Haha definitely something I have thought about!
CK5
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1988 K20 Suburban Build Thread
- Thread starter 88Burb17
- Start date
Went out earlier this week with a buddy of mine who wanted to test out a new drone he's working with. We were testing a feature that locks on to an object and tracks its movement and I thought it was so cool!
*Just to note, I'm not a video editor nor am I a youtube expert so if it stays in pretty bad quality I'll try to figure it out. The drone shoots in 8k but my buddy sent me the file over google drive so I don't have the original.*
*Just to note, I'm not a video editor nor am I a youtube expert so if it stays in pretty bad quality I'll try to figure it out. The drone shoots in 8k but my buddy sent me the file over google drive so I don't have the original.*
Cool and creepy at the same time. Now anyone can follow anyone else.
Makes me think about the Bride or my adopted daughters and their daughters.
No shortage of creeps out there...
Makes me think about the Bride or my adopted daughters and their daughters.
No shortage of creeps out there...
Did a lot of traveling with the burb recently,
Also tried out the Jeep XJ steering shaft upgrade to get rid of the rag joint and the slop in the steering.
Here is a comparison of the stock shaft and the XJ shaft
I thought I took a pic of it installed but I'll take one next time I'm under the hood.
Installing it took a little bit of work but not too much, I had to use the MAP gas torch to heat the adhesive on the inside so it could slide into place.
I was hoping It would get rid of the slop but not so much. It definitely made a difference and I even adjusted the little screw on the steering box but I think it's probably time for a new steering box (Looking at you, Redhead steering gears) once I get the $$.
The next thing I did was take the burb on another 1100-mile road trip with the wife and all of our belongings in tow (turns out Texas will be home for a little while longer)
We went 1054 miles, used 145.5 gallons of gas, 4 quarts of oil, and averaged 7.5 mpg pulling the small U-Haul trailer loaded to the brim.
Here is a pic in West Memphis
This trip was pretty successful and I only burnt up 1 battery cable which admittedly was my fault (I saw the loose wire and forgot to secure it)
I have pretty big plans for this truck and I know the days of this tired old 350 are numbered.
Also tried out the Jeep XJ steering shaft upgrade to get rid of the rag joint and the slop in the steering.
Here is a comparison of the stock shaft and the XJ shaft
I thought I took a pic of it installed but I'll take one next time I'm under the hood.
Installing it took a little bit of work but not too much, I had to use the MAP gas torch to heat the adhesive on the inside so it could slide into place.
I was hoping It would get rid of the slop but not so much. It definitely made a difference and I even adjusted the little screw on the steering box but I think it's probably time for a new steering box (Looking at you, Redhead steering gears) once I get the $$.
The next thing I did was take the burb on another 1100-mile road trip with the wife and all of our belongings in tow (turns out Texas will be home for a little while longer)
We went 1054 miles, used 145.5 gallons of gas, 4 quarts of oil, and averaged 7.5 mpg pulling the small U-Haul trailer loaded to the brim.
Here is a pic in West Memphis
This trip was pretty successful and I only burnt up 1 battery cable which admittedly was my fault (I saw the loose wire and forgot to secure it)
I have pretty big plans for this truck and I know the days of this tired old 350 are numbered.
Yep, I had to heat my XJ shaft a bit too and quickly attached it, once it cooled off the plastic still does it’s job. I think I read it is that way so it can collapse in case of an accident.
Not too bad mpg given the overall weight!
Not too bad mpg given the overall weight!
Got some parts in from LMC Friday,
New brake pedal pad, swaybar bushings, and a new turn signal stalk.
A while ago I heard some clunking around up front and realized that there was no bushing on the driver's side of the sway bar where it bolts in next to the U-bolts.
Heres what was left of my bushings
Got some new grade 8 bolts and new bushings and everything went on well.
Next on the list of things to do was to replace the turn signal stalk. The piece that the stalk hooks into has an incredible amount of slop which makes it difficult to keep my right blinker on and ultimately is the reason why I accidentally snapped my old stalk off. My left blinker has no problem staying engaged so I'll need to dig into that at some point.
