Hey Vortec Guys! / Sierra pickup / Suburban / Yukon etc - Finally has Index!

[rayra]

You're very welcome, I'm glad I could be of help. Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is an acceptable form of currency in the Land of Rayra. We ever get out towards Sedona & Taos, I'll give you a shout. This missus is wanting to head that way and I want to go back and do proper respect to the Grand Canyon. We blew thru it on the return from an Albuquerque Balloon Festival trip 5-6yrs ago. Really want to go back.

You mentioned lube and I think I failed to mention it in my writeup. I put a dab of synthetic moly grease in the pockets on the bottom of the keys and on the threads of both the unloading tool and the key keeper / adjustment bolts. Made a big difference. I was using a 1/2" breaker bar to wrench these parts. I have air tools, but given the early hours of the work I chose to be a good neighbor in my suburbia hell and just used muscle power.

I should have swapped my springs. And I'm idly thinking about putting larger spacers in the rear. So I might get the chance to do it again. But I've moved on to a couple other projects now, so it will likely be a year or more before I come back around to messing with lift.

 

[Bear in NM]

Ray,

Most definitely if you are out this way, give me a holler. I would love to buy you and the wife beverages of your choice. And after the alignment, I hope to be done messing with my rig, as well. Got stuff to do on my trailer, and fiddle more with my solar, but most things that do not involve a floor jack and jack stands is fun, and not back breaking.

Craig

 

[rayra]

before your alignment, have you considered the spindly 1/2" dia. inner tie rods on the steering? Rough Country makes a nice beefy slide-on sleeve that replaces the jam nut which binds on the outer tie rod ends. They just this weekend raised their price per pair from $30 to $35. They're still a bargain compared to other monster drop-forged parts. The Rough Country installation vid seems very easy and would be best to do it before the alignment.

https://www.amazon.com/Rough-Countr...ry+-+1144+-+Heavy+Duty+Tie+Rod+Sleeve+Upgrade

I'm almost certainly installing a pair before my post-lift alignment. I'm still fiddling with my torsion height, haven't driven it much since the install so haven't done my alignment again. I was already getting some toe-in feathering before I did the lift / level, anyway. And I'm waffling about going ahead and preemptively doing my ball joints as well. Those and the control arm bushings are the only things I haven't done anyway. But they seem to be fine right now.

 

[kojackJKU]

I replaced everything in the front end of mine, all new joints TRE's etc. I never used the sleeves, I should have. I also replaced the brakes with napa gold lifetime warranty units. I put monroe reflex monotubes as well ( made a HUGE difference to the ride), had pro comp 9000s on before. Now, I am going to be going to lift using the rough country, but i am going to use shock extenders because I have no doubt that the reflex will ride better than the RC shocks. And, they have a lifetime warranty. I drop one, bring it back for new. Already done this with my jeep. I think im going to get the H2 springs for the rear, the stiffest Torsions I can get as well. My ole suburban takes a beating with the plow etc so heavy duty is the name of the game with it...I don't abuse the rig, but i have to plow snow so at times she's worked. I am going to go through all the sensor stuff now in the next week or so.....I will report back on whats going on there....>FINALLY! Also, had the power steering pump replaced, and to my understanding that boosts the brakes....I think there is a leak somewhere, as I have very weak brakes, and noticed fluid up at the front of the burb. Any thought s on that one?

 

[Bear in NM]

Ray,

No, even though my truck is older, the stock front end parts look decent. I am pretty sure my Av was a highway tow vehicle. I live in a place where 90% of the roads are dirt, so am familiar with front end work. Right now I am having trouble finding a place to do an alignment. My usual no longer does them. The closest big "city" is 75 miles away, and I'd rather not do that with the wheels so far out. I am sure the/a alignment place will let me know what is outta whack, if anything.

Craig

 

[Martinjmpr]

Rayra: Can you post some post-lift profile pics? Interested to see what your "stance" looks like. Are you upgrading tires, too?
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I just ordered my kit through Amazon. Decided to go with Bilstiens vs. the Rough Country kit so mine is sort of a "patchwork" kit: Keys from ebay (competitorkiller is the seller), Moog Z71 springs, Bilstein 5100s front and rear (I specified the models that are made for the lifted vehicles), new sway bar links. I don't feel confident doing this kind of work but I found a local shop that can do it for a reasonable price. Fingers crossed but I'm hoping to have the kit installed before we go to Yellowstone in September.
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I acquired a set of 16" Suburban wheels from CL back in March, finally had the tires taken off. Tried to clean the wheels but the clearcoat is all yellowed and looks like crap. I guess I'll have to decide whether I want to try and clean them better (which probably means stripping off the clearcoat) or run them as-is. My current 17" wheels look like crap and running 16's will save me almost $200 on a set of BFG AT KO2's.

 

[rayra]

Hah I was just last night digging thru my photobucket to find the old stance profile pic I took in a Home Depot parking lot, I wanted to see where I was parked so I could go duplicate the photo and maybe do a two-frame GIF so it blinks back and forth between images. I'm at that Home Depot every couple days as I'm working on my drawer platform now / finally.

