Duraburb Project

[496Burb]

is your yukon stock?

Hello Klmore,
I have My 2005 at Mr. Swansons shop right this second.
I got a look at Your convertible donor truck as I loaded My Yukon
under it when Herb (the driver) picked Mine Up. Good miles
on Your truck from what I understand. My donor had a little more
miles but, is also a LBZ it is the other one in Your video.
My Yukon had the 8.1 liter 496cid and it got
9 MPG empty , 7.6 pulling a light trailer and 8.4 cruising down the
Interstate. TERRIBLE!! I don't care how long it takes to pay for the
conversion in fuel cost I refused to take it to a gas pump ever again!!
It wasn't worth anything as a gasser and I have 5 children dog and friends
just like You. We are ALWAYS on the road and this vehicle was a must.
The Yukon was paid for and the only other viable diesel was an Excursion.
I have owned 3 Excursions and Loved everything but the ride , it was horrible
like riding in a truck. Also believe it or not alsmost died in Our last
one flipped 3 times no air bag , seat broke and almost killed Mysely and My
Wife no help from Ford on that one either!!
Can't wait to get the Yukon back its an 05 and loaded.
I have dealt with a lot of people in My Life and can tell You all
Eric has dedicated His Life to doing this , and is a VERY professional
knowledgable , and dependable Person that will go to ANY lengths to make
sure You are happy!!
I am having Him do some extras to help increase MPG which is My main
goal in doing this project. I Love tough looking 4x4's but, chose to put
some Michelin LT285/75R16/E with GreenX technology and are having them
nitrogen filled, (I know all about nitrogen so please don't comment) , I want
every chance , gimmick whatever I can get to help with MPG.
I figure if I am going to sacrifice My Tough look I might as well do all I can. This
tire has the LRR (least rolling resistance) of any I could find for My circumstance.
Anyway Klmore , nice post as I couldn't find any actual customer write ups on the
subject before I started. I do however have 120% confidence in Eric at Duraburb
and can't wait to test the Yukon. Good Luck, Happy

Hello Happy; just joining this discussion to follow the conversion. I have an 02 K2500 Suburban with the 8.1 and Allison tranny; and am getting 12 mpg around town; 14 on the highway; and 9-10 if I really stomp on it. I will admit that I did have to learn how to drive more like a diesel with this truck as opposed to the old 350/700R combo; just wondering what's driving your mpg down?

 

[klmore]

Any plans for a full rear spring? Blocks on a high scale build like this look a bit out of place. This truck is ten kinds of awesome!

I hadn't even thought of that. I'm going to look into some springs. I don't want the truck to ride rough, but I'm also going to have to see if the new fuel tank makes the rear end squat any.

 

[klmore]

Thanks for detailing this project out; enjoyed reading and look forward to the wrap up; etc. Question on the new tank; does it now feed into the original tank? I have an 02 K2500 with the 38 gal factory tank (running the 8.1l and Allison 5 speed) and have not found a way to add additional capacity. If they've made the mold; could another be made for me to fit into the spare tire area and connect? Appreciate your input!

The fab shop kept the design in auto cad so I know it can be reproduced. Since the suv's have two tanks from the factory it was easier to install. I think it will fit in the truck, but would have to be installed with the SUV filler neck and be used like a transfer tank. I'll know more when I get my truck back.

 

[klmore]

[video]http://youtu.be/Ivvq9jfUYs4[/video]

Here is the video.

Keep in mind the bumper still needs to be moved up 2", but other than that it looks really good.

I can see in the video that the doors will have to be blended to match the new front clip it is a shade light.

 

[496Burb]

additional gas tank info

The fab shop kept the design in auto cad so I know it can be reproduced. Since the suv's have two tanks from the factory it was easier to install. I think it will fit in the truck, but would have to be installed with the SUV filler neck and be used like a transfer tank. I'll know more when I get my truck back.

Thanks - your updating on this project has been great; look forward to the info when you get it.

 

[klmore]

Update

After a couple of hundred miles Eric has noticed a drive line vibration at around 75 mph. Under load it doesn't have this problem so we are figuring it is a rear end pinion angle adjustment. With the lift I have it really isn't that much of a shock. He is going to add a small shim and see what happens.

Other than that I'm just really excited to get my truck back and rack up some miles.

 

[ptcajun]

Project Dmax Truck

How did you go about finding the project truck. I have found a Yukon XL 8.1L that i want to use as my Burb.

Thanks

Pat

 

[klmore]

How did you go about finding the project truck. I have found a Yukon XL 8.1L that i want to use as my Burb.

Thanks

Pat

Eric helped me find it on a wholesale auction. We watched it in real time and did the bidding online.

 

[klmore]

My Sub is being picked up today and will hopefully be here by Thursday.

 

[poriggity]

It's been awesome to see this unfold.. Very cool build, and Eric seems like a real cool guy to work with! Nice work so far!
Scott

 

[klmore]

Received the Suburban back today via transport. I had time to take it for a short drive and fill it full of fuel. It took a solid 57.313 gallons of fuel for a grand total of $221.17. I'm still getting the radio stations and mirrors set up the way I like, but my overall impressions is great. It drove just like it should and has plenty of power.

The fuel gauge worked perfectly and the range is still learning the fuel economy DTE. There are a few things I noticed straight off, but all are minor. Sorry to keep you guys hanging, but my son has a surgery scheduled today. I will update with more information tomorrow when I have more time.

 

[lllateralus]

Holy crap.. that's a lot of fuel, and a lot of dough. Its pretty cool that you can drive that thing probably close to (or more than?) 1000 miles before it needs fuel again.

Good luck with your sons surgery. I've been there...

 

[klmore]

I've had a chance to put a few miles on my truck and have found a few issues, which are all to be expected when it is completely disassembled.

The rear diff is still out of adjustment. It makes noise at 55 while driving and stops once I remove my foot off the gas. I suspect the pinion angle is still not quite right. Also my belt makes all kinds of noise when I first start it up and stops after the belt warms up. I've ordered a new belt from the GM dealer and that should solve that issue.

Eric had told me the front end sheet metal needed to be aligned for final fit, which is true. I have found a lot of the sheet metal alignment problems are actually caused from the aftermarket headlamp mounting panel that we used. I ordered a set of GM mount panels to help with that. The 2500HD radiator support was straightened from the accident and in retrospect I should have bought a new one. It is square, but it has some damage that just looks bad. It will be hidden when I raise the bumper, but just knowing it is there bothers me.

I ordered my new bumper mounts from ARB today to raise my bumper to the 2500HD location. I was going to reuse my old mounts, but it would have required a lot of fabrication and the new mounts were only $150. The mounts should be here tomorrow. Hopefully I can get my new winch and lights installed by the end of the week.

Other small issues are the fenders are missing the rubber bump stops and my aftermarket airbox is rubbing the paint off the passenger fender. I consider these to be small things and over all the fit and finish on the conversion is great.

 

[klmore]

support damage

Here is the damage from the 2500HD. I should have replaced this. Eric gave me the option, but I thought it would be fine. I'm going to break out the welder today and see if I can't fix it. The head lamp mount panels helped the the alignment out front, but the LH side is still out due to this radiator support.

 

[klmore]

Out with the old

Loading new Warn 12000 winch and Light Force lights. Since I'm going behind Eric on some of his work I can really tell that he pays attention. There have been a couple of small clips not snapped in here and there, but over all the work is excellent. All the routing of lines and harnesses are in the correct factory location. The Duramax does look factory in every way.