Here is the new one:
I tied some fishing line to the connector on the old stalk and pulled it up through the column, then I tied the line to the new connector and pulled it all the way back down the column. That made it super easy to do and I don't know how else you would do it because the column is kind of tight.
Here is the new one all hooked up! Looks weird with all the white lettering since my old one had long faded off
Thats all I have planned for now. At this point I'm just saving my pennies for an ORD 2" lift kit and some 33-inch tires. I am downsizing from a rough country 4" and 35's because I'd like to turn this into more of a road trip vehicle and less of a mudding truck.
New brake pedal pad, swaybar bushings, and a new turn signal stalk.
A while ago I heard some clunking around up front and realized that there was no bushing on the driver's side of the sway bar where it bolts in next to the U-bolts.
Heres what was left of my bushings
Got some new grade 8 bolts and new bushings and everything went on well.
Next on the list of things to do was to replace the turn signal stalk. The piece that the stalk hooks into has an incredible amount of slop which makes it difficult to keep my right blinker on and ultimately is the reason why I accidentally snapped my old stalk off. My left blinker has no problem staying engaged so I'll need to dig into that at some point.
Here is the new one:
I tied some fishing line to the connector on the old stalk and pulled it up through the column, then I tied the line to the new connector and pulled it all the way back down the column. That made it super easy to do and I don't know how else you would do it because the column is kind of tight.
Here is the new one all hooked up! Looks weird with all the white lettering since my old one had long faded off
Thats all I have planned for now. At this point I'm just saving my pennies for an ORD 2" lift kit and some 33-inch tires. I am downsizing from a rough country 4" and 35's because I'd like to turn this into more of a road trip vehicle and less of a mudding truck.
I'm running 33's on my K5 and my 86 burb with stock springs.
Here's the K5 with 33x10.50 top, 33x12.50 bottom
I'll have to take a pic of the burb tomorrow. It has the typical 4x4 suburban saggy ass...
Here's the K5 with 33x10.50 top, 33x12.50 bottom
I'll have to take a pic of the burb tomorrow. It has the typical 4x4 suburban saggy ass...
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Are those the General Grabbers in the top pic? I have been looking at getting a set of those but haven't talked to anyone with a set yet to see how they like them. Also, love the K5, it looks great!
Yes they are, and thanks!
On road performance is good, great in the rain. No snow yet...not very loud at all. Of course I've worked around Jets for 30 years, so....
As far as off roading, I've only been down a long, like 20 mile long, gravel road with them. My springs and shocks are so worn I was bouncing all over. Had to hold my speed down. Bilsteins are on my list...
I like them. Got the set of 4 on line, had them delivered to a local shop, mounted & balanced all for just under a grand.
Red lettering, white truck, blue interior...'Murica!
On road performance is good, great in the rain. No snow yet...not very loud at all. Of course I've worked around Jets for 30 years, so....
As far as off roading, I've only been down a long, like 20 mile long, gravel road with them. My springs and shocks are so worn I was bouncing all over. Had to hold my speed down. Bilsteins are on my list...
I like them. Got the set of 4 on line, had them delivered to a local shop, mounted & balanced all for just under a grand.
Red lettering, white truck, blue interior...'Murica!
better shots of the tires...straight out of the garage bay after mounting.
I need to do this. Mine is old and broken
Doing a little cosmetic work for now. I was perusing my local junkyard when I came across this driver side fender with great paint so I had to take it home with me.
As I was trying to get my current drivers side fender off, I realized the welded nut on the back side of the bolt that mounts to the cab had come undone and the bolt would just spin forever.
I wasn’t really sure how to approach this after I pulled the dash apart only to find that there wasn’t really access to the back side of that bolt at all. There were only 2 small holes and neither lined up with the bolt.
Luckily, @scouthead had the great idea of using one of those riv-nut tools to put a threaded insert in that hole instead of welding a nut on like I had planned.
I picked this thing up from Harbor freight for $50 and it was so easy to use.
It was nice to see the burb from the side with no fender, I went ahead and cleaned up a couple of things on the drivers side firewall before I stuck my new panel on.
