro Truck Sport. http://eibach.com/m-america/en/performance/pro-truck-shocks

 

[rayra]

Thanks Rayra. I have found bits and pieces in various threads but I was wondering if someone had written up a thread that had more details in one place and my searches had failed to find it. I check out the thread you listed above. Have a great one

I've not found a key reference topic for it. The 'suburban mafia' here has a sort of floating crap game going on, bouncing between various suburban topics talking about the options. Try 'GMT800' in your searches as well. Lots of discussions keyed on that.

 

[justcuz]

The clunking while shifting in to gear may just be the output splines in the tailshaft need some grease. Fixed the problem with 3 of my Chevys. Pull the driveshaft and with about 2 pumps of grease on your finger tip smooth it around inside the slip joint. Re-install driveshaft, clunk should be gone.

Google GM 800/900 brake swap. Bigger brakes from GMT900 vehicle can be fitted to a GMT800 platform

 

[mchambers]

Justcuz: I was just thinking about the brake swap options today. I was thinking that I had heard something about this a while back.
I have the ZW7? with the self adjusting shocks. I talked to a shop today that is associated with strutmasters and he was saying I could switch to an active shock setup and install a stiffer spring and get a softer ride. He said that he would suggest it unless I was towing. Then he would keep the self adjusting stock shocks. Hew suggested Monroe on the front but also said that Bilstein or Eibach was good as well. He said they used a ton of Eibach springs they liked them because they came in prestressed and didn't need adjusting after some break in.

 

[justcuz]

I have autoride in mine and have kept the factory shocks, but I installed Hummer H2 rear springs. I run 285x75/16 tires and I believe I still fit under 7 foot clearance in parking garages. Moog also has some rear springs and the part numbers have been listed here someplace. I think they are stock replacement and Z71 part numbers.

 

[mchambers]

Well I took the Suburban and dropped it off at the shop and asked them to go over it. Surprisingly they said it was in overall great shape. Bushings looked good, ball joints looked great and were tight. The Nivomat shocks looked great and they suggested not replacing them, plug wires were good. They said that it might need a front end alignment. They could put it on the machine and there would be no charge if it didn't. The good thing is they aren't trying to jack up the bill with unneeded items.
Suggested replacing front shocks if I wanted but they weren't leaking or showing any negative signs, replace fluids in braking and steering system, and clean the fuel system and replace the plugs.
On the flip side... They wanted $167 each for Bilstins on the front. That is double the online cost. Labor was only $88 to replace both. They also wanted $24 each for spark plugs! They were double platinum whatever and he sounded like he was describing a wedding ring when he was talking about them. I think labor for plugs was around $190.

 

[rayra]

The most expensive double platinum or even iridium plug for your truck doesn't top $6ea at rockauto.com.

http://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/...1500,5.3l+v8,1371585,ignition,spark+plug,7212


I have no affiliation with them, just a really satisfied customer, having just recently 'discovered' them after 30yrs of turning my own wrenches. I thought I was deal-shopping BEFORE. Some of their prices for stuff are so low it disturbs me to consider how much more money I spent elsewhere.

 

[mchambers]

Wow!!!! I expect some markup but that is steep! How hard are these things to change yourself on the 5.3 with average hand tools? I haven't changed a plug in 35 years myself. As a kid I would watch my father work on stuff and he would spend a week doing it with multiple trips to town to buy tools and the parts that he didn't know he needed until he tore into whatever he was working on. Where a mechanic could have had it fixed in a couple of hours. Of course it didn't dawn on me at the time that he was enjoying being outside and away from customers at the time also! That is something I appreciate more every year!!

 

[mchambers]

Rayra you are the man! whoa! they have ac delco for $3.00 thanks for the heads up!

 

[justcuz]

I think the AC Delco plugs may be NGKs. My last set said Made in Japan on them. They work fine though.
Plugs on these are pretty easy, just be careful the heads are aluminum, so don't go nuts tightening the plugs. I use a dab of anti seize on the plug threads. Coil on plug makes for short wires and most low speed misses are the wires in my experience. Your guy may be honest but he ain't cheap!

 

[rayra]

eye-popping, isn't it? Similar 'deals' on all sorts of other parts too. I just priced out a whole cooling system revamp at under $200. Pump, thermo and its housing, upper and lower hoses, heater hoses, and even a new reservoir. About 60% of the costing at Autozone. And less than a third of dealer pricing.

For the plugs, the chief concern is aluminum heads and plugs that have been in for 100k+ mi. Best advice I've found was a spritz of penetrating oil on their threads the night before, and a brief bit of runtime to warm things up slightly beforehand. My biggest worry was stripping the threads in the head when I pulled what appeared to be original plugs at 116k mi.