2000 Suburban K1500 budget low lift with 37"s

[CrazyDrei]

Video: another day at the sand dunes, made it to top of competition hill!

My buddy with a RZR with sand paddles is really good at convincing me at joining him to play on the sand dunes. And just as I expected, every time I come out I get braver and braver and push the limits of the Sub every trip. I have been to the top of competition hill in his RZR but always wanted to get my truck up there, after numerous attempts in 2wd, 4wd low and 4wd high I finally made it to the top.


Stay tuned for more shenanigans!

 

[bigred805]

always love coming back to this thread! Hey @CrazyDrei did you ever mention how you were able to get rid of the check engine lights?

 

[CrazyDrei]

always love coming back to this thread! Hey @CrazyDrei did you ever mention how you were able to get rid of the check engine lights?

Bigred805,

Thanx for checking back. Yes I did fix the check engine light. I was getting P0200, P0300, P0301, P0303 codes. After running the truck on a scanner (iCarsoft i900 General Motors) I noticed that several cylinders were misfiring. Plugs, wires and coils were new and good. I soaked the injectors in seafoam, blasted them with compressed air and replaced the pigtails on the cylinders that were misfiring. All in all it cost about $20 and truck runs as it should now, no check engine light.

 

[CrazyDrei]

Video: Chloride Cliff Rd in Death Valley.

I spent a day at the dunes and got a little bored once I managed to get my Sub to the top of Competition Hill and down a couple times, so we decided to go explore the desert and see if we can find our way into Death Valley across the Funeral Mountain Range. Which we did, I did do a timelapse of the drive from Amargosa Big Dune to Chloride CA, but below is just the Chloride Cliff Rd timelapse that's inside Death Valley. The top of the cliff is approximately 5,230ft above sea level or 5,400ft above the valley floor below.


Stay tuned for more shenanigans!

 

[CrazyDrei]

Day Trip: Amargosa Big Dune and Chloride Cliffs Death Valley

Weather is getting awfully nice to explore the desert and surprisingly the Sub is running like a champ, so we go out and explore. This time we went back to the sand dunes at Amargosa Big Dune where for the last year I have been eyeing the top of Competition Hill and really wanted to figure out a way to get the Sub all the way to the top.

We stopped by the Area 51 Alien Center to get gas and random souvenirs.

Next door was a brothel, can you venture a guess which state we are in?

The desert is full of roadside attractions like this world's largest firecracker to draw the tourists off the road and give them a welcome break from driving.

Life is hard when you have to figure out which toys to use at the dunes...

Boys did not hesitate to jump into the RZR.

After couple attempts I finally made it to the top of Competition Hill! Toddlers were having way too much fun as we were attempting to make it all the way up and were highmarking.

Jeep eventually made it up and my buddy is showing off in his RZR.

Jeep attempted to keep up with the RZRs and nearly rolled down a 400ft dune, he ended up backing down in reverse.

400lbs of skid plates and heavy duty bumpers and he's buried in sand. RZRs didn't attempt recovery, Sub pulled him out effortlessly.

3 year old's competition hill!

We got bored of the sand and decided to do a 40 mile each way trail ride into Death Valley to the area known as Chloride Cliff.

We are at 5,230 feet above sea level, yet 5,400ft above the valley floor below.

Top of Chloride Cliff.

No angle from the ground can capture exactly how high we are.

My buddies light up buggy whip.

Not a common sight to see a Suburban at the end of this trail (Jeep did not want to attempt and parked 1/2 down the trail) but also a Suburban with a sand whip.

We went back to the sand dunes, took a different trail which involved following an old railroad track and played around the dunes a little longer before calling it a night and heading back home. Great trip and several more milestones checked off the list.

Stay tuned for more shenanigans!

 

[blubullett]

Just so you know those seatbelts in the rzr are completely useless for a kid, they might as well not be on. If it rolled or hit hard they would be ejected right through the center of them because the shoulder straps are so far from their shoulders. I love the trip reports though! Your ability to always be out has got to be the envy of everyone on here!

 

[rayra]

here Drei, this ought to be good for a laugh -
Spindle nut tight, spacer nuts tight, wheel nuts tight.



Been having some clunking around for a few months. Been crawling around checking my suspension mods, trailing arms, everythign I've been wrenching on. Thought too maybe I'd failed to properly tighten my front axle mount bolts. Wondering if I had a busted engine / trans mount. Crawling in around under, no joy.
Meanwhile I've been tear-assing around the State, Temecula, Lompoc rocket launch, mojave / CA City / Ridgecrest, and recently in a terrible sleet storm over the Grapevine. Clunking around and some squeaky brake-sounding noises at slow speed. A higher pitch note going down the freeway was written off as different siping in newer model Geolanders.
But been worried about front bearings and transaxles due to high mileage / general wear, increased suspension angle and then the offset loading of 2" spacers. Been thinking about upper ball joints too.
After the last high-speed run, things were getting more pronounce so I determined to get to the bottom of things and dodge rain squalls today to get it up in the air and get the wheels off, and well I didn't even get that far before I found the above.
Just kinda caught up with me while I was busy doing other things.

140k total mi, alignment 5k mi ago without issue.

 

[CrazyDrei]

here Drei, this ought to be good for a laugh -
Spindle nut tight, spacer nuts tight, wheel nuts tight.



