Last 2500 Suburban

[CrazyDrei]

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?

Rayra,

You do not need the little gizmo in most vehicles. Ground the parking brake wire in your head unit and that will keep it turned on while you are driving without having to engage the parking brake.

Your 4 screen setup looks great.

 

[CrazyDrei]

Towing mirrors!

Giant extendable dumbo ear towing mirrors that came on the truck were a little on the ridiculous side both look and function, so they had to go. However i still want towing mirrors, solution: slip on towing mirror extensions.

CIPA makes a great product that adds that extra visibility for towing, looks factory other than the screw knob and fit like a glove. Excellent example of form and function.

Now I can tow and easily slip off the towing mirrors when not towing.

To be continued...

 

[CrazyDrei]

Gentlemen,

This has been a formidable debate and sadly it has seemed to have simmered down. This time there is a winner that has clearly worked or spent some time in the back seat of a boarder patrol vehicle and someone who has never been in trouble with the feds but is no stranger to the back seat of your local sheriffs department service vehicle.

The rear door locks... that’s easy, the child switch is just flipped... nothing more nothing less.

?You are correct the child safety switch was in locked position. ?

The outer door handle issue is not just child locks. There is a physical disengagement to keep the rear doors from being opened after someone is placed in custody from the outside.

?We are getting warmer. Yes the child safety locks have absolutely nothing to do with why my doors do not open in my truck.

Been on 18 years now, 3 different departments and supervise a fleet now, every patrol car I’ve ever seen on every agency around me, the child safety lock or switch is activated, nothing special and no additional equipment added.

⁉You may be correct however your department must only transport misdemeanor, $100 fine kinda criminals and not a national security threats.

Well I promise you BP units are exactly as I stated. It has nothing to do with the child lock. No disrespect intended but since you didnt understand the 10 18, I guarantee you dont know.

?I have to side with this one.

Quick opening locks are for K-9 units, just so you understand that.

??Yes they are, but I do not have a K-9 truck, I have a boarder patrol FTO vehicle. ?

The inner door handles in the rear seat doors are disconnected. There is also a device that disconnects the outer door handle so after you place someone in the back it cant be opened unless you know where the lock is. The normal locks (ie electric locks and plunger by the window) dont work.

????I think we have an official winner!

Sine this was a former patrol vehicle and there are hundreds like this one still in service I will not be putting any pictures.

Rear outside door handle opens the rear doors if the rear doors are unlocked.
Rear door lock plunger rods have been disconnected and removed.
Rear electric lock solenoids are still in tact and function properly from front seat locks.
Rear inside door handles were disconnected. Old models had rods, new ones have a cable.
Rear window switches have been re-wired (fried) so that rear windows do not go down from front or rear controls.
And yes, child safety locks were enabled not really sure why.

Fixes:
Re-connected rear inside door handle cable.
New rear window switches.
Disabled rear child safety locks.

Rear door plungers do not go up or down, I don't want them to. Everything else works as it should.

To be continued...

 

[CrazyDrei]

Rear seat ceiling mount TV

So I got me a 15" flip down ceiling mounted TV so that the kids can watch cartoons during long drives and started to install it. Pulled it out of the box, and mocked it up to where I though it would go and it's a major no go. Rear AC controls force me to mount the TV so far back that the middle row will not be able to see anything.

So with great disappointment I went back to the drawing board. I really want the TV mounted where the current rear AC controls are but what do I do with the rear controls? I don't really want to disconnect them and not have any rear AC controls at all.

Front light panel sure is empty and I kinda I wish I had a garage door opener in there, and rear AC controls and a whole bunch of gang switches.

Found a front panel that has very limited buttons and a garage door opener on eBay.

Made a template and cut a hole out where to mount rear AC controls. Note I pulled the microphone and sunroof controls. I do not have a sunroof.

Pulled out front lights and rear lights/AC controls. Cut and extended the rear AC control harness by 18", ran the wire to the front.

And BAM!!! Rear AC controls in the same spot as my GMT800 truck. And everything works. Next step is to mount the TV and wire the lights in TV to turn on and off with all the other cabin lights.

To be continued...

 

[Overlandtowater]

only it looks cooler than mine!

 

[CrazyDrei]

It depends on the year. The latter gmt900s had the 6L9x series trans. Not sure what year that started but I think 2009. I severely dislike the 6lxx trannys. It always seems like its searching for the right gear. The 4l8xs are just always solid even though its only a 4 speed. The 6speed Ally's are much smoother than the 6lxxs.

