Black 2003 Stock Suburban Z71 wanderings in MT, UT, WY, CO ND, MN.

[ExpeditionKiwi]

Hi everyone,
I have been on ExPo for quite a while and have enjoyed reading other peoples stories of exploration in their vehicle of choice. I decided I would post pics of my adventures in my stock 2003 Z71 Suburban. First of all, I always enjoy the details behind someones journey so I'll share mine for those who may be interested... I, like many others and try to figure out the trade-offs when it actually comes time to purchase their rig. I'm a big fan of Land Cruisers and being born and raised in New Zealand my father has never not had one including many that were diesel. For 18 years our family daily driver was a blue and white FJ55 with fat tires. We went all over NZ in that thing... up skiing, river beds and beaches... Loved that pig!!
Any hoo, when I moved to Williston, ND and received a cash bonus from my oilfield job I decided it was time to upgrade from my'98 Infiniti i90T to a 4x4.
I decided I wanted the understated capability, size and comfort of a suburban. A black 2003-2007 Z71 to be exact. (I had a white 2003 in the past and loved it!)
After searching and watching craigslist for a few weeks I found one with 154K miles in Bozeman, MT and I agreed to purchase it from the guy within the first day it was posted. My friend and I made a ski trip out it and drove it back the next weekend. I have spent hours researching modifications that I could make to it and in the end I just kept taking it on trips, stock. I have taken it all over Montana, WY, and when I moved to Utah I took it to Moab twice and did Imogene Pass and Engineer Pass amongst many other trips. I have Done 20,000 miles in 2 years which has been 90% weekend exploration because I had a work truck as my week day driver. After all the off roading I have done the only mechanical issue I had was a dead alternator in flat Nebraska on Christmas day while driving back to Chicago to see my daughters. ha! (Long story but I had a Christmas miracle and I was back on the road within 1.5 hours with a replacement alternator. (On Christmas day!?) :smiley_drive:
I love(d) the ability and room to stealth camp (sleep) in this anywhere and I have had dozens of nights on my foam mattress in the back. In the end I couldn't justify spending any money on modifications when I would rather just go and spend the money on gas and food I would love doing trails like Imogene Pass and Engineer Pass, Colorado and 7 mile Rim Trail in Moab, UT and hanging with all the modified rigs, just throw it in 4-low and go!
However, when I was relocating back to Chicago from Utah this last December I was going to fast with my camper in a storm and things got a little sideways and I ended up rolling my suburban and camper. I walked away with not a scratch on me (or my dog) but my truck was totaled. That was the end of that.
Foolishly I didn't have full coverage insurance so I had to purchase a less expensive vehicle. God bless craigslist because I found a gem of a 1997 4Runner with 250K and still purring sweetly.
My next consideration is the vehicle I want to take on a Central American expedition. The 4Runner is more than capable but I like the idea of a 80's suburban or even a family cruiser 70's-80's Chev impala station wagon, just for the heck of it! 4wd would be nice. Hmmm, maybe another 2003 burb? Half the fun is picking your ride and then just going I think!?
So, here are some pics from my wanderings...
Feel free to post your pics and comment!
Cheers,
James

(In no particular order)

 

[ExpeditionKiwi]

more..

 

[Jakes01234]

Looks like you have had some great fun with it.
To bad about the wreck but you and the pooch walked away so, a plus!

 

[ExpeditionKiwi]

and more...

 

[ExpeditionKiwi]

...

 

[rayra]

Was digging it all as a 'preview of coming attractions', until I got to the rollover ::shudder:;


Hoping to hit Death Valley, Mono Lakes, Yosemite, Sequoias, Moab and Grand Canyon the next couple years.

 

[ExpeditionKiwi]

Looks like you have had some great fun with it.
To bad about the wreck but you and the pooch walked away so, a plus!

Yea, Thanks Jakes. It was all good, on with the journey, eh?

 

[ExpeditionKiwi]

Was digging it all as a 'preview of coming attractions', until I got to the rollover ::shudder:;


Hoping to hit Death Valley, Mono Lakes, Yosemite, Sequoias, Moab and Grand Canyon the next couple years.

It looks like you're all ready to Go Rayra. You'll enjoy everywhere you can go in that thing!!! Take lots of pics and post them up here for us all!
4-Low-n-go!!

 

[rayra]

I will, looking forward to it. Haven't ranged far the last 15yrs or so. We had a "vacation" place in the Sierra foothills / Lake Isabella / Kern River for much of that time, but it was mostly hosting local rafting trips up there for our friends and acquaintances. And me doing a LOT of home improvement / remodeling on that old house. Now it's back to road trips. A few years ago it was to Albuquerque for the Balloon Festival and hit Meteor Crater on the way our and Winslow AZ and a too-brief overnighter to the Grand Canyon. I'd tried to time the return to L.A. so we hit the South Rim in the mid afternoon, stayed at a cool B&B named the Red Garter Inn, in Williams AZ that night, then back to the Rim for the morning hours, before bugging out to home. Wanted to get evening light and morning light photos of the Canyon. But naturally the region was hit with the biggest thunderstorm / hailstorm in years. Much of our time on the Rim was walking it inside of wet clouds and taking pictures when things cleared momentarily.

That road trip was in our Tahoe and that was an easy haul in our Tahoe. Problem free and comfortable and roomy. I wanted more of a 'project' vehicle I could make some mods to, drill some holes in it, and we're talking about taking our dogs with us on the 'outdoors' trips. So I got the Suburban a few months ago, needed to replace my old pickup regardless.

