Last 2500 Suburban

[CrazyDrei]

Dodge rims on 8-lug GM.

8-lug wheel patterns are shared among some manufacturers over some years and are proprietary during other years. I always like the look of 18" aluminum rims that cam on 2010-2018 Ram 2500 trucks and they are also readily available just about everywhere with decent tread depth for an absurdly low price. I found a set with center caps for $100 and I just could not resist. Picked up 275/70R18 which translates to approximately 33" x 11" tire. I am running a 33" x 12.5" so the Ram rims should theoretically just bolt right on.

I started in the rear, pictured are the current wheels/tires that I am running.

I pulled the wheel off and realized that the hub is way deeper than on a Ram 2500 and the wheels do not simply bolt on. No wonder no Chevy or GM owners are jumping on these rims.

I needed approximately 10mm to clear the hub. My two solutions: wheel spacers or boring out the rims themselves to accommodate the hub. I got wheel spacers.

These spacers fit GM 8x165, Ford 8x170 and GM 8x180, pretty cool. I got 12mm or 1/2" spacers.

Difficult to tell from this picture, but there is at least 2mm clearance between the hub bolts and the rims, WINNING!!!

Lug bolts grab approximately 1/2-3/4" of thread on the lug bolts and seem to be holding pretty well. Ram rims look fantastic on the Suburban. Fronts do not have the huge hubs. I test fitted one rim with a spacer and decided that I do not need spacers up front. Front fit with no rubbing.

Take-aways!
Ram 2500 rims fit on 8-lug GM
Rears need at least 1/2" spacers
Fronts do not need spacers
If you haven't done so already, trimming is required to avoid rubbing
Ram offset is significantly negative to the GM offset

I am waiting on 1.5" spacers for the rear to correct for the offset and make the rims sit correctly inside the wheel well. I will update with a write up and pictures once I get the new rear spacers.

to be continued. . .

 

[lilkia]

Well in other good news you have the FF 14 bolt.

 

[DT75FLH]

Dodge rims on 8-lug GM.

8-lug wheel patterns are shared among some manufacturers over some years and are proprietary during other years. I always like the look of 18" aluminum rims that cam on 2010-2018 Ram 2500 trucks and they are also readily available just about everywhere with decent tread depth for an absurdly low price. I found a set with center caps for $100 and I just could not resist. Picked up 275/70R18 which translates to approximately 33" x 11" tire. I am running a 33" x 12.5" so the Ram rims should theoretically just bolt right on.

I started in the rear, pictured are the current wheels/tires that I am running.

I pulled the wheel off and realized that the hub is way deeper than on a Ram 2500 and the wheels do not simply bolt on. No wonder no Chevy or GM owners are jumping on these rims.

I needed approximately 10mm to clear the hub. My two solutions: wheel spacers or boring out the rims themselves to accommodate the hub. I got wheel spacers.

These spacers fit GM 8x165, Ford 8x170 and GM 8x180, pretty cool. I got 12mm or 1/2" spacers.

Difficult to tell from this picture, but there is at least 2mm clearance between the hub bolts and the rims, WINNING!!!

to be continued. . .

here is a pic of those rims, powder coated in hammered tone finish, from my old truck

 

[chilliwak]

Nice upgrades there Mr Crazy. Me like....?

 

[CrazyDrei]

here is a pic of those rims, powder coated in hammered tone finish, from my View attachment 511383old truck

DT75FLH,

Black powder coat looks sweet on these rims, I might have to go in the direction later this summer.

 

[Overlandtowater]

I like the older power wagon wheels looks good keep it up!

 

[CrazyDrei]

Front jump-seat is in.

Former boarder patrol truck only had the two bucket seats up front. I had a couple choices: keep it open like a minivan, center console just like my 2000 Suburban or a jump seat. I had a 98 Ram 1500 back inteh day with a jump seat and my wife convinced me to get a jump seat again. After weeks of searching I managed to find one online at a reasonable price and pulled the trigger.

Hole between the two seats.

