Last 2500 Suburban

[Buddha.]

First phase after major decon: level, tires and mirrors.

16" steelies with very worn tread had to go. Looking to craigslist for help I scored a set of 33x12.5" on 17" rims at a killer price.

Tread is about 50% but for the price I will get over a year out of them before I go to something different.

Next was the towing mirrors. They were horrible for daily driving and looked ridiculous. Less than $100 shipped on eBay for a set of normal mirrors with power, puddle lights and heaters. Towing mirrors were sold for $100 on craigslist within an hour. These look so much better.

Top

Tires and mirrors are on. Next was new 1-3" level keys and a minor trim. This is the picture before the keys and trim.

To be continued...

16" wheels fit the Suburban? The pickups don't fit anything smaller than 17" starting in 2011. Is the suburban still on the old pattern 8 lug or did it go to the metric pattern 8 lug like the trucks in 2011?

 

[TNSG]

First phase after major decon: level, tires and mirrors.

16" steelies with very worn tread had to go. Looking to craigslist for help I scored a set of 33x12.5" on 17" rims at a killer price.

Tread is about 50% but for the price I will get over a year out of them before I go to something different.

Next was the towing mirrors. They were horrible for daily driving and looked ridiculous. Less than $100 shipped on eBay for a set of normal mirrors with power, puddle lights and heaters. Towing mirrors were sold for $100 on craigslist within an hour. These look so much better.

Top

Tires and mirrors are on. Next was new 1-3" level keys and a minor trim. This is the picture before the keys and trim.

To be continued...

Dang! I want tow mirrors for the Beastieburban!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[rayra]

well there's the answer to whether 16" rims will fit over the larger GMT900 front brakes Or are they different on the 2500?

(I've got aftermarket Powerstop GMT900 rotors / calipers etc on my '02 Z71 Sub with 17" factory snowflake rims, there's been a bunch of other-topics discussion about whether 16" rims would fit over the brake upgrade)

 

[lilkia]

well there's the answer to whether 16" rims will fit over the larger GMT900 front brakes Or are they different on the 2500?

(I've got aftermarket Powerstop GMT900 rotors / calipers etc on my '02 Z71 Sub with 17" factory snowflake rims, there's been a bunch of other-topics discussion about whether 16" rims would fit over the brake upgrade)

No. This is a 2500 they use very different brakes systems than the gmt900 1500s.

Drei which keys did you get for the 2500? Did you check your rear door handles? They may hook everything back up when the sell them.

 

[rayra]

ya? 1500 v 2500, No kidding the brakes are 'different'. The question / point has been whether a 16" rim will fit over calipers of the larger-diameter rotor / brakes of the 900s. And since a 16" rim is available for the 2500 900s, I was wondering if that was also true for the 1500s. It seems odd that the latter would have bigger (diameter) brakes than the 2500.
As I work on my my own GMT800 with a 900 front brake kit, I seem to have a large amount of clearance over the calipers, something over 1". So it seems a 16" rim would fit, clearance would be 1/2" less than what I have now, so it ought to work. Some folks here have posted wondering about it and there hasn't yet been a definitive answer.

 

[Buddha.]

My question was does the 2500 suburban 2011+ have the same axles/ brakes as the truck 2500 2011+. It would seem it doesn’t since OP’s truck can run 16’s and my 2011+ truck cannot. Also which bolt pattern it has is at question.
For those with similar vintage 2500’s it’s important to know what fits when wheel shopping. I didn’t realize until a couple months ago that the wheel pattern changed.

 

[lilkia]

My question was does the 2500 suburban 2011+ have the same axles/ brakes as the truck 2500 2011+. It would seem it doesn’t since OP’s truck can run 16’s and my 2011+ truck cannot. Also which bolt pattern it has is at question.
For those with similar vintage 2500’s it’s important to know what fits when wheel shopping. I didn’t realize until a couple months ago that the wheel pattern changed.

That I cant answer everything I have found suggests that the suburban 2500 stayed the same up through 2013-14 when it was "discontinued" and didnt have the changes the trucks did. Again I dont know that for sure. I think we have a 12 or 13 at work I will check the bolt pattern if we do.

I checked a bunch of wheel retailer sites and they all show the 2007- 2013 suburban 2500 as having an 8x6.5 bolt pattern. Drei should be able to answer, he just bought a set of wheels for his 2011. If they changed with the trucks his 2011 should be the new pattern. Those year suburban 2500s were built on a different assembly line than the truck chassis so they very well could have stayed the same.

