I got here as fast as I could - '04 Suburban Z71

[tbisaacs]

well balls. I didn't realize our nerf-steps were cut like that. That's a lot of strength lost. I'd thought it was a solid / formed pipe with a plastic cap. better check too that the paint didn't make them more slippery than they already are. I've been trying to figure how to put some grip tape on mine / those plastic steps.

Nice paint work, though.


I've got another set of those hooks, sans bolts, if anyone is looking for a pair. The missus bent hers down a while back and I harvested a pair from a salvage yard. But I found she'd mangled the frame ends too and lost enthusiasm for the project.

Yep. They are paper thin. The bottom of one of mine is a little deformed in the corners from taking a hit from something.


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[tbisaacs]

Made home from Northwest Overland Rally in one piece. Well, almost (more on that in bit).

Thursday I met up with some Overland Bound members and hopped over NF-700 and we took the up-and-over route into Leavenworth. Highly recommended if you get the chance.

Home sweet home once we made it to NWOR:

Friday I did a group run up to the fire lookout on Sugarloaf mountain. I wish I had cooler photos but it got very cloudy up top:

2-hi all the way up. Aired down for comfort. Totally drama free.

Our local expedition outfitter was selling maxtrax for $50 less than amazon so I jumped on em!

Speaking of solar. My panel pulled 30-60 watts all day long Friday and Saturday. Yeti came home 100% charged.

Anyways.

Saturday I did another trail run, this time up a ruby creek near cashmere Washington. This was an excellent, excellent ride:

We decided to do another side trip. This is where things got rough:

This was easily a 15-20% grade. I put the burb in 4-lo and ground through it.

There were several washouts on the way up and I smacked the hitch. Hard. Like really hard. After I **********, I hear the LR Discovery behind me honking. I look back and there is my spare tire lying in the trail.

Before leaving I ditched my 16" spare for a 17" Lexus wheel and put a matching 33" Cooper on. Well, the Lexus wheel bore is a few MM bigger than a gm. Those millimeters were just enough that when I smacked it, it came off then hanger.

Now, you are probably thinking, I wish there was a photo because that's funny. Well, I aim to please:

After I finished entertaining everyone, we made it to the top and enjoyed the view:

The Burbs strength is its only weakness. The size makes it soak up the miles with your family and stuff. But it's also the Achilles heal.

I ratcheted the spare on my roof to get home.

I'll have ford keys and spacers on before my next run in August. I do believe the extra 2 inches will make a world of difference in keeping the body and a** from scrubbing the dirt.

Frustration aside. I tested the Burb really hard, and all things considered, it didn't let me down. We didn't slip or slide of spin or get stuck. I hung with crazy built rigs with long travel and Icon suspension.

Super fun experience.


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[chilliwak]

'Thanks for the action pics Tbisaacs! Look like a fun trip and a real eye opener fot how much your truck can do. Thanks for posting up. Cheers, Chilli...

 

['05TJLWBRUBY]

Great pics. Which route did you take to Sugarloaf? Did MULE get a chance to open up their big Stevenson? (sp?) They've got some nice work into that rig. Was at their place last week prior to trip to Tillamook but it was still being prepped for trip to Plain so didn't get to see it out of the shop.

Glad the Sub is working so well. I really need to get back to work on mine again.

Best of Luck,

Mike

 

[tbisaacs]

Great pics. Which route did you take to Sugarloaf? Did MULE get a chance to open up their big Stevenson? (sp?) They've got some nice work into that rig. Was at their place last week prior to trip to Tillamook but it was still being prepped for trip to Plain so didn't get to see it out of the shop.

Glad the Sub is working so well. I really need to get back to work on mine again.

Best of Luck,

Mike

They did open up the LMTV. It's pretty epic

We took a few roads up to Sugarloaf, but were on 6101 most of the time.


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[tbisaacs]

This weekend we went to Wenatchee national forest to explore the forest roads and do some dispersed camping. The burb once again happily swallowed all of our stuff.

We found ourselves on a Jeep trail with much more capable rigs. We made it most of the way up thanks to careful spotting-but eventually my nerves got the best of me and had to back down.

Probably could have made it but we definitely pushed our luck with stock ride height. We made it down mostly unscathed. I kicked up a hidden branch and managed to scrape my front fender flare and rear quarter pretty good.

Also, time for that snorkel


[video]https://youtu.be/H7_iEDvgnHc[/video]

[youtube]https://youtu.be/H7_iEDvgnHc[/youtube]



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[Jelorian]

Beautiful country! Thanks for sharing the pics!

 

[rayra]

Yep, great pic, exactly what these vehicles are meant for.

 

[tbisaacs]

Yep, great pic, exactly what these vehicles are meant for.

One thing that is super frustrating. The drive-by-wire throttle in the 2004 and newer models. I could not modulate smoothly, even crawling along in 4-lo.


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[rayra]

I agree. I have a real hard time with it, just switching between my '02 Sub and the wife's '05 Tahoe. Try to go easy as possible, nothing, nothing, nothing and suddenly it's surging. Tough to do any controlled moves over rocks or broken terrain. Maybe there's a computer-based way to recalibrate the low end throttle response.

