Duraburb Project

K

klmore

Adventurer
Stephen said:
Cool burb! I lust a little for a newer burb with a cummins but it would be hard to make that work as clean as the dmax swap. It's good to see some realistic milage numbers coming up too, I get tired of big tire trucks that get 20mpg towing at 80mph. I think you would see a noticable increase in milage swapping back to a stock bumper, I put a ARB bumper on my '03 GM dually and could tell immediately that it's an aerodynamic nightmare. Milage is still good at lower speeds but interstate driving milage got pulled down for sure. Nice bumper and I don't know how to put good protection up front that is aerodynamic so it kind of just is what it is. I had a friend nail a big doe (mule deer, so big comparatively) on the interstate and just had to re-align the ARB bumper on a GM like ours. Without bumper it would have been pretty ugly.
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My truck is a all around MPG whore. With the lift, weight, and bumpers I don't stand a chance. I have been driving it all over and the best I can get is almost 18 mpg. I love to drive it and it is very functional for my purposes. There are big deer all around where I live, it's amazing how much damage they can do to a truck.
 
FellowTraveler

FellowTraveler

Explorer
klmore said:
My truck is a all around MPG whore. With the lift, weight, and bumpers I don't stand a chance. I have been driving it all over and the best I can get is almost 18 mpg. I love to drive it and it is very functional for my purposes. There are big deer all around where I live, it's amazing how much damage they can do to a truck.
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18 mpg your getting close, I would suggest real high pressure water injection and only one entity makes it and that RSR racing (I have no interest in this business) @ 230 psi & 440 ccm per min this system might be the thing to get you the extra power out of that fine machine to get more mpg. What is really COOL about this high pressure system is that on a blown/boosted gas motor you don't have to retard timing at boost...................:ylsmoke:
 
K

klmore

Adventurer
AGR issue

I have not had much to report. The Burb is running fine and I have put almost 10K miles since the conversion. I was picking up my 72 Burb (new project) in Austin and as I was returning I noticed my steering was getting a worn feeling. In short it was becoming a handful to drive. After a visual inspection I couldn't find anything wrong so I kept driving it. After a few more hundred miles my truck was not longer safe to drive. The new steering box AGR build for me was worn out after 12k miles. I have the AGR rock ram steering system. I know I have 37" tires, but I have not been hard on this truck in any way since the diesel install.

I called AGR and the warranty is for 30 days. (Note to self don't buy AGR stuff) so after some thought I ordered a new steering box from AGR for $800 and eight weeks later I'm back on the road. I kept my old steering box so I can rebuild it myself in the future and cut AGR out of the picture. I love the AGR system, but the customer service is marginal at best.

Also I had to weld the ARB bumper mounts to the frame. When I was winching the truck out the bumper would move the mount around and almost cost some body damage.

I'm excited to have my truck back. I was making some headway on my trailer when the Sub went into the shop. I'm hoping to get back on the trailer project ASAP.
 
B

blakeape

Adventurer
If you have any other issues i would look into PSC Steering. I have been running their Hydro Assist set up on my One Ton Tacoma for 5ish years pushing 42" Iroks around with no issues. Eventually I would like to put their system on my 97 Cummins on that I swapped a King Pin 60 into and run on 37-40 inch tires depending on my mood!
 
K

klmore

Adventurer
Mark Harley said:
Klmore:

Great build on the burb. How is the 101A1 treating you?
any new options on it?
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The trailer is doing great. I haven't had much time to work on it, but I need to get back on it before summer. My son wants me to add provisions for our salt water fishing gear.

My new steering box made all the difference in the world. It drives like a new truck now.
 
K

klmore

Adventurer
With much thought and consideration I'm selling my Duraburb. I love it, but I'm going to have Eric build me a 2011 with a few more options and a lot less lift. I have not posted it up for sale yet as I'm still trying to figure out what to ask and how I'm going to sell it. I may do the truck and trailer together or separated. I'm leaning for together since they are painted to match and really belong together.

I'm open to all opinions. I can't believe I'm selling, but mama is tired of climbing in and out of the truck and it is almost cheaper to build a new one than do a frame swap.
 
K

klmore

Adventurer
noJeepshere said:
Somewhat disappointing... I thought it was a little big too.

I am looking forward to your next Duraburb project.
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The lift is great and very functional, but I think 35's are a better fit for this truck. I have it all dialed in for 37's so it is good for someone with more needs than mine. I thought about going back to a Land Cruiser, but I still have the challenges. I need a people mover with all of the kids. So a new Sub will be built. If it doesn't sell I will keep it and make it work. It will be a lower and milder version.
 
BBslider001

BBslider001

Diesel Head
NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! ah well....why not just remove the lift and redo the suspension? Would that not be cheaper and better since you worked out all the other bugs? Just curious.
 
K

klmore

Adventurer
BBslider001 said:
NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! ah well....why not just remove the lift and redo the suspension? Would that not be cheaper and better since you worked out all the other bugs? Just curious.
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I have thought about that, but we cut off a lot of frame pieces to get the lift correct. My truck is lifted roughly 7.5 inches. In my opinion anything bigger than a 6" isn't worth all of the extra trouble. My truck is all sorted out, but If I would have left it on a 35" tire all of it would have been easier. At this point my truck could handle 40" tires and be fine, but I'm getting too old for all of that crap. I just need it function and get me where I need to go. We are taking a trip in June/July and I know I'm going to miss it. My Sub and trailer are so familiar. I know how to park it and where all of my gear goes that it is almost effortless to pack. Not sure what I will do for this next trip.
 
C

chewbaccajones

New member
So, I'm late to the party (1 year after the last post) but after reading the 20 pages of this topic, I feel like the main character in the book was just killed when I found out the Duraburb was sold. I'm assuming it's sold by now?
 
plumber mike

plumber mike

Adventurer
chewbaccajones said:
So, I'm late to the party (1 year after the last post) but after reading the 20 pages of this topic, I feel like the main character in the book was just killed when I found out the Duraburb was sold. I'm assuming it's sold by now?
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Make that 2 of us. I've regretted letting go of rigs built....well, not as nice as that. Doing the same thing to a 2011 just sounds like a lot more hassle and expense.

I'll take my duraburb with a manual please. :)
 
scott7022

scott7022

Nobody
After reading 20 pages well...not hard really but finding Duraburb online now...totally different story.. Did they go out of business? found a coupld of links but dead pages with source coding from 2011? I know Preadator and a few others do this swap but was looking for real people stories and happy Overlanders! LOL!
 
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