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

[snowaddict91]

I put some miles on an 04 2500hd doing SAR and I hated that dang gas pedal on rough roads. The truck also had a loud exhaust on it making it even more obnoxious when you'd hit a bump and accidentally floor it. Sweet write-up and pics, a full size domestic makes for a pretty sweet travel rig.

 

[02TahoeMD]

Here is some food for thought about how to get rid of drive by wire - it can be done, have found a few threads about it by searching for drive by wire conversions. It does look like a bit of work.

Thanks much for having posted the information about Hurricane Rim, I love southern Utah and have not been to that area yet. Will definitely have to check it out after seeing your great pics.

 

[Bushcoat]

great pics, looks like an amazing trip you had. i can relate with you, hauling the trailer around can be a bit of a pain, but to have everything with you, whenever and wherever you need it is great. just like going on vacation and not leaving home in a sense. my kids are 18 months and almost 4 years, they love taking camping trips with the trailer, and like most kids they love to get dirty, eat, nap, etc so to be able to make a quick meal or pull over for a nap or have a bathroom break or a quick bath/shower in their own place that they are familiar with is just great and so much easier on us.
my tires are also in need of replacing, upsetting that the trailer is a '13 with about 4000mi, the sidewalls have started cracking. tire size is 205/75/15 6 ply, planning to go up to 225/75/15 in either an 8 or 10 ply. get a bit more clearance, a little less wear on bearings, and hopefully long lasting tires.

 

[fitt]

look for Maxxis M8008 Tires much better than the Chinese junk from everyone else. and run your tires at max psi. We have 4 trips from Mich out west on our fifth wheel and they still look like new!

 

[justcuz]

Love the pictures of the trip! Beautiful scenery and your weather extremes were kind of interesting.
The Suburban setting on the Moki Dugway looks like it should have been a Chevy commercial.
I am glad you are enjoying the Suburban and using it as designed, they are a hugely underrated platform. They used to be a pretty well kept secret, but not so much anymore. The fan base is definitely growing here.
Thanks for being an objective Land Cruiser owner and singing the praises of a Suburban, you are a rarity for sure.
Personally I don't think a LC 100 or 200 series is that much better than a Expedition, Tahoe or Sequoia to warrant the extra outlay of cash.
There is nothing wrong with a 45 through 80 series Land Cruiser that a Chevy V8 can't fix!

 

[kojackJKU]

Looks great. Nice upgrades but not overdone! Mine needs work to get to that stage.

 

[boll_rig]

Looked like an incredible trip upcruiser! Cant agree more with everything you have listed on the suburban. About to head to the southwest Utah myself and might have to make some arrangements to hit a few places you did. Awesome photos.

 

[upcruiser]

Here is some food for thought about how to get rid of drive by wire - it can be done, have found a few threads about it by searching for drive by wire conversions. It does look like a bit of work.

Thanks much for having posted the information about Hurricane Rim, I love southern Utah and have not been to that area yet. Will definitely have to check it out after seeing your great pics.

Wow, not sure if I would want to undertake that conversion, but a good resource if someone wants to go down that road for sure. Hurricane is a cool area, along with Zion and its surroundings. The park is busy but some great landscapes very close that are devoid of folks and still striking. Since biking and relaxing were our prime objectives, we didn't wander too much. Kept it pretty low key. We were thinking of an overnighter down at Toroweap since you can essentially drive dirt from there all the way down. Great spot, its where we got engaged actually. There was such wet weather forecasted though we ditched the idea since the roads to Toroweap can become completely impassable in the rain till they dry out and that was a proposition we didn't care to take a risk on.

 

[upcruiser]

great pics, looks like an amazing trip you had. i can relate with you, hauling the trailer around can be a bit of a pain, but to have everything with you, whenever and wherever you need it is great. just like going on vacation and not leaving home in a sense. my kids are 18 months and almost 4 years, they love taking camping trips with the trailer, and like most kids they love to get dirty, eat, nap, etc so to be able to make a quick meal or pull over for a nap or have a bathroom break or a quick bath/shower in their own place that they are familiar with is just great and so much easier on us.
my tires are also in need of replacing, upsetting that the trailer is a '13 with about 4000mi, the sidewalls have started cracking. tire size is 205/75/15 6 ply, planning to go up to 225/75/15 in either an 8 or 10 ply. get a bit more clearance, a little less wear on bearings, and hopefully long lasting tires.

Yeah, you can do the camper thing pretty smartly since there is almost always some sort of cool, off the beat place you can park a camper and basecamp from there. Having a couple of young ones who are pretty finicky sleepers right now, the camper is heaven. Whenever we have roof top tented or ground tented it with them, its made for pretty sleepless nights, everyone waking each other up, and tired, cranky parents. We will definitely being doing more of that with these guys as they get older, but part of this traveling stuff with them is to enjoy it and have them want to do more. Camper wins on all accounts. Even Matt Scott admitted as we were sitting in Valley of the Gods that he wanted to do the camper thing. Shortly thereafter he sold his sweet new 4Runner and picked up a new F250 and he had mentioned the idea of doing an Airstream so I imagine that's next on his list.

