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1987 "wanna-be K30" Suburban tow-rig build

10K views 62 replies 23 participants last post by  PavementPounder 
#1 ·
That's right - I'm actually going to build something. :stan:


My XJ has been doing parts-hauling duty for some time now that I sold my big trailer. The little utility trailer has made transporting stuff with the XJ cheaper and easier, but I can't move whole vehicles with the XJ and it sways a lot under heavy load now that its lifted so much. I'm also getting tired of being paranoid about getting dirt and grease on other vehicles when using them to transport with the trailer. The trailer also has a lot of cracked welds that just keep cracking when repaired. It was meant to carry a single small JetSki and I sometimes put 1000lbs of axles on it. :tonka:

So, I've come up with something that I think is a better overall solution that I should be able to build for what I can sell the XJ for (including the price of the vehicle).

I'm going to start with this. Its functional the way it is, but has stock (3.08 or 3.42) gearing on 33's. The truck came from New Mexico originally and its very clean for its age. It was owned by ChevotaSS for a while, but all the things Nick did to it have since been fixed :tonka: :stan:. The current owner is a GM mechanic that does nice work.






Its currently lifted 4" and will stay there. There is no obvious hackish-ness in the lift, other than blocks in the rear which are merely less desireable. They aren't stacked up or anything. The 14" wide Mickey's will come off and be sold in favor of polished H2's and some 33's or 285's. The axles are fine, but will also go (probably quickly to Chevy guys on GotMud).

Thanks to some 1-stop shopping with LT1YJ, it will receive:
  • 98 Vortec 454.
  • 99 4L80E, probably done by KillerB.
  • 87 D60 front with Ford outers (dual-piston brakes), 4.10's.
  • 14b SRW rear from a K30 with a gov-lok, 4.10's, maybe discs. There is a chance it may receive a newer AAM 1050 rear that already has discs and a parking brake, but that would be less of a bolt-in since that axle is not from the same generation as the vehicle.
  • Undecided on the transfer case.
  • Possibly a new hitch setup or a new rear bumper that includes one.
  • A real roof rack.

Awesome mileage isn't expected, but it should do better than the 350 that's pushing it around now and it should be able to pull my Ram around. (If I have something that can pull the Ram, I can buy aggressive tires and beadlocks for the Ram and take it somewhere.) Nick reported 11mpg at 65mph on a trip to Florida not towing anything, so that's the number to beat.

The nice part is that most things that I throw on the little trailer will actually fit inside the Suburban and I don't have to worry about rain or leaving things on a trailer in an unsecured manner, like in a parking lot when I stop for food, etc. I also won't be as worried about it getting dirty inside or out.

I expect to have the vehicle next week and the 14b will probably be swapped in fairly quickly (since its basically a bolt-in).
 
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#6 ·
Why, need a new place to live? :sonicjay: :stan:

I don't think so. Its going to be useful to me from a functional perspective. If I sell it, it wouldn't be until after the new drivetrain goes in.

BTW, if you are going to be looking for another place, check out my other house I'm selling. Big heated garage for you to work in. I'll deal. :thumb:
 
#12 ·
why not sell the burban, sell all the parts to swap, and just buy a 3/4 ton diesel burban?
 
#14 ·
ok, then what is the over/under for this being completed prior to Pig Gig 08? :stan:

Or is it a build race betwen Leanz's Jeep and your tow rig?
 
#15 ·
At the rate that things are leaving my garage, I'm estimating maybe year's end. The axles will be in it sooner than the rest since they are much easier to install. Don't even have to drop springs. Won't have the front for a few weeks, though.
 
#21 ·
The rear SRW 14b has been acquired and is under construction. The gov-lok is being rebuilt and a thick OEM Dana 4,56 gearset is being added since the front axle I have lined up already had 4.56's. As an added bonus, the front axle already has Ford D60 outers with dual-piston calipers and I picked up some 35-spline stubs for it as well.

Got some H2 rims for it, along with some low-tread 33" MT's to run temporarily after the axle swap.

The rear should be ready to install in about 2 weeks, but I'm not sure the front will make it in before the New Year. Looking forward to the re-gear, as the torque convertor doesn't like to stay locked in 4th gear due to the tall factory axle ratio.
 
#29 ·
The 4.56'd gov-lok 14bFF got swapped in at UORC this past Saturday.


This is the 14bSF that came out:



This is the 14bFF fromt he same generation Chevy truck platform that bolted right in:



Some pics of the progress:





The finished product with H2's and nearly bald 33x12.5r17 Pro Comp MT's. Based on the power & rpm's while towing the trailer yesterday, I'll probably run a metric size in the 34" range. I'm considering spacers in the rear also, as the H2's sit pretty far inboard.



