Project Groot - 89 V1500 Suburban

[End3r]

Hey Guys - been lurking here a while and finally picked up my own square body a few weeks ago.

Introducing... GROOT!

This will serve as my project build thread and general question asking spot since I don't have much experience in the square body realm (used to be a Toyota guy ).


Anyways, I picked her up for a steal and have fixed the following so far:

Cracked exhaust manifold
Fresh seatbelts all the way around (old retractors didn't retract)
Upgraded stereo
Sway bar bushings
Drag link
New PS pump
New PSC steering gearbox since the old one was belching fluid all over the place


This has all worked out pretty well, but has made some of the other flaws more glaring. She likes to walk around alot while driving, which I'm guessing is probably worn ball joints and tie rod ends at this point. Also noticed this weekend though that the driver side spring plate is walking around all over the place, which is no good.

Here's a pic of the plate in question (yeah, I know I still need to pressure wash the crap out of this side. The old gearbox was really hemorrhaging) :

I'm worried that with the bolts loose and the plate walking around for who knows how long now that there might be damage to the center pin / spring pack. Anyone have any experience with this? I'm at a spot where if it might be compromised then I'd rather just replace it with something well built so I hopefully only have to fix it once (reason I went with the PSC steering box).

Anyone see anything else I might be missing? She's got some aftermarket 4" lift (so says the PO) and I'm not impressed with the quality (ride or their install). Also, I pulled the dual steering stabilizer setup that was on there - both stabilizers were hanging up.

 

[hidesertwheelin]

I love the color. I used to have a K5 the same green with a white top. I loved the way it looked.

 

[tRustyK5]

Crank those U-bolts tight, that'll be most of the walking/wandering feel you have right now...and it's dangerous.

Ride quality, get rid of the extra shocks up front. Just run one quality shock per corner.

Groooooot!

 

[K85 Octane]

"I am Grooooot"!

ditch the sway bar too, I'll bet you wont even notice other than the free'er movement up front. (which is good)

did you check the frame when you replaced the steering box? There are weld in and bolt in braces that help that area of the frame a lot

 

[End3r]

Yeah, I checked the frame over really well and didn't find any cracks. I'll order the brace from ORD soon here though once I figure out what else I need. I got their heavy duty tie rod, but am wondering if I need a new steering stabilizer too or if I'll be alright running without one?

 

[y5mgisi]

Subscribed. Curious what's causing your wandering.

 

[cyclic]

Steering stabilizer, sway bar links, dropped pitman arm, check tie rod and drag link, check rag joint, and get the alignment checked.

 

[End3r]

So I went out to torque the u bolts down (they were at about 40 ft/lbs) and noticed that my tie rod end has started making contact with the wheel weight. Is there anything I might have done during the steering box / drag link swap that would cause it to start making contact??

 

[cyclic]

If the joint is loose, the steering stabilizer might have been holding it from touching. Plan on replacing the drag link ends SOON. I'll bet they are worn to hell. Good news is they are cheap and easy.

P.S. I do like those rims.

 

[dremu]

So I went out to torque the u bolts down (they were at about 40 ft/lbs) and noticed that my tie rod end has started making contact with the wheel weight. Is there anything I might have done during the steering box / drag link swap that would cause it to start making contact??

Ball joints on their way out, or loose/bad wheel bearings? Otherwise, !

Jack the front end up so the wheel's off the ground.

Grab the tire at top and bottom, i.e. with your hands at 12 and 6 o'clock. Try and move it. Then switch your hands to the sides, 9 and 3 o'clock, checking for wiggle here BUT with the steering staying put (like don't push it hard enough to move the tierod.)

If both up-n-down and side-to-side wiggle, tear down to the spindle and look at the bearings. At least see if the spindle nuts are tight.

If only the up-n-down wiggles but the side-to-side is tight, Carnac The Magnificent foresees you reading up on balljoint replacement.

If both are tight, never mind

-- A

 

[skunked]

^bearing or....

tie rode looks sloppy and is likely sloppy enough that it's hitting the wheel weight.

 

[End3r]

skunked, I think you've got it there... Tried jacking it up and wiggling. It wiggles side to side but not up and down. Looks like most of the slop is in the tie rod ends.

Gonna try replacing the whole thing tonight with a new tie rod and ends I just got in from ORD. Was going to wait on it once I saw the weight was jacked up because I didn't want to damage the new end, but I guess it's worth throwing on and checking the clearance.

