The name has probably been used a thousand times but that's what it is.
Back in 1991 this V1500 was sold to a large ranch realtor who took high end clients all over South Texas ranch shopping.
After that (circa 93/94) a feller named James bought it as his retirement rig to tow is boat to his lake house or take his family skiing. More or less it was used as a recreational vehicle.
Around 2001 he sold it to his buddy Dave. Dave bought it to replace his '72 Suburban that he had owned since '73. At this time Dave was retired and was doing some contract work and drove it to CA a few times but after that he rarely drove it and only really used it to go to his buddies ranch in Leakey, TX or Lake LBJ for a weekend of jet skiing. Once again, it was essentially just used for recreation. I met Dave in 2005 and always told him that if he ever got rid of it to call me and I'd buy it.
So fast forward to 2014 and the original fuel pump goes out. I helped him roll it into the shop and it sat there until a month ago. Here's why: his friend who has the ranch in Leakey also had a squarebody Suburban that at one time had the fuel pump replaced. Instead of dropping the tank, they cut a hole inside the body and made it such that you didn't have to drop the tank to change the pump. Dave wanted to do that. I cringed and told him he was out of his mind. If it was a ranch Suburban, fine, but not that one. So it sat for 5 years. Finally for Christmas I bought him a Bosch pump and told him I would come over and swap it for him cuz I was tired of it sitting.
Well, I went over and dropped the tank and it was garbage. So we ordered a new tank, sending unit and some other odds and ends. Shortly after that Dave had a mild stroke limiting his activity. I should clarify that he is in his early 70's and I am currently 35.
So it sat for a few more months. I found out my wife was pregnant and decided to sell some shit off so my wife could stay home with the baby so I sold my 2018 Jeep JKU. I told Dave that I was gonna be buying something relatively cheap for daddy babymobile and asked if he wanted to unload the Sub. He said he would think about it.
A few weeks later he called me and we made a deal. My brother and I showed up and finished the fuel pump install and took it straight to Discount Tire to get some new 31" Falken AT's.
Now I've had great luck with Falkens but these were not the same.
It had a terrible vibration and I took the Sub home and checked the front end. The driver side bearings were a little sloppy so I went ahead and replaced pass and driver bearings.
Still vibrates bad. Tonight I'm sitting at work and will be rotating the tires around to see if the vibration follows a certain tire. If so, ill2 get that corrected with Discount Tire tomorrow.
All the AC parts are on their way since the compressor front seal leaked all the r12 out. I will be converting it to r134a.
Anyways, hopefully you guys appreciate a little history. I'll be updating as I go.
The goal is to make this an awesome DD with some mods. The 350 runs fantastic but I do have a LQ4 sitting in the garage which will eventually find its way in The Yeti.
I might do a small 3" lift from ORD but I'm still up in the air.
Back in 1991 this V1500 was sold to a large ranch realtor who took high end clients all over South Texas ranch shopping.
After that (circa 93/94) a feller named James bought it as his retirement rig to tow is boat to his lake house or take his family skiing. More or less it was used as a recreational vehicle.
Around 2001 he sold it to his buddy Dave. Dave bought it to replace his '72 Suburban that he had owned since '73. At this time Dave was retired and was doing some contract work and drove it to CA a few times but after that he rarely drove it and only really used it to go to his buddies ranch in Leakey, TX or Lake LBJ for a weekend of jet skiing. Once again, it was essentially just used for recreation. I met Dave in 2005 and always told him that if he ever got rid of it to call me and I'd buy it.
So fast forward to 2014 and the original fuel pump goes out. I helped him roll it into the shop and it sat there until a month ago. Here's why: his friend who has the ranch in Leakey also had a squarebody Suburban that at one time had the fuel pump replaced. Instead of dropping the tank, they cut a hole inside the body and made it such that you didn't have to drop the tank to change the pump. Dave wanted to do that. I cringed and told him he was out of his mind. If it was a ranch Suburban, fine, but not that one. So it sat for 5 years. Finally for Christmas I bought him a Bosch pump and told him I would come over and swap it for him cuz I was tired of it sitting.
Well, I went over and dropped the tank and it was garbage. So we ordered a new tank, sending unit and some other odds and ends. Shortly after that Dave had a mild stroke limiting his activity. I should clarify that he is in his early 70's and I am currently 35.
So it sat for a few more months. I found out my wife was pregnant and decided to sell some shit off so my wife could stay home with the baby so I sold my 2018 Jeep JKU. I told Dave that I was gonna be buying something relatively cheap for daddy babymobile and asked if he wanted to unload the Sub. He said he would think about it.
A few weeks later he called me and we made a deal. My brother and I showed up and finished the fuel pump install and took it straight to Discount Tire to get some new 31" Falken AT's.
Now I've had great luck with Falkens but these were not the same.
It had a terrible vibration and I took the Sub home and checked the front end. The driver side bearings were a little sloppy so I went ahead and replaced pass and driver bearings.
Still vibrates bad. Tonight I'm sitting at work and will be rotating the tires around to see if the vibration follows a certain tire. If so, ill2 get that corrected with Discount Tire tomorrow.
All the AC parts are on their way since the compressor front seal leaked all the r12 out. I will be converting it to r134a.
Anyways, hopefully you guys appreciate a little history. I'll be updating as I go.
The goal is to make this an awesome DD with some mods. The 350 runs fantastic but I do have a LQ4 sitting in the garage which will eventually find its way in The Yeti.
I might do a small 3" lift from ORD but I'm still up in the air.
