2000 Suburban K1500 budget low lift with 37"s

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Deleted member 374434BT

Guest
Yeah, you need the glass and upper corner trim. Good parts to collect for when the glass hinge adhesive eventually fails.
 
Well Drei, you convinced me. Just picked up an Avi rear bumper from the junkyard. Probably mount it to the 'Hoe this weekend. Only thing wrong with it is it's missing one of the tread pads in the corner step
 

CrazyDrei

Space Monkey
Well Drei, you convinced me. Just picked up an Avi rear bumper from the junkyard. Probably mount it to the 'Hoe this weekend. Only thing wrong with it is it's missing one of the tread pads in the corner step

UltimaSanctus,

I think you will be extremely happy with that bumper. Quick and easy bolt on. The only problem/hurdle I saw was the plastic lip on the front of the top of the bumper. If you get it in unmodified it will leave a 3/4" gap between the bumper and rear hatch.


VnKubUc.jpg


If you do not like that gap, you can trim the plastic from the top of the Avalanche bumper.

fFn7utv.jpg


You can see that there is a bigger lip on the top Avi bumper than the Suburban bottom bumper. Next time I have the bumper off I will trim it on mine for a cleaner look.

Good luck with yours, and share some pictures once you have it bolted up.
 
Well I guess I'm not going with the Avi rear bumper. Fought with it for about an hour and a half trying to get all the bolt holes lined up and still couldn't get one of the 15mm in and the two bolts at the bottom of the hitch where the receiver is. Add in the fact that there was a gap big enough for my fist between the quarter panel and corner of the bumper I decided to call it quits.
I'll try to sell it on FB, if not then I'm only out $60
 

CrazyDrei

Space Monkey
Well I guess I'm not going with the Avi rear bumper. Fought with it for about an hour and a half trying to get all the bolt holes lined up and still couldn't get one of the 15mm in and the two bolts at the bottom of the hitch where the receiver is. Add in the fact that there was a gap big enough for my fist between the quarter panel and corner of the bumper I decided to call it quits.
I'll try to sell it on FB, if not then I'm only out $60

UltimaSanctus,

That's a bummer, that's weird that you had such a difficult time with it. My factory bumper came out with hand tools like a southwest truck should. But a mostly rusted out Avi bumper only took 30 mins to pull off and 15 mins to bolt back up.

I did not get any pics of the quarter panel gap, it's pretty big. I'll get a pic of it for reference in case anyone else wants to bolt one up so they know what they are getting themselves into.

I am planning on installing the Avi quarter panel cladding so that gap should disappear. I'll try to get some pics and updates up soon. Also, if it doesn't sell I'll give you $60 for it next time I drive down the coast.
 

CrazyDrei

Space Monkey
Here is the bumper gap.

4ANPAIK.jpg


Doesn't look too bad from this angle.

iYN2ldl.jpg


Pretty good size, almost big enough to fit a fist in it.

I am getting ready to color match the grey to the glossy black so the bumper will come off and I will push it back and up to close the gaps a little. Ultimately it will be the Avi cladding quarter panels which will completely eliminate this gap.

Stay tuned for more shenanigans!
 

CrazyDrei

Space Monkey
Second fuel tank.

So my Suburban comes with a 33.5 gallon tank from the factory. This is more than enough of a range to get me in and out of pretty much anywhere in north America without carrying extra gas. However everyone is always looking for ways to add more fuel carrying capacity. Has anyone ever considered adding a second 33.5gal tank on other side of the frame?

tO7VWQq.jpg


I was playing with my spare frame and realized that both of the fuel tank brackets are easily reversible and can be welded to passenger side of axle.

uAZR1JF.jpg


Passenger side of axle in home to exhaust which is most likely why no one has tried this as far as I know. However with a 3" body lift that I have and some extra aluminum heat shielding I can run a straight pipe to the rear in the space between the body and rear driveshaft where I have room for a JK muffler. This will not be as quiet as a factory muffler but still much quieter than a straight pipe.

nGxNnp1.jpg


I can even run 2 or 3 of these 4" diameter universal mufflers above the driveshaft before I get to the rear 3-chanber JK style muffler.

Any thoughts on this set up? I'll take both positive and negative. Any pictures and real world experience preferred to just theoretical comments.
 

Martinjmpr

Wiffleball Batter
Would it be possible to install the auxiliary fuel tank from a 2500 suburban? Or did you already look into that?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

02TahoeMD

Explorer
I would be cautious about trying to have a gas tank and an exhaust pipe & muffler even close to each other, I would be concerned about heat build up even with shielding over a long trip. I have seen aux tanks put in where the spare tire usually resides, but I would be extremely hesitant to put a tank over on the side where the exhaust runs.
 

zoomad75

K5 Camper guy
I'd agree that using the aux rear tank that was available on the 2500 Suburbans would be the ideal way to go. No need to re-engineer something that the factory already did. Routing the exhaust over a tank isn't a good idea.
 