This is the hole before and after I used the riv-nut tool. I used the M8 size that came with the tool and it fit snugly going in.
Before, you can see that the hole is a little wallered out but the nut has no issue going in:
After, the nut is set and doesn’t budge at all, a quick and easy solution to my problem:
Here is a before and after of the old and new panel:
Before:
After:
All in all, I love the new paint color and am considering a paint change down the line. I just have it sitting on there with a couple of bolts until I can go pick up some new bolts at the hardware store tomorrow.
Ps: I borrowed my wife’s ring light that she uses for pictures and it’s crazy how powerful this thing is, it’s super lightweight and you can adjust the brightness really easy.
As I was trying to get my current drivers side fender off, I realized the welded nut on the back side of the bolt that mounts to the cab had come undone and the bolt would just spin forever.
I wasn’t really sure how to approach this after I pulled the dash apart only to find that there wasn’t really access to the back side of that bolt at all. There were only 2 small holes and neither lined up with the bolt.
Luckily, @scouthead had the great idea of using one of those riv-nut tools to put a threaded insert in that hole instead of welding a nut on like I had planned.
I picked this thing up from Harbor freight for $50 and it was so easy to use.
It was nice to see the burb from the side with no fender, I went ahead and cleaned up a couple of things on the drivers side firewall before I stuck my new panel on.
This is the hole before and after I used the riv-nut tool. I used the M8 size that came with the tool and it fit snugly going in.
Before, you can see that the hole is a little wallered out but the nut has no issue going in:
After, the nut is set and doesn’t budge at all, a quick and easy solution to my problem:
Here is a before and after of the old and new panel:
Before:
After:
All in all, I love the new paint color and am considering a paint change down the line. I just have it sitting on there with a couple of bolts until I can go pick up some new bolts at the hardware store tomorrow.
Ps: I borrowed my wife’s ring light that she uses for pictures and it’s crazy how powerful this thing is, it’s super lightweight and you can adjust the brightness really easy.
Gotta love another 88 burb build. Following along!
Haha! Funny because I’m following your build on Instagram! Wish I had the time and resources to strip it down to the frame like you have!
Ha, I’ll be lucky if I pull it off. It would be much easier if I had a shop!
What’s your IG? I’ll make sure to follow along there too.
Any updates?
None at the moment, been pretty busy with the little one, work, and the guard but hopefully picking up a parts burb with my buddy this week to use for a driver door and rear AC along with some random little odds and ends. Guy doesn’t know what he’s got and is just looking to get rid of it so hopefully looking to buy it today or tomorrow.
I completely understand life takes priority over projects. Hopefully the other burb has some goodies for ya.
So I ended up finding a ‘87 2wd burb on marketplace for $650 and went ahead and pulled the trigger. I really wasn’t looking for one but for the price I really couldn’t pass it up. 
I was able to drive it onto a trailer and drive it into the back yard which was great. It had a TBI 350 and a 700r4. It had already been semi parted out so it had no dash, front seat, or steering wheel and had been sitting a while but I’m using it as a parts truck so no biggie. I ended up taking the front bumper, front drivers side fender, driver side door, and all the A/C components including rear A/C (score!!!) for my burb and my buddy bought almost all the glass, plastic and back seat from me. It’s pretty much gutted at this point and I pulled the drivetrain out and put it on marketplace to cover my costs. 
I might list the carcass on here for dirt cheap because it’s a great rust free body and I’d hate to send it off to the scrap yard.
I was able to drive it onto a trailer and drive it into the back yard which was great. It had a TBI 350 and a 700r4. It had already been semi parted out so it had no dash, front seat, or steering wheel and had been sitting a while but I’m using it as a parts truck so no biggie. I ended up taking the front bumper, front drivers side fender, driver side door, and all the A/C components including rear A/C (score!!!) for my burb and my buddy bought almost all the glass, plastic and back seat from me. It’s pretty much gutted at this point and I pulled the drivetrain out and put it on marketplace to cover my costs. I might list the carcass on here for dirt cheap because it’s a great rust free body and I’d hate to send it off to the scrap yard.
