2003 Suburban project

[BigDan]

Bought a 2003 Chevy Suburban 1500 LTZ , 5,3L , 3:73 gears , rear G80 Eaton gov lock diff , 4x4 , in quite good shape .......

Wanted to get an overland project , looked at some Grand Cherokees , most are rotted under and minimal space to live in....
The Suburban has 8 feet floor , can slide a plywood sheet on floor and close the hatchback hummmmm!
that thing is cavernous !

For now , Id like to put some 33s on it ....I dont intend to do extreme trails , just get to secluded spots .....

Availabilty : 3 inch body lift , 4 inches lift kit from rough country or Smittybilt ......

I dont intend to change gears , so I think 35 s would kill the performance ( 3:73 )

pics to come

Dan ,

 

[Burb One]

Woo! Great to see other Burbs!

I'd skip the body lift, if doing the lift kit. You won't need it for 33's

Search around here, there's a few of us with different takes/ directions on making these things work off road (spoiler: they are awesome for taking a ton of stuff and people most anywhere!)

 

[BigDan]

Woo! Great to see other Burbs!

I'd skip the body lift, if doing the lift kit. You won't need it for 33's

Search around here, there's a few of us with different takes/ directions on making these things work off road (spoiler: they are awesome for taking a ton of stuff and people most anywhere!)

what is your present setup ?

 

[Burb One]

what is your present setup ?

I went from stock
to
2 inch key and coil spacer lift w/ 33's (barely any rubbing only at full lock flexed in the front). You can do a lot with this setup and some decent shocks- I reccomend bilstein 5100's. All in you can be $300+ tires and get most places. Just watch your cv angles when you crank
to
rough country six inch lift with 35's
to
that rc lift with front coilover conversion in the front (I highly recommend this and seems to be a good stopping point before $$$- very good capability with the coilovers and you can fit 35's)

At any point in the above progression you can put a 14 bolt sf in the rear of you want (it's bolt in). With a six inch lift you can put a 2500 front diff. Check out my build thread in my signature for my history/progression. People argue back and forth whether or not the 10 bolt and 8.5 in the front is strong enough for 33's or larger tires. I prefer longevity and not breaking things and you can find these axles for a few hundred bucks in a junkyard.

Now I'm on a self made 12" rear coilover setup and a long travel kit in the front that I'm modifying to have more height and strength than a normal long travel kit and fit the front 2500 axle...

There are quite a few burbs here, with different directions, poke around a bit or just a question I'm sure the burb mafia will be around!

 

[UltimaSanctus]

I second Burb One on not needing body lift if you do suspension for 33s

I'm on supreme suspensions 1"-3" keys up front and 1.5" spacers in the rear and bilstein 5100's all around. I fit 285/70/R17s (32.8"-ish) with no rubbing. Also on Method MR702s which would be similar offset to stock wheels with 2" spacers

 

[Martinjmpr]

I ran 33's (285/75/16) on my '04 with just Z71 springs, a mild key front lift and Bilstien 5100's all around. No issues at all.

 

[BigDan]

I like to see your rides,seems quite easy to get 33’s under it

 

[Bob Boyer]

Hi Dan,

Didn't even bother with the front keys on my 2011 4WD LTZ. Bilstein 5100s all around, using the second mounting point from the bottom on the front shocks and Z71-spec (1250 lb) rear coils direct from Moog in the rear to get rid of that godawful money-eating air-ride rear suspension. Two other additions, since I pull a 17' Winnebago all over creation: a 3" thick all-aluminum Cold Case radiator with built-in transmission cooler and a Tru-Cool Max external transmission cooler to replace the wimpy stock HD trailer package cooler. I also switched to 18" Z71 wheels off of a 2017 or 2018 Silverado with 275-65/18s, (which are said to be 32.1") with no rub. Adding an ARB air compressor this week in the primary battery location on the driver side front since mine came with the battery in the secondary location on the passenger side by the firewall.

