'Burb buying advice

[Shpook]

Speaking of leaks, I got em. Oil pan gasket is leaking (will address soon).

Just a heads up, while the oil pans are known to leak, the majority of the time it's the rear main seal housing. Oil will even travel around the whole rim of the pan, really making it look like the pan. Pop off the little inspection cover from the bell housing, and clean up any oil on the back of the oil pan with compressed air(NOT brake cleaner*). Run the engine for 10-30 minutes, shut it off, and get back under. You're looking for a tiny little streak of oil coming down the back of the pan. If you see it, you need a rear main seal housing gasket. It's very common on truck LS engines over 150k miles. I've done 10 or so in the last year at the shop.

I just don't want you to spend the time on a pan for nothing. I did it once, on an AWD Escalade. I thought it was the pan, spent all that time replacing the pan gasket, just for it to come back a few days later with the same leak. Had to comp the oil pan job and do the rear seal and housing gasket. Also, it's not the end of the world. You don't have to remove the transmission, just back it up about 8-12 inches or so.

*Brake cleaner will swell the rubber o-ring, and temporarily stop any leaks, which can lead to mis-diagnosis.

 

[tbisaacs]

Just a heads up, while the oil pans are known to leak, the majority of the time it's the rear main seal housing. Oil will even travel around the whole rim of the pan, really making it look like the pan. Pop off the little inspection cover from the bell housing, and clean up any oil on the back of the oil pan with compressed air(NOT brake cleaner*). Run the engine for 10-30 minutes, shut it off, and get back under. You're looking for a tiny little streak of oil coming down the back of the pan. If you see it, you need a rear main seal housing gasket. It's very common on truck LS engines over 150k miles. I've done 10 or so in the last year at the shop.

I just don't want you to spend the time on a pan for nothing. I did it once, on an AWD Escalade. I thought it was the pan, spent all that time replacing the pan gasket, just for it to come back a few days later with the same leak. Had to comp the oil pan job and do the rear seal and housing gasket. Also, it's not the end of the world. You don't have to remove the transmission, just back it up about 8-12 inches or so.

*Brake cleaner will swell the rubber o-ring, and temporarily stop any leaks, which can lead to mis-diagnosis.

Thank you!


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[Kyle Kelso]

I have an '04 2500 with the 6.0, 4.10's and 285's on the stock wheels. I think they look great and am not getting any unusual wear even when fully inflated for towing. The gearing seems great for low range slow speed stuff but the limit of what we use this truck for is unimproved roads and bad two tracks at the very worst. If we were going to be doing of any technical nature I would want at least 35's and the subsequent 5" lift to compensate for the 130" wheelbase. Driving on the highway I seem to get 14-15 hand calculated but not adjusted for the 285's so that should be a touch higher. My speedo seems to be about 4mph off. Your mileage has me pretty jealous! I really enjoy this truck for what I use it for but I swapped out the shocks for 5100 Bilsteins and installed onboard air so I can air down easily on dirt. The stock ride was pretty harsh and tiring and this made long days in the dirt a lot more enjoyable. Thought I would share.

What did you install for on board air upcruiser? And where? I have a high capacity (5.5cfm I believe) Smittybuilt portable compressor I have had for a few years for airing up tires but I never bothered to mount it. Good thing as this is the 3rd vehicle it's going in! I had a set of Staun HD tire deflators and those things were great! Pre set them to desired pressure and then when you hit the dirt you just spin them on and a few minutes later your tires are aired down to set pressure. I found with the high capacity pump I could air my 35s up from 30 to 50 psi (1 ton diesel service truck, 30 psi was low!) in fairly short order but the compressor (and hose) gets HOT! I doubt I'll go to the trouble of actually mounting and wiring the compressor in this burb, but I'm still curious.


Side note, I've wandered way off the original topic of buying advice... should I start a new "build thread" or just keep rolling here?

 

[kojackJKU]

awesome rig upcrusier. I found the same thing on my z71. Stock shocks were CRAP!....I put on pro comp es9000 and they were better, but lasted only a year before the rubber rotted out of the bushsings. Swapped in the Monroe reflex monotubes and been a super happy camper since. need to get the 2.5" lift and 285s on it this spring. It will be an entirely different rig then. Hopfully the plow does not stress the front with the lift in too much.

 

[upcruiser]

What did you install for on board air upcruiser? And where? I have a high capacity (5.5cfm I believe) Smittybuilt portable compressor I have had for a few years for airing up tires but I never bothered to mount it. Good thing as this is the 3rd vehicle it's going in! I had a set of Staun HD tire deflators and those things were great! Pre set them to desired pressure and then when you hit the dirt you just spin them on and a few minutes later your tires are aired down to set pressure. I found with the high capacity pump I could air my 35s up from 30 to 50 psi (1 ton diesel service truck, 30 psi was low!) in fairly short order but the compressor (and hose) gets HOT! I doubt I'll go to the trouble of actually mounting and wiring the compressor in this burb, but I'm still curious.


Side note, I've wandered way off the original topic of buying advice... should I start a new "build thread" or just keep rolling here?

It's a Viair system. Works great and airs 33's up pretty quick





I definitely play with the psi more on this truck than I do with other rigs for given environments just due to the nature of the ride quality. I am ok with that in exchange for a 2,500lb payload and 10,000lbs towing capacity. I wanted one of these because of its truck qualities so it's a fair trade. Mine is mostly stock and works well for what we need it for.

Here is the thread for the truck, it covers my thoughts and experiences with the Burb so far and the little things I did to it.http://forum.expeditionportal.com/threads/139683-Going-domestic-project-vanilla-aka-the-family-tankster-2004-Suburban-2500

 

[upcruiser]

awesome rig upcrusier. I found the same thing on my z71. Stock shocks were CRAP!....I put on pro comp es9000 and they were better, but lasted only a year before the rubber rotted out of the bushsings. Swapped in the Monroe reflex monotubes and been a super happy camper since. need to get the 2.5" lift and 285s on it this spring. It will be an entirely different rig then. Hopfully the plow does not stress the front with the lift in too much.

I have heard nothing but good things about the Monroes and they seem to be an exceptional value.

 

[jeep-N-montero]

I have heard nothing but good things about the Monroes and they seem to be an exceptional value.

I will be installing a set sooner than later as well, while it doesn't bobble over bumps or nosedive under braking yet you can definitely tell they are due.

 

[kojackJKU]

I have heard nothing but good things about the Monroes and they seem to be an exceptional value.

They really are. Should be more popular than they are. I had them on my JK and suburban. worked great on both...PLUS the warranty is killer. I wore a set out on my Jeep, took em off brought them back to the store - NEW SET!