1988 Suburban "MOBY"

[bigtrkltltrl]

My V2500 came with dual front shocks and that mount spacer is not installed on mine. I would say it was added for the lift to keep factory size shocks.

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[tgdoumit]

yeah, i thought it looked kinda short cut, el'cheapo style..
thanks for the pix!

 

[tgdoumit]

finally got to drive MOBY today after work. did a 50 mile loop, hills and hwy.
this thing tracks down the road so well compared to the last sub i had. the engine ran so good and the leaks are gone.
discovered some noises that need to be addressed too. can hear the running boards and exhaust banging around and a u-joint going too.
plus one of the rear door windows is cracking. great! add a window with privacy glass to the list....... grrr.

 

[tgdoumit]

found a replacement window yesterday after work. its a few years older but matched up just fine in color.


watched the junk yard wrench monkey pull this window. he said that these were a real pain to get out in one piece. he yanked every bolt and screw to get it out but I'm telling you it wasn't needed.

i pulled the small window along with the rearmost guide. one screw on top of the door frame and a 7/16 bolt below. pull down and take the window out with its rubber. the guide will come out through the top with a quarter twist at the end.

when you get to where you want to take the window out, slide the front roller out first then the rear. probably have to move the window up or down a bit to find the right place.. the channel on the bottom of the window is open on the front and back so you slide the rollers out on their respective ends..

when going back in, reverse order. Rear roller first.

do not hit the edge of the window on anything as it breaks pretty easy. it has the tint laminated inside so it will not shatter if you have a goof...

i am thinking that is how mine was broken, when i got a look inside, nice shiny window motor!


old glass cracked in the corner and across diagonally.


this came via santa brown today. looks like I'm getting saturday booked up!

 

[tgdoumit]

as you guys have probably noticed, i really post a lot of pix.... just wait till something interesting happens!
hope some of this will come in handy for someone besides myself. i know i cam prolly look back and remember what i did by cruising this thread. it's been handy in past builds....

well, what i have been up to today after work:
pulled the old ps exhaust manifold and replaced it without the california spoo... not needed nor is it required here.

also popped the front diff inspection cover for a lookit.




silly rabbit... you shouldn't be a cheap-o-mo-fo and try to weld the end back on your manifold... especially when both ends are busted!!!
new are not that much

the diff fluid up front looked used up but wasn't a total shocker like what i saw inside the rear diff...

i have one other project for this weekend that i hope to get to. i bet i post more pix.....

 

[Seanmiller063]

Now I'm hooked until this weekend!

 

[Bojak]

Love the suburban. Love all the pics even more. You gotta love the square bodies.

 

[justcuz]

I agree with the previous poster. The shock extensions look like a couple of front spring shackles welded together to keep the stock shocks with the lift. A good pair of aftermarket gas shocks will eliminate the need for dual shocks.
Dual gas shocks may allow you to eliminate the sway bar for better front axle articulation.
Your "steam punk" rear locker is called a G80 gov lock. It has a flyweight mechanism that uses wheel speed and centrifigal force to lock und unlock the rear end. If you google GM gov lock you will find a YouTube video on how it works. They work pretty decent in 9.5 semi float and 10.5 full float rear axles. You should add about 4 to 8 ounces of friction modifier when you change the gear oil. It can be purchased at the dealer or aftermarket at the parts store. The flyweight and gear mechanism when locked run up a ramp that tightens the pressure on LSD style friction discs to lock the rear axle. The centrifigal weight unlocks it all after a certain axle speed. It then becomes a realitively weak LSD. It locks at low speeds only.

 

[tgdoumit]

thanks for the info on the gov lock!
im prolly not going to mess with the front suspension for now because i am pretty sure that the front springs are going to get swapped out along with the engine.
this will not be a dedicated wheeler by any means. i have other rigs for that, so no crawling off ledges or boulders.
the on road abilities will be important and of course it will have to be able to go through moderate terrain at times. i know words like "daily driver" and "tow rig" dont really excite peeps around here but that will be it's primary functions. it will also stand alone for camping trips when we aren't rock crawling in the desert.
anyways, it will be a fine capable solid rig for many different uses but not locked into one thing only. i have some of those already

 

[justcuz]

Your welcome on the info.
Suburbans grow on you, if you're like me and mine, you look for reasons to take them places.
Whenever I leave town I find a way to get a little "dirt on the tires" excursion tucked into the regular road trip.
The last example was some off road driving up in the Bristlecone Pine Forest looking for a better spot to take a panoramic picture that turned into a mild 20 mile 4 wheel drive trip! The visitors center was still closed for winter (early May) so we substituted the visitor center time for a little 4 wheeling. My cousin and her husband from Ohio were with us and they loved it! We went from So Cal to Seattle, over to Hurricane Ridge, the Hoh Rain Forest, Oregon Coast, Ferndale, San Francisco, Monterey, Yosemite, Death Valley and they were more excited about a 20 mile off road trip than most of the rest of the trip!
The Park Service has a nice square body Suburban with a 4 spd and a plow, parked along the road to Hurricane Ridge. I've seen it both times I was there in the last few years, sure would like to buy that at auction!
I still have my Jeep, but never use my pickup anymore, the damn Suburbans are just too convenient.