Too, take a look at the adjustment threads at the end of the throttle cable. At the throttle body / plate / linkage. Take all the slack out of the cable. Like adjusting bicycle brakes. 100k+ miles there will be some. And if you can't take it all out, you can shim the cable itself with some cut-open vac line, where the cable rides over the curve of the throttle linkage. That will take out a little more slack. Or maybe too much, in which case you back off a bit on the cable tension adjustment.
I had some pix of this in my Vortec topic, I ought to have them working again by the end of this weekend. I'm figuring to set up my own domain / site, in part to re-host all my images.

 

[tbisaacs]

I agree. I have a real hard time with it, just switching between my '02 Sub and the wife's '05 Tahoe. Try to go easy as possible, nothing, nothing, nothing and suddenly it's surging. Tough to do any controlled moves over rocks or broken terrain. Maybe there's a computer-based way to recalibrate the low end throttle response.

Too, take a look at the adjustment threads at the end of the throttle cable. At the throttle body / plate / linkage. Take all the slack out of the cable. Like adjusting bicycle brakes. 100k+ miles there will be some. And if you can't take it all out, you can shim the cable itself with some cut-open vac line, where the cable rides over the curve of the throttle linkage. That will take out a little more slack. Or maybe too much, in which case you back off a bit on the cable tension adjustment.
I had some pix of this in my Vortec topic, I ought to have them working again by the end of this weekend. I'm figuring to set up my own domain / site, in part to re-host all my images.

Excellent, thanks for the tips!


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[tbisaacs]

More learnings / tweaks / optimizations come with every trip.

I spend a couple of hours getting packed up and ready to go every time we want to camp (which has been every weekend).

First step: get our stuff into labeled, organize that we can grab, plus one bin we fill at the grocery store:

Next, I've decided to leave my panel, goal zero battery, maxtrax, and fridge in the burb full time, at least until the end of camping season.

Up top, the panel is bolted on. Maxtrax are bungeed tight and have a cable lock to keep them from wandering off:

I usually toss firewood, camp chairs and the jerry can in the roof basket.

Inside, I bought some inexpensive turnbuckles and spring links to cinch the fridge down. It's not going anywhere.

My suburban is missing the "flaps" behind the second row that cover the gutter for the third row so I'm using it for tool box, compressor, and battery:

There is plenty of holes there to keep things cinched down.

Side note, the goal zero happily powers the fridge. I have yet to kill it thanks to these sunny days. Winter is coming though

Lastly, I toss the trasharoo on the back. I obviously don't have a spare tire outback so I loop it through hatch.

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[rayra]

Excellent, looks like a good working setup. I've got a much smaller peltier cooler that I put on the floor in the 2nd row up against the center console, where we can reach into it from the front seats for cold drinks. And using a similar sized ice chest where your ARB is. I'm expanding my storage platform setup to bolt down my MFC / MWC carrier on top of it, inside the rear cargo area, same corner. And will be making another short wall tray that will utilize the same mounting bolts / corner location to nestle and lash down the ice chest. Just bought the chest during 4th of July sales, building the tray shortly.


Here's the stuff on the throttle cable adjustment. Turns out I never put it in the Vortec topic, when I did it ~16mos ago.
http://forum.expeditionportal.com/t...ckup-Suburban-Yukon-etc?p=2337086#post2337086

 

[tbisaacs]

For posterity

Coming back to button up this thread! File it away into the chapters of the Suburban Mafia history.

If you are a new reader and just got here:

1. I built this Surban for epic family adventures and it totally delivered
2. The transmission grenaded on my way to work and I decided not to fix it
3. I sold it to another ExPo member who lovingly got it back on the road
4. I replaced it with a 200-series Land Cruiser (well, LX570)

Six months later, here's what I miss about the Suburban:

1. 31 gallon tank. If you keep stuff off the roof, air up your tires, and take it easy on the gas, you can get a lot of miles before having to refuel.
2. The extra foot behind the third row
3. Related to above—the miles and miles of roofline
4. Everything is cheap, parts are easy to source
5. Simplicity

What I don't miss:

1. Tractor-like ride. Even with aired-down tires. new shocks and bushing, etc—the Suburban beat us to death on rough trails.
2. The extra foot behind the third row. Yea, I know I said I miss it The Suburban's biggest ASSet was also it's biggest hinderance on any trail that was moderately technical. It was a slow dance of trying not to drag the hitch or tear the nerf bars off. A modest lift and modding the hitch (paging Rayra) would have helped a bit.
3. Slim aftermarket in the "ExPo" world

That being said, if you are here because you are considering a GMT800 Tahoe/Suburban an an ExPo vehicle—you should. Do it. Don't even think. These vehicles are worth your consideration.

1. Great all-around do everything vehicle. Road trips, towing, they do it all.
2. The cost of entry is very low—cheap enough that you can use it hard and not feel bad
3. Out of the box capability is very good—the G80 works really well and having true 4wd is awesome
4. Will gladly accept larger AT tires
5. All issues are known and common at this point
6. Parts are cheap because the platform was used for so many vehicles

 

[rayra]

heh.

http://forum.expeditionportal.com/t...MT800-Suburban-in-the-name-of-departure-angle