1990 V1500 Intro

[lt1fire]

Intro and start of my build thread that will be added to when I actually can do something to the rig LOL

I recently moved to WA and needed to find another adventure rig. Of all people my mom was searching for something on offer up and sent me a link to it.

Managed to pick this up for $1450.

When I got it.

Its a 1990 1/2 ton (wish it was a 3/4 ton)
one of the old conversion burbs that every company on the planet seemed to be doing in the 80s/90s

It has 35" toyos on it and i'm not exactly sure of the lift and the previous owner wasn't either. I've got to figure out a way to find that out as I want to swap out the lift for an ez ride one as this one is pretty dang harsh off road... so much so my wife doesn't really want to take it on fire roads with me.

My main plan for this is a weekend adventure/expo rig.

First thing I did was baseline all the fluids and then start to refinish the wood interior.

 

[lt1fire]

Next up was to paint the grill and some trim pieces

 

[lt1fire]

Other than replacing a bad starter nothing much has been done to it.

Taken in it on a few camping and day trips.

 

[lt1fire]

I have big plans for it that start with

Axle swap or re-gear the 10 bolts. ( I don't think the 10 bolts will last me though so I'm trying to find a D60/14B combo but they are all priced very high on craigslist right now) Trying to find a 14b/D44 combo also but the cost of getting the axles and the re-gear is making me balk right now.

Roof rack build (need to find some ideas for this... want a low profile one)

I have a foxwing style awning arriving in a few months so I need to get one to attach it to

Sliders

37" tires

redo the suspension

Rear bumper with tire carrier swing out and jerry can holder

Front bumper with winch

tune up the motor a bit in the power department. it has 281k on it so I may replace it and then add power parts but need to do an oil analysis first and compression test to check out the current health of it

Lockers F/R evenutally.

Sleeping platform build

Down the line may get the frame boxed and think about a 6bt swap of maybe a 6.5 diesel, we shall see what the cards hold on that one. Also if I have a bunch of cash fall in my lap coil over swap F/R

 

[lt1fire]

my background in vehicles is this

Started off on Chevy Muscle cars. Had a few pretty quick camaros back in the day.

Bought a FJ80 land cruiser in 2006 for off roading and camping. (the one on the left)

Also had an 83 4x4 suburban with the 6.2 in it but the body was rotting away and the 700R4 blew up

Had a 95 4x4 burb with a 6.5 diesel in it with 338k on it and still going strong when I gave it to my friend last year.

Both of them were stock.

The cruiser I was forced to sell to pay off some debt from when I was laid off.

So now i'm back to my roots with a chevy 350 and starting from scratch basically.


any suggestions on things to do knowing my vision for the truck or helpful hints will be appreciated.

 

[blazinzuk]

So I plan on doing a low profile roof rack here soon.

Gonna use L track as the basis

 

[shady]

I'll watch... pretty similar to my current plans for mine. Nice burb by the way

 

[lt1fire]

So I plan on doing a low profile roof rack here soon.

Gonna use L track as the basis

Which L track are you going with? How much weight would it hold? I've thought about a system like that but not sure what the weight limit would be on it.

 

[Big Ray]

looks like a solid base to work with.

 

[max 02]

Looks like you got a great deal for the price.

Nice 80 you had!

 

[muddysub]

Good looking suburban man!

 

[Desert_K5]

Other than replacing a bad starter nothing much has been done to it.

Taken in it on a few camping and day trips.

Have any specs or a link on that tent? Dig the suburban as well.

 

[lt1fire]

Have any specs or a link on that tent? Dig the suburban as well.

That's the Oz Tent RV5

 

[Desert_K5]

Pretty neat looking tent. Thanks for the info.