2007 Suburban - MUDHORN

[CrazyDrei]

You know, the "auxiliary" position you're referring to is the normal position for the GMT900's. Is the bottom of the bumper whacked off your border patrol truck? They just relocated the washer reservoir to inside the engine compartment because it's under that "battery tray" and exposed when the bumper cut is done.

nitro_rat,

Interesting, did not realize that they moved the battery in the GMT900 trucks. So the GMT800 battery position is the auxiliary battery location in GMT900 trucks and vice versa.

As far as the bumper goes. They must have removed the OEM windshield fluid reservoir when the skid plate frame was put in and relocated a smaller windshield reservoir inside the engine compartment. Rear nozzle wiring and plumbing is still there but not hooked up.

Front bumper appears to be stock and not cut up to increase front end clearance. It was not cut. Not sure why they moved the reservoir up. My only guess is that they drove it fun and at one point the front bumper did get damaged on obstacles and replaced, reservoir must have been moved at that time.

 

[CrazyDrei]

Update:

Got one afternoon of clear skies this weekend - so went ahead and did the quickest update I could and got a little extra ground clearance and better looks in the front...

Before
View attachment 568164

After
View attachment 568165

Also had all the windows tinted on Friday as you may notice the tint visor on the windshield.

Coming this weekend are tow mirrors, a new unique set of emblems (FINALLY HAVE A BUILD NAME AND WILL REVEAL IT WHEN NEW EMBLEMS ARE IN! ) New HD Coils and coil spacers going in the back to address the sag. Hood and roof wrap coming soon too.

Wow, the truck looks so much better without that wind dam under spoiler. Looks great, keep the pics coming!

 

[JeepinPenguin]

Decent start. Real trick is keeping up the momentum

How are you securing that spare? Hell of a projectile if you have an accident.

Wishing mine was five years newer. My paint's starting to crap out all over.

The spare is literally just annoying the hell out of me right now. I think I am going to end up going for a Wilco hitch carrier. Or modify the stock area but not sure if the stock location will be more hassle than its worth. But the Wilco being like $1300 is a tough pill to swallow too. But yeah it needs addressed.

My paint on the hood and roof has crapped the bed too. The clear coat has peeled and it looks horrible. Just waiting for nicer weather so I can vinyl wrap them to clean them up.

 

[rayra]

hah, good old GM. Drei's reservoir is the exact same piece as factory stock on my '85 C-10. GM doesn't change a part unless they HAVE to. In fact the U-joints in my '85 C-10 are identical to the 4 in my '02 K1500 Sub.

 

[rayra]

The spare is literally just annoying the hell out of me right now. I think I am going to end up going for a Wilco hitch carrier. Or modify the stock area but not sure if the stock location will be more hassle than its worth. But the Wilco being like $1300 is a tough pill to swallow too. But yeah it needs addressed.

My paint on the hood and roof has crapped the bed too. The clear coat has peeled and it looks horrible. Just waiting for nicer weather so I can vinyl wrap them to clean them up.

Why'd you take the spare out from under in the first place? (maybe I missed something about adding a fuel tank?)

 

[JeepinPenguin]

Why'd you take the spare out from under in the first place? (maybe I missed something about adding a fuel tank?)

No worries - well for one, I'm not sure if the size of the new tires would fit. But what the killer was is the center cap hole in my new rims, was too big for the stock spare wheel winch to latch onto.

At least that's what they (Discount Tire when they mounted my new wheels and tires) told me... and I stupidly took their word for it... maybe I need to double check that? @rayra you may have just saved me major coin if I go check and can actually get the new spare back up in there.

 

[rayra]

I'd be surprised if it DIDN'T still work and they were just being lazy. But check thoroughly, you don't want the thing to come loose going down the highway, it could kill somebody.

 

[Todd780]

I'd be surprised if it DIDN'T still work and they were just being lazy. But check thoroughly, you don't want the thing to come loose going down the highway, it could kill somebody.

Yep, found out on the side of a highway my spare tire winch had seized up. ?

 

[rayra]

yeah, that's a real problem in rust country, too. All I can suggest everyone do is take the thing apart and clean it and saturate with something like lithium grease or really slather it in true gooey grease as a preventative.


Jeep, I was under the rear of my Sub today working on the rear power plug mount for my winch setup and took a look, the plate for the spare winch has two steps in it and the outer flanges of it reach all the way to the lug nut pattern size. It should work with ANY rim that bolts on your vehicle. I'd say your tire place lied to you because they didn't want to screw with it.

 

[JeepinPenguin]

yeah, that's a real problem in rust country, too. All I can suggest everyone do is take the thing apart and clean it and saturate with something like lithium grease or really slather it in true gooey grease as a preventative.


