Going domestic, project vanilla aka the family tankster, 2004 Suburban 2500
- Thread starter upcruiser
- Start date
rayra
Expedition Leader
I would expect so, they're essentially the same design.
upcruiser
Perpetual Transient
Wow, thanks for the link, damn there are some good prices on there. Unfortunately they don't seem to have the power extending mirrors that I have on my Suburban. Thinking of just getting fully manual mirrors as a set to save money and future replacement costs if I break them again squeezing this thing down tight trails. Plus, the factory mirrors I have are a bit chintzy feeling. When you shut the doors the rattle and have play. But I will definitely be using that link to price out future items needed. Gracias.
upcruiser
Perpetual Transient
Gotcha. Funny, I hadn't heard much of that issue in my reading.
justcuz
Explorer
The next time I have to do the knock sensors, I am going to look in to the newer design. They are donut shaped with the bolt going through the center and mount to the out side of the block above the pan rail. Not sure about the electrical connectors but the external design for the knock sensors sure makes more sense.
When I did my knock sensors I left the foam blocks out, your cold weather may make it worth leaving them in as they may prevent icing of the intake airflow. The radiated heat trapped under the intake will help. That is not a big consideration in my part of California.
Metcalf has a picture of the external knock sensor on the side of his engine in the Toyota section. He is building an early FJ40 on an 80 chassis with a Chevy engine and trans, using a Land Rover T-case.
Your welcome on the mirrors, with two women in the family I've purchased several!😂
When I did my knock sensors I left the foam blocks out, your cold weather may make it worth leaving them in as they may prevent icing of the intake airflow. The radiated heat trapped under the intake will help. That is not a big consideration in my part of California.
Metcalf has a picture of the external knock sensor on the side of his engine in the Toyota section. He is building an early FJ40 on an 80 chassis with a Chevy engine and trans, using a Land Rover T-case.
Your welcome on the mirrors, with two women in the family I've purchased several!😂
Another Yoop Trail Banger
Sorry about your luck but you are learning your rigs, for better as always.
I have a place in Naubinway, it must be darn near next door to Chuck B's inlaws.
I am creating a stubby version of the same theme, a 4 door Tahoe..
Good luck and enjoy brother, that 6.0 is a gem.
Sorry about your luck but you are learning your rigs, for better as always.
I have a place in Naubinway, it must be darn near next door to Chuck B's inlaws.
I am creating a stubby version of the same theme, a 4 door Tahoe..
Good luck and enjoy brother, that 6.0 is a gem.
upcruiser
Perpetual Transient
It's all good, I enjoy researching stuff relating to cars and trucks. Do you live in Naubinway fulltime? Cool having another from this neck of the northcountry on here. You should check out the UPO trip in August. Good times. There is a guy on the UPO forums with a nice Tahoe build. We have really been enjoying this thing so far. Great power train and the most comfortable vehicle I have had to spend a day behind the wheel of. All this space and capacity gives so many options for how to use it.
upcruiser
Perpetual Transient
I see what you are saying, good stuff. Coming from Toyotas and a stint with Land Rover I am stoked about all the affordable parts and suppliers out there.
upcruiser
Perpetual Transient
Spent last evening with TJ and his crew at the Roam Automotive shop (they are located just outside Munising) and the Burb got some loving.
TJ doing a tidy install of the onboard air.
Final outcome.
You can see the toggle switch mounted on the brace on the right. This was a simple and clean solution. If I decide to go with a secondary battery down the road we will relocate the pump and plumb in a tank or integrated a rear bumper as a tank for air tools and running selectable lockers. I still need to put together a kit with fittings, line and accessories. This system should make quick work of airing up the 285's. My biggest issue with this truck so far on anything semi technical has been the rough ride and required need of going pretty slow, compared to our Land Cruiser and other previous rigs. Tire pressure is going to be the first part of the solution to getting a more comfortable ride in the dirt and reducing the beating the occupants.... and truck take.
The other part of that equation was this
Bilstein 5100's. I solicited a lot of advice regarding which shocks to go with. In the end I had the most positive feedback with the 5100's. Done.
Sorry for the blurry pic. Ooh, those things look nice. The drive home was pretty much on the smoothest pavement in the UP but I could tell there was a bit less initial harshness. Also I noticed better ride control on rebound. But I haven't had even a pothole yet to see how it feels on bumps and the rough stuff yet. The old shocks were definitely getting long in the tooth.
I picked up an OBDII reader as well. Stoked to finally have one and not needing to borrow others. So, other than the new mirrors and some minor storage area tweaks to maximize our bike and gear storage behind the second row, this is pretty much how we are going to run the truck for our upcoming trip. I still get an occasional low voltage code on the knock sensors. Debating still whether to deal with them prior to the trip. Trying to spare our trip budget and sacrifice as little as we have to for the trip. I don't know if I should be worrying about it?