The rims, it might be worth stripping the clearcoat and powdercoating the rims, but there goes all your savings on switchign to 16s. Seems like all the colors of the rainbow are available these days and my local place will let you fill a baker's rack with parts all one color for ~$140. But that was 4-5yrs ago, no idea what the going rate is now.

I'd like to step up a size in tires, my Yokohamas are only 20mos old with <5k mi on them, could get some decent resale out of them I think, enough to lessen the pain of new tires. But I'm putting money in other stuff for the foreseeable future. All the electrical mods, communications and electronics. The tires I have now will do. Maybe I'll step them up when they are done.



Kojack all I can suggest is the seal on the master cylinder reservoir. It's soft and too flexible as it is. Doesn't take much leaning on to damage it. That or inspect the rubber lines at the frame mounts. Hard to say without knowing where the fluid is turning up. caliper piston seals? All that abrasive road grit, salt etc has to be hell on them.

 

[kojackJKU]

I looks as if its coming from the front of the rig. about behind the rad support member, front section of the motor...Right where the P/S pump is. Not around the brake area. I have my son who has autism with me all this month as he is finished in day camp for the summer, so time is limited to go pick at it. I have to boost it and get it running again...been sitting since april. I want to get this thing reliable again. My 2003 F150 with more miles on it is 10x as reliable as the ole burb. I want all my rigs to be able to jumped in, packed and go.

Once I tear into it...maybe this weekend...I will have more information for you. Another question, are the moog z71 springs longer and stiffer than the stock? any additonal height?

I am a powder coater, to strip and refinish with one color would be approx 90-110 dollars a wheel depending on how bad I have to work to get them preped.

 

[Martinjmpr]

Hah I was just last night digging thru my photobucket to find the old stance profile pic I took in a Home Depot parking lot, I wanted to see where I was parked so I could go duplicate the photo and maybe do a two-frame GIF so it blinks back and forth between images. I'm at that Home Depot every couple days as I'm working on my drawer platform now / finally.

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Yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing how the lift turned out.
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The rims, it might be worth stripping the clearcoat and powdercoating the rims, but there goes all your savings on switchign to 16s. Seems like all the colors of the rainbow are available these days and my local place will let you fill a baker's rack with parts all one color for ~$140. But that was 4-5yrs ago, no idea what the going rate is now.

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Meh, I bought the 16's to save money so unless it's something I can do fairly well by myself I'll just run them as-is. They don't look any worse than my factory 17's (which have some rot/corrosion on them) and honestly they don't look any worse than most of the other Suburbans/Tahoes in this area. I generally don't like to spend $$ replacing things that aren't broken.
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Hell, maybe I'll go "full ricer" and plasti-dip them.

 

[kojackJKU]

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Yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing how the lift turned out.
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Meh, I bought the 16's to save money so unless it's something I can do fairly well by myself I'll just run them as-is. They don't look any worse than my factory 17's (which have some rot/corrosion on them) and honestly they don't look any worse than most of the other Suburbans/Tahoes in this area. I generally don't like to spend $$ replacing things that aren't broken.
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Hell, maybe I'll go "full ricer" and plasti-dip them.

Ha ha. If you want the cheap and dirty route for the wheels, duplicolor makes rim paints. They work really good actually. Not powdercoating good but much better than cheap paint and miles better than 'da dip". Its cheap, and you can get clear to go over it after for extra protection.

 

[kojackJKU]

I am going to order two new knock sensors, plugs and wires this week. that way I have them all when I pull it apart....

 

[rayra]

kojack I'd start suspecting the high pressure side power steering hose, unless you've got solid evidence of a brake fluid leak, low reservoir, wet seals and the like. That high pressure power steering hose my only be spraying / leaking under load.

/that's all I got for now.



Will try to remember the profile pic tomorrow, I'm heading over to that side of town then.

 

[kojackJKU]

thanks....I am looking at it today. I am going to check levels of both the brake fluid, and P/S fluid. I need to make a complete list of all I need to get fixed before I start upgrading so I can use the rig reliably. Brakes are NUMBER ONE. ha ha. Then on to the rough idle, etc.

 

[kojackJKU]

Ok, Got it boosted and running, put a full bottle of brake fluid in and it pumped out quickly when I put the brakes on....The leak is up front, so off to the mechanic it goes. I am guessing its a flex line that looks pretty crappy I am looking at. I will have to tow it out there using a dolly. Cheaper than a tow truck. For now, I have it running and charging the battery since she's been sitting the plow wont even operate.

Keep ya's posted on the progress of suburban resurection.

 

[rayra]

Well here's the stance comparison GIF. I think I was standing several feet further away on the older pic, the perspective is a bit different. But I've got the tires level to the bottom of the image and the rims overlapping. So keep an eye on the rear wheel well spacing and the bottom corner of the front wheel well at the nerf bar, and you can see the changes. I didn't put much crank on the new keys, can get another inch out of them at least and might be doing that very soon. I'm waiting to get the inner tie rod sleeves installed, pull my shocks to add boots, then crank it up and go get an alignment before I chew up my tires too much. So I've been slow to mess with the new key adjustments.

Humorously, my 'leveling kit' install has resulted in greater rake than before. As it sits right this minute.