1990 GMC 2500 4X4 Suburban

TennesseeBoy

New member
Spent a few hours last night reading about Chevy SAS, I think I can build one now! Looks like the steering arm, pitman arm, and drag link are the most affected (which you guys already know). These dont have ball joints, right?

Also, can I still check the wheel bearings the same way by jacking it up and trying to move the wheel back and forth?

Thanks!
 

98dango

Expedition Leader
Your 1990 suburban most definitely has ball joints. A shackle flip good shocks and I prefer longer springs up front will make it ride nice.
 

TennesseeBoy

New member
The best thing you can do is to start the motor and have someone gently turn the steering wheel back and forth a couple of inches or so. While this person is doing said steering wheel gymnastics you should be under the vehicle and looking for any wear. By wear I meen any parts that seems to move and not moving the interlocking part such as tierod ends, steering pitmanarm, and so on. This will commonly show up as something that looks like it is only rocking the ajacent part without actually giving it any travel. Also you should take a pointy object and push it into the rubber, or hopefully urethane parts around the spring hangers and the front sway bar. With 6 inches of lift the stock sway bar may have been removed. Any soft or mushy parts you might find are worn out and need replacement. I hope this helps, cheers, Chilli...:)

Is there a way to look at the drive shafts to see if the angle is good on them? Where will it tell you if the angle is too steep?
 

TennesseeBoy

New member
Your 1990 suburban most definitely has ball joints. A shackle flip good shocks and I prefer longer springs up front will make it ride nice.

Guess I need to keep reading! I thought what i read said there weren't any. Got a lot to learn. is there a way to check if theyre in good shape? Like i said earlier, it only has 100,000 miles on it. Hopefully thay cant be too bad.
 

chilliwak

Expedition Leader
Your pinion gear should be level, or preferably pointing slightly upwards when under load. IE the truck should sit on its full weight when you check the angle I have seen some set-ups where the pinion gear points up at almost a straight angle towards the transfer case. This set-up seems to work well for some users. You do NOT want a negative angle where the pinion gear points towards the ground! You can add triangular shims between the spring pack and the axel perch to adjust the angle. Some people do not like these triangular wedges as they say they can come loose and fall off. I say if you lose one it is because your u-bolts are too loose, which will cause problems in any case. Good luck and please post pics so we can follow your progress. Cheers, Chilli...:)
 

Renntag

Adventurer
This dialogue about suspension is helpful. I am about to engage suspension upgrades and am curious what is working for everyone else.
I will be adding a few hundred pounds up front with the install of a 6BT. I am not looking for big suspension lift, but will want clearance for a minimum of 36" tires.
 

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