 

[End3r]

Well, I ran down to the hardware store last night and picked up some fresh grade 8 nuts and washers for the u bolts. Just didn't trust the nylocks that were on there, even torqued down to 140ft/lbs. Went ahead and ran the nylocks back down on top of the new nuts though as jamb nuts.

Got the new tie rod from ORD in, but I'm not super happy with how it went down. Torque specs from the Haynes manual I have says 40ft/lbs for the tie rod ends (stock parts), but they weren't seated right with just 40. There was still 3/8" between the grease boot and the knuckle so I pulled them in at about 90 ft/lbs and backed them off right away. Now they're seated where I think they should be, but the cotter pin hole was up over the top of the castle nuts that ORD provided... Ended up putting the old castle nuts on as they were about 1/4" taller, but I'm not sure I'm okay with this....

(Yes, the boots were pretty short to begin with. This one looks squished, but it isn't even contacting the knuckle)

And here's a clearance shot with the new tie rod and wheel weight. Still pretty close, but at least the old tie rod clearanced the weight for me??

Also... she still walks around a bit driving down the road. I don't think it's the ball joints though. It looks like the springs are moving 1/4" or so in their bushings when moving the wheel back and forth. Guess it's time to order some new ones...

 

[bix]

Good progress! Im freshly addicted also, been doing some of the same things to mine, subscribed and hope to see more progress and see some things i can maybe relate too!

 

[y5mgisi]

Did you get an alignment yet?

 

[End3r]

No, no "official" alignment yet. I took measurements from outside to outside both front and back before I started and made sure everything matched up with the new tie rod. So I should be close enough for right now. (front and rear measurements are within 1/16" of each other)

Plans for the nearish future include an 8 lug 14blt sf/ff for the rear (whatever I can track down on the cheap), at least an 8 lug conversion for the 10 bolt up front, if not a D60 swap, and new rims and tires so I don't think it's worth it to spring for the professional alignment yet when so much is going to get swapped around.

 

[skunked]

That leaf bushing looks smoked. Swap those out and look at your upper shackle hanger bushing in your frame, those are known to get sloppy.

Looking good

 

[dremu]

No, no "official" alignment yet. I took measurements from outside to outside both front and back before I started and made sure everything matched up with the new tie rod. So I should be close enough for right now. (front and rear measurements are within 1/16" of each other)

Plans for the nearish future include an 8 lug 14blt sf/ff for the rear (whatever I can track down on the cheap), at least an 8 lug conversion for the 10 bolt up front, if not a D60 swap, and new rims and tires so I don't think it's worth it to spring for the professional alignment yet when so much is going to get swapped around.

I gather the proper alignment for these trucks is toed in a bit, like 1/8" or 1/4" closer in front than in back. (It's actually by degree and of course the inch measurement depends on tire diameter, so that's kinda vague.)

Anyway, wise not to pop for a pro alignment until you're set in stone, but you might shorten the tierod a smidge, see if that helps.

-- A

 

[NorCalAnthony]

Sweet 'Burb! I really like the green and want to do something similar on my '89 K5 I picked up a few last year. Do you mind posting some pics of the interior when you get a chance?

I feel your pain with the front wandering. Mine was doing the same thing when I brought it home so I wound up ordering an Energy Suspension master bushing replacement kit from Amazon. I figured if one of the bushings were bad the rest weren't far behind...

 

[End3r]

Thanks! I'll snag some interior pics either tonight or tomorrow and post them up.

So for the update.. I ordered in some new bushings for the front springs, but they sent me the totally wrong ones. I might be able to use the ones they sent on the shackles though, not sure yet. The springs that are on there are some no-name 4" lift springs with no discernible markings so I'm not sure how I'm going to track down what the right bushings are.

On that note I'm thinking it might just be easier to order a set of TC 4" lift springs and swap the whole thing out and be done with it. I see that TC offers both the HD and EZ-ride in 4" lift. Any recommendations on which would be a better ride both on and off road for the burb? I know ORD's site is leaning towards the HD for crew cabs / big block / etc...

On another note... I was working on something else under the truck (update on that to come later) and was laying there zoning out for a minute and noticed this...

Not sure how long it's been like that, but oh crap... Luckily, the local GM parts guy had 4 brand new bolts for me and a new saddle. I started poking around with it some more and realized that they didn't just forget the bolt, it snapped off in the yoke... Some very careful drilling and a few crossed fingers later...