 

[tgdoumit]

i sure love driving the suburban. i had a 89 before and it was nicer body wise, but this one is better mechanically.

here's the one i had a few years ago. i tried to buy it back but the guy waited too long. when he finally agreed to sell, i had bought the white one already the day before


i am hoping to get rid of my truck 05 cummins diesel long box. love the truck but i am more excited about the suburban. hope i will have the whole swap finished by this time next year.

Your welcome on the info.
Suburbans grow on you, if you're like me and mine, you look for reasons to take them places.
Whenever I leave town I find a way to get a little "dirt on the tires" excursion tucked into the regular road trip.
The last example was some off road driving up in the Bristlecone Pine Forest looking for a better spot to take a panoramic picture that turned into a mild 20 mile 4 wheel drive trip! The visitors center was still closed for winter (early May) so we substituted the visitor center time for a little 4 wheeling. My cousin and her husband from Ohio were with us and they loved it! We went from So Cal to Seattle, over to Hurricane Ridge, the Hoh Rain Forest, Oregon Coast, Ferndale, San Francisco, Monterey, Yosemite, Death Valley and they were more excited about a 20 mile off road trip than most of the rest of the trip!
The Park Service has a nice square body Suburban with a 4 spd and a plow, parked along the road to Hurricane Ridge. I've seen it both times I was there in the last few years, sure would like to buy that at auction!
I still have my Jeep, but never use my pickup anymore, the damn Suburbans are just too convenient.

 

[Seanmiller063]

Looks awesome!

 

[justcuz]

From a visual standpoint, I like the blue and silver one better. It also appears to have more standard features, I see tow hooks and looks to be a higher trim level. I like the Ford wheels and the locking hubs too. Power train wise the are probably both the same, so no great loss.
When looking at used ones it is sometimes cheaper to buy a higher end one than a basic Suburban. When the little electrical gremlins show up on these things people tend to get frustrated and dump them, while the old reliable, simple, basic Suburbans just get kept and used up by their owners.
Each successive body style includes more and more electronics, so square bodies are super simple by comparison to anything newer.

 

[tgdoumit]

I sure would have liked to get the blue and silver one back. As far as mechanical integrity, the white suburban is way way better. Once I get really into the swap I won't be looking back at the blue one.
Really the only difference between the two are barn doors and tow hooks. Yes I wanted a tail gate this time.
But, it's hard to turn away from a perfect bodied rig and that was what the blue one is...

From a visual standpoint, I like the blue and silver one better. It also appears to have more standard features, I see tow hooks and looks to be a higher trim level. I like the Ford wheels and the locking hubs too. Power train wise the are probably both the same, so no great loss.
When looking at used ones it is sometimes cheaper to buy a higher end one than a basic Suburban. When the little electrical gremlins show up on these things people tend to get frustrated and dump them, while the old reliable, simple, basic Suburbans just get kept and used up by their owners.
Each successive body style includes more and more electronics, so square bodies are super simple by comparison to anything newer.

 

[tgdoumit]

so what i meant to start on last weekend is what i have been messing around with this weekend.
repining the upper hinge and replacing the lower hinge on the drivers side door. i also plan on doing the pins on the passenger side too.

i ran into a few problems along the way:
1) door hinges can be frustrating in the way of alignment. i have had the door off about 15 different times getting at the body side hinges for adjustment. i had never monkeyed with hinges before and they require a learned touch. i would say to take notes and make reference marks as you go. wipe off the previous marks before you re mark for your next move. it's good to have an adjustable platform for the door especially power doors and a faithful buddy to balance and help adjust to get bolts back in.. i did it for a while by myself but i had a kid helping me now and again

2) replacement hinge pins. i was not able to engage the splined section of the new hinge pin all the way. also, i experimented with the old hinge that i removed from the truck to see how much force i could put on the pin to get it to engage. my shop press bent the hinge first....
glad it was getting scrapped anyways. I'm out one hinge kit, the price of experimentation. i think i will go and get a different brand to see if it makes a difference.
my thoughts are that the pin kits are probably made all at the same place and packaged for the auto parts chain accordingly.

i think if i had to press a pin in to the hinge i would use a piece of steel and insert it inside the hinge to give support to prevent it from caving in and wrecking the hinge while in said press.

3) this is out of order but when removing the pins, it is likely you will have to cut them in half first.
mine were crimped at the end and not clipped like some i have seen before. the crimp almost looks like a clip to a old fella with not-so-good vision, well... it doesn't come off.

i might suggest getting a new striker pin if yours is worn and adjustment will probably be required anyway.
just a heads-up, my last suburban had door pin nuts that were not "captured" so when you pull it out to replace one it will fall down into the body requiring magnetic fishing skills and some panel removal technique...