97 suburban , a truck called uncertainty.

[TechNoir]

So this is my 6th GM truck , I think.... Anyway .
It's a 97 Chevrolet Suburban lt 1500, has 174k , 5.7L , 4wd . 9 seater , pretty run of the mill.

I'm hoping to do some real basic things to it ,: 17x9 steel wheels , 33s , a small suspension lift , maybe a push bar with some aux lights , just normal stuff I guess . But I have to clean it up a TON , however I have had a crazy idea for along time now that may or may not happen because I want to have a nice truck , who doesn't right ? But my crazy idea is to cut the back part of it out , make it like a four door unibody truck , like an avalanche type thing . I've seen it done before but of course it's a big thing to do to a vehicle you want to keep decent ....

after washing the exterior

 

[TechNoir]

this is what I'm talking about doing to it ,

 

[kojackJKU]

I am not a fan of chopping up stuff like that. I would get a truck or avalanche if that's what you are after.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using Tapatalk

 

[bdp1978]

Dang....did you pull that thing out of the bottom of a lake!?!?!?! Thats a full interior gut job.


And agree with above^^^ Hack jobs always end up looking like.........hack jobs. Great for a Trail rig..but probably not for an everyday driver.

 

[east_tn_81]

That's pretty cool.

 

[TechNoir]

yeah , the interior is going to be by far the hardest work on this , in regards to the whole cutting the roof off is where my uncertainty comes in because I don't want it be a hack job haha , and
I want to retain most of the benefits of all the seating / cargo room depending on what I need atm . If I do decide to do it. it will be very carefully thought out and even then I may not have the testicular fortitude to chop up a decent truck as this is .

 

[Martinjmpr]

IMO that cutoff job looks hideous but hey, whatever floats your boat. It's not like GMT-400 Suburbans are rare vehicles or anything, so it's not like you'd be cutting up something irreplaceable.
.
Now if you were thinking of doing a similar hack job on a 67-72 3 -door Suburban, I'd probably weep for the loss of a disappearing classic.
.
Where did you get the picture of the cut-up NBS/GMT800? Seems sort of odd to do that to a GMT800 when you can actually BUY a GMT800 Avalanche. What did they do for a tailgate on that one? Adapat a Silverado or Avalanche tailgate? Since the GMT800 has either a one - piece lift gate or barn doors, you'd have to do something creative. On your GMT400 you already have the drop gate (I'm assuming you have the drop gate and not barn doors.)

 

[chaos616]

I think that GMT-800 is cool! It looks way different than an avalanche, and while I think the avalanche is just fine, this somehow looks neater, it would be especially cool if you could incorporate a window like the older blazers had that rolled up and down on the back. That being said, to make it look good, wow, that would be a ton of work and probably some money or mad body fab skills to make it functional and look good.

If you like it and have the time money and skills, i think it would be a cool project.

 

[TechNoir]

The thread for the build on that truck stopped two or three years ago , if I had a tailgate truck my decision to do it would've way more inclined , I have barn doors which wouldn't make me shy away from it but I still want it to be at least a decent "conversion" rather than a hack job of any kind . My thing is I want to put a removable barrier between the second and third row made out of canvas or something of the sort with a plastic window , I don't much care for wind noise , but making it as water proof as possible when installed is my biggest concern .

 

[bdp1978]

I think that GMT-800 is cool! It looks way different than an avalanche,

Hahaha, hmm, are we looking at the same truck....cause other than missing the plastic trim bar thing.....it looks............exactly like an avalanche.

 

[M35A2]

The thread for the build on that truck stopped two or three years ago , if I had a tailgate truck my decision to do it would've way more inclined , I have barn doors which wouldn't make me shy away from it but I still want it to be at least a decent "conversion" rather than a hack job of any kind . My thing is I want to put a removable barrier between the second and third row made out of canvas or something of the sort with a plastic window , I don't much care for wind noise , but making it as water proof as possible when installed is my biggest concern .

It's not going to be easy to make a decent looking barrier, and even harder to do it with canvas such that it is water and windproof. Creating a steel bulkhead should be doable; more difficult if you want it to look good.

If the truck itself is a keeper, maybe score a rear clip from a wrecked Avalanche.

 

[BBslider001]

Please don't cut this thing up. Get an Avalanche....to each his own, but I second the hack job. That's all it will be, no matter how "clean" it looks.