What an awesome trip, that boy will cherish those memories forever
CK5
Register an account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.
The Story Of A Cummins Suburban (Lots Of Pics)
- Thread starter mosesburb
- Start date
gotblazers
1/2 ton status
beautiful trip, thanks for sharing
Thanks!!
Great build, great pics and awesome story!!!! How old is your son?
Thanks!! He turned seven the week after we got back.
Do it. I wasn't working on this when my boy was that age, but he was out in the shop with me while I worked on anything and everything else. Once I started on this and gave him little jobs to do, he really got into it!! It is fun to listen to him tell his buddies about his adventures. He points out things that I didn't realize he noticed or didn't think worthy of explaining. It's a real hoot to listen to.
Thanks!! It was a GREAT time!! We are already planning the next one, a much longer one, for next summer.
Yeah, I think he will. He sure had a lot of "firsts" crammed into a few days there.
Thanks!!
MaxPF
1/2 ton status
Cool! I'm glad I didn't swap out my column, now that I'm going back to a slushbox. It's bad enough that I have to swap out the pedals... again
Awsome pics, Sounds like a great time. Thanks for posting.
Cool! I'm glad I didn't swap out my column, now that I'm going back to a slushbox. It's bad enough that I have to swap out the pedals... again
**Hi-jack** WHAT!?!?!?!?!? After all the time and $$ to put a 465 in it????
MaxPF
1/2 ton status
Ten thousand miles!! Yessir, I passed 10k a few days ago. No fanfare, no pictures, no hype. I celebrated by taking it through emissions (it sounds super-bitchin' running on the rollers at 50mph inside a bulding). One year and ten thousand miles. In a way it seems like I have been driving it forever when in reality I have just been looking at it forever in my driveway.
So, Saturday me and my boy were going to go to a car show in Prescott, AZ. It is about ninety miles north and 5300' in elevation, so it is much cooler than here. I figured there would be some different cars there than we see at the shows around here. My boy was looking forward to it big-time. I think from Wednesday on, it was the topic of choice for him to bring up. It rained--cow/flat rock type stuff on Saturday. He was not happy about having to stay home. We bounced around town picking a few things up and visiting some people here and there.
Sunday I got up at about 0600 and it was dry outside. I went in his room and he half-way came to and gave me a hug and wished me a good day (typical work day routine). I informed him it was Sunday and he half tilted his head and said oh. I asked if he wanted to go to a car show. He asked "in Prescott??" I said yes and he threw his covers off and sailed down the ladder and ripped into kitchen to start getting ready. So we get our stuff together and head up there. We pull up to the guy collecting money for parking and he asks what year the Sub is and i say '72. He said that I have a choice. I can pay five dollars and park right here in the mud and walk all the way over there--or--I can drive all the way around over to there, pay five dollars to enter the truck in the show and park in the grass. You sir, are a great salesman!! So needless to say, we paid five bones and entered this chick-magnet in the show. I knew I had no chance at winning, but out of humor, I went ahead and filled the registration card out and turned it in.
Yes, I was officially #137 in the Truck category.
Obviously, I did not win anything, but I did notice a couple things. The first thing I noticed is this truck was all-or-nothing with people. There was almost no in between. What I mean by that is people would either pass by, completely oblivious to it or if they looked at it they spent a minimum of five minutes (usually more). Now mind you, all I did was pop the hood and take off. I did not hang around the truck at all, but the topography of the site was such that I could see the truck from the swap meet area and when I would see the same people there for awhile I started glancing at it when it was visible and noticed the pattern.
The whole car show deal with the judging is not for me, but my boy liked it. He was all excited when we entered it and heard about the judging. It was a very fun day there and about a hundred yards past the car show is a lake.
It had all kinds of granite outcrops and boulders that lent themselves well to climbing and adventure so we crawled around on those for awhile then headed back to the truck to roll out.
So all in all, we had a great time. We had great weather and a real nice drive.
