91 Suburban V2500 - Tow/Weekend Rig - Build Thread

[dhcomp]

Ok, so now that my 94 Blazer is gone (bittersweet), I am down to one truck, and one car....like a normal person!

That means 2 things: The burb gets focused on, and it has to stay reliable. It will be my weekend travel/tow rig, but while i am unemployed, it is basically my DD anywhere i need a truck. I tow often, but mostly 3-5000lb boats, so this rig does great.

My parents had a 90 when i was growing up, and i never forgave them for selling it. So i got my own! And its even better cause it has overdrive.

So far, here is what i have: Updates in Bold

1991 V2500 Suburban
220k
5.7L 350 - rebuilt at some point
50 Series Flowmaster, Dual rear exit
Rebuilt 4l80e - B&M Super Cooler added
33x12.50x16.5 BFG At/s on 16.5x10 M/T's
Zero Rate Add-a-leaf's Front and Rear
Bilstein Shocks
Headlight wiring mod with all lights on high http://coloradok5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=216590&highlight=stereo
Warn Premiums
12voltguy's Dual Battery Setup
Summit Tach
B&M Trans Temp Gauge
Grey interior, fairly clean
New grey headliner

Stereo: http://coloradok5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=225247
Sony Head unit
HD Radio Tuner
Infinity Reference 3.5" in the dash
4x100 JBL Amp powering 6x9's in rear panels and future door speakers
JL 12w3 on some Alpine mono block amp


I'm sure i'm forgetting some stuff, but whatever.

Washed it for the first time in a while, and actually spent a little time cleaning up details. Paint is ok from 5', so it will stay for now.
I even got the pinch welds at the bottom of the doors clean!


Here is it, the day i drove it home:

Here is what it looks like now:

So since i freed up some "toy" cash with the sale of the blazer, i ordered some parts. Ordered 12voltguy's dual battery setup (already have 2 batteries and trays installed), Bilstein 5100's all around, and HD Radio Tuner for head unit (want to give it a try).

Its going in tomorrow to get the manifold to y pipe exhaust leak fixed, a new cat installed, and Dual Exhaust! One of my favorite things about the blazer was its tone, so hoping to get the burb close. The cat is 3", and will run 3" to 50 series Flowmaster, then split to two 2.5"er's into 3" slash cut tips out the rear. I'm STOKED .

I'll post pics when its done.

My To do list includes:

Find some reasonably priced seat covers
My $20 costco ones have seen better days, although i want another pair if i can find them. Neoprene covers made by Cross Country. Can't find them anywhere!

Make gauge/switch panel for ashtray drop town to properly mount trans temp gauge, dual battery switch, and aux switch.

Possibly look into a 350 crate motor i have a line on.... This one has been missing off of idle, but more importantly, seems to have a rod knock developing on startup. Plus its a turd. Want to keep it stockish, and running good! Price is main reason not to do a more powerful swap.


Anyways, thanks for everyone's support over the years. Enjoy the small changes that are coming!

 

[y5mgisi]

Thats the exact exhaust i did on my 90! Let me tell you, it sounds great!

 

[COCHEV]

man, thats a beautiful burb!

 

[dhcomp]

Sweet, its in the shop as we speak...and im sitting at some crappy coffee shop waiting. I'll let you know how it turns out!

 

[michael0584]

Looks great, how does it ride with the add a leafs front and rear. Thinking about putting them on mine instead of new springs.

 

[dhcomp]

They are zero rate add a leaf's, basically 1" blocks that bolt into the pack (so they are safe for front/rear use).

So really, the zero rate's don't effect the ride at all. But it rides like $hit. Hence me ordering the bilstein 5100's. That will be here today. Guess i'm not getting anything other than shocks done tonight

 

[dhcomp]

Ok, Exhaust Installed!

3" Cat to 3" tube to Flowmaster 50 series, to dual 2.5's, to 3" tips.

Wish i had known what size tips were on my blazer. If i was to do it again, i think i would go 3.5's on such a large truck. Oh well.

Sounds good, had a good tone to it, but pretty quiet overall. Wish it was louder, but didn't' want the deeper 40 series tone. Cost me $525+ tax, 200 being the converter, and 325 for muffler/exhaust/tips .

