One Piece at a Time: My 1985 Diesel Suburban

[Babaganoosh]

What is the reasoning for taking out the springs?

Also I love the look of the company stickers that has been apart of the build... If I could get stickers to stick to mine I would totally have them on.

 

[AgDieseler]

What is the reasoning for taking out the springs?

We’re dearching to get the truck to sit just a bit lower.

David

 

[Big Ray]

Better get yourself some white claws then.

Man, that's just wrong!!!

 

[Big Ray]

Ha! I’ll note this as setting a new trend.

I actually do want to make more room for actual camping/cooking gear, but just didn’t want to build in too many dedicated setups for this trip. I’ll see how I use what I’ve got, and take notes. That corner is where I see a Coleman stove and chuck box fitting quite nicely.

Also, one of the younger Watsons is taking delivery of these heads, and I’m getting work space back in the shop.

David

Glad they didn't get scrapped!

 

[mrk5]

We’re dearching to get the truck to sit just a bit lower.

David

You're doing what now? I'm not familiar with "dearching"

 

[AgDieseler]

You're doing what now? I'm not familiar with "dearching"

Lowering the back end height on big booty Judy, so springs need about 2” less free arch.

Quick adjustment while I was in the neighborhood.

David

 

[mrk5]

Lowering the back end height on big booty Judy, so springs need about 2” less free arch.

Quick adjustment while I was in the neighborhood.

David

Ohhhh I understand. de-arching as in making them flatter. Here I thought your phone made up a new word.

 

[AgDieseler]

2” lower in the rear now, which is 1/2” taller than the front when loaded with my amateur level of camping gear.



We took it for a rip around the shop, and it feels good. 150 miles of highway afterward felt good too.



Pretty good day.

David

 

[Big Ray]

more badass everytime I catch up on it. Makes me want to slap mine!

 

[mrk5]

Better weight transfer for those full boost launches!

 

[Babaganoosh]

Better weight transfer for those full boost launches!

That is wheelie cool.

 

[campfire]

And who doesn’t pack a spare set of heads?

People with small vehicles, that's who.

It's amazing how much junk can be casually thrown into a burb. The massive volume enables all sorts of lazy, disorganized packing strategies...

 

[AgDieseler]

We’ve got some catching up to do. I’m driving back home from a 600 mile dirt trek from the US-Canada border to Portland.

We saw a lot.





My dad joined me for the road trip back, and it’s our standard fare of fun time trouble shooting an random non-op part. This time, the fan clutch.

Unrelated: we just bought a bunch of JB weld.

David

 

[campfire]

Bump!

Any more updates?

 

[AgDieseler]

The journey to the PNW started with a hop from Dallas to Rifle Colorado for a visit to our favorite offroad parts manufacturer.

That path took me over Independence Pass and into the strange land of Aspen, which is a fastidiously manicured golf course of a town. I didn't stop.

Then, after arriving at ORD, we immediately tore down the rear of the truck. The springs were still a tad perky, and after cramming the front suspension higher, it was time to make the rears come close to matching.


Jackson took delivery of the 6.2 heads with diamond prechambers.


Squattier, and happier. They crunched them down another 2", and it was just right.


Then, onward toward Seattle, I stopped to stretch my legs at a familiar shop. @ashman was a kind host, and I appreciate him letting me drop in mid-day for a water a walk around.


Then, Idaho.


And Oregon.


And then to Nate's spot not far from Tacoma, WA. Knowing we'd need power on the trail, we each installed Walmart's 1500W power inverter. It's pretty good, and hasn't died, yet.


Then, to the Canadian border...


...and the start of a 600 mile dirt trek across the state.


This place is really something to take in. In the first few miles we drove around Palmer Lake, a mule deer in velvet stood by the road and a bald eagle flew overhead. What a sight. This was camp the first night.


It didn't take long before we started entering zone of national forests with a load of deadfall and burn. Ash was everywhere.





Then, we got into snow, and a fair bit of it. The Razrs work really well when aired way down. Most of this was at 8psi, and I just let the truck chug through the snow. It kind of packs as it goes.




David

 

[AgDieseler]

And as quicky as we found ourselves in the cold and snow, we turned and found ourselves on the sunny side of the mountain and among the wildflowers.


Mountain bluebonnets are my favorite, and there were plenty to take in.


Nothing quite like the late sunset on the trail. We cleared hundred of trees from the trail.


This camp was just 3.5 miles from where we started, since we cleared trees all day. The view was worth it, and we indulged in ribeyes after a very full day of work.




We continued down the trail, clearing trees and doing some trail preservation. This one spot needed just a bit of leveling, so we moved rocks and dirt to make it a bit less sketchy to traverse.


The awning proved its worth several times. See here, the trail deli.


And though we were shut down by about 2 solid miles of down trees - no time to clear with the equipment we had - we made a short detour and got back to taking in the epic PNW landscape.




I got up early each morning for a quiet cup of coffee. Each day was jam packed with filming, so a moment of peace before moving on was a good way to start.


To this point, I'd avoided the mud. As you all know, I hate the stuff. I felt really slick and smart...


...until Mt Rainier and its drainage basin served me a fat dose of humble pie. I stuck the truck really good. To the axles and belly skid good. My winch dragged the truck, plowing loads of sandy, smelly, chocolate nasty along the way.


But, as always, the views are worth the trouble.


And as soon we're out of the mud, we're back in the snow, but it's not bad at all.


We're nearing the end.


And we found ourselves across the Bridge of the Gods just east of Portland, OR. It was a rigorous 10 days, we were tired, and we had 1.2Tb of footage to go through.




There will be a video on Nate's channel. I'll post that here.

Meanwhile, my dad flew into Portland to join me on the drive back home. The first order of business was the get as much of the nasty off the truck as we could.


Then, the fan clutch went non-op, and we had to finagle a solution to get us the rest of the way home - about 1700 miles.


We started with JB Weld, and ultimately ended up using self tappers to lock the inner disk to the outer hub. Whatever it takes.


David

 

[AgDieseler]

And finally, we routed ourselves home through Moab, and quickly zipped up Fins n Things to take in the sunset, which never disappoints.




The road average fuel economy was 14.5mpg, with a low of 12.75 and a high of 16.5. Offroading was the standard 7.5mpg.


Back home. Lots of maintenance to do, and a fresh fan clutch ready for install.


It was a helluva trip. Three total weeks, 5600 miles, and a heaping load of fun.

David

 

[centexk5]

That’s awesome. I can’t wait to see the videos. How’d the new engine do during this endeavor?

 

[AgDieseler]

That’s awesome. I can’t wait to see the videos. How’d the new engine do during this endeavor?

Ran like a top. Loads of power on the road, and plenty of torque on the trail. It never gets boring. I have a long list of things to fine tune - air flow over the cooler stack, intake dust mitigation, and a few other odds and ends. That list has always wrapped around the block.

David

 

[centexk5]

A hero gets remembered, but a project never dies.