CrazyDrei

Space Monkey
Would it be possible to install the auxiliary fuel tank from a 2500 suburban? Or did you already look into that?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Martinjmpr,

Yes looked into it, actually had the space for it with the 3" body lift, however opted to cut the spare tire brace out and re-design that entire area to snugly fit my spare 35" donut. Wanted to keep center of gravity as low as possible and have biggest spare I could without the added weight of a bumper and spare tire carrier.
 

CrazyDrei

Space Monkey
I would be cautious about trying to have a gas tank and an exhaust pipe & muffler even close to each other, I would be concerned about heat build up even with shielding over a long trip. I have seen aux tanks put in where the spare tire usually resides, but I would be extremely hesitant to put a tank over on the side where the exhaust runs.

02TahoeMD,

I am worried about heat from the exhaust. In my case the exhaust pipe would run directly above the rear drive shaft and be at least 8" away from either one of the fuel tanks.

I can not put an auxiliary tank is the spare tire area because I modified it to fit my 35" spare.

I do need to get a laser thermometer and get some temperature readings from around the exhaust and the pipe itself, just to see if it's even possible to attempt.

Stay tuned for more shenanigans.
 

CrazyDrei

Space Monkey
I'd agree that using the aux rear tank that was available on the 2500 Suburbans would be the ideal way to go. No need to re-engineer something that the factory already did. Routing the exhaust over a tank isn't a good idea.

zoomad75,

First of all, if I haven't said it before, your K5 is an awesome beast of a cabin on wheels.

Anyway, I can't put an aux 2500 Sub tank in because I cut the spare tire mounting brace out and custom mounted a 35" spare in back there and I really like it there. Exhaust would hypothetically be routed directly above rear axle and will always be at least 8" from either fuel tank. Another option would be to run exhaust outside frame rails, but I know I would be tempted to use it as sliders and that won't last too long.

I do have a 12gal atwood low profile can that I bring with me if I know I will be covering miles and want to avoid states with expensive gas. But that is ugly and sits on the roof.

I'll play with it and if there is any progress I'll post some pics.

Stay tuned for more shenanigans!
 

zoomad75

K5 Camper guy
zoomad75,

First of all, if I haven't said it before, your K5 is an awesome beast of a cabin on wheels.

Anyway, I can't put an aux 2500 Sub tank in because I cut the spare tire mounting brace out and custom mounted a 35" spare in back there and I really like it there. Exhaust would hypothetically be routed directly above rear axle and will always be at least 8" from either fuel tank. Another option would be to run exhaust outside frame rails, but I know I would be tempted to use it as sliders and that won't last too long.

I do have a 12gal atwood low profile can that I bring with me if I know I will be covering miles and want to avoid states with expensive gas. But that is ugly and sits on the roof.

I'll play with it and if there is any progress I'll post some pics.

Stay tuned for more shenanigans!

Thanks on the compliment of my crawlabago.

I'd say your idea to get some temps from the exhaust is a good one. You'll be surprised what you find. I had a problem right after we got mine roadworthy where it acted like a vapor lock issue. Squeezing 2.25" dual pipes under mine had the right side pipe in close enough proximity to the fuel lines we thought it was the cause. Added a shield in a campground in Moab, good for two days. I bounced it off of everyone I could talk to. Always came back to the exhaust. The routing was within 1/2" or less where it passed the corner of the fuel tank and tucked close to the inside of the frame rails where the fuel lines ran.

Temps even back near the tank were high enough to think it was a problem. Had the pipe moved for more space and the sucker stalled on the way home from the shop. Long story short, the issue in my case was a kinked 3" section of rubber hose between the pump and pipe in the sending unit. Changed out the pump just in case and put a new hose on it. Never happened again.


What I am getting around to in my long winded way is you'll be surprised how hot it actually gets on the exhaust. But check items directly next to or near the pipe to see what they are at in comparison.

I'm having a hard time picturing the intended exhaust routing with a second tank inside the rails. If it runs down the center don't forget to think about the driveshaft and rear axle at full compression too.
 

Buddha.

Finally in expo white.
I looked into the suburban above the spare tank. From what I can find it's only something like 7 gallons. It's hard to find info on it. Some people say there's an extra fuel pump in that tank, some people speculate it gravity feed only. Doesn't really seem like it's worth the effort.
 

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