Jump seat arrived! 5 cup holders, two storage compartments and a direct bolt in.

Bam, and just like that the jump seat is in.

Seat folded up.

Lower storage compartment with an auxiliary DC outlet that works!

Top compartment which is now completely full of junk.

And now my monster Suburban seats 9 people! This was a relatively easy and simple bolt up, the most difficult part was to hold the existing seats up and sliding the jump seat into position.

To be continued. . .

 

[Overlandtowater]

I like the option for a bench in the front. I would like to do the swap on my 03 for a bench front but I have the rear controls and don't know what I would do with them.

 

[vargsmetal]

Is that a factory GMT900 jump seat? Can you share where you got it? That would be awesome to replace my broken center box.

 

[southofantarctica]

I've been wanting one of these for a while now, curious as to where you found a place to purchase the deadlined units.

I always said that I'd never pick up a unit from the patrol but if I could dig up one like yours or possibly one of those Quigley conversion vans it might be too tempting.

Really like where you're going with this thing, keep up the good work.

 

[chilliwak]

I think that front seat is a very cool upgrade Mr Crazy. Can you give me some dimensions on that puppy? Cheers, Chilli...?

 

[CrazyDrei]

Wheel spacers.

I really like the look of Dodge Rims on my Suburban however I did not like the 1/2" spacers. I decided to keep the front as is and change out the rears to 1.25" real spacers. This pushed the rear wheels out more into the fenders and made the truck look better.

Just like with my 1500 Sub wheel spacers that are less than 2" require wheel studs to be cut down a little to fit the spacers without poking through. All I can say is that even with a cut off wheel 8-lug hubs took a while to cut that 1/2" off.

This looks much better than the 1/2" spacers from a couple posts ago. Just looks awkward with the 8-lug hub.

Did not take a before and after picture but the rear wheels look much better and sit a lot more proportionately inside the wheel wells. Next step is rear air bags.

To be continued...

 

[chilliwak]

Spacers are looking good Mr Crazy. Curius why you dont add a leaf instead of air bags. Real 4x4ers never use airbags. Can I suggest BDS springs? Inexpensive and a unlimited garantee. I use them on all my rigs. No problemo. Cheers, Chilli.. ?

 

[CrazyDrei]

Air bags are in!

I initially wanted the Firestone 5,000# load leveling air bags however I was informed by many suppliers that they are obsolete and have not been manufactured for years, I ended up settling for an airlift 2,000# set. I never planned on hauling more than a palette of cylinder blocks in the back of the truck so I had to settle for the 2,000# bags.

I had too drill three holes per side for the top mounting brackets. Everything cleared well and fit with no problems using the supplied template.

Closer look at the top and bottom brackets. I ran the two air hoses to an union T and then one hose to a fill valve at the rear bumper. Walmart trip and $15 later I got a low volume/high pressure bike pump to inflate the airbags, looks weird, but works flawlessly.

I got the airbags only to supplement bigger and heavier loads and will run low pressure or deflated during everyday driving.

To be continued...

 

[Watt maker]

Air bags are in!

I initially wanted the Firestone 5,000# load leveling air bags however I was informed by many suppliers that they are obsolete and have not been manufactured for years, I ended up settling for an airlift 2,000# set. I never planned on hauling more than a palette of cylinder blocks in the back of the truck so I had to settle for the 2,000# bags.

I had too drill three holes per side for the top mounting brackets. Everything cleared well and fit with no problems using the supplied template.

Closer look at the top and bottom brackets. I ran the two air hoses to an union T and then one hose to a fill valve at the rear bumper. Walmart trip and $15 later I got a low volume/high pressure bike pump to inflate the airbags, looks weird, but works flawlessly.

I got the airbags only to supplement bigger and heavier loads and will run low pressure or deflated during everyday driving.

To be continued...

I would be careful flexing with those airbags. They are really only for pavement use and are notorious for tearing off-road. The airbags that the 2500/3500 trucks use with a Daystar lower isolator can withstand some off-road use but the upper bracket would probably have to be modified for use on your burban.