Going domestic, project vanilla aka the family tankster, 2004 Suburban 2500

[upcruiser]

Yeah, gotta love the ol stove lot 6. Honestly, both of my 60's I didn't mind it. My first one had a Webber carb and the biggest issue with that truck on the highway was simply the gearing. Our tan one was stock but got along pretty well, even on the passes in CO. This is relative of course but it was pulling slightly higher speeds than my 80 would. Also was getting around 18 on the highway, best tank of 23 without adjusting for the tires. Not sure how that was possible but I did. That said, I am not a purist. I think a 60 with an LS conversion would be money. I know diesel is what the cool kids want or have but having spent slot of time on a farm and driving diesel cars and trucks in Europe, hands down I enjoy a nice burbling, torquey, V8 and not having to smell diesel exhaust. Yeah range takes a hit but we are in NA and gas is cheap. An LS in my 80 would be downright amazing.

 

[upcruiser]

Ok, got the new mirrors yesterday, they are fully manual and a newer style, extendable towing mirror. $99 for the pair, brand new. Compared to $250 for a used factory replacement from a salvage yard, no brainier. The old ones were wiggly, they rattled when you closed the door, and weren't particularly attractive. I was worried about the quality for the price but the new ones were stout. Very happy.


The carnage from my careless backing out of the garage.


It was a bit of a pain as I discovered this style of OEM mirror has the harness connection buried in the door under the window switches. Also of frustration, in taking off the door panels, GM thought it would be cool to use one torx bolt, randomly. Of course it was the one size torx I couldn't find last night when putting the mirrors on. I ended up being able to get the harnesses disconnected without fully removing the door panel which was nice.





Also got all the stuff to do the knock sensors, that's tomorrow. Then it's just an oil change and greasing it up prior to our trip. Should be good to go.

 

[locrwln]

Yep. GM loves to use random torx and 13mm bolts. I'm pretty sure those things are on the list of things you want to punch automotive engineers for...
.
Jack

 

[justcuz]

What you did not hear? 13mm is the new 1/2"! At least there is no such thing as a metric torx.

Saw an FJ62 at the wrecking yard yesterday while picking up some factory square body tow hooks. Behind the gate where all the nice cars are stored. Charcoal grey, looked like it had early Montero aluminum wheels? Teardrop style.

The 10 bolt axle in the front of the Suburban was a 4.10, may have to go back and pick it up.

Did 60/62's have full floaters in the rear or just 80's

You still have a lot of snow left.

You get the mirrors from a discount marketer?

 

[Oobray]

Nice rig, I'll be watching as I have an 02 with the 8.1. I love it!! But it's developed a belt squeak no one can figure out.

 

[rayra]

That shouldn't be too hard to suss out, pull the S-belt off and turn each pulley by hand. Put some side-load on them as you do, you should be able to feel any bearing defects. And give both the belt tensioner and idler pulleys a good spin, you'll hear any problem with them. Also hunted down a bearing whir in our '05 Tahoe at around the 150k mark, traced it to the alternator and that was real simple to dismount, break it open and re-grease the bearings. 15k mi later still doing fine.


And I just posted a big update on my Vortec maintenance topic last night, a few days too late for upcruiser, all about the knock sensor evolution -
http://www.expeditionportal.com/for...Vortec-Guys!-Sierra-pickup-Suburban-Yukon-etc

 

[Oobray]

Thanks, dos all that. Every pulley/tensioner is new now except the power steering. But it's not the PS pump squeaking it's the belt sliding on the pulley. I've had atleast ten belts on in the last year and all developed shiny spots within a few hundred miles. The pulley must be out of alignment or something.

 

[justcuz]

Belt squeaks can be a pain. If all the idler pulleys and the water pump check out, try the vibration dampener.
Put a timing light on it and see if it has spun a little.
I have also, very carefully used a long breaker bar to relax the tension on the belt with the engine running to pinpoint the noise.

 

[upcruiser]

Yep. GM loves to use random torx and 13mm bolts. I'm pretty sure those things are on the list of things you want to punch automotive engineers for...
.
Jack

Ain't that the truth! Haha

 

[upcruiser]

What you did not hear? 13mm is the new 1/2"! At least there is no such thing as a metric torx.

