SUBURBICON, Urban Escape Vehicle.

Dratwagon

Adventurer
Let the transformation begin, about a month ago while looking for a suburban for another build we came across this, it's a 1989 2wd 2500 completely rust free with a small dent in the driver side door, clean interior and even the windshield is in good condition including the factory tinted glass.

Best part was it was only 5 miles from my house and it was only $500.00.

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The idea is to build an expo rig that can go anywhere we want to go and take everything including the kitchen sink.

The parts that I already have so far.

Dana 60 with limited slip and 52" springs for the front.
ff14 bolt with locker and 56" springs for the rear.
6.2 diesel with a gale banks turbo.
Np203 and a np205.
Warn 8274 winch.
All kind of parts from diy4x and ORD.
 
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Dratwagon

Adventurer
After two hours in the shop this is what I have, don't know if its that easy or I have striped to many of these trucks.
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After dropping the Abomb in place I set a bare block in place.
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Started working on the cross over steering from Kurt at DIY4X.
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Installed the ORD engine cradle.
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Did a little fab work to get the 2wd and 4wd motor mounts connected.
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Rolled the Dana 60 into place along with 52" springs packs.
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After one of my many phone calls to Kurt at DIY4x I decided to move the steering box forward one inch by placing my ORD backing plate forward and drilling the new holes.
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Stacked washers between the backing plate and the steering box and welded it all up and ran a drill back through the holes.
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Steering lines up much better now.
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Reinstalled the radiator support, lined up the mounts and drilled all 16 bolt holes for the A bomb, one drawback that I have found with the 2wd frame.
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I have the two inch holes drilled for the bushings and need to pull the tranny to drill out the 8 bolt holes.
 

cyclic

Adventurer
That would be the one piece winch mount, which incorporates the body mounts and multi position spring mount. Nice piece of kit. Very solid.
 

Woofwagon

Adventurer
Thanks for posting those pictures. I'm going to be removing the 350 from my 'Burb and replacing it with a 500 inch Cadillac. These are going to be good reference photos.
 

Dratwagon

Adventurer
The front end is done for now.
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Removed the running boards while I was at it, not only looks better but much safer for me.
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Having a removable bed when having to remove riveted spring mounts would be priceless right now.
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cyclic

Adventurer
When I did the shackle flip on my suburban, it was actually easy. I left the tank in, pulled the bumper and brackets. Cut the rivets and pushed them through. I taped the back side nuts to a 36 inch ruler and bolted it up without pulling the tank.
But since your tank is out, you should have no issues. I absolutely love the shackle flip, makes my burb happy.
 

mike the welder

Adventurer
I'm really liking that A-bomb mount. Everybody keeps saying it's a hassle modifying a 2wd frame to convert to 4wd, but this looks pretty strait forward. I constantly find mint 2wd Suburbans driven by an old couple 2-3 times a year pulling a trailer to visit their grand kids. I might just have to jump on the next one I find, in fact I think I know of a 2500 diesel 2wd right now.

Looking forward to see the progress. Nice work.
 

cyclic

Adventurer
Hardest part when using a A-bomb style conversion is drilling the rear shackle mount. If you get the a-bomb also order the HD Front Upper Shackle Hanger (FUSH) from ORD, makes life easier.

P.S. Here is my 2.5 lift rear shackle flip on my sub.............................

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Dratwagon

Adventurer
Hardest part when using a A-bomb style conversion is drilling the rear shackle mount. If you get the a-bomb also order the HD Front Upper Shackle Hanger (FUSH) from ORD, makes life easier.

P.S. Here is my 2.5 lift rear shackle flip on my sub.............................

ya tell me about those holes, they were very painful to drill, I like that flip kit you have but I already have a diy4x flip and the tank had to come out for other reasons.
 

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