The trip as of now is going to be around 18 days. We are bringing our 23 foot camper to basecamp at both campgrounds and off the grid. Planning to do a ton of biking, hiking, as well as some backcountry travel in the truck. Probably a week in the greater Moab area, then Escalante to enjoy for a spell, Hurricane area, lastly visiting friends in Park City before blasting back. Thinking of an over nighter in the White Rim and maybe along the Hole in the Rock Road to give the kiddos some quality tent time. Gotta figure out a good way/place to stash the camper for those outings. Might mess around and test out the truck's performance a bit on Elephant Hill, Chicken Corners, and some other trails around Moab. The trip is really going to give us the direction of what we may need to upgrade down the road. I really hope the current stance and tire size, along with some careful driving prove to be adequate because I love the ride height and ride quality on the road. We will see. Trying to keep this thing as simple, low cost, and as stock as possible.
TJ doing a tidy install of the onboard air.
Final outcome.
You can see the toggle switch mounted on the brace on the right. This was a simple and clean solution. If I decide to go with a secondary battery down the road we will relocate the pump and plumb in a tank or integrated a rear bumper as a tank for air tools and running selectable lockers. I still need to put together a kit with fittings, line and accessories. This system should make quick work of airing up the 285's. My biggest issue with this truck so far on anything semi technical has been the rough ride and required need of going pretty slow, compared to our Land Cruiser and other previous rigs. Tire pressure is going to be the first part of the solution to getting a more comfortable ride in the dirt and reducing the beating the occupants.... and truck take.
The other part of that equation was this
Bilstein 5100's. I solicited a lot of advice regarding which shocks to go with. In the end I had the most positive feedback with the 5100's. Done.
Sorry for the blurry pic. Ooh, those things look nice. The drive home was pretty much on the smoothest pavement in the UP but I could tell there was a bit less initial harshness. Also I noticed better ride control on rebound. But I haven't had even a pothole yet to see how it feels on bumps and the rough stuff yet. The old shocks were definitely getting long in the tooth.
I picked up an OBDII reader as well. Stoked to finally have one and not needing to borrow others. So, other than the new mirrors and some minor storage area tweaks to maximize our bike and gear storage behind the second row, this is pretty much how we are going to run the truck for our upcoming trip. I still get an occasional low voltage code on the knock sensors. Debating still whether to deal with them prior to the trip. Trying to spare our trip budget and sacrifice as little as we have to for the trip. I don't know if I should be worrying about it?
The trip as of now is going to be around 18 days. We are bringing our 23 foot camper to basecamp at both campgrounds and off the grid. Planning to do a ton of biking, hiking, as well as some backcountry travel in the truck. Probably a week in the greater Moab area, then Escalante to enjoy for a spell, Hurricane area, lastly visiting friends in Park City before blasting back. Thinking of an over nighter in the White Rim and maybe along the Hole in the Rock Road to give the kiddos some quality tent time. Gotta figure out a good way/place to stash the camper for those outings. Might mess around and test out the truck's performance a bit on Elephant Hill, Chicken Corners, and some other trails around Moab. The trip is really going to give us the direction of what we may need to upgrade down the road. I really hope the current stance and tire size, along with some careful driving prove to be adequate because I love the ride height and ride quality on the road. We will see. Trying to keep this thing as simple, low cost, and as stock as possible.
Do you have a link to said Tahoe build?? I love reading through well thought-out GM builds. Still hunting for my own 2500 'Burb - may also consider the right 1500HD, as it's a similar concept.
upcruiser
Perpetual Transient
http://upoverland.org/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=2180
I assume you have checked out, I might be messing up his user name, but '02TahoeMD, he posted earlier in this thread, but he has a really nice Tahoe he put a lot of time into.
I assume you have checked out, I might be messing up his user name, but '02TahoeMD, he posted earlier in this thread, but he has a really nice Tahoe he put a lot of time into.
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justcuz
Explorer
I posted some stuff on "Jacks 2007 Chevy build" in the last couple pages about drilling the u bolt plates to allow drainage and rust prevention and installing an earlier 1988-98 rear overload that has more of a progressive taper to it.
You may have to check your length to see if it fits inside of your main spring leaf clamps, but they are easily shortened with a chop saw. You need a wet rag wrapped around the overload as a heat sink and redrill the wear pad holes. A machine shop can redrill the wear pad holes in the overloads unless you have some super hard bits. If the overload extends past the spring clamps your good.
The earlier overloads are 41 or 42 inches long.
You may have to check your length to see if it fits inside of your main spring leaf clamps, but they are easily shortened with a chop saw. You need a wet rag wrapped around the overload as a heat sink and redrill the wear pad holes. A machine shop can redrill the wear pad holes in the overloads unless you have some super hard bits. If the overload extends past the spring clamps your good.
The earlier overloads are 41 or 42 inches long.
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upcruiser
Perpetual Transient
Curious to hear your results with the Fox. A big challenge with setting up one of these trucks for overland type of use is that there are so few setting them up for this stuff. Our budget is tight so we were limited with shock options and trying to spare funds for travelling, go without some fun things I would like for the Burb.