Fl0w3n and Lilkia,

My transmission is 6L90. No issues with looking for the right gear, stays in the correct gear and much lower RPMs than any 4L80 I've ever driven. Stays at higher RPMs than the 4L60 that's in my 2000 1500 Sub, however that's not a fair comparison since I changed shift points and shift pressures in the 4L60 to fit my driving style. Constantly searching for the right gear is very dependent on the driver and driving style. There are some drivers out there that can make a single speed transmission constantly search for the right gear.

3,000 miles later and I am consistently getting over 500 miles per tank of gas of mixed driving and I never get the needle above 2,000 RPM.

 

[Overlandtowater]

Crazy Drei did you put a shift kit in or did you tune it?....

 

[CrazyDrei]

Crazy Drei did you put a shift kit in or did you tune it?....

Dirtdobberoffroad,

I have not tuned or chipped this one yet. However I did use a flashpaq F5 and Intune I3 on the other Suburban to come up with the shift points and shift pressures I liked and did final adjustment in HP tuners. I know that I will start playing with tuning the 2011 Sub later this summer, just want to drive it more to figure out where it's lacking and what to adjust when I start messing with it.

 

[CrazyDrei]

Huh. Interesting. The 2017 Suburban 3500 HD can only tow 3,000 lbs? That seems crazy low. Wouldn't work for me.

https://www.government-fleet.com/135724/chevrolet-expands-suburban-3500hd-for-police-fire

http://gmauthority.com/blog/2017/07/chevy-suburban-3500hd-heavy-duty-vs-chevrolet-suburban/

I finally got a chance to tow the largest trailer a 2019 Suburban HD 3500 can tow: GVWR 3,000 on this massive pop up.

It was rough pulling the pop-up, now I know how my diesel friends feel when they tow anything. Next trailer should be a little bigger.

To be continued...

 

[CrazyDrei]

What's the big deal about a BP truck?

One Owner!

Many drivers!

Vintageracer,

That's a great point, I have a one owner truck, lol. Other fun fact about this truck is that it came with all the maintenance records, which I did not expect. So I have pretty much all the fleet service records for this truck starting back to 430miles.

These BP trucks got pretty nice parts when they replaced and serviced the Sub.

 

[Todd780]

I finally got a chance to tow the largest trailer a 2019 Suburban HD 3500 can tow: GVWR 3,000 on this massive pop up.

It was rough pulling the pop-up, now I know how my diesel friends feel when they tow anything. Next trailer should be a little bigger.

To be continued...

Are you being literal when you are talking about towing the pop up?

One thing that may help... When I towed a pop up with my '09 Suburban 1500 I found I had to use a drop hitch to keep the tongue level since the Burbs hitch seems to be high. (looks like your trailer is nose high) I found switching to a drop hitch gave a smoother tow.

 

[CrazyDrei]

Are you being literal when you are talking about towing the pop up?

One thing that may help... When I towed a pop up with my '09 Suburban 1500 I found I had to use a drop hitch to keep the tongue level since the Burbs hitch seems to be high. (looks like your trailer is nose high) I found switching to a drop hitch gave a smoother tow.

Todd n Natalie,

LOL, no that was supposed to be a joke. However in all reality this is the largest trailer that the 2019 Suburban HD can legally tow.

I helped a friend pick up this pop-up. He did not have a hitch on his vehicle, so I volunteered. I did bring a 6" drop which would make the trailer sit level and correct, however the ball on this one was 1 7/8 and my drop was a 2". Just to get it home I used my trusty ole 3way ball, so it sat like a pre-runner.

And no I did not even feel that I was towing anything.

 

[chilliwak]

What do you have gold bars in the back of that trailer Crazy? Give us the details with some pics. Cheers, Chilli...?

 

[CrazyDrei]

What do you have gold bars in the back of that trailer Crazy? Give us the details with some pics. Cheers, Chilli...?

Chilli,

No gold bars, and the actual weight of the trailer is around 1,100 lbs but the GVWR is 3,000.

 

[CrazyDrei]

Factory roof rack install.

GM is an amazing platform, there are parts that were introduced in 1988 Suburban that are still used in my 2011 Suburban. With that said, my truck did not have a roof rack, or roof rack rails. That's something that I know I want and need. Lucky for me the same roof rack that I have on my GMT800 Suburban fits the GMT900 truck perfectly. I found one on a totaled truck in town that the owner was parting out for $20 including bolts, score!

Blank canvas, slightly abused by the Boarder Patrol light bar. The holes for the roof rack are pre-drilled/pressed and have rubber seals in them.

Silly me, I thought that the threaded inserts would already be there, nope. I bored the holes out a little more and used my brass nutserts and nutsert tool. All nutserts went in like butter.

Final product once all the 12 bolts were tightened. I love that factory look, clean simple and elegant, oh yeah: $20 for a usable roof rack.

To be continued . . .