Got it done at Muffler Express on West Capitol Ave. in West Sacramento. mufflerexpress.biz
Pete did the work. Real clean job, quick and easy. Even tucked the exhaust behind the shackle hangers one each side, so if i decide to shackle flip it at some point.....i won't have to mod the exhaust.

Onto the pics!

Camera Video Coming next

 

[dhcomp]

 

[y5mgisi]

I like how quiet but still rumbly it is. And when you get to the higher RPM's it sounds really aggressive but still "classy".

 

[dhcomp]

Ok, so my ebay chevy seat covers have sat around for a couple weeks. Don't really like the material, or the fact i had to cut for armrests, but they were only like $40. Ended up forcing myself to install them, cause the neoprene ones i had were toast.

In the above pic, you can see where i botched my first armrest hole, but at least its only seen from the drivers side.

They look ok, but really want some waterproof ones. Anyways, they will do for a while!


A present came in the mail from my friends at Summit

VERY impressed with these right out of the box! The germans sure got this boot idea right. Rather than a goofy looking boot, its more of a blue silicon sleeve, that protects the shaft w/o keeping mud and crap inside. The rear shocks also came with new mounting stud deals....i thought i would have to reuse the old ones.

From my last install, i learned to not use the long bushing they give you, the shock will slide back and forth and wear out its own bushing. Instead, i pushed the sleeve to one side, cut it short, and used the factory shock spacer.

The ride different is awesome. I only drove it a mile or so, but i was bouncing all over the road when i hit bumps, and these absorb so much better! Impressed so far, and get to hook up the boat and put some miles on them tomorrow, so stay tuned for more feedback.
Overall, im stoked on them!

So not bad for a day's work: Exhaust, Shocks, seat covers, cleaned ALL the interior, and did some detailing of the ext.

Also ordered a couple different lock boxes, trying to make something secure for all the electronics i seem to carry often.

Also, totally blew through my budget for money from the blazer sale. So no more parts ordering for a while.

 

[sanddragon2004]

wow im diggin that clean burb! looks great! sounds great!

 

[Mikey von]

Looks real good! I cannot wait till I stop making babies so I can have some funds to spend on my burb.

 

[dhcomp]

Did some highway driving, and some dirt road stuff this weekend out at the lake i was at. GOD, the Bilstein shocks are night and day difference. This thing rides SO much better. Not a new truck, but larger bumps don't put the truck all over the road anymore. I couldn't be happier. Worth the cost!

 

[Burbdood 74]

Looks real good! I cannot wait till I stop making babies so I can have some funds to spend on my burb.

That's easy! Just spend too much on the Suburban and the wife will let you sleep on the couch for awhile. Out of sight, out of reach! Ask me how I know.

 

[dhcomp]

Ok, first, lets open with a pic of mine all cleaned up, doing what it does best!

Went out to Collegiate Waterski Regionals, and someone got a 55,000lb RV/Bus stuck in the mud/wet grass. By stuck, i mean tires spinning, not like buried.

I had the largest truck around, and there was pavement close, as i knew i had no chance pulling from the mud.

Hooked up to the beast, dropped it in 4 lo, locked the hubs, and pulled him out. Started from a wierd angle, and dragged all 4 sideways, but then repositioned, and pulled him out without much trouble. Pretty surprised it worked. Anyways, ordered a real tow strap after trying to unloop all my loops.

 

[dhcomp]

Lockboxes

Ok, don't have the lockboxes installed yet, but here they are.

Tuffy:

I still can't believe how strong this sucker is. You can see the couple small holes in the top, that is the trade off for buying off of ebay

Grade 8 hardware included, along with long (10 tumbler? ) keys.

1/8" Latch Plate

1/8" latch plates to put the locking arm in double shear (IIRC).


Overall, super impressed with the tuffy box. Made in the good ol USA.



Ok, on to the medium gun locker.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160367387751&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

Decent product for the money. Not nearly as strong as the tuffy, but the way its designed, and the location i will have it mounted will make it enough of a deterrent. Probably fairly easy to pry open. Made in china, still smells like chinese ppl (No offense to anyone here).

I considered exchanging for the larger one, but its only 3/4" larger one way, and 1/2" another way, and would cost me like $30 more after shipping.