Still needs the brakes adjusted, one more new wheel cylinder installed (just so I start out with all new stuff), and parking brake cables installed. The hydraulic brake lines were lifted of the 14bSF and dropped right down on the 14bFF and both axles had 1350 yokes, so no conversion joint was required. The rear driveshaft was never lengthened when the truck was lifted, so the longer pinion of the 14bFF has put the slip back closer to where it should be. The only hiccups in the plan were a leaky wheel cylinder, incompatible parking brake cables (expected), and a lack of u-bolts for the rear due to different tube diameters, but Diversified Creations in Brighton is a stocking BDS dealer and had 3 5/8" x 15" ubolts on the shelf. :thumb:

The next day, I set out in the snowstorm with a trailer to knock out a parts run. Took it from Highland, to GR, to West Olive, to Kalamazoo, and then back to Highland. I brought home this trucks future D60 front, 454, and 4L80e, as well as some goodies for UORC. It would be nice to get the D60 installed before this weekend's run back to the same places, but I'm not sure I'll have time. No issues except for briefly getting stuck in JCR's unplowed parking lot in 2wd with bald tires. :stan:
 
#38 ·
Yeah, I posted a bunch of stuff for sale on Pirate last night and they are now sucking up all my Googlepages bandwidth, which is affecting all the pics I host there. I haven't had time to go back to POR and take down the linked pics.
 
#49 ·
Don't worry -I'll be sure to keep you informed of my progress. I know you like to live your life through the accomplishments of others since the last Rig Build thread you made here was in July of 2006 and there are no threads at all by you in the Rig Builds Forum on Misfits.

That's funny... You posted that you finished your buggy in June of 2006, yet you were asking questions about mufflers, brake conversions, driveshafts, and corner armor a year later.

Sounds to me like somoene hasn't accomplished jack shit in a long time - pretty much since I got back from Iraq. I've managed to build up 2 vehicles and get rolling on this one in that time.

Hopefully you'll realize at some point that mocking me about getting things accomplished on my vehicles (whether I pay for it or not) just makes you look stupid.
 
#54 · (Edited)
Front axle went in today and the truck is home. Ran into a bunch of different things, but worked around them.

Front driveshaft was a 1310 joint and the D60 happened to have a 1310 yoke.

Front brake lines are something that need to be improved. Found some that would fit and added some hard line extensions, but couldn't get them to fit the bracket that was riveted in the frame. Need to do some research and order extended lines for the appropriate application to fit the Ford calipers and Chevy hard lines.

The outers appear to have a camber issue. They are leaning outward a bit. I wasn't sure how to tell the alignment shop to spec the vehicle, but camber is at 0.8° and 0.5°. An 87 Suburban is supposed to be 1-2°. There are different ways to correct this and I just need to decide which way to do it.

Leaf spring bushings are shot to hell and caused deathwobble on the way home with the trailer, postponing my parts run tomorrow. Looks like the used lift was installed with old bushings and one looks like a Jeep bushing? Can't find anybody that stocks them so far. :mad:

Draglink angle can be improved upon. Its not at a sharp angle, but its not flat, either. A spacer for the kingpin or a dropped pitman arm is needed.

One of the Warn 35-spline lockouts is not being cooperative and wants to keep locking itself in. Apparently this has happened before and there is a thread about it on Pirate that I have to dig up.

Overall, the truck drives very well and the pinion angles even came out pretty good. The Mickey's were sold and were replaced with the used 315/75r17 BFG AT KO's that 03HemiSilver was selling, which made a world of a difference in the ride. Its much smoother and quieter now. The added sidewall height makes the H2's look a lot more in proportion now.

I'll post a picture tomorrow in the daylight after I wash all the dirt road spray off it.


 
#58 ·
Been a while since I updated this, as I have been busy all winter liqudating all the crap on my property.

  • The suspected camber problem was very real. The axle does not appear to be bent in any way, but the Ford outers were angled slightly down after being assembled to it and it was chalked up to manufacturing variation after a couple axle builders confirmed that they had seen it before. The problem was solved with a pair of Moog adjustable lower kingpin kits, which are outstanding (but not cheap). They are a cam-bolt type of design with a couple degrees of range and don't even require the knuckle to be torn down to install. If you do not drive your kingpin'd wheeler ont he street because of a problem like this, I highly recommend you look into these. With my tire size, 0° to -0.5° has been driving fine and wearing well.
  • Installing new leaf bushings made a significant difference int he stability of the truck. During the process of doing this at UORC, we figured out that the front swaybar geometry was not corrected when the truck was lifted. This was causing a very harsh ride, so a BDS sway bar drop kit was ordered. Been driving for months now with the front swaybar disconnected and while the ride improved, I'm not a big fan of the increased body roll at all (especially with the nearly non-functional shocks).
  • Motor is still going, but tired. Managed to haul Sol Goode's Jeep all the way back from JCR without much trouble. As long as I did not try to go fast (60-65 mph), it stayed in OD with the convertor locked and I got higher mileage than expected. 20w50 and a quart of Lucas seems to do a good job of keeping the knocks away. I only hear it for a second or two at startup after sitting overnight when its somewhere below freezing.
  • Still have lots of rear brake parts and hub seals to install.
  • Got a ticket for no tail lights. Apparetly the trailer harness that is spliced in back there sucks balls. They flicker when you jingle it, so it needs to be pulled out and replaced or re-spliced with something other than the crimped butt-connectors that are on it. I reconnected the wires that had seperated with new connectors, but the shit does not work correctly. Guess I may have grounding issues.
  • The steering is not bad, but I still need to get either a kingpin spacer or a dropped pitman arm and get a stabilizer back on there. It drives surprisingly well without one. Probably going to replace the drag link as well.


Thanks to Wee Willie coughing up some used ceramic coated BBC headers in Parts For Sale that fit my vehicle, I'm now motivated to get started on the 454 swap as soon as the weather improves a little more and a few more items leave the pole barn. :thumb:
 
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