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89 Suburban - The Canyonero: Rear Suspension Time!

Budget friendly build for General off-roading with an emphasis on camping and self reliability featuring a host of self-built, DIY mods.
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Started on the brakes yesterday. I swapped the proportioning/combo valve for a gm type disc-disc valve I got from pirate jack. MBM p/n pv4 iirc. Getting all the lines to line up was a b, I had to flex and manipulate them to a very small degree, but luckily it all worked out. I lost all the brake fluid in the master, not that it matters since I'm swapping it anyway.


Another time lapse...nothing fancy but they are fun to do. I need to take this opportunity to maybe clean up some wires. My split loom mostly cracked and fell off, add to that the wiring issues I've had and it gets ugly fast.


JoshHefnerX said:
Did booster and mc on mine... kinda sucked - wasn't easy getting down in there. seemed like every wrench I had was just the wrong shape.
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Those bolts behind the booster were a pain. I used a universal joint and a wrench on the awkward ones. I remember discussing that MC of yours and seeing how you got it to fit. I may be able to fit it a little easier. I took pics of the vacuum vs hydroboost units and noticed the vac booster extends 1.5-2" further out. Oh, I just remembered that the pilot on the MC is too large for my hydroboost, so I can't try it. Newer HB can though.


This pic shows my vacuum pedal as well. I bought a hydroboost pedal from the jy awhile ago. There is a bolt that runs through the top with a self locking nut. It sucked to get off, until I broke out the air ratchet. That made it easier. Access isn't too bad, remove the lower panel and a/c duct and maybe part some wires. The rest is straight forward. Just do this first so you're not trying to yank the booster out while it's still attached to the pedal.


If you go buy a hydroboost pedal (you need to since the pin that the booster rod goes on is larger and higher up the pedal than the vac pedal) also grab the brake switch/rod holder-onner bracket (you have to remove it anyway To get the pedal out, so don't forget it) and return spring...your vac bracket won't line up on the new pedal.


I'll mount the hydroboost tomorrow!
 
Interesting the hydroboost is shorter. What MC you using? I don't think that even with that hydroboost being that much shorter it would have helped. Infact w/ the mc I used it may have hurt because of how far it had to come down. Would have needed more angle because you're not gaining a lot of slope on the hoodline on these.
 
Progress has been slower than I hoped. I took a power steering fluid shower today. It was great :doah:. I tried to be slick and swap the hydroboost line quick like to make bleeding the ps easier later. Things got slippery and I couldn't thread the fitting, then I dropped my light and had a good old time feeling around getting it threaded lol.

Next I bench bled the mc while the old one gravity fed the rear brakes. 4 hours later, fluid never showed up. F it I'll throw the new mc on. One of the adapter fittings leaks. Fantastic. Turns out the female threads in the adapter don't go down far enough to allow the flare on the brake line to seat. Tight as hell, brake line jiggles. My brake line fitting tried to make its own threads. Fitting is ok still. These were supposed to be the easy parts! I hope tomorrow goes better, although I might take tomorrow off. Need wifey time too.
 
I had that same problem w/ the brake line adapter- found a local adapter did the same thing. Had to order the parts I had listed and that solved it.
 
I remember reading that. I've heard people having good luck with the Edelman version. I'll see if I can find something today. Who else (besides auto stores) might seek such an adapter?
 
I went back to AZ to return the fitting. We ended up swapping it out take a look at the pic:

The one on the left is the original. Notice the threads and the size of the flare seat. Hopefully this one will seal.
 
Hmm one was machined further down on threads - almost looks like the flare angle is different between them.
 
Yes it did do the trick. Lack of quality control I guess. I got it all bled, although I let the master get too low once. I may bench bleed that again while it's on the vehicle. Just got to get it level. Brakes feel good in the 4 feet I drove it. Power steering is bled and working well too. Hydroboost seems to be doing its job. The suburban is too tall now with the the tires to fit in the garage. Tomorrow I'll try to get it all buttoned up. I need to torque and tighten things and clean up so I can get a test drive. Oh yeah, I need to change the oil and trans filter too!
 
After a freeway trip and some more in town driving, all is working well still. Rolls straight and quiet. I just retorqued the u-bolts today. They relaxed and everything settled in and they were about 20 ft lbs loose. Now I need to get these tires off road! I hope the rain allows a trip next weekend. Anyway, here are a couple of pics of things I don't think I mentioned yet.

Top left is the final shot of the angled spring perch and counter-angled ez-inch. Bottom left is the conversion u-joint needed for this axle swap. Luckily, (I guess), a transmission shop ruined my stock driveshaft so they had one made with 1350 flanges. The aam has a 1410 yoke. This u-joint by neapco (pn: 2-1435) marries those two. You might notice the u-bolts I thought I could use. The threads in the yoke were so caked I thought it was straight all the way through. Maybe one day I'll mod it to work. Until then, the old strap n bolts went in. The right is the brake line T I used. I bent the bracket so it pointed the T in the right direction. It is actually the aam line. It is longer than the one that came with my lift. That pic is with the axle fully drooped. You can also see the lines I made to get the T to the passenger side and one of the flares on the aam was cracked anyway. Also, the vent tube is much smaller on the aam. I went ghetto fab and cut a short piece of the aam hose and jammed it up the old breather hose, lol. It's super tight!


Here is the hydroboost, master cylinder, and brake pedal rod. Don't mind the wires and zip ties, I'm still cleaning up. You can also see how I tapped the return line. It's tapped after the cooler, and the perpendicular hose is from the booster. This was the recommended way. Hydroboost pedals have a larger stud for the rod eye. Little did I know, within hydroboost studs, the 94 hydroboost eye was too loose for the 70s pedal. Luckily I hung onto the 70s eye. I threaded it and lock tited the coupler nut to it. I had to thread it so I could change the seals on the pedal piston without removing the rod from the pedal piston thing (which is a pain). I can also now service the unit without removing the whole thing from the firewall, and have slight brake pedal height adjustment.


Next up: clean up wires, wheel spacers, some corrosion control, refinishing the wheels, fix upper shock mounts, and parking brake solution.
 
Went for a little drive today in Capitol Forest. It went well besides the oil spray I found under the body. (Posted in the garage here). The tires handle the gravel nicely, especially in the front while turning. Not sure why the video won't show hd...

The wife and Snickers the shih tzu.


Dutchess the mastiff enjoying the quiet, cool air.


Selfie. Snicks will sleep like that while we bounce down the trail.


Emma and Dutch all tuckered.
 
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