Fallouts Suburbalanche Conversion Build thread.

[fallout232]

Let me preface this with stating that I have alway wanted a crew cab truck. When I started looking for another project 4-wheel drive about a year ago The market was pretty thin in my area of cheap half decent 4 wheel drives.

I knew I wanted a Chevy or Jeep, a single or crew cab truck, and if it was a chevy it had to be a diesel. I have numerous 6.5 diesel parts and after owning one for 9 years have some experience wrenching on them. I got a call one day from a friend stating he found somewhat what I was looking for on CL. I went to look at it and to my dismay it was a suburban. Not that I dislike them but it wasnt quite what I wanted.

But never the less I am a sucker for a deal. $900.00 later I walked away with a relatively cherry condition (Absolutely no rust 1985 K10 suburban with a 6.2/700r4/NP208. The frame rails on this thing are still black. This Truck had spent its entire life in the southern states and showed it well.

While tinkering with electrical gremlins and minor mechanical problems I got to thinking that I really wanted something more like a truck than a SUV. That is when I originally got turned onto CK5 as I was sure someone had tried this before me. After researching for several months and looking at photo's of what approaches different people had taken to accomplish this and fruitlessly looking for someone who offered a "Conversion" I decided to break out the cutting discs and sawzall and start hacking.

I had an Idea of where I wanted to go but wasnt quite sure how I was going to accomplish it. So here goes. I will try and include detail of what was done and why for those endeavoring to take this on themselves and problems that I ran into along the way. Please keep in mind that While I have worked with wood my entire life (I can already see this being sig material but have no better way to put it.) I have only tinkered with metal when It comes to fabricating pieces. I do possess the ability to weld and cut metal. But I am not in anyway a pro. I have quite a bit completed and will update progress as possible. We have hit a cold and extremely windy snap and my southern bones arent quite acclimated to working in 35 degree weather with 30 mph winds.

So here goes:

 

[fallout232]

So here it is in stock form. Not much else to say that I didnt in the previous post.

 

[fallout232]

I decided before I cut that I wanted to maintain the factory rear seat latching points. I scribed a line across the roof inline with the rear of the bracket and started cutting. The rear pillars were a little less scientific. I Cut what I could with a cut off disc, and that broke out the sawzall. While it doesnt look that heavy the rear "canopy minus the roof weights 60-70 lbs. there is numerous layers of over lapping sheetmetal in it for support. I cut the rear even with the bottom ridge that holds the rubber window gasket in place.

 

[fallout232]

While I didnt get a good pic I noticed that the factory "bed sides" angled down about 45 degrees from the window channel. I had read from other's that they would be concerned that the bed sides would flail around since the rear support had been removed and there was not "structural pieces of metal holding the bed sides from swaying. I also wanted to try and find a way to make a more pick up bed type rail. After some measurments I figured that a 20 ft. stick of 3 inch by 3/16 angle should accomplish what I need.

1. Sturdy Bed Rails to prevent the sides from flailing around and restore some aesthetic appeal as opposed to angled bed rails.

2. To provide a starting point for fabricating and mounting the rear bulkhead. to enclose the cab.

The panel thickness is not the same on both sides of the bed sides. The passenger side is approximately .5 inches wider than the driver side. This presented a challenge as I folded the bottom window channels over to meet the anle iron to provide a welding joint. The driver side "butts" together while the passenger side over laps some. While both sides arent exactly "uniform" It will be covered with a custom made diamond plate bedrail when I start working on the finish details.

While I was Fabbing everything up I made heavy use of self tapping screws to temporarily fasten the metal so I could adjust it as needed before welding it.







1 20 ft. stick of 3 inch angle was able to cover both bed rails, the top support rail for the back bulkhead and the bottom support rail for the back bulkhead.

 

[fallout232]

Next I decided to tackle the big gaping hole that cutting the rear support pillars off created. Since I had the bedrails in place I could cut the excess metal from the rear supports even with the bed rails. A couple carboard templates, 16 gauge piece's of steel and welding and grinding and some cussing later this was the result. Still needs some finish grinding but will be good for now. The passenger side looks similar. but for space constraints I didnt post a pic.

 

[fallout232]

I then got to a point where I had to decide what I was going to do for a rear glass area. I wanted something that Transistioned from the high ridged roof of the suburban int the body lines of a truck. The few trucks that I have seen (youtube suburbalanche) Appeared to have just walled off the area with a very sharp body line. It looks unfinished. So Off to the junkyard I went.

50 dollars and a couple sawzall batteries later I walked away with the rear upper portion of a truck cab. My pictures get kind of thin here as I was doing so much trial and error fitting during this period I didnt think to snap any photo's. You need at least 7-8 inches of the roof line from the back of the cab and at least 6-7 inches under the rear window. On the truck cab That I cut there is a approximately 1 inch wide sheet metal ridge that runs under the rear window. I cut this approximatley down the middle. This left the rear outside piece of metal and a 1 inch gap then this inner piece of metal.

I originally was going to cut this but while fitting the cab into place I found that it would actually work well like it is. I clearanced the inside piece of sheet metal to fit over the angle iron cross brace. This allowed the rear longer piece of metal to hang down below the angle iron in a upside down "L" fashion. This created a very sturdy bottom mount for the cab top. There is hidden upper seat belt mounting points on the B Pillar of the suburban. I lined up the seat belt mounting points on the truck cab with these. The roof line fit underneath the suburban's ridged roof with some clearancing in certain areas.



