ejs262's Suburban(s?)!

[ejs262]

We left the Arctic Circle and headed back south towards Fairbanks, and ended up camping southeast of Fairbanks.

we got up early, and continued east. and saw our first bull moose

and then a Cow with a calf.

we kept on, and took in the scenery.

we found a cool truss bridge, with a gravel bank alongside.

after a while, we ended up in Chicken, AK, a tiny little spot in the middle of nowhere! not much here, here's the rig in front of the "post office"!

next we continued onto the "Top of the World hwy"

we ended up camping along the hwy in a spot that looked like an old mining camp.

 

[ejs262]

we left there and continued on the top of the world hwy towards Canada.

The Hwy was mostly dirt, and we saw this off the woods, it was hard to see exactly what it was, some kind of old wagon.

crossing into Canada, and there was still a bit of snow left up there even in early July!

around the corner, we found a herd of caribou.

the Pig also got a chance to hit some snow! Lol...

we came across a gravel pit, and had to do a little "hill climb". I didn't want to go to crazy, because I was hundreds of miles from anything, and didn't have many spare parts if I broke something. didn't want to be totally screwed.

then we continued on.

we crossed the Yukon River into Dawson City another ferry.

Canadian beer... just say's "Pilsner" no brand, nothing, just " Pilsner". it wasn't bad, I've had way worse.

 

[ejs262]

leaving Dawson city, I spotted this cool old bread truck, I wish it was closer to home so I could try and pick it up...

then, heading south, we came up on a gnarly forest fire.

they were fighting it with helicopters, it was pretty cool to watch.

we ended up comping a south of Pelly Crossing

next morning, we headed towards Watson Lake, YT.

We came across these old log cabins, pretty cool sight.

we stopped for fuel, and the pump was super old school, with reels!

 

[ejs262]

we rolled into Watson Lake, home of the world famous "Signpost Forest" I new about the place before the trip, but completely forgot to add it to a list of destinations.

The closest I could find to home was a Santa Rosa County License plate

Of course, because I forgot to put it on the list of destinations, I didn't have anything to make a sign with... I looked for a while for something, anything to make a sign with, I came up with 2 things to make a sign. I looked at the side of the truck and saw the "Silverado" badge, I then remembered the driver's side badge had been damaged in the wreck, so I got my hatchet, and scrapped the damaged emblem off, and then cut the side out of an old water jug, add a paint pen, and wala! sign for the forest! I used a screw from the dash to hold it onto a post.

 

[ejs262]

been a while since I updated this, I daily drove the Pig Rig up until about 2 months ago, the back window motor decided to give up the ghost and I haven't got around to fixing it yet(not having a day off in 2 months puts a damper on getting things done) I have a short list of things I need to fix, as well as perform a heaping helping of maintenance before I take it to OKC for a friend's wedding. I was hoping to drive my other project, a 1985 Fiero with a turbo V6, but I don't see it being back together and reliable in time for that kind of trek.

Maintenance:

• oil change
• differential oil change
• headlight adjustment
• coolant flush/put antifeeze in.
• figure out the problems with the HVAC fan.
• fix the cluster lights
• fix the OPSU leak.

I'd also like to see what I can do to get the interior a little more well put together. hindsight being 20-20, I really wish I hadn't pulled the rear seats out, I wish I had instead built a short platform with a removable extension to go over them. I'm still keeping my eyes out for another Suburban to replace this one, I'd love to find one with a diesel already in it, that's in overall good shape, trouble is all of them I find have ugly as hell interiors, and I don't feel like swapping the whole thing out...

Edit to add, looks like I never posted the course I took...

 

[Todd780]

The Hwy was mostly dirt, and we saw this off the woods, it was hard to see exactly what it was, some kind of old wagon.

Great pics! Looks like it was a fun trip!

I think that old wagon is a 1963 Chevy.

 

[rayra]

That's a big trip. And at ~$8+/gal, a costly one.

 

[ejs262]

Great pics! Looks like it was a fun trip!

I think that old wagon is a 1963 Chevy.

View attachment 546531

Thanks! I think you're right about the wagon, it was one of many cars and trucks we saw like that, it made quite an impression too, a little off here or there and you're screwed, there's nothing to save you.

That's a big trip. And at ~$8+/gal, a costly one.

it was expensive, but I think it was closer to $6-7/gal when we did it, and it was worth every penny. I want to do it again when it's a little cooler out, and a bit more of a challenge though, but for that, I need to make sure I am a bit more properly/well equipped for it.

 

[ejs262]

well, today made for quite a bit of progress on the Pig Rig.

I fixed both battery trays, the passenger side tray had a mounting ear break off, so I welded it back on and it's now much tighter. the driver's side is another story, and had I known the problem existed before I left to go to Alaska, I wouldn't have had to do anything to it. what I didn't know before, is that it was only held in by two of the four bolts the factory used. which cause the metal to tear at the bolt holes in the fender and let the battery flop around in the engine bay, thankfully, I noticed the change in noise and was able to strap it down with a ratchet strap to prevent further problems. my fix was kinda ghetto, but it should be fine, I through bolted the top two bolts with large fender washers and high strength bolts, then I drilled the holes required in the inner fender and put bolts in to hold the lower portions, it's strong enough now to shake the entire truck by the mount!

