2000 Suburban K1500 budget low lift with 37"s

[Overlandtowater]

Quadrasteer Suburban 3/4ton

2003 Chevy Quadrasteer Suburban. Four wheel steering, four wheel drive 2500 series. Needs work to get a state inspection sticker but is salvageable. Will need brakes, fuel lines, shocks and shift...

maine.craigslist.org

Found a quadrasteer Suburban with 121k mines on it for under $4k. This is one great deal. Almost tempted to pick it up as a parts truck for mine and swap out the quadrasteer onto my Sub.

I cannot believe how well the quadrasteer trucks turned out as good as they did, my supervisors, supervisors, supervisor...has one with 400,000 miles on it and the only problems is the rust...

 

[CrazyDrei]

I cannot believe how well the quadrasteer trucks turned out as good as they did, my supervisors, supervisors, supervisor...has one with 400,000 miles on it and the only problems is the rust...

dirtdobberoffroad,

I worked at a GMC dealer in 2003 and remember that we had a Sierra hooked up to one of the manager's dump trailers in the back to demonstrate the turning radius with the trailer and how well that truck backed up. I was young back then and din't know any better, but now I am really considering picking one up and swapping it into my current Sub.

am ready to do another fun mod to the truck soon and I am on the fence between quadrasteer or manual transmission. In either case it will be a fun winter project. Guess it's just a matter of finding a correct donor truck to make the frankenswaps affordable. My budget is $1,000 for either manual transmission or quadrasteer donor truck.

Stay tuned for more shenanigans!

 

[Todd780]

My budget is $1,000 for either manual transmission or quadrasteer donor truck.

Stay tuned for more shenanigans!

What about a 6.0L or 8.1L swap? lol

 

[bluewidow]

I had a 2002 Quadrasteer Sierra Denali and when the Quadrasteer worked it was awesome! However at their current age things start to go wrong. On mine it was the steering position sensor.
The trouble is GM and Delphi EOL'd these parts and because the market segment is relatively small there are no aftermarket replacements. This rendered the Q-steer useless and occasionally with a large load in the bed while turning a corner the weight of the truck could over power the return to center springs. That was the last straw and I finally got rid of the truck.
If replacement parts were still available I would say go for it but the last new old stock steering position sensor that I am aware of sold on ebay for about 2000 dollars.
I would skip it and get a standard rear end if it were me.

edit for a pic of my old truck.

 

[CrazyDrei]

I had a 2002 Quadrasteer Sierra Denali and when the Quadrasteer worked it was awesome! However at their current age things start to go wrong. On mine it was the steering position sensor.
The trouble is GM and Delphi EOL'd these parts and because the market segment is relatively small there are no aftermarket replacements. This rendered the Q-steer useless and occasionally with a large load in the bed while turning a corner the weight of the truck could over power the return to center springs. That was the last straw and I finally got rid of the truck.
If replacement parts were still available I would say go for it but the last new old stock steering position sensor that I am aware of sold on ebay for about 2000 dollars.
I would skip it and get a standard rear end if it were me.

edit for a pic of my old truck.
View attachment 526867

bluewidow,

That is a gorgeous truck, I really like the black out on all the lights that tell it's a q-steer truck.

I am aware of the position sensor issue and also know how pricey they are. That's a price to pay for such a limited production run truck part.

 

[Overlandtowater]

dirtdobberoffroad,

I worked at a GMC dealer in 2003 and remember that we had a Sierra hooked up to one of the manager's dump trailers in the back to demonstrate the turning radius with the trailer and how well that truck backed up. I was young back then and din't know any better, but now I am really considering picking one up and swapping it into my current Sub.

am ready to do another fun mod to the truck soon and I am on the fence between quadrasteer or manual transmission. In either case it will be a fun winter project. Guess it's just a matter of finding a correct donor truck to make the frankenswaps affordable. My budget is $1,000 for either manual transmission or quadrasteer donor truck.

Stay tuned for more shenanigans!

Do the trans swap so I can follow in your steps!!! LOL

 

[CrazyDrei]

What about a 6.0L or 8.1L swap? lol

Todd n Natalie,

I thought about both 6.0 and 8.1 swaps, however I do not need the towing power of 8.1, or the increased weight or decreased miles per gallon. 6.0 is an option, however I will gain nothing from it. I have a tune that gets me same power as LQ4, should be putting a new cam in soon so I will have more power than the HO LQ9, which is too rare and expensive.

I am leaning toward the L33 5.3 motor if I ever do an engine swap or at least new cam and springs to get way more HP than 6.0 or 8.1 and nearly the same torque as 8.1 for under $300.

I am cheap and want to keep the price down to the minimum while getting the most out of every part. Fuel pump and injectors are rated upto 415hp so I will not want more than 400hp in this truck.

Stay tuned for more shenanigans!

 

[Overlandtowater]

I am leaning toward the L33 5.3 motor if I ever do an engine swap or at least new cam and springs to get way more HP than 6.0 or 8.1 and nearly the same torque as 8.1 for under $300.

Drei tell me more....

 

[CrazyDrei]

Drei tell me more....

dirtdobberoffroad,

LM7 or Vortec 5.3 is bogged down by the cam shaft and intake manifold. Just replacing the camshaft will make a significant difference in performance and drivability.