Dont pay attention to my uneven cut lines on the back. I almost cut it to short as I was cutting it off the truck. I luckily had just enough overlap. This picture I have also already molded the roof down Which i will detail later. There was a 2 - 2.5 inch gap between the suburban roof and the cab



Until I could get it welded I cut a 1 x 3/16 piece of steel and drilled it out for the seat belt holes to hold the cab half to the suburban body.



I wished I could have moved the rear of the cab 2-3 more inches forward than where it is presently at. But I would have had to remove to much of the b-pillar and seriously had some reconstructing to do to maintain any kind of strength in this area.

 

[fallout232]

Next I tackled the roof line. After much though I decided it would be easier to use the original room and transition it down onto the cabs roof. I notched the roofline back to the rear most roof support pillar (6 or 7 inches) and folded them down. I secured them with Self tappers until I could get it welded.

 

[fallout232]

Here is a side shot with the roof molded down and the cab half fitted in. I still have to cut a piece of metal to fill the gap and weld it up.







Here is an unintended behind the rear seat shelf. Dont know what I am going to do with this yet. I will more than likely weld it up just to keep the squeaks down. But I will have a nice large storage area behind the rear seat that is mostly hidden from view

 

[Mikey von]

just got to say that you do some pretty fricking sweet work!

I likey!

Keep the pics coming.

 

[Mikey von]

BTW - nice steel of a suburban for $900.

 

[dleroy43]

nice. Be sure to put bolts in the body mounts that dont have bolts through them, it will hell help

 

[1bgsub]

Nice job!

later
Trey

 

[fallout232]

nice. Be sure to put bolts in the body mounts that dont have bolts through them, it will hell help

Hadnt thought of that, Will put on the "To do" list. The more I get finished the more I seem to find to do. Once I get it to the "Waterproof" stage I get to start on the detail work. We have had rain in our forecast off and on for the past several weeks, and tarping this thing every time I get done working on it gets old. If the wind would die down I would be able to get some more welding done on the outside. Ive got to much junk in my garage to fit this thing in there.

 

[greywolf]

nice build

 

[fallout232]

Patch panels covering the Gaps on the side are roughed in. I went ahead and threw some primer on them to keep them from rusting, and to get more of a feel to see how it is going to look finished. I used 16 gauge steel sheet to patch the holes, I was going to reuse some of the metal I cut off the roof but had a couple of pieces of 16 gauge left over. After I get all the welding and grinding done, I am going to have to use body filler to smooth some of the dents out.

 

[fallout232]

A buddy had a sheet of 1/8 inch steel diamond plate from another project. I used it to make the back cab bulkhead. I have small 1/4-1/2 inch gaps on either side of it and the bed sides but I have cut some left over angle to fill the gaps. In the last pic you can see that there is plenty of room behind the seats to put stuff. I probably wont have many new pics for another week or two. Most of what I am doing now is to get this thing somewhat waterproof. Then I will get to start on the inside holes.

Price tally not including my labor is as follows:
3 Sheets 24x12 16 Gauge Sheet metal : 30.00
30-40 cutting discs : 60.00
Rear Half cab and window : 50.00
20 ft. stick of 3 inch x 3/16 angle iron : 60.00
2 cans of spray paint : 10.00

Free or Traded Items:

2 foot by 6 foot piece of 1/8 Steel Diamond plate
Welding Gas and Wire
My labor I have about 30-40 solid work hours into this build. Someone experienced could probably cut that in half. I am learning lots as I go and Winging most of it.

 

[k2mslskier]

That is slick. Very nice work.

 

[plumber mike]

Nice! I'm glad you did it first. Every time I get out the tools I chicken out. Looks like a Mega cab with a better bodystyle and without a silly billy goat embelem. It looks like you still have the barn doors on it but I can't see what you did with those. Are you planning on keeping them or going with a truck tailgate or something else. Anyway thanks for the inspiration and the pics.

 

[irishraptor87]

looks good man, its coming out really clean, looks like you're going the same route as i am, the mega cab is good, the behind the seat area is great, especially now that you lost all the rear storage, its perfect

when you finish that up you're gonna have to bob it, i just finished mine yesterday

 

[fallout232]

Nice! I'm glad you did it first. Every time I get out the tools I chicken out. Looks like a Mega cab with a better bodystyle and without a silly billy goat embelem. It looks like you still have the barn doors on it but I can't see what you did with those. Are you planning on keeping them or going with a truck tailgate or something else. Anyway thanks for the inspiration and the pics.

I had been contemplating doing this for almost a year before I finally just said do it. I had run out honey do's around the house and a week of free time was all it took to get me started.
I will eventually go to a yard and get a tailgate, I was going to sell the barn doors or swap for a tailgate but didnt get any bites. And a day of sitting around being bored led to my current setup. They are really rough at best right now. After removing the upper canopy from them it removed quite a bit of their structural integrity. I have a friend with a sheetmetal brake but he hasnt had the time for me to come over and Bend up some sheet metal to reinforce the doors and provide a flat surface for the top of them. I just clearanced the inside of the door and beat the outer skin over with a hammer for now . I plan on reusing some of the roof flats to do this.