Part of me wants to order another Tuffy and return this one, but my radar detector doesn't fit in the Tuffy. At all. So haven't fully decided. Want to do it right, once, but also haven't found that perfect solution. Tuffy doesn't' have an in between size that i need.

My radar detector fits in the gun box, and allows me to put some larger stuff in there, so i'll probably hang onto that one. Kinda want to take advantage of this tuffy deal on ebay though. Anyways, just rambling at this point. Enjoy the pics!


EDIT: God, days at home hurt my bank account. I ordered a second tuffy box, and am going to cut the side out to fit my radar detector. I also ordered a matching lock cylinder and keys from tuffy. Cool to think i'll have 2 matching tuffy's, keyed alike, when they are normally about $100 retail. Both will get mounted in the center console. Probably going to hang onto the other box, and use the cable to secure it to the seat rail. That way, i can remove it and use it in the bmw when needed.

 

[AJMBLAZER]

Subscribed. Looking good man!

I still kinda kick myself for buying the "high end" ACDelco nitrogen shocks. They seem to be pretty decent actually but they're noticeably smaller than your typical offroad shock or Bilsteins.

 

[dhcomp]

Were they cheaper? I've wanted a set of Bilsteins for the last 6 yrs...they were a long time coming....and wish i hadn't waited so long. They rock.

 

[AJMBLAZER]

Yeah, I got them on Rock Auto while on sale for like $25 each.

I love Bilsteins but haven't bought any since the Ranger was stock 6 years ago. Even HD's are $60 now!
However I MIGHT go with Bilsteins after these wear out or I win the lotto. These do decently well going down the road but if I hit a rutted/bad section of road you can feel the fade coming in relatively quickly. They're better than hydro crap like Rancho 5000's but not up to even NAPA's nitro, monotube truck shocks.

 

[dhcomp]

Ok, today's update, got a couple packages in the mail

First Package:

3"x30' Tow Strap from Four_by_ken
Nice looking strap, super quick shipping. THanks ken!

Next Package, HD Radio! First of all, i have always liked my sony head units, but some of the add on's suck . The Ipod controller was absolute garbage. So i was a little skeptical. Especially after i realized i disconnect the antenna from the head unit, so i was worried my old radio tuner wouldn't' work.

First, many mfg's have the HD tuner built in, so i was disappointed how large a unit was required for the add on. I originally was thinking under the dash somewhere, but when instructions recommended under the seat, i got to thinking. There wasn't much room under either seat in the burb, and cables weren't long enough for farther away. Then i stumbled on the somewhat flat spot just inboard under the front seats. Between teh seat rails and the console. Since i put a bunch of crap next to the drivers seat, i mounted it on the passenger side. Easier to explain in pics. Excuse the stained carpet down there....gross.

Overall, happy with this mounting location. I ran signal, etc wires forward a little, over the hump in front of the console, then up the floor to where the stereo was in the dash, along with some other signal wires i had run previously. For power, i ran the wires under the seat, then forward under the carpet, and then up in the dash. Basically trying to keep power away from signal. The signal, unilink, and antenna extension were just BARELY long enough, although the power wires were easy to extend. Now, knowing the cable length, i would mount in the same place on the drivers side. Yes, i roughed in the cables before i mounted everything, and knew i was close, but thought i would be ok.

When i got it all hooked up, i was pleasantly surprised. The old 'Tuner" mode no longer works, but the HD source tuner works just like the regular one . Tunes stations quick, just like the regular tuner. But after you are on a station for a few seconds, if there is an HD signal, you hear a brief skip (sometimes), and the display will show HD. If it shows HD1, it means there is more than one HD broadcast on that channel, and when you skip to the next station, it goes to HD2, or HD3, and so on. Works pretty good. You definitely hear the quality increase, especially with a couple amps and a sub, etc, when it switches to HD. Haven't taken it for a drive, just listened to it quickly in the driveway. So we'll see how i like it in a few days.

Main thing i am missing right now is the second tuffy before i mount them in the console, and the dual battery setup. Kinda surprised how long the 12voltguy setup is taking to ship, but maybe he builds them individually or something. Either that, or he fell off the face of the planet. We'll see!

Thanks for reading!