Both of the Summit cams are $259 shipped.

Summit Racing SUM-8718 Summit Racing™ Pro LS Vortec Truck Swap Camshafts | Summit Racing

Free Shipping - Summit Racing™ Pro LS Vortec Truck Swap Camshafts with qualifying orders of $109. Shop Camshafts at Summit Racing.

www.summitracing.com

High torque or towing cam is what I will be putting in the truck later this fall. This is what I will be getting when Summit does a 15% off on Summit products.
This is drop in that only requires a couple gaskets for the timing chain cover. Best of all, no tune is required.

If you are looking for more power at higher RPMs a regular stage 1 cam.

Summit Racing SUM-8712 Summit Racing™ Pro LS Vortec Truck Swap Camshafts | Summit Racing

Free Shipping - Summit Racing™ Pro LS Vortec Truck Swap Camshafts with qualifying orders of $109. Shop Camshafts at Summit Racing.

www.summitracing.com

8712 is the regular cam that is a straight in drop in which only requires timing chain cover gasket. Vortec trucks use the bee-hive valve springs which are good for .550 of lift. You can also spend money on the blue LS6 springs but they are identical to what is in the 5.3 already. Also no tune required, but would benefit with one.

L33 is a high output aluminum block, aluminum heads 5.3 vortec without variable valve timing or active fuel management. It has a different cam than iron block 5.3 vortecs. And flat top piston which increases compression ratio and gives it a little more power.

If I were to actually do a motor swap I would drop a L33 and put a higher performance cam into it. This way I have better fuel economy in the closed loop fuel system for 90% of my driving and will have the power of a 6.0 motor when I am running open loop fuel system like wide open throttle.

I have a Trail Blaser SS intake manifold laying around which I have been too lazy to put in, will get that in along with a write up in the next couple weeks. The cam will go in later this fall. My truck is set up for higher torque output in lower RPMs so I will not benefit at all from long headers or bigger exhaust, which I considered several times.

Stay tuned for more shenanigans!

 

[CrazyDrei]

Do the trans swap so I can follow in your steps!!! LOL

dirtdobberoffroad,

I am working on finding a 2500 truck with a manual tranny, 6.0 and 4wd to use as a parts truck for the swap. I figured that if I remove the manual transmission parts from one it will be easy to put them into a truck thats sitting 6 feet away.

I found plenty of 4.6 V6 and 4.8 V8 trucks with the NV3500 transmissions have a GVW rating of 7,200 which is less than the GVWR of my Sub, so I need a heavier duty NV4500 which has a GVW rating of 14,500.

My other option would be a ZF6 manual transmission which is a 6 speed and found on duramax trucks, but I don't think I can find a running manual duramax for under $2,000. I will update everyone once I find a proper donor truck.

Stay tuned for more shenanigans!

 

[Buddha.]

I want to cam my l96 6.0. It’s already got the the good intake and “LS3” style heads. The variable valve timing complicates things though.

 

[UltimaSanctus]

Dear God that was a lot of reading haha. First I wanna say Drei you have a ************ Sub and have given me some ideas for my Tahoe. I'm thinking 35's or 285/75/17 (33.9ish) cause I feel 37's would be a bit overkill for what I want to do. I also love the raptor bumper idea. Cant wait to see more of your adventures

 

[CrazyDrei]

Sloppy Stage 1 cam

4BT,

You are absolutely correct, it is a sloppy stage 1 cam, especially compared to the superior factory cam you have in your motor right now, don't do it, you might put it in upside-down and loose power, LOL.

 

[CrazyDrei]

I want to cam my l96 6.0. It’s already got the the good intake and “LS3” style heads. The variable valve timing complicates things though.

Buddha.

Yes and no. Variable valve timing is great. If you have Variable valve timing you will also have active fuel management. To put a new cam into your 6.0 you will need new timing cover, timing gear, camshaft bolts and harmnic balancer bolt. If you want to keep VVT then all you will need is a camshaft phase limiter kit which does not work with high lift cams. You will also need to disable AFM, thats done with a programmer.

If you do a stage 1 cam you should be fine with just a new cam phase limiter kit, however if you want more power and more aggressive cam you will be better off buying a LQ4 or LQ9, building it as you like and dropping it into your truck when you are ready.

 

[Buddha.]

Buddha.

Yes and no. Variable valve timing is great. If you have Variable valve timing you will also have active fuel management. To put a new cam into your 6.0 you will need new timing cover, timing gear, camshaft bolts and harmnic balancer bolt. If you want to keep VVT then all you will need is a camshaft phase limiter kit which does not work with high lift cams. You will also need to disable AFM, thats done with a programmer.

If you do a stage 1 cam you should be fine with just a new cam phase limiter kit, however if you want more power and more aggressive cam you will be better off buying a LQ4 or LQ9, building it as you like and dropping it into your truck when you are ready.

No AFM on the HD 6.0’s.
I just changed the exhaust manifold bolts on my L96, two were broken. Replaced them with stainless bolts with nickel anti-seize. Really not a hard job, about an hour for each bank taking my time and having a couple beers. Do you have the exhaust leak yet?