On a little side note, I was at work today and a member of management came up and told me he went and looked at a '72 shortbed in town this morning and the guy selling it couldn't stop talking about this cool Suburban he saw at a car show in Prescott. It was orange and had a Cummins. The guy I work with said he knew of the truck. Then a buddy of the guy selling the truck came over and started telling the guy I work with about this really cool Suburban they saw with a Cummins in it. I thought it was kind of funny that it took less than two hours at work to hear where I went this weekend. Small world.
So, Saturday me and my boy were going to go to a car show in Prescott, AZ. It is about ninety miles north and 5300' in elevation, so it is much cooler than here. I figured there would be some different cars there than we see at the shows around here. My boy was looking forward to it big-time. I think from Wednesday on, it was the topic of choice for him to bring up. It rained--cow/flat rock type stuff on Saturday. He was not happy about having to stay home. We bounced around town picking a few things up and visiting some people here and there.
Sunday I got up at about 0600 and it was dry outside. I went in his room and he half-way came to and gave me a hug and wished me a good day (typical work day routine). I informed him it was Sunday and he half tilted his head and said oh. I asked if he wanted to go to a car show. He asked "in Prescott??" I said yes and he threw his covers off and sailed down the ladder and ripped into kitchen to start getting ready. So we get our stuff together and head up there. We pull up to the guy collecting money for parking and he asks what year the Sub is and i say '72. He said that I have a choice. I can pay five dollars and park right here in the mud and walk all the way over there--or--I can drive all the way around over to there, pay five dollars to enter the truck in the show and park in the grass. You sir, are a great salesman!! So needless to say, we paid five bones and entered this chick-magnet in the show. I knew I had no chance at winning, but out of humor, I went ahead and filled the registration card out and turned it in.
Yes, I was officially #137 in the Truck category.
Obviously, I did not win anything, but I did notice a couple things. The first thing I noticed is this truck was all-or-nothing with people. There was almost no in between. What I mean by that is people would either pass by, completely oblivious to it or if they looked at it they spent a minimum of five minutes (usually more). Now mind you, all I did was pop the hood and take off. I did not hang around the truck at all, but the topography of the site was such that I could see the truck from the swap meet area and when I would see the same people there for awhile I started glancing at it when it was visible and noticed the pattern.
The whole car show deal with the judging is not for me, but my boy liked it. He was all excited when we entered it and heard about the judging. It was a very fun day there and about a hundred yards past the car show is a lake.
It had all kinds of granite outcrops and boulders that lent themselves well to climbing and adventure so we crawled around on those for awhile then headed back to the truck to roll out.
So all in all, we had a great time. We had great weather and a real nice drive.
On a little side note, I was at work today and a member of management came up and told me he went and looked at a '72 shortbed in town this morning and the guy selling it couldn't stop talking about this cool Suburban he saw at a car show in Prescott. It was orange and had a Cummins. The guy I work with said he knew of the truck. Then a buddy of the guy selling the truck came over and started telling the guy I work with about this really cool Suburban they saw with a Cummins in it. I thought it was kind of funny that it took less than two hours at work to hear where I went this weekend. Small world.
y5mgisi
1 ton status
I gotta say, it kinda sounds like your living the dream.
You passed me on the way up to Prescott. I saw you approaching me and thought of your suburban it was the same color combination from memory.
Sweet burb.
Sweet burb.
I'm not sure if we are living the dream or not, but we sure are enjoying it.
I wasn't going too fast on the way up there. Were you going slow or did I pass you on an uphill portion of the road??
Sweet burb.
Thanks!!
I was following my Mom and her boyfriend with there 2 quads. They seem to think there envoy can only pull the quads at 60. I had the black Silverado with the red honda dirtbike in the back of the bed.