I also fixed the leaky oil pressure sending unit, all that's left to investigate is a small trans fluid leak, I think it's coming from the fittings on the transmission.

in other news I fixed the back window, which decided it only wanted to go down and not up, unfortunately, I did a ton of work to fix things that weren't actually the problem...

I never gave this wire much thought

today, I pulled it out and found one of my favorite things to find on an old truck, a wire with a ball of tape on the end...

Remove the tape to find the plug for the switch that prevents the window motor from operating with the door open... and previous owner hackery...

If I had a line on a new switch, I'd put it in, but I don't, and I plan to replace this body anyways, so I used a butt connector to bypass the non existant switch permanently,

then I moved on to replacing the window tracks that allow the regulator to move the window, one of mine had been bent, so I ordered a pair from LMC truck, they're about $20 each not including shipping.

see a problem here???

For parts that could easily be measured with the simplest of hand tools, they somehow made not one, but both of them over 1/8" off! I'm pretty irritated I'm not going to use them, but I am contacting them about it. I ended up taking a hammer to the bent slide, and then welding in a new nut so that it would work.

I also decided that I wanted curtains for a bit of added privacy on camping trips, so I found some fabric. and am going to fire up the sewing machine!

 

[chilliwak]

I never got the chance to complement you on your excellent pics and road trip coverage Mr 262. Nice job. Also it looks like you got your window working right, so thats cool. Thanks for posting and keeping us up to date. Cheers, chilli..?

 

[Sneaks]

Brutal build, love it. Though... what would be epic is a RTT and lift on that red P-body

 

[ejs262]

I never got the chance to complement you on your excellent pics and road trip coverage Mr 262. Nice job. Also it looks like you got your window working right, so thats cool. Thanks for posting and keeping us up to date. Cheers, chilli..?

Thanks, do you live in Chilliwak? I drove through there on the trip!

Brutal build, love it. Though... what would be epic is a RTT and lift on that red P-body

RTT?

the Red P-Body has more time and money tied up than any sane person could possibly imagine... it'll get lowered a bit, and be built for the twisties!


well, I went to OKC, I had minimal problems along the way, the transfer case doesn't like 4 high, I think the linkage needs to be adjusted, thankfully, I didn't need it that often, I also fixed an oil leak while in OKC, other than that, the truck has been dead nuts reliable. the trip was about 5100 miles, covering 11 states, and more state/national parks/forests than I can count. Some quick math suggests I get about 12 MPG, without factoring in the times I missed turns (I don't GPS) or when I doubled back to try and find my phone after I lost it in Colorado(Which is why I don't have pictures from the Pacific Coast HWY or Bonneville... )... The BFG tires saved my ass on a snow covered mountain road in southwest Washington, they grip like mad, I couldn't be happier!

The way there:

The way back

Some pictures.

 

[Andrew_S]

Holy ******** I'm so glad you mentioned this. Just read your entire build and thoroughly enjoyed it. If there is one thing I love more then a square body it's a two-tone square body. What a friggin beautiful suburban. That road trip, gahhh. The scale of what you did is crazy when you look at the satellite image hahaha. Absolutely love the choice of axles/steering upgrades. ORD makes some beefy stuff. Those tires/hubcaps fit the truck so perfect too. Man when I read the post about the drunk driver that was just crushing. What a ********.
Definitely going to be watching this for future updates.

 

[ejs262]

Holy **** I'm so glad you mentioned this. Just read your entire build and thoroughly enjoyed it. If there is one thing I love more then a square body it's a two-tone square body. What a friggin beautiful suburban. That road trip, gahhh. The scale of what you did is crazy when you look at the satellite image hahaha. Absolutely love the choice of axles/steering upgrades. ORD makes some beefy stuff. Those tires/hubcaps fit the truck so perfect too. Man when I read the post about the drunk driver that was just crushing. What a ****.
Definitely going to be watching this for future updates.

Thanks! I want to do it again, this time a little earlier or later in the year, and or go all the way north to Prudhoe bay or Barrow.

I really lucked out on the axles, wheels, tires and gas tank, I new long term I wanted to put heavier axles under it, and I would need lower gears for the bigger tires, although I would have prefered a dana 60 front, and a 14 bolt full floater for the rear, I picked those up for the price of just putting gears in my stock axles, and I got bunches of extras with them.

I have to admit though, the drunk hitting me is kinda a blessing in disguise, the insurance company gave be almost $5500 for it, and I kept it! which let me pay off my credit cards, and get myself in a much more stable place financially. it also marked a decision point on what happens next. I could try and fix this one, but it got hit pretty hard, and admittedly, this is a 5 minute, or 20 ft truck. if you spend more than 5 minutes looking at it,(or get closer than 20 ft) the problems start coming up everywhere with the frame and body. it had clearly been in at least 2 hard wrecks before the drunk hit me, and someone fixed it up, and did a halfway ok job on most of it, but if you work on it you start to find all of the body shims, chopped wiring, and other ghetto hacks here and there, like the "jumper" in the rear window harness. I've decided to keep driving this one, and just keep my eyes peeled for another in better shape then swap my goodies onto it. this time, I'm going to be picky though, and find one the meets several specifications, and ideally, is a diesel.

 

[chilliwak]

Its always a treat to see your cool pics of your adventures Mr 262. I love that old `Burb´and it is obvious that truck still has a lot of life in it even though it got hit in the back and side. Keep us posted with your upgrades and adventures. Cheers, Chilli... ?