Jeep, I was under the rear of my Sub today working on the rear power plug mount for my winch setup and took a look, the plate for the spare winch has two steps in it and the outer flanges of it reach all the way to the lug nut pattern size. It should work with ANY rim that bolts on your vehicle. I'd say your tire place lied to you because they didn't want to screw with it.

Actually @rayra mine doesnt have that nice big base on it. I dont have a photo of mine specifically but mine looks like this:
And its all rusted to hell (which to your point I bet the winch seized or put up a good fight). And the tips are bent downward a little. It definitely makes me nervous looking at it..

I also worry about the strength to support the larger heavier wheel. That may be misplaced worry but still I have some reserve about that, because like you said, I would hate for it to drop out while going down the highway.

All this keeps making me want to rear mount it. Wish I could get a nice bumper and not have to go custom. Which again brings me back to Wilco hitchgates. Just don't like the additional length that will add.

 

[JeepinPenguin]

Yep, found out on the side of a highway my spare tire winch had seized up. ?

Yeah I also would really hate to find out that way that mine was seized as well. Plus I also dont want my nice new rim getting all banged up and ruined riding under the truck. Rear tire mount just sounds so appealing.

 

[rayra]

I think member @Jelorian had a rear hitch-mounted spare rack on his gmt800 Sub. I'll go fetch his built topic link...

eta ah, it's the wilco rig you are talking about.

Jelorian's 03 Z71 Suburban Build

Here is my build thread on my 2003 Chevy Suburban 1500 Z71. She's to be the family weekend mobile, but I'm still not sure if I want her to be our Overland rig. I bought her with 100,400 miles on 1/9/2015. She was bone stock and previously owned by an elderly couple who always brought her to...

www.expeditionportal.com

eta I'm making a wrecking yard pilgrimage in April to pick a few parts for my Sub, if you want me to scrounge up a spare winch assembly for you that's not rusted to crap (I'm in SoCal), let me know. You cover the cost and shipping I'll get it done.

 

[JeepinPenguin]

I think member @Jelorian had a rear hitch-mounted spare rack on his gmt800 Sub. I'll go fetch his built topic link...

eta ah, it's the wilco rig you are talking about.

Jelorian's 03 Z71 Suburban Build

Here is my build thread on my 2003 Chevy Suburban 1500 Z71. She's to be the family weekend mobile, but I'm still not sure if I want her to be our Overland rig. I bought her with 100,400 miles on 1/9/2015. She was bone stock and previously owned by an elderly couple who always brought her to...

www.expeditionportal.com

eta I'm making a wrecking yard pilgrimage in April to pick a few parts for my Sub, if you want me to scrounge up a spare winch assembly for you that's not rusted to crap (I'm in SoCal), let me know. You cover the cost and shipping I'll get it done.

Dang @rayra you are a stand up guy! I really appreciate that offer. Through further evaluation of my situation, I think for the time being I am holding off on the under body solution. I think my interests are leaning more towards the rear mount option. Again, I really appreciate that offer.

In other news, Middle-Tennessee has been getting crappy rainy weather again and I do not have a garage to work in, so the reveal of the rebadged/renaming of the burb project is on hold. Some priming and painting was done on the short nice afternoon I had yesterday though. So the next nice day I get, it will no longer be just a "GM Suburban" as the doors indicate

 

[CrazyDrei]

The spare is literally just annoying the hell out of me right now. I think I am going to end up going for a Wilco hitch carrier. Or modify the stock area but not sure if the stock location will be more hassle than its worth. But the Wilco being like $1300 is a tough pill to swallow too. But yeah it needs addressed.

My paint on the hood and roof has crapped the bed too. The clear coat has peeled and it looks horrible. Just waiting for nicer weather so I can vinyl wrap them to clean them up.

JeepinPenguin,

You got a couple low budget options if you want to keep the spare tire and spend $1,300 on a fancy rear bumper carrier.

Below are two links to a custom $100 hitch mounted spare tire carrier that I made for a friend and below it is how I attached my 35" spare donut in the factory location. My spare tire winch works and I test it every other month as well as pack it with grease. It lowers the tire down easily but I need to manually raise the tire up and then tighten the winch to keep it from falling off.

Hitch mounted spare tire mount

35" spare mounted in factory location with factory winch

Hope this helps you save some cash on that bumper so you can spend more time adventuring.

 

[CrazyDrei]

hah, good old GM. Drei's reservoir is the exact same piece as factory stock on my '85 C-10. GM doesn't change a part unless they HAVE to. In fact the U-joints in my '85 C-10 are identical to the 4 in my '02 K1500 Sub.

rayra,

GM is pretty cool in that respect. I have a 96 4 door Tahoe, 2000 1500 Suburban, 2004 Avalanche, 2011 2500 Suburban. I'm taking parts of the Avalanche and saving them because it is ridiculous how many of them bolt up to all the other trucks.