Mine came with 3.42s and the rear locker; wish I had the 3.73s but not enough to spend the cash yet. Been very happy with it. Even with 231k miles on it when I bought it, it's been solid. Full tune-up, tranmission service, fluid changes (synthetic everything), and a DiabloSport AFM disabler module is the extent of the rest of my prep so far.

Trying to decide whether to get a storage rack for the trailer hitch for 10 gallons of gas or to put that up on a Smittybilt roof rack. I'm going from 20 lb to 30 lb propane tanks on the trailer hitch, plus a 210 amp AGM battery for the trailer, which adds another 70 pounds as well as the weight of the solar panels, so the decision as to where the jerry cans go hinges on the trailer's hitch weight as much as anything. Oh, and I just added the aluminum GM engine-area skid plate that comes with the Z71 package just because. That's probably more than you wanted to know, but there might be an idea in there that helps...

 

[Burb One]

I like to see your rides,seems quite easy to get 33’s under it

Yep- super easy to get 33's- which will get you to many secluded spots.
For some great pictures on what I believe are 33's and similar setup to what we are discussing check out Dirtdobber's truck: https://expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/dirtdobbers-03-suburban-1500.203062/post-2843963

Here's Burb one back on 33's with a slight crank and 2" spacers


Here's Burb Two now with a RC six inch lift(+front coilover conversion which don't add height) and 35's and Burb One in the background with coilovers all around and 35's

 

[Smileyshaun]

Just remember it’s tire width and backspacing that will determine if I tire will fit . Also not all tires of the same size actually are the same size there can be a lot of difference between manufacturers of the same 285 tire . I run 35s on my 06 Sierra with only 2” of lift because of their 10.50 width .

Edit guess a pic would help


This is a great site for figuring out how different tires and wheels will affect fitment

Wheel Offset Calculator

Use our wheel offset calculator to visualize the new tire position when changing wheel and tire sizes. Convert wheel offset and backspacing to calculate the correct setup for your vehicle.

tiresize.com

 

[BigDan]

I look at all my RPO codes , no mention about LTZ ,but I have : NZZ : off road skid plates , C5Z : 7200 lbs GVW , G80 posi diff , GT4 : 3:73 gears ,but is this enough to determine that it s a LTZ , or it doesnt matters ?
tha registration has no mention of the model ' .....
thanks , keep them comming ,I enjoy all your answers !
Dan

 

[Bob Boyer]

LTZ is just a marketing badge denoting the most luxurious of the variants. Fancier-schmancier than an LT, which is fancier than an LS, in other words. The Z71 nomenclature, however, refers to Chevy's "off-road" suspension package, whether it be on a Suburban, Tahoe, Silverado, or Colorado. The Z71 package should include the G80 locker, skid plates, stiffer springs, and at least on my old ZR-2, Bilstein 4600 shocks. Not sure about the larger trucks and standard Bilsteins, though, as my truck had the air-ride suspension which I deleted as soon as I bought the truck.
Bob

Edit: RPO codes are your friend as you figure out what you have and what you want to modify.

 

[Buddha.]

The Z71 varies on year and model. On my 2500hd truck it’s a chrome and sticker package.

 

[BigDan]

I’ll assume that I have all the good RPO codes then ?
Other concerns:
1) Some say that they use some Ford torsion keys at low cost to raise the front end 1.5 inches, but it looks like there is no cost saving compared to buying the same from lift kits manufacturer, maybe I search wrong
2) Is the Ford key design different , like does it give more lift then the originals for same bolt adjustment ?
wondering why install Ford keys if similar ?
Thanks
Dan

 

[Bob Boyer]

The Z71 varies on year and model. On my 2500hd truck it’s a chrome and sticker package.

Well just... damn. Learned something new - thanks for that! I figured it was as much marketing as options, but that's pretty sad, even considering the 2500 is beefier.