Been having some clunking around for a few months. Been crawling around checking my suspension mods, trailing arms, everythign I've been wrenching on. Thought too maybe I'd failed to properly tighten my front axle mount bolts. Wondering if I had a busted engine / trans mount. Crawling in around under, no joy.
Meanwhile I've been tear-assing around the State, Temecula, Lompoc rocket launch, mojave / CA City / Ridgecrest, and recently in a terrible sleet storm over the Grapevine. Clunking around and some squeaky brake-sounding noises at slow speed. A higher pitch note going down the freeway was written off as different siping in newer model Geolanders.
But been worried about front bearings and transaxles due to high mileage / general wear, increased suspension angle and then the offset loading of 2" spacers. Been thinking about upper ball joints too.
After the last high-speed run, things were getting more pronounce so I determined to get to the bottom of things and dodge rain squalls today to get it up in the air and get the wheels off, and well I didn't even get that far before I found the above.
Just kinda caught up with me while I was busy doing other things.

140k total mi, alignment 5k mi ago without issue.

Rayra,

Wow, thats as bad as mine. I get $50 shipped for a pair front wheel hubs on eBay with lifetime warranty and end up sending them back for new ones about 2-3 times a year. That grinding, clunking sound at slow speeds is scary and even scarier when it goes away or turns into a high pitched humm at highway speeds. Good catch.

Mine are due for a new set soon, I'll try to catch them in grinding action.

 

[CrazyDrei]

Day trip: Tireod Canyon.

Couple weeks ago I found Tierod Canyon, it's a fantastic little trail with options to go rock crawling and make it as difficult as you see fit. We ran it so fast last time to shoot a timelapse that I didn't really get a chance to get out and enjoy it and take pictures, I had 1/2 a day to kill so we went back for round two.

Trail starts by following the rail road for approximately 1 mile and them crosses under the railroad through the large tunnel.

Nothing special about the approach or the entrance, just a little washed out from the recent rains.

I like the desert graffiti art, looks pretty.

Graffiti inside the big tunnel.

Boys spent at least half an hour running through the tunnel yelling echo!

It was very pleasant to hand the camera off to someone else so they could take some pictures of the Sub in action for a change.

After another 2-3 miles through the open desert we came to an overlook of Las Vegas.

Red Rock Canyon in the background below us.

Silly 37" tires, make this obstacle look small.

Still 2wd and no problems at all.

My approach and break-over angles are nearly identical to a bone stock factory 2017 2 door Rubicon, however the departure angle is not, thus for the hitch ball, to ensure I don't snag on anything, and if I do I can pull a pin and keep going without ripping the rear bumper off.

Made it to the top of the rock.

A little off camber action, and yes I tilted the camera slightly to get a more dramatic angle.

Another angle. The boys really like all of our off road adventures.

After approximately 5 miles in the actual canyon we exit through another tunnel under the rail road tracks. This one is a little smaller than the first one. Note kiddo on left is approximately 37" tall and the one on the right is 42"

Plenty of room.

I did fold the mirrors in initially, but that left me over 4" of wiggle room on each side.

When both the mirrors are unfolded I had about 1/2-3/4" on either side.

Yes, I can only fit one finger between the tunnel and my mirror.

That was fun. By far one of my favorite trails in the Las Vegas Area and very manageable.

I have some fun videos from this trip that I am working on, will post them soon.

Stay tuned for more shenanigans!

 

[CrazyDrei]

Just so you know those seatbelts in the rzr are completely useless for a kid, they might as well not be on. If it rolled or hit hard they would be ejected right through the center of them because the shoulder straps are so far from their shoulders. I love the trip reports though! Your ability to always be out has got to be the envy of everyone on here!

Blubullett,

Yes, the RZR seat belts are not as effective as the 5 point seat belts the kids are usually strapped into in the Sub, however the RZR set belts are there to make sure that they don't jump out as we roll around the gently sand dunes. Kids always stay in the Sub for any technical or high speed trails.

Thanx for coming back to this thread and enjoying our trips, got plenty more to come.

Stay tuned for more shenanigans!

 

[rayra]

Nice shot from Chloride, you can almost see Mos Eisley from there.

/pssst, all that desert time, make some midget Sand People or Jawa costumes for your kids. Good Times.

 

[CrazyDrei]

Nice shot from Chloride, you can almost see Mos Eisley from there.

/pssst, all that desert time, make some midget Sand People or Jawa costumes for your kids. Good Times.

Rayra,

I am so tempted to get some Star Wars costumes for the kids and hit up Buttercup or anywhere else in the dunes, I'm sure they will appreciate it as they get older.

 

[CrazyDrei]

Video: Suburban vs 4Runner vs lifted Rubicon


Couple easy obstacles along the trail, most of which have easy options. Surprisingly my Suburban has a better approach angle than a lifted Rubicon. It's fun watching 37" tires roll over obstacles. There were a couple obstacles that the 4Runner was physically not capable of running without completely destroying the truck and the Rubicon driver was too scared to try. Great trip nevertheless.

Stay tuned for more shenanigans!

 

[CrazyDrei]

Wow, last few weeks have been full of adventures but not as many miles off road as I like to do.

I did see a cool truck at work the other day, lets see how long before someone can identify it.

Stay tuned for the answer and more shenanigans!

 

[jonb8]

It's a Mercedes but not sure of the model... Great adventure pics, we will be in Las Vegas in May with are burb, I'm going to have to talk you into showing us the good spots... Were going to work are way up the east side of California to Reno/Lake Tahoe then I80 to San Francisco, Down RT1 to Los Angeles then back to Las Vegas.. My wife will be flying in and out from there while I do all the cross country driving.....