Suburban Build Plan

[Revco]

This is my Suburban. Nothing special and it's all stock right now...



This is a quick MS Paint rendition of my goal for it over the next couple of months...



I'm doing everything by myself, no outside help. I just ordered some levelling torsion keys to raise the front up about 2-3" that I'll be installing when I replace the front suspension/steering components. Out back will either be some 3" blocks I have laying around or an Add-A-Leaf.

I'm midway through building the roof rack right now. I started on it a few weeks ago but got sidetracked with other projects and need to find some time to jump back on it. I'm trying to figure out how to mount it to the factory Suburban roof rails, but other than that it's pretty much tacked together. Four round HID lights will be mounted to the front of the rack.

I've got some 2"x3" rectangle steel tubing that I'm going to use as rock sliders. They will be angled/tilted on edge to provide a little more resistance. I've already got them cut to length. I'm trying to figure out if I just want to weld the mounts to the chassis, or weld some sleeved receivers to the frame so the mounts can be bolted in. In the little MS Paint drawing I drew them as round tubing, but I've since changed my mind since I already have the sq tubing and don't feel like buying any more DOM tubing than I have to.

As for the bumpers, I'm going to make the front from pieces of 3/16" mild steel and 1-3/4" DOM Tubing. I will integrate a front receiver hitch and D-ring mounts into the bumper as well as a pair of small round driving lights. In the back will be made from 2x6" rectangle steel tubing, pinched and capped ends with recessed 55 watt rectangle offroad lights. I'm going to modify the current receiver hitch to raise it up to come through the bumper, but will be hidden by a hinged/sprung license plate frame. I will also weld some round DOM tubing around the lower rear quarters for added protection.

Since this is my daily driver and tow rig, I'm not permanently mounting my winch to the Suburban. I have an 8500lb winch mounted on a receiver hitch with grab handles that spends most time on my car trailer, but I'm using quick disconnects so it can easily be relocated to the front or rear of my bumpers. I've got about 80% of the materials and parts needed to do all of the above modifications, and will tackle each job as I have spare time to do so. As with most projects they get sidelined and postponed, but I'm going to try to stay focused on it even though I'm moving soon and have 4 other project vehicles to tend to.

Anyway, that's about it, I know it's no big deal, but just thought I'd share the plan...

 

[BigTex]

Sounds like a great plan. Looking forward to watching it come together. I'd like to buy a 'burb one of these days too. I always enjoy reading the suburban builds and threads. You probably already checked, but I thought I saw where leveling keys weren't necessary on this particular vintage of sub, due to the limited amount of lift you can get out of them on this body style. If that's true you could spend that money somewhere else. Oh well, looks like it'll be a great all purpose rig! Enjoy it.

 

[cowboy63645]

It sounds like a great plan! I recently bought a 94' suburban and love it! BigTex is correct on the torsion keys. There is a crazy amount of adjustment in the factory keys already, so no need to go aftermarket. Cant wait to see this thing progress.

 

[RESCUE-K9]

Im looking into a very similer build on a 2003 Yukon XL. If you dont mind post up the links for the venders you buy from.

 

[Revco]

BigTex/Cowboy, thanks for the words. The reason for the torsion keys is to not have to crank the hell out of the bars to gain the lift, resulting in a smoother, more stock-like ride quality. I cranked the bars on my '94 K1500 and it rode like crap, so I put it back to stock. This Suburban rides pretty darn good and I don't want to sacrifice my ride quality.

Rescue, I'm not really in the habit of buying from vendors. The torsion keys are from a Ford and the rear lift blocks are generic. Everything else is being fabricated by yours truly out of raw steel. Aside from a few things I'll be buying in the future, the brand name stuff I have is a Cobra CB Radio, TomTom GPS, Rugged Ridge Winch, PIAA lights, etc. Nothing fancy here.

I buried this thing in the mud last night, up to the axles, stuck like hell. There was no bottom to this mud after this much needed rain we got (3" overnight). Took an hour to get out. Lesson learned, stay out of the mud. Now time to go wash it...

 

[BurbanAZ]

nice looking burb and good plan. Im in the process of almost the same thing, built my bumper and installed my winch,and added my lights and have a little more building to do on my roof rack then ill be pretty much done with what i want to do.

 

[FellowTraveler]

BURB build

When using a roof rack loaded or otherwise I like using Air Tabs (I have no affiliation) applied to the area forward of the rack this will eliminate drag created by empty or loaded rack at speed meaning 40 MPH +- when drag starts to effect the vehicle.

Another plus but less appealing visually is application of air-tabs at rear side of Burb which will yield more MPG's at speed.

 

[Revco]

I had some computer problems and just got my laptop back after 2 weeks. All of my images were lost, along with all of my programs, bummer.

Anyway, I got my winch in the other day. It's a Rugged Ridge 8500lb that I got from my uncles Jeep shop (www.vintagejeepparts.com) for $300. Gotta pick up some Anderson connectors and build a mount for it that slides into the receiver hitch and it'll be ready to go. It will mostly be used on my car hauler trailer, but I'll take it along when I go play in the Suburban, and being on a receiver hitch I can move it to the front or rear.

I've got to install a few more parts to get the front suspension/steering up to par, then I'll crank the torsion bars, add some rear blocks and go get it aligned. I did some more poking around about the torsion keys and realized they do nothing for the OBS trucks, so that'll save me some money. I've decided I'll be selling the Suburban some time next year after I finish my F250 restoration/4x4 conversion, but I'm going to continue the build plan and try to get a few trips under it's belt before I pass it on. I just don't need two trucks, and I'll never sell the F250 (sentimental reasons), so it will be my offroad toy and daily driver and it will get outfitted with all the doodads.

Anyway, once I make some more progress on the Suburban I'll chime back in here with pics.

 

[chilliwak]

Sub, you `Burb´looks awesome! Your front grill is one of the best looking in my opinion. Too bad about losing all your pics from the computer, but now you have even more reason to take LOTS OF PICS!

 

[Revco]

Thanks, it's been a good vehicle so far. I'm still not used to having an SUV, and it's been kind of limiting on some of the things I normally do. Not being able to toss stuff in the bed kind of sucks. Other than that it's been good. I'm still going to continue the original plan, but I'm not forging ahead full steam like I had originally intended. I've gotten tied up with other stuff, and trying to sort out my F250 build.

If things work out on the F250, I'll be selling the Suburban to my younger brother. I told him all my plans for it, and he says he'd be doing the same things to it if he gets it. He has 4 young kids and would like to take them on some trips that require 4wd. His '05 Duramax 4x4 is a little tight with 6 people and gear, and his 2wd Econoline van won't cut it, so he wants the Suburban.

Anyhow, I've got some other things going on, but maybe next week I'll have some time to finish up the roof rack, finish the rock sliders, give it a little 2" lift, and maybe start working on fabbing up the front bumper. So much to do, not enough time!