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The Story Of A Cummins Suburban (Lots Of Pics)

Somewhere along the way I acquired an ARB for the front 60. I had a few things that I wanted to do in the vicinity, so I used that as an excuse to pull the diff and work on it in the shop. By doing this, I was also able to use my case spreader on it which makes the installation of the carrier much easier.

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I picked up a case spreader for me 10 bolt front end off of ebay...$$60.0!

I have a 4.10 gear set for the front.... just wish GM marked the pinion depth on their gears...:rolleyes:
 
How odd. I put a Lockrite in a buddy's M880 Dodge years ago and that thing was smooth as glass. It could be heard when turning sharply on hard ground, but its road manners were fine. Nothing like the Detroit. Larry's acts the same way mine did, but I don't think he drives his enough to justify swapping it out.

Yes, indeed. My Detroit acts exactly the way you described. You heard mine pop 4 car lengths behind me in Telluride while the truck swerved all over road by itself :haha:. My Detroit also has horrible parking lot manors and the out of the blue BANG just going straight down the road! Scares the crap out of occupants and even myself sometimes. The SWB on the K10, respectable engine torque and the weight of the camper exaggerates the feeling even more. It’s like having rear steering…..it darts one direction under throttle tip in then darts the other way once when you let off the gas to shift. The Detroit is definitely on the short list of things to be swapped out in the near future. The tire wear alone would pay for an ARB and the driver fatigue is priceless



Thanks!!

I get a few once in awhile. Usually asking if I'd ever sell it. I tell them everything is for sale--for the right price. One of the best ones was in Kalispell Montana, a guy comes up to me in a parking lot and asks a few of the typical questions. He then proceeds to offer (2), count them, TWO, ford expeditions in trade for my Suburban. I laughed when his head tilted in confusion when I said "only two?? That's only enough to get me to the Wyoming state line, then I need more to get home from there...." He might have actually been serious?? :haha:

That is awesome! You are definitely the man with the quick smart ass witty comebacks that is for sure. I noticed last Expo Leland is taking after his daddy very well :haha:
 
Yes, indeed. My Detroit acts exactly the way you described. You heard mine pop 4 car lengths behind me in Telluride while the truck swerved all over road by itself :haha:. My Detroit also has horrible parking lot manors and the out of the blue BANG just going straight down the road! Scares the crap out of occupants and even myself sometimes. The SWB on the K10, respectable engine torque and the weight of the camper exaggerates the feeling even more. It’s like having rear steering…..it darts one direction under throttle tip in then darts the other way once when you let off the gas to shift. The Detroit is definitely on the short list of things to be swapped out in the near future. The tire wear alone would pay for an ARB and the driver fatigue is priceless

This is all I need to know to know that a Detroit locker will never go in the back of my daily driver Yukon. A certain member here is trying real hard to convince me a Detroit is the only way to go with my axle swap. Mmm, no.
 
This is all I need to know to know that a Detroit locker will never go in the back of my daily driver Yukon. A certain member here is trying real hard to convince me a Detroit is the only way to go with my axle swap. Mmm, no.

I had the same thought. People seem to mention its lack of street manners whenever it is discussed. :doah:
 
From talking with Nick, I think maybe part of it depends on automatic vs stick. I've had detroits in the back of several vehicles, all automatic, and it just never caused a blip on my aggregate aggravation scale. And the short K5 (my lawn ornament now, but wasn't always so) should theoretically exhibit worse behavior than his long Suburban. But it's an automatic vs his manual. And a significant portion of people who just hate them seem to be driving manuals. I would love to have a selectable locker in the back and front just to aid the turning issues, but without the aggravation factor, the cost/value just never added up for me.
 
I wonder the same thing. I had a Detroit in my old burb and never had a single complaint. I didn't even know I had a locker while driving on the street.
 
I picked up a case spreader for me 10 bolt front end off of ebay...$$60.0!

I have a 4.10 gear set for the front.... just wish GM marked the pinion depth on their gears...:rolleyes:

I think I acquired mine there as well. Once in a while a good deal can be had on them. While definitely not a requirement, it does make life a bunch easier.

Yes, indeed. My Detroit acts exactly the way you described. You heard mine pop 4 car lengths behind me in Telluride while the truck swerved all over road by itself :haha:. My Detroit also has horrible parking lot manors and the out of the blue BANG just going straight down the road! Scares the crap out of occupants and even myself sometimes. The SWB on the K10, respectable engine torque and the weight of the camper exaggerates the feeling even more. It’s like having rear steering…..it darts one direction under throttle tip in then darts the other way once when you let off the gas to shift. The Detroit is definitely on the short list of things to be swapped out in the near future. The tire wear alone would pay for an ARB and the driver fatigue is priceless

Tire wear, driveline wear--banging and clanking of the driveshaft, the rapid loading and unloading of the output shafts, axle shaft abuse, tire destruction etc, etc.

That is awesome! You are definitely the man with the quick smart ass witty comebacks that is for sure. I noticed last Expo Leland is taking after his daddy very well :haha:

Yeah, sometimes I don't know whether to give him a high five, shake my head or just be scared. :haha:

This is all I need to know to know that a Detroit locker will never go in the back of my daily driver Yukon. A certain member here is trying real hard to convince me a Detroit is the only way to go with my axle swap. Mmm, no.