Saw an FJ62 at the wrecking yard yesterday while picking up some factory square body tow hooks. Behind the gate where all the nice cars are stored. Charcoal grey, looked like it had early Montero aluminum wheels? Teardrop style.

The 10 bolt axle in the front of the Suburban was a 4.10, may have to go back and pick it up.

Did 60/62's have full floaters in the rear or just 80's

You still have a lot of snow left.

You get the mirrors from a discount marketer?

Yeah, some random online store. Tried to just find it and couldn't though the same mirrors just popped up on A1Auto for $79, smoking deal.

 

[upcruiser]

That shouldn't be too hard to suss out, pull the S-belt off and turn each pulley by hand. Put some side-load on them as you do, you should be able to feel any bearing defects. And give both the belt tensioner and idler pulleys a good spin, you'll hear any problem with them. Also hunted down a bearing whir in our '05 Tahoe at around the 150k mark, traced it to the alternator and that was real simple to dismount, break it open and re-grease the bearings. 15k mi later still doing fine.


And I just posted a big update on my Vortec maintenance topic last night, a few days too late for upcruiser, all about the knock sensor evolution -
http://www.expeditionportal.com/for...Vortec-Guys!-Sierra-pickup-Suburban-Yukon-etc

Yeah missed your post but good info their nonetheless. So had a buddy give me a hand and we threw in the new knock sensors and replaced the harness as well. It was a bit of a mess. Someone had replaced them before and reused the old I take manifold. On top of that, they RTV'd the heck out of it. So getting the intake off was difficult to say the least and then the cleanup procedure to get all that stuff off the engine AND the mating surface of the intake was a total pain. Thankfully it came off the intake ok and I didn't damage it. Everything went back on, no problem. Truck feels peppier now so it was definitely retarding the timing and running conservatively. Hoping these leads to a bump in economy as well. I didn't get any pics as I was too busy cursing the person who made the mess. Haha

Just dewinterizing the camper and doing some little fixes and upgrades to it now before we hit the road. Planning to hit an area in Kansas on the way west to break up the drive and spend a couple of days biking. It's an IMBA Epic so it should be pretty good, called Switchgrass. Then heading to Fruita, CO for a few days then planning to spend around a week in the greater Moab area. After that debating between Escalante or Hurricane area to round out the trip before a brief visit with friends in Park City on the way back home. 18 days for biking, hiking, and some 4wd adventures too. Pretty geeked to get going.

 

[rayra]

speaking of 'peppier', I think things changed with the '03 model year, '00-02 had actual throttle cables, later half of the GMT800 series 03-06 they went to completely electric / computer controlled throttle plate, but the older years also benefit from adjusting the cables / getting the slack out.

 

[upcruiser]

speaking of 'peppier', I think things changed with the '03 model year, '00-02 had actual throttle cables, later half of the GMT800 series 03-06 they went to completely electric / computer controlled throttle plate, but the older years also benefit from adjusting the cables / getting the slack out.

That's one of my beefs with my Suburban. The drive by wire is really hard to modulate at low rpms. It makes it rather hard to drive it smoothly when you are really trying to creep along as slow as possible in the rough stuff. The older 1500 trucks I have driven didn't seem to exhibit this behavior.

 

[ABCanuck]

I was under our 2006 today replacing the evap solenoid and there is a pile of crud it seems within our fenders. The holes don't seem to be blocked but somehow there appears to be gravel and mid up in there. Any thoughts on cleaning the crap out before it rusts right through our body?


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[Burb One]

I was under our 2006 today replacing the evap solenoid and there is a pile of crud it seems within our fenders. The holes don't seem to be blocked but somehow there appears to be gravel and mid up in there. Any thoughts on cleaning the crap out before it rusts right through our body?


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I use a high pressure hose in there, and just clean the crap out after mud trips. I don't notice it get clogged up very often, other than after mud trips, where it gets 100 percent clogged. I'd check to make sure the rubber/ plastic blocking the entry form the wheel well is all there. Maybe, it got clogged one time, and just hasn't cleared out.