Overlandtowater’s solid axle suburban

[rayra]

alright I finished up the brakes again they where spongy and I bled them again now they feel good really light pedal but will throw you through the windshield....(I wish) one thing I did find out was at 55-60 on the wet I can cram the brakes and almost spin the thing around like a kid on a bike...LOL Ive watched a few videos of suburban wrecks and always notice the rear brakes lock....Is this a common issue?

While doing my brake tests one of the plastic coolant connectors at the fire wall decided it was time to go, I replaced both T's a while back but didn't get to the hose barb to quick connect fitting and it gave up the ghost. easy fix after walking a couple of miles to buy the part and a gallon of antifreeze, which wasn't enough. I ended up putting 2 gallons in it to top it off and I'm still not sure its done. Is there any special way to get the air out of the rear heater core? It will only blow hot off idle.

Another thing while I was at it was to take a scotch bright pad and make the spare wheel match you don't know how hard it was for me to scuff up that shiny aluminum….I I had not had 60+ hours polishing the frame and wheels on a sport bike once I might have been dumb enough to tackle 4 wheels but scuffing one is way easier than sanding and polishing 4.

I might have missed it, did you ever flush the entire brake system? I did mine ~4yrs ago when I first bought my used '02 Sub as part of baselining all the fluids. I don't think it had very been done, the fluid was nasty. Could something like that be causing your repeated caliper trouble?
IIRC it was about a quart and a half to do it all.

well I'm willing to send my calipers anywhere, going to put up a sell list of GMT-800 parts in the near future, as I'm cleaning stuff out of the garage. Doing all these installs lately and getting rid of 'spares'. We're probably going to be moving by the end of Summer and I've got a lot of stuff to get rid of or pack up. We've been in this house for over 20yrs.

 

[rayra]

This bumper build is almost exactly what I want to build. https://expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/swing-out-tire-carrier-buildup.1230/

Yeah that's a good build, but I think the tire ought to go directly behind the driver. Obstructions on that side always seem to bother me less.

 

[Overlandtowater]

Yeah that's a good build, but I think the tire ought to go directly behind the driver. Obstructions on that side always seem to bother me less.

I'd like to keep the tire as close to the hinge as possible with that said where I live swinging the tire to the driver side wouldn't be that big of a deal but I would still rather not swing it into traffic

 

[Overlandtowater]

I might have missed it, did you ever flush the entire brake system? I did mine ~4yrs ago when I first bought my used '02 Sub as part of baselining all the fluids. I don't think it had very been done, the fluid was nasty. Could something like that be causing your repeated caliper trouble?
IIRC it was about a quart and a half to do it all.

well I'm willing to send my calipers anywhere, going to put up a sell list of GMT-800 parts in the near future, as I'm cleaning stuff out of the garage. Doing all these installs lately and getting rid of 'spares'. We're probably going to be moving by the end of Summer and I've got a lot of stuff to get rid of or pack up. We've been in this house for over 20yrs.

not all at once but by now its clean fluid that come out of all the bleeders

 

[rayra]

I'd like to keep the tire as close to the hinge as possible with that said where I live swinging the tire to the driver side wouldn't be that big of a deal but I would still rather not swing it into traffic

Easy enough to put a stop on it so it cant swing past say 92 deg. Could even get fancy and use a spring-loaded stop so it is held open. Or even pull up on the stop so you can swing it wide open when / where it's safe to do so.

Ruffstuff Locking T-Handle Pull Pin Latch, Spring Loaded

Check out the deal on Ruffstuff Locking T-Handle Pull Pin Latch, Spring Loaded at RuffStuff Specialties

www.ruffstuffspecialties.com

 

[Overlandtowater]

Got to do a little field repair on my work truck this morning with my new Black Jack tire repair kit https://blackjacktirerepair.com. This is the best plu kit I have ever used. And they are made in Missouri! Also my harbor freight are pump did awesome too. 80psi in the time it took me to take these pictures.

 

[CrazyDrei]

That is the fanciest tire plugger I have ever seen. I used to have an older black jack t-bone, only got it for the name, woulf be cool if yours said t-bone on the open eye tool.

 

[Overlandtowater]

That is the fanciest tire plugger I have ever seen. I used to have an older black jack t-bone, only got it for the name, woulf be cool if yours said t-bone on the open eye tool.

They still sell the T-Bone. This one is the bottom line options. The T-Bone has the cushy rubber handle.

 

[Overlandtowater]

Doing what I bought it for.

 

[Overlandtowater]

Well after getting all the lumber cut of for my wife's two book cases I have a sheet of 1/2 left an most of a sheet of 3/4 i might get a shelf built sans drawers

 

[rayra]

going for some really long drawers / fishing pole storage?
Be careful about blocking up the rear AC vent grill too much, or plan to hole-saw in some soffet vents in the upper face of that panel. There's no direct ducting to that rear grill, air just wanders around in that cargo sidewall to reach the squirrel cage blower behind that panel.

 

[Overlandtowater]

@rayra lol that's just the stack of scraps I through in there and I turned the two end pieces up and it looked like a huge drawer. I still need to haul 8 people so only the rear most portion can be turned into a drawer system. J figure I will make the top portion fold up with piano hinges that way I can unfold it when I need to sleep in the back. The thought of a drawer long enough to fit my poles makes my giddy but impractical. The rear most portion will fit a 33 deep by 50 inch wide and that is the template for the drawers too.

 

[rayra]

Oh I know it's jus ta mockup, was wondering if you were going for the long drawer idea.
btw, it's not 50". The third-row cargo area is a little pinch-waisted at the middle, right around where the back of the third row seat latches in. It's a bit over 49" W there and wider at the front and Liftgate ends of the space. Measure at the floor across those 3rd row latch bars. I found that out the hard way when I built my drawers. I wound up having to narrow my 'power module' portion to correct it, after building both drawer boxes. Tried to put it all in there and it would not fit past the midpoint of the cargo area.
The cargo sidewalls look vertical and flat but they are not.

 

[Overlandtowater]

Thanks Rayra I knew you would be able to give me good insight on this project...

 

[Overlandtowater]

Oh I know it's jus ta mockup, was wondering if you were going for the long drawer idea.
btw, it's not 50". The third-row cargo area is a little pinch-waisted at the middle, right around where the back of the third row seat latches in. It's a bit over 49" W there and wider at the front and Liftgate ends of the space. Measure at the floor across those 3rd row latch bars. I found that out the hard way when I built my drawers. I wound up having to narrow my 'power module' portion to correct it, after building both drawer boxes. Tried to put it all in there and it would not fit past the midpoint of the cargo area.
The cargo sidewalls look vertical and flat but they are not.

I would love to do the long drawer but I often have 8 people I need to tote around