Haven't been way up 395 or to Yosemite in over 20yrs, really looking forward to it. Want to visit Manzanar on the Death valley trip too, but already missing the window for that this year. The coming month is prime time, campsites are full up already. next year. Really just want to crawl up the whole eastern Sierra. Ansel Adams' photos really made an early impact on me.

So I'll definitely be showing some travel pics in the coming years

 

[ExpeditionKiwi]

Great Pics Rayra! Sounds like you have some good trips planned out! I haven't roamed in that area yet... I wanted hike down to Havasu Falls on the the south side of Grand Canyon. It looks impressive!
What sort of modes to you want to make to your Z71?

 

[02TahoeMD]

Kiwi James, thanks for sharing the stories and pics with your Suburban. It is always great to see a GM NBS SUV that has actually been used off road and not living as a "mall crawler". I am jealous of your many travels. Sadly, it takes me about 3 days just to get to the areas you explored so extensively so hopefully someday I will get back out there. (last trip West for me was 09) I was sorry to read and see the demise of your fine Suburban, I would offer to you having a crash like that in a big SUV like that probably helped your survivability. I think yours is the 4th or 5th GM full size rollover I have read where the occupants escaped with minimal injury.

Good luck with your work on your new ride.

 

[rayra]

Great Pics Rayra! Sounds like you have some good trips planned out! I haven't roamed in that area yet... I wanted hike down to Havasu Falls on the the south side of Grand Canyon. It looks impressive!
What sort of modes to you want to make to your Z71?

Understated sort of stuff. My goal is keep it clean and daily driver about town. Lots of stuff will be not obvious / hidden. Dual battery. Some rack mounts for LED lights, carrying MWC's, some 8" deep cargo drawers (removable) filling the space behind the 2nd row and a narrow permanent module on the driver side of the cargo area between 3rd row and the rear hatch that will have some more storage battery and multiple various power ports on both the rear and front faces, including a 110V inverter and a solar panel on the roof. That way I normally have the 3rd row out, but when I put it in I retain the pwoer module and essential gear can go in a few bags.
Working on a replacement center console under the dash which will have both CB and HAM radios behind a sliding door. The antenna mounts will be flush in the top corners of the rear bumper. Antennas stored in the drawers normally. And I'm sewing up some multi-configurable awnings to shade large areas around and the vehicle itself. Have a slow-progress thread in the awnings subforum for that. And first up is a dash mod to switch over to a double-din in-dash DVD-capable entertainment system. Might add a flip-down screen in the rear sleeping area.
Just put some 265/70R17 Geolanders on it and looking at slight suspension lift mods. Just a couple inches. Probably change the torsion bar keys and rear coils. Already cranked the front to level out. 117k mi on it, just starting to get a little tired but still in very good shape.
And I'd like to have a solid push bar / grill guard / brush guard setup, front hitch, shackles etc but can't stomach the aftermarket prices. Looking at various designs, might design my own.

 

[ExpeditionKiwi]

Kiwi James, thanks for sharing the stories and pics with your Suburban. It is always great to see a GM NBS SUV that has actually been used off road and not living as a "mall crawler". I am jealous of your many travels. Sadly, it takes me about 3 days just to get to the areas you explored so extensively so hopefully someday I will get back out there. (last trip West for me was 09) I was sorry to read and see the demise of your fine Suburban, I would offer to you having a crash like that in a big SUV like that probably helped your survivability. I think yours is the 4th or 5th GM full size rollover I have read where the occupants escaped with minimal injury.

Good luck with your work on your new ride.

Thanks 02TahoeMD!
No doubt about it that I came out smelling like roses due to the solidness of the burb. Thankful!!!
I hope you can venture out west again soon! Let me know when you do!
Btw, I have admired your setup on here before, great stance!! Hope you have full coverage!

 

[ExpeditionKiwi]

Understated sort of stuff. My goal is keep it clean and daily driver about town. Lots of stuff will be not obvious / hidden. Dual battery. Some rack mounts for LED lights, carrying MWC's, some 8" deep cargo drawers (removable) filling the space behind the 2nd row and a narrow permanent module on the driver side of the cargo area between 3rd row and the rear hatch that will have some more storage battery and multiple various power ports on both the rear and front faces, including a 110V inverter and a solar panel on the roof. That way I normally have the 3rd row out, but when I put it in I retain the pwoer module and essential gear can go in a few bags.
Working on a replacement center console under the dash which will have both CB and HAM radios behind a sliding door. The antenna mounts will be flush in the top corners of the rear bumper. Antennas stored in the drawers normally. And I'm sewing up some multi-configurable awnings to shade large areas around and the vehicle itself. Have a slow-progress thread in the awnings subforum for that. And first up is a dash mod to switch over to a double-din in-dash DVD-capable entertainment system. Might add a flip-down screen in the rear sleeping area.
Just put some 265/70R17 Geolanders on it and looking at slight suspension lift mods. Just a couple inches. Probably change the torsion bar keys and rear coils. Already cranked the front to level out. 117k mi on it, just starting to get a little tired but still in very good shape.
And I'd like to have a solid push bar / grill guard / brush guard setup, front hitch, shackles etc but can't stomach the aftermarket prices. Looking at various designs, might design my own.

Sounds like quite the setup!! That'll keep you busy for a while... I had dreams for all that kind of stuff. Kinda glad I didn't do any of it now. It would have all just got crushed! Gulp.
Looking for to see your build develop! Maybe I'll get reinspired!?

 

[bjm206]

Thanks for sharing ExpeditionKiwi. A competent stock vehicle and driver can go to some spectacular places.