02' Silverado Lifted

[northfacetraveller]

Hey Guys and Gals!

Im hoping that starting a thread will keep me motivated to finish my current sleeping platform/storage project!! So I bought a 2002 Silverado 2500HD 4x4 with an 8.1L and and Allison earlier this year, it had 180,000 miles and a worn set of BFG A/T's. But it was in pretty mint shape, with no mechanical issues to speak of and a showroom condition interior with heated seats! Shortly after I purchased it I levelled it and put a set of 285/75R16 Duratracs which I have to say were one of the best all around tires I have ever had. And up until a couple months ago it was pretty much stock. After I had saved up some funds and work slowed down for the winter season I picked up some goodies for it, starting with a 6" Zone Off Road suspension lift, Line-X'ed ARB front winch bumper which I picked up off of craigslist for $400, Bushwacker pocket flares and 35x12.50R20 Pro Comp Xtreme M/T's.

I know its not the ideal overlanding rig considering its a bit of a pig on fuel and it rides on 20's. However it seems to meet all of my current needs and I figured since I will only be using it for 1 large trip per year plus a few smaller trips here and there and I dont make any payments on it, it seems to equal itself out. I bought a mid 80's Vanguard camper for it that I dont really like as much as I thought I would. I love to build things so I decided that after much research to make a sleeping platform in the box with storage underneath, onboard water supply hot and cold, l.e.d.'s, folding kitchen etc... I am picking up a softopper canopy for it, I've heard they are better than the Bestop ones?

I am also planning a 2 week trip down south, as I live in Richmond, B.C. Canada and I have never driven further south than Bellingham, I would really like to go to Moab, Utah and anywhere else anyone might be able to suggest around the area? Plan is to drive about 5-6000kms and hit Yellowstone, Moab, Nevada Route 66?, San diego CA, Oregon Coast and back. The plans havent been set in stone yet, so were pretty open to any highly reccomended destinations, I like to drive backroads and and get off the beaten path, I have heard about the "White Rim Trail" in Moab, but I've heard you need a pass to drive it?? I will add more pics as I make progress on my sleeper platform.

Also just wanna say thanks to the members of this board for posting wicked trip reports and overland build ups to keep my dreams of long distance road travel alive!!:elkgrin:


Thanks again in advance for any input or comments!

 

[Alaskan1Ton]

Sweet ride man. It looks awefully clean, sure you wanna scratch that beauty up???:Wow1:

If you dont already then get a Winch for that nice bumper up front.

 

[Mark Harley]

Cool truck! Like the flares,
How much work was the lift?
Did you do any steering upgrades?
Shoot more pictures of the build!

 

[northfacetraveller]

Thanks! Its allready got some scratches on it, hard to tell because white hides them pretty well and it was all shined up for a trade show few weeks back.. But yah, no use havin a truck if I dont use it like one! The lift was pretty straight forward, had to drill a few holes and cut the top ear of the front differential for the drop down bracket and weld a piece of steel into the factory crossmember. Ive got some other pics, I will try to load them when I get home from work although I dont have any build pics of the suspension, but will take a few from what I accomplished last night with the start of the sleeping platform. A a winh is definatly on the list, Im just dreading taking the bumper off and reinstalling it because it weiighs a ton, lol.

The lift is from www.zoneoffroad.ca

 

[BCHauler]

Looks great. Nice to have another BCer on the board, especially one with a gas sucking truck like me. What did you do with those Duratracs? Hmmm...

 

[northfacetraveller]

Thanks! Yea shes a bit of a pig, but what can you do, lol.. I sold the duratracs on craigslist.

 

[BCHauler]

Fair enough. I was just mooching for a big Expo-discount for some nice tires.

 

[northfacetraveller]

Here are some pics I have from just after I bought it, has a levelling kit, 285 Duratracs and a toolbox.

 

[Larry]

Lookin good Northfacetraveller! Your choice of lift, wheels and bumper are very tasteful and functional. WOW, nice score on the ARB bumper! The 8.1L is a great alternative to diesel power. About the only idiosyncrasy with the 8.1L is the early ones (01-03) have crank sensors that will, without a doubt, prematurely fail. If you are not sure it has the new design you may want to invest in one. A new sensor is an inexpensive piece of insurance (~$80) to keep the truck off the side of the road. I have the same truck but with a 6-speed manual, manual shift transfercase and bucket seats. I bought it new right after 9-11-01 during GM’s “Keep America Rolling” campaign. This truck never sees dirt though. It is more of a garage queen with only 53K miles on it. The crank sensor failed in 2007 with 49K while still under the emissions warranty.

 

[northfacetraveller]

Thanks Larry! I actually did replace the crank sensor allready as it cracked while driving down a washboard road, lol. But thanks for the tip!! I like you K10 its a pretty awesome setup with the trailer. I've been debating swapping trannies as I have the allison trans and it has alot of torque management, I driven a savanna van with the 8.1 and a 4l80e and it hauled ***, Im also wondering if it would increase my fuel mileage at all? I dont do alot of towing or hauling at all. currently im getting around 200 miles to a 96L tank give or take 5-10 miles. I like the manual tranny you have in your, thats pretty awesome! Those seem to be hard to come by up here in B.C.

 

[DT75FLH]

so does that work out to 8.3 us mpg???