I did more looking and apparently the avalanche also kept the 8x6.5 wheel pattern which makes sense if the suburban did because they were made on the same assembly line.

 

[Martinjmpr]

The 2500s use the hydroboost system which delivers an exponential increase in clamping force. The 1500s dont.

1500's got hydroboost in 2004.

Chevrolet Suburban - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[lilkia]

1500's got hydroboost in 2004.

Chevrolet Suburban - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Good to know but I know they still use a different brake system. In fact the way the rotors mount the hubs is completey different. And the 2500 is still about 3/4" smaller diameter and 1/4" thicker.

 

[Watt maker]

You can look on the glove box door, it should have a build sticker with a list of codes which state exactly how it was built at GM. GT4= 3.73 gears, GT5= 4.10 gears, G80= gov lock rear locker, I forget the rest. As for the axles/running gear, the 2500 suburban is very similar to the 2500 (not HD) series. Looks like yours has the full floating rear diff, I've seen some with the semi-floating 3/4 ton rear, so maybe the gov. trucks get the better axles.

 

[lilkia]

Thats one thing Id like to know how they determine which gets the sf and which gets the ff. My 01 has a ff but my buddies 04 2500 burb has a sf. His is a 6.0 so maybe that has something to do with it. Not really sure in this case if it really matters. I could see on a dually carrying a gooseneck it might matter but not so much on a 8k tag along.

 

[lilkia]

Pretty simple, 2500 SUVs and 1500HD/early 2500 received the 9.5 SF, with the exception of Quadrasteer models.

Youd think but like I said my 2001 2500 8.1 Suburban has the 14 bolt FF. It has the very distinctive bolt pattern where the bottom three bolts are in a triangular pattern instead of 3 almost straight across.

For that matter my 1999 k2500 ccsb also has the 14bolt full float.

 

[CrazyDrei]

Entertainment system is going in.

I needed a head unit that can play DVDs, has GPS and can provide driver/front passenger as well as rear entertainment all in one package. I think I found the best solution without going to a 10" screen.


Soundstream VRN-DD7HB, world's first two screen double din head unit. Top screen and bottom screens can show different things such as GPS on top screen and DVD on the lower screen which will have video out to the rear TV for the kids.

Soldered and heat shrunk all wires. Just like every single modification, this one needed some custom trimming to get the radio, GPS antenna and all the RCA outs to clear inside the dash. But the fit and finish looks pretty good.

Next step is back up camera and 15" flip down rear TV.

To be continued...

 

[rayra]

I like the double screen layout

I've been wanting to put another ceiling screen in my Sub, the original vehicle TV system / under-seat deck was dead when I got it and I pulled everything out and the ignition interlock whose security key / card was busted off in the slot under the dash, Im guessing when the vehicle was sold. But the ceiling TV mount base covered a larger hole that had been cut in the headliner, so I left the ugly baseplate in place to cover that hole.
I later did some dash surgery in my '02's 1.5U dash to fit in a 2U AVH-280BT DVD player. It's got an aux video out, so I intend to put in a ceiling monitor in that 2nd row location one of these days. Would be good for vehicle camping, sleeping on my storage platform.
Fitting a 2U in the 1.5 was pretty easy. Just took a little surgery of the radio section / cage, then two new screwholes to relocate the air controls downward about 3/8" and swapping in a 2003+ dash bezel (it blocks the ash tray and power port panel door, big whoop)
I also bought the little gizmo that tricks the head unit into thinking the vehicle is in Park, so it will play the DVD while cruising down the road. is there something like that available for the Soundstream unit?

 

[lilkia]

Funny, I would think that floating hubs would be the indicator there........

Waste of an axle when the chassis won't handle anywhere near what the drivetrain is rated to pull.

You could check the hubs but the easiest way to check is just by looking under the back. The pumpkin shape is different between the two axles.

I agree I see no need for it on the suburban unless it was used because of the big block. As for the truck I was told there were two 3/4 ton gmt400 trucks built by GM. A 7600lb chassis which is built on the half to frame with 8 bolt axles and the 8600lb chassis built on the 1 ton frame. Everything on it uses the same part number as the cclb srw 3500. The only difference I could find was the wheelbase.