 

[upcruiser]

look for Maxxis M8008 Tires much better than the Chinese junk from everyone else. and run your tires at max psi. We have 4 trips from Mich out west on our fifth wheel and they still look like new!

Thats a great trip, thanks! I am going to look into those for our next set. We were in a bit of a pinch when we had to replace the tires and a quick search online I couldn't find anything but Chinese tires. Glad there are some better options out there.

 

[upcruiser]

Love the pictures of the trip! Beautiful scenery and your weather extremes were kind of interesting.
The Suburban setting on the Moki Dugway looks like it should have been a Chevy commercial.
I am glad you are enjoying the Suburban and using it as designed, they are a hugely underrated platform. They used to be a pretty well kept secret, but not so much anymore. The fan base is definitely growing here.
Thanks for being an objective Land Cruiser owner and singing the praises of a Suburban, you are a rarity for sure.
Personally I don't think a LC 100 or 200 series is that much better than a Expedition, Tahoe or Sequoia to warrant the extra outlay of cash.
There is nothing wrong with a 45 through 80 series Land Cruiser that a Chevy V8 can't fix!

Thanks, yeah, the wet weather definitely made for an endless supply of cool photo ops, thats for sure. I wouldn't say I am brand loyal to any particular brand, though having grown up as a kid with my dad having an FJ40, a couple of Willys, a Volkswagen Thing, a first gen Bronco, and several vans that were always set up to travel in, its hard not to have a soft spot for those types of rigs. So, always have been a big Cruiser fan, but I am also pretty realistic. My high mileage 80 series has alot of little issues, but in its defense I was pretty merciless to the thing the past 15 years I have owned it and admittedly pretty skimpy on upkeep. The Cruisers are built like tanks, definitely overbuilt for size but there are other companies making great drivetrains too. Nothing is perfect, but some are better for certain folks' needs than others. Having the "look" now seems to supersede most folks ability to show restraint when setting a rig up for travel. What I love about the Suburban is that I can literally fit everything inside for a trip our an outing and it doesn't look all festooned and drawing attention. The Land Cruiser draws alot of attention and it drives me crazy. I have removed the roof basket, the limb risers, etc so its a touch more stealthy now, but when I would be living in that thing on the road, I found it drew too much attention on nights where i was trying to stealth camp. You can park a white Suburban on any street in the country and no one would be the wiser that you are sleeping in it. Ha ha And yeah, I would love an LS in my 80... Hell, I would love one even more in my old Porsche 944... Make it an LS3 please....

 

[upcruiser]

Looks great. Nice upgrades but not overdone! Mine needs work to get to that stage.

Thanks, its nice to set things up modular. Especially for a daily driver. Put things in for a trip (I keep all my camping gear for this stuff in boxes and bags pretty much ready to go) then take them out after and have full function of a good street vehicle. Most folks' compromises to build a great overland rig completely spoil the way the vehicle handles and drives on a daily basis. That is definitely one of my goals with my vehicles now. I do admit though, if I didn't have the Land Cruiser to use for the rougher stuff, I would probably build this up to a higher degree. I think I would definitely go with a lift and 35's, bumpers, a winch, and dual batteries. Nothing crazy, but probably enough to spoil the stockish look and ride height.

 

[upcruiser]

Looked like an incredible trip upcruiser! Cant agree more with everything you have listed on the suburban. About to head to the southwest Utah myself and might have to make some arrangements to hit a few places you did. Awesome photos.

Southern Utah is one of my favorite places on earth, its the ying to the Upper Peninsula's Yang. Good stuff. It would take a lifetime to see most everything there.

 

[justcuz]

Shhh, not too much info about the UP. Don't want to spoil it! We have friends in Traverse City.

I agree completely about the Suburban stealth factor. It's big enough for a couple people and their gear for an extended trip, if you need to stash stuff outside the vehicle, you've brought too much.

I can see brand loyalty to some extent, I was raised with Plymouths and Pontiacs, but the first time I rebuilt a 327 in high school I became a Chevy guy. That's when Toyotas most popular car was a Corona with a Toyoglide automatic.
Most FJ40's back then were getting the floor shift conversion and a Man a Free carb conversion or a Chevy V8.

Later, a buddy down the street got an FJ55 with a Warn winch installed at the dealer. That was a tank on par with another friends Travelall. The 45,55 and 60 series are an object of unfulfilled desire and will stay that way do to price and the stealth factor.

I've owned several 4x4's, but the Suburbans fill the bill for me and very few people notice it unless I've just come back from a trip and its dirty and scratched up.

 

[CRolandLJ]

Looks like a lot of fun. How do you find the 2500 burb rides unloaded, around town, etc?