Ah, that explains how I passed you. I think I was only doing 65-70 most of the way up there. I did go kind of fast up part of Sunset Hill as there was an import minivan behind me that I thought was tied to me with a string--just ridin' my ass. I'm doing 70 in a 65, passing trucks etc and this guy thought he was going to push me or something. Now I've been up that hill hundreds of times in gassers and I know this dude had his import throttle buried to keep up with me, so when there was no traffic around, I momentarily lifted to let him know that I saw him there, then proceded to walk (maybe run is a more accurate term) away from him the rest of the way up the hill.
I just realized that this thread turns two years old today. To think two years ago this thing was still just a big orange yard ornament and now it is a drivable big orange yard ornament. I'm liking the driveable part--alot.
No, not much smoke. The only time I can really dump a cloud is at low speed, like in a neighborhood, if I take a corner in third instead of second and get into the throttle just a little too much (low/no boost, low speed and lug it), then it can belch a cloud, but other than that I don't get much smoke. I do get some haze under heavy throttle, but not like some of the Dodge guys that equate a huge cloud of smoke to power.
In all reality, even though we were on a 7% grade, it did not take much throttle at all to leave this guy standing still.
In all reality, even though we were on a 7% grade, it did not take much throttle at all to leave this guy standing still.
MaxPF
1/2 ton status
No, not much smoke. The only time I can really dump a cloud is at low speed, like in a neighborhood, if I take a corner in third instead of second and get into the throttle just a little too much (low/no boost, low speed and lug it), then it can belch a cloud, but other than that I don't get much smoke. I do get some haze under heavy throttle, but not like some of the Dodge guys that equate a huge cloud of smoke to power.
In all reality, even though we were on a 7% grade, it did not take much throttle at all to leave this guy standing still.
Sounds like I need to slide my fuel plate forward. I can't make smoke under any conditions, and pulling a 3500lb trailer up a 7% grade I'm maxed out at 60MPH
Aww crap... I can't crank up my fuel. I don't have an IC yet
What kind of EGT's are you getting loaded??
Well, no real big update right now, but I filled the tank on Thursday and got a new high mileage to report....
20.88!! Yessir, almost 21mpg in town, stop and go, front and rear A/C cranked, fan clutch on, rush hour--pretty much everything that will kill mileage numbers and I got 20.88.
Woo-hoo!!
20.88!! Yessir, almost 21mpg in town, stop and go, front and rear A/C cranked, fan clutch on, rush hour--pretty much everything that will kill mileage numbers and I got 20.88.
Woo-hoo!!
MaxPF
1/2 ton status
Cresting a long 7 with the trailer in tow I will hit 1300 for about a minute. It definitely needs an intercooler... or water injection.
I have been avoiding a situation on this truck for some time now. The front suspension was kind of jacked up in that I never really finished it. Because of my engine being set so low, my engine crossmember was pretty close to my front diff making uptravel rather limited. When I bought my shocks many years ago, I bought shocks that were too long (as it sat) because I had different upper shock mounts for it, but those had not made it into the truck yet. So, I had a couple projects that needed to be tackled simultaneously on it. I started by taking it out and flexing it a little bit to get an idea of where bumpstops needed to be placed.
In doing this I learned something that turned out to be rather important. I had found marks on my crossmember from the diff hose and I wrongfully figured that the diff had contacted the crossmember. What I found out actually happened was the shock was bottoming out and the witness marks on the crossmember must have been from the hose bouncing up to hit the crossmember. I had known my shocks were a little too long, but I did not realize they were that long. Well, ok, I already had bought the bumpstops and mounting material, so they were going on regardless.
I had been researching bumpstops for some time and had bought some of those big inverted triangle urethane units and had planned on using them, but I had found where several people had experienced failures with otherwise new looking units. I did not like the idea of making them work, just to have them fail shortly thereafter. That got me to looking at air bumps. I liked the features they brought, but I kept hanging up on the fact that they have seals and oil and nitrogen all of which can leak creating a situation of "no-bump". They are very cool, but way more than I need in both performance and reliability. I need something similar but with much less technology involved. During my research I came across Daystar's Stinger Bump Stop Kit. It shares many of the same features of the air bumps, including mounting configuration and basic idea of operation--piston/shaft contacting suspension and compressing a media that resists compression to limit travel. Instead of nitrogen they use a puck made of hard foam. Three of these pucks stack up in the cylinder to create the media resistant to compression. Two different density pucks are supplied so compression resistance can be tailored to your liking. This fit my bill exactly. The features of an air bump that I want without the potential problems of the air bumps. Stupid simple--perfect.