I had the same thought. People seem to mention its lack of street manners whenever it is discussed. :doah:

Honestly for anything regularly street driven, with a smaller diff than the 14FF, there are many much better options than Detroits. One of my favorite units was the Torsen differential. I don't know what name they are sold under these days, but if they made one for the 14FF, that is what it would have gotten. It is one of those diffs that you never realize is there even when engaging/disengaging. With the 14FF the choices are pretty limited.

From talking with Nick, I think maybe part of it depends on automatic vs stick. I've had detroits in the back of several vehicles, all automatic, and it just never caused a blip on my aggregate aggravation scale. And the short K5 (my lawn ornament now, but wasn't always so) should theoretically exhibit worse behavior than his long Suburban. But it's an automatic vs his manual. And a significant portion of people who just hate them seem to be driving manuals. I would love to have a selectable locker in the back and front just to aid the turning issues, but without the aggravation factor, the cost/value just never added up for me.

I wonder how much the transmission plays into it as well. With an automagic, everything is loaded constant whereas with the MANual it is constantly loaded and unloaded just getting up to speed. I have no idea for sure because all I have are MANuals. Hopefully we can get your K5 back into service so you can learn how to hate your Detroit.

I wonder the same thing. I had a Detroit in my old burb and never had a single complaint. I didn't even know I had a locker while driving on the street.

Automagic or MANual transmission??
 
My 1990 K5 has an SM465, and my M1009 has a TH400, I've never noticed the Detroit in either of them.

The Lock Right in the rear of my 1982 K30 3+3 (SM465) acts exactly as Larry described his Detroit.

Martin
 
I've only had a detroit in a Toyota, that was a manual and super light weight. The only time it popped on the road was when I would have mismatched air pressure in the rear tires. I would come off an intersection turn hard in the throttle only to have it lock up hard in 3rd gear. Check tire pressures and fix it. With our heavy rigs that squat the tire sidewalls even at rated pressure. If the tire diameters while rolling are unequal than the rotational mismatched axles unlock and lock the Detroit depending on which way the vehicle sways.
The auto versus manual argument is only a difference of torque multiplying and shock absorbing ability. A manual is not forgiving to any shock it the drive train. An automatic does two things. Uses a fluid to generate and multiply rotational torque. Reverse shock it and the torque converter works as a fluid dampener. That's my easy explanation, hope it helps someone.
 
I've owned and daily driven quite a few Detroit Lockers, both manual shift and autos, and i learned to drive in a '69 IH one ton 4x4 with manual trans that had the Detroit locker in the rear. never once heard it pop. in fact I don't really know what this aggravation thing is about. I don't get it. in fairness, I have not had one in a truck shorter than a long box or suburban. or maybe it's a horsepower thing?

Detroit lockers in both ends is noticeable, though.

I just finished installing the Detroit locker into my '72 Suburban's 14 bolt. thinking maybe Elocker in the D60 front.
 
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I wish mine worked as well as yours. It would have saved me the ton of money I spent getting rid of it.

So, at the beginning of July, I had some days off to use and being my wife and my boy were out of town I got a hold of my buddy Lance and hatched a plan for a day trip somewhere. We both went in my truck seeing as how his truck still doesn't have AC. We decided to run the Hassayampa and see where we end up from there. The Hassayampa is a river that is typically dry on the surface, but like many rivers in AZ, flows underground. The Hassayampa, in the area we were running upstream, flows underground through a canyon that varies in width from pretty wide to fairly narrow. In areas where it narrows, it forces the water up to the surface making large pools of water that must be crossed.

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This particular pool seemed to be about the same as the others we had previously crossed, but it proved to be quite deep. We ended up washing the dirt out of the door sills in this pool:

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This is at the end of the canyon where the river emerges from underground:

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After we got to this point we looked at the map and it looked like there was a nice trail leading north out of the area we were in. We headed that direction and in a while, found ourselves in an area of dense mining. People mining everywhere.

The first area we came to was the old town of Octave. There was a couple buildings here, but with all of the mining and fences, one doesn't leave their vehicle to go exploring.

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Some of the year-round miners on site:

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Right near that area was Weaver:

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Around the hill from there we found this odd building:

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Any guess as to where the spider lives??

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It even had an outhouse:

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Neat looking hill nearby:

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The town of Stanton is right in the area of all of these other towns:

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This is the old hotel in Stanton:

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This is an adobe wall of the theater/dance hall:

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It is still in phenomenal condition.

A little bit of history of the area:

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We continued up the hill and ended up in Yarnell for a late lunch. There was still plenty of fire damage around from the fire in the previous year.

It ended up being a great day trip. Lots of great scenery and a bunch of cool history to absorb. Good stuff.
 
Does anybody make any Money mining there these days?

Neat area! What was the temp when you guys were there?
 
You don't get out of your vehicle because of the miners?

Martin

That and you never know where you are exactly. If you are on their claim, they may feel threatened or think you are going to rob them etc. Some are cool. Some want to talk. In a concentration like this it is just easier to avoid contact altogether.

Looks like a nice day trip!

It was.

Does anybody make any Money mining there these days?

Judging by some of the equipment we saw, some money had to be made out there. Everything from Penniless Pete to track hoes and large loaders.

Neat area! What was the temp when you guys were there?

I don't recall. Beginning of July, probably in the 104-108* range I'd guess. Pretty nice day, not too warm. It's not until the humidity hits in mid/late July that it gets uncomfortable.
 
He's way behind on the updates... He doesn't care about his (his truck's) fans.
 
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