 

[Larry]

Odd that any sensor mounted in the engine would crack on a washboard road?? Glad to hear you got a new one though. You wouldn’t gain much by doing a trans swap as they are all heavily torque managed. My 6 speed manual truck as well. The Allison does eat up a bit of power to turn though and probably does tax you a bit more on fuel economy. You can have a tuner turn off torque management, which makes a big difference in the seat of the pants feel but won’t do much for fuel economy. My stock 2001 Silverado with the 8.1L and the 1978 K10 with a 2002 8.1L have completely different personalities. The stock 8.1L in the Silvy runs and pulls well. The tuned 8.1L in the ’78 is flat out mean (torque management toggled off, EGR toggled off, RPM limiter toggled off, electronic throttle toggled off, with a 91 octane hot tune added and bump in fuel pressure). Look into ECM tuning. You won’t be disappointed. Howell Engine Development is just one of many tuners that can get rid of Torque Management. If you can’t down the truck to send off the ECM just go buy another P59 ECM at the salvage yard to send a tuner to program for you. P59 ECM’s where used in many many different GM vehicles. ECM tuning usually runs around $300.

 

[northfacetraveller]

Unfortunatly mpg isnt the greatest, but I made that compromise when I bought the truck as I could afford to pay cash for it at the time and did not need to make payments. So it kinda evens itself out, lol.. I get anywhere from 8-11mpg depending on driving style, city or hwy etc...

 

[BPMOU]

NorthFace and Larry,

I have a 2002 Suburban 2500 with the 8.1L and have a question about the crank sensor. I have had this vehcile for about 5,000 miles. When I go to start it in the morning it takes quite a few turnovers of the motor to get her going. I usually crank it for a second turn the key back and then crank it again and it fires right up. Is this a symptom of the crank sensor? Any other thoughts.

Northface, love your truck. My Suburban is a heck of a machine, hard to believe I am saying that I like it more than my old LX450. I am going to start looking later this year for a 2500 pickup with the 8.1l to add to the Suburban as my wife drives the Suburban now. Between the those two trucks and the gas saving get around car we'll have quite the fleet.

 

[Larry]

NorthFace and Larry,

I have a 2002 Suburban 2500 with the 8.1L and have a question about the crank sensor. I have had this vehcile for about 5,000 miles. When I go to start it in the morning it takes quite a few turnovers of the motor to get her going. I usually crank it for a second turn the key back and then crank it again and it fires right up. Is this a symptom of the crank sensor? Any other thoughts.

Northface, love your truck. My Suburban is a heck of a machine, hard to believe I am saying that I like it more than my old LX450. I am going to start looking later this year for a 2500 pickup with the 8.1l to add to the Suburban as my wife drives the Suburban now. Between the those two trucks and the gas saving get around car we'll have quite the fleet.

Brandon,

Excessive crank isn’t usually indicative of an 8.1L crank sensor issue, not to say it can’t be though. Typically, the failure mode is stalling where it usually will easily restart for the first several occurrences then finally it will just stall without ever restarting again until the sensor is replaced. I work for a truck manufacturer where we build over 100,000 stripped chassis with the 8.1L for the RV market and commercial stepvan market. The failure rate of the 2001-2003 8.1L crank sensors was unbelievable! Once GM Powertrain redesigned the sensor, crank sensor failures are all but a bad memory now. I haven’t even heard of a failure on a 2004 or later 8.1L. Contrary to popular believe, the 8.1L was still available in new RV chassis up until 2011 model year even though they disappeared from pickups in 2007.

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For your issue, especially since you mention that you recycle the key to get it to start, I would recommend adding a fuel pressure gauge to the fuel rail and see what the fuel pressure is doing once you turn the engine off. Normal pressure while running is around 62 psi. Once you turn the engine off the pressure will fall to around 40 psi for as long as 24 hours then slowly fall off to zero. If your fuel pressure quickly falls to zero as soon as you turn the engine off that would mean the pressure relief valve in the fuel pump module inside the fuel tank is stuck open or there is a rub hole in the supply line inside the fuel module where the pressure and return lines rubbed against each other. Both are common issues. When the valve sticks or there is a hole in the internal line it causes excessive cranking as the fuel pump has to quickly build fuel pressure and overcome the internal fuel leak at the same time. Once the engine is running you wouldn’t even notice the valve sticking as the pump has the ability to supply enough volume and pressure to overcome an internal leak. When this happens there isn’t a DTC that will be stored while a crank sensor issue usually will drop a code. Back to the crank sensor, if you can get ahold of a scan tool you can monitor crank sensor while cranking to see if there pulse data. It is possible for an engine to start on the cam sensor when a crank sensor fails but it takes a lot of cranking to get it to start. Again, there would be a check engine light and stored code if that was the case. I’ve seen 8.1L engines not start at all when the crank sensor dies then I have seen others that will eventually start by the cam sensor. My particular Silverado was totally dead Fred when the crank sensor when out. BTW, you can identify the “bad” design crank sensor by looking at it once it is removed from the engine. If it has two O-rings (one at the top and one at the bottom), it is the early design that is habitual for failing. If it only has one O-ring towards the top of the sensor it is the later design that has a great track record. Be careful removing it from the engine! It is about 6” long and if you break it off inside the engine you’re screwed. I’ve seen a lot of dealer techs break them upon removal.

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Sorry for the detour Northfacetraveller….now back to regular scheduled programming