So I got these and did some measuring and decided what I needed to mount them. They will mount in a standard 2" bump can, but that would be pretty easy, so I decided to make some of my own. I picked up a piece of 2-1/4, .125 wall DOM tubing. I quickly found out that the 2"od of the bump did not fit in the 2"id of the tubing. With that, I took it over to my favorite machine shop and had Russ turn out a few thou's on the id. While I was there I had him make a couple aluminum slugs that share the same dimensions as the foam pucks supplied with the bumps. Once he finished with that stuff I was able to get going on my project.
I took a piece of 1/4" plate and flame cut the mounting plate for the tube out of it. I figured out where on the frame it needed to be and then welded the DOM tube to it. I then took some 1.125 x .125 flat stock and made some gussets to it. I took some 5/16" coupler nuts, drilled the threads out of them and welded one toward the top of the tube and one toward the bottom. I then took a cutoff wheel and slotted the tube from top to bottom through the coupler nuts. This provides the mounting/pinch function. I then drilled some 31/64" holes through the plate and the frame and mounted the plate to the frame with four 12mm 10.9 flange head bolts with flange-head steel lock nuts. That got the bumpstops mounted, but I still had to deal with the shocks.
Several years ago I had picked up a bunch of the typical extended shock mounts that get used on these trucks. All that I had to do was mount them. I figured out where they needed to be and drilled the holes and used some more of the 12mm 10.9 flange head bolts and nuts. I then took my air saw out to cut the inner fenderwell for shock clearance. Well, the saw worked for about an inch and then decided it did not want to play anymore so I ended up using a die grinder with a cutoff wheel. Not the most ideal tool for the task, but it did get the job done.
So, that got the shocks mounted. I ran out to my super-secret high-tech suspension testing facility to see how I did. I immediately found that my too-long shocks were now too-short shocks. They went from being bump stops to limiting straps. I did some measuring and found that the fronts would be about the right length for the rears and the rear shocks would probably be better on the front. I swapped the fronts for the rears and headed back out to my private test facility and found that the shocks are almost perfect now.
Here it is at bumpstop contact point. There is still some shock travel left, so I will have to keep an eye on it next time it hits the trail. My wheel travel needs to be more limited on the right side because of the differential, so on that side I ran two of the harder (black) pucks along with one aluminum plug (to replace one puck) in the bumpstops. This should keep the wheel travel in the acceptable range.
So, with all of this, I have a much more functional suspension system now. I have not had a chance to run it on an actual trail, but from my first test to the last one that I did, I can tell a major difference in how much the suspension moves around already. A good trail will let me know if I am done or have more to do to finish the suspension up. Well see.
On an unrelated side-note, I did this work last weekend when it was about 108-110 (in the shade) with enough humidity to make it very uncomfortable. I stuck it out, plugged along and got it done. Now, in comparison, this weekend we had a cold spell roll in and it was only 98* this weekend with very reasonable humidity. I guess I should have waited to do it until this weekend. Oh well.
In doing this I learned something that turned out to be rather important. I had found marks on my crossmember from the diff hose and I wrongfully figured that the diff had contacted the crossmember. What I found out actually happened was the shock was bottoming out and the witness marks on the crossmember must have been from the hose bouncing up to hit the crossmember. I had known my shocks were a little too long, but I did not realize they were that long. Well, ok, I already had bought the bumpstops and mounting material, so they were going on regardless.
I had been researching bumpstops for some time and had bought some of those big inverted triangle urethane units and had planned on using them, but I had found where several people had experienced failures with otherwise new looking units. I did not like the idea of making them work, just to have them fail shortly thereafter. That got me to looking at air bumps. I liked the features they brought, but I kept hanging up on the fact that they have seals and oil and nitrogen all of which can leak creating a situation of "no-bump". They are very cool, but way more than I need in both performance and reliability. I need something similar but with much less technology involved. During my research I came across Daystar's Stinger Bump Stop Kit. It shares many of the same features of the air bumps, including mounting configuration and basic idea of operation--piston/shaft contacting suspension and compressing a media that resists compression to limit travel. Instead of nitrogen they use a puck made of hard foam. Three of these pucks stack up in the cylinder to create the media resistant to compression. Two different density pucks are supplied so compression resistance can be tailored to your liking. This fit my bill exactly. The features of an air bump that I want without the potential problems of the air bumps. Stupid simple--perfect.
So I got these and did some measuring and decided what I needed to mount them. They will mount in a standard 2" bump can, but that would be pretty easy, so I decided to make some of my own. I picked up a piece of 2-1/4, .125 wall DOM tubing. I quickly found out that the 2"od of the bump did not fit in the 2"id of the tubing. With that, I took it over to my favorite machine shop and had Russ turn out a few thou's on the id. While I was there I had him make a couple aluminum slugs that share the same dimensions as the foam pucks supplied with the bumps. Once he finished with that stuff I was able to get going on my project.
I took a piece of 1/4" plate and flame cut the mounting plate for the tube out of it. I figured out where on the frame it needed to be and then welded the DOM tube to it. I then took some 1.125 x .125 flat stock and made some gussets to it. I took some 5/16" coupler nuts, drilled the threads out of them and welded one toward the top of the tube and one toward the bottom. I then took a cutoff wheel and slotted the tube from top to bottom through the coupler nuts. This provides the mounting/pinch function. I then drilled some 31/64" holes through the plate and the frame and mounted the plate to the frame with four 12mm 10.9 flange head bolts with flange-head steel lock nuts. That got the bumpstops mounted, but I still had to deal with the shocks.
Several years ago I had picked up a bunch of the typical extended shock mounts that get used on these trucks. All that I had to do was mount them. I figured out where they needed to be and drilled the holes and used some more of the 12mm 10.9 flange head bolts and nuts. I then took my air saw out to cut the inner fenderwell for shock clearance. Well, the saw worked for about an inch and then decided it did not want to play anymore so I ended up using a die grinder with a cutoff wheel. Not the most ideal tool for the task, but it did get the job done.
So, that got the shocks mounted. I ran out to my super-secret high-tech suspension testing facility to see how I did. I immediately found that my too-long shocks were now too-short shocks. They went from being bump stops to limiting straps. I did some measuring and found that the fronts would be about the right length for the rears and the rear shocks would probably be better on the front. I swapped the fronts for the rears and headed back out to my private test facility and found that the shocks are almost perfect now.
Here it is at bumpstop contact point. There is still some shock travel left, so I will have to keep an eye on it next time it hits the trail. My wheel travel needs to be more limited on the right side because of the differential, so on that side I ran two of the harder (black) pucks along with one aluminum plug (to replace one puck) in the bumpstops. This should keep the wheel travel in the acceptable range.
So, with all of this, I have a much more functional suspension system now. I have not had a chance to run it on an actual trail, but from my first test to the last one that I did, I can tell a major difference in how much the suspension moves around already. A good trail will let me know if I am done or have more to do to finish the suspension up. Well see.
On an unrelated side-note, I did this work last weekend when it was about 108-110 (in the shade) with enough humidity to make it very uncomfortable. I stuck it out, plugged along and got it done. Now, in comparison, this weekend we had a cold spell roll in and it was only 98* this weekend with very reasonable humidity. I guess I should have waited to do it until this weekend. Oh well.
