Project- Suburban HD

underdrive

jackwagon
Mike, sounds like a huge amount of work to gain "only" an inch and a half... It's in quotes tho cause I know just how much difference even a small amount can make, we recently spent pretty much a whole day on trimming the front bumper of one of our trucks to gain 1" extra ground clearance, darn thing was digging in and hanging up on stuff way too easy. Anyways, it's good that all the effort you put into that tank job paid off and you got it exactly how you wanted it.

If you don't mind me asking, what professional occupation brought you the respiratory issues you're now stuck with? Not being nosy or anything, it's just nice to know what things and activities to stay away from if at all possible.
 

'05TJLWBRUBY

Adventurer
Not Dead!

So Project Suburban HD has not died- I just got pissed and took 8 months off... Life happens, things get in the way and before you know it, it's Jan 1 2017. The rig is 1997 so it is 20 years old this year. The problem with builds like this is the longer it takes and the more time goes on, the more things change and original direction gets lost. Before you know it the build never ends and the original intent of wheeling and spending quality time with family never happens. With that in mind, and in the spirit of "New Years", I figured it would be wise to set a somewhat realistic but optimistic goal at the same time- have this thing rolling under it's own power by year end. While any build will never truly be "done", I hope to have this at least running on it's own this year.

So in the last 8 months, I got fed up with leaf springs in the rear. After talking with some friends, looking at what I really want this thing to do and the use it will see, I decided to ditch the leaf springs. After all, with all the work going into building a 3 linked front 14 for SAS on coil overs, it just seemed silly to keep leafs in the back. I decided to go custom 4 link on matching coil overs on the rear 14. Unfortunately that means completely re-working my original custom U-bolt delete rear leaf perches fabbed into the truss. Hoping to start that change tomorrow if all goes well. Original engine plans have changed as well, and that means gearing changes also. The further things evolve, the more overwhelming it becomes and I feel like we're right back at square one.

In the mean time, here is a teaser for what is yet to come- this is just 1/2 of the equation. Yes, I'm in WAY over my head now...:



More to come...

Best of Luck,

Mike
 

'05TJLWBRUBY

Adventurer
Well not a lot to report, but baby steps at least. I really need to learn better fab skills or tricks as I forgot how much it sucks with cut offs and flap discs trying to get anything done. Also forgot how fast cut offs and flaps burn up. I'm out and guess it's time to call Roark again for another order... Anyway, there has to be an easier way but I suck at bending plate to get weird and odd angles so every piece of this was cut by hand on grinder then fit and tacked in before moving on to next.

Rather than cut and remove the old spring plates, I figured the span and position might just work out well for the coil overs and bypass shocks once I get to that point. I left them on and will modify later when I get there. I have all plates cut to fill the front and back on driver side but not tacked in yet. I got to thinking I may want access to the diff breather port and/or the ARB bulk head fitting at some point in future, so rather than box them in and be screwed later, I decided to make a couple mounting tabs to burn inside the trussed section. The rear plate will be burned in solid and boxed in, but the front plate will be bolted in with two bolts on outside most upright, and a single tab coming down just inside the bridge support. By removing the 3 bolts, I can pull the access cover to get to the diff breather and bulk head fitting if need be in future. There should be plenty of support all the way around the rest of this thing that this little cover section shouldn't be necessary to burn in fully. If at some point I find it does need fully burned in, I will address it then but for now, it will be an access cover. Everything is cut/shaped just needs set in position and burned in. This is NOT yet fully welded, just most of external work is done.

The rear 14 is a 2011 model out of big Chevy box van. Specs on this thing are 74" WMS, full 4" tubes roughly 5/8" thick, removable pinion support like all 14s, big disc brakes (yes complete with ear plugs to keep crap out of calipers) and because of the vehicle it came from- the highest GVW rating of any 14 out there if I'm not mistaken. Long side axle in this beast is roughly 1" longer than the longest 14 bolt axle offered in the aftermarket. I picked up a spare set of OE shafts from fellow Pirate member back east some time back just to have a spare laying around just in case. This will be fit with 5.38s and ARB later on down the road, for now I'm just trying to fit suspension.

If my measurements are correct, because of the big axle and big frame under Suburban HD, I can get a solid 12" separation at the axle, and 10" at the frame. Playing with calculator this gave me best overall setup which will provide 49% AS with -0.0 roll axis and a relatively high roll center. I should have roughly 48-50 degrees on the upper links to locate axle nicely without a rear track bar. Being dually width, lots of room on the lowers. I will leave axle mounts and lower frame mounts fixed, with only adjustments being on upper links +/- 1" up or down if needed. Again, not done yet but here's what I've got so far:








More to come...

Best of Luck,

Mike
 

chilliwak

Expedition Leader
Happy to see you back at it Mike. Sorry to hear about your health problems, but you know what they say, `you cant keep a good man down´!!! So now we can follow your build again and check out your awesome:Wow1: progres, no matter how slow you might feel its going. Lots of guys here at Expo love what you are doing so dont feel like you are alone. We are watching every step of the way. Keep up the good work! Cheers, Chilli..:)
 

'05TJLWBRUBY

Adventurer
So did a little more work- here's when link material arrived- cutting down rough length here:



little work on the lathe, courtesy of friend doing all the work while I watched in awe of his skills:



Here we are- all 7 of them!



And here they are next to normal 1.75" DOM. Specs on the arms are 7075 T6 2.5" solid bar aluminum with 2.5" Currie Johnny joints with 1.25" shank. All lowers done RH/RH thread and all 3 uppers done LH/RH thread. This keeps lowers from loosening up in rocks and helps keep them good and tight long term. Uppers threaded for ease of adjustment for fine tuning. They look massive next to 1.75" DOM.



Here's a shot next to my Jeep arm- same size JJ's but 1.75" heat treated chromo vs 2.5" solid aluminum:



More to come...

Best of Luck,

Mike
 

'05TJLWBRUBY

Adventurer
Once links were done, it meant prepping all the brackets. I ended up either adding weld washers or fabbing new plate to double up the bracket material. All bolts are 5/8" and will go through minimum 1/2" wall material in the brackets. Bolts are all fully shouldered properly as well for good measure.



At ride height here's where I'm at for the rear 4 link-



Ran through calcs many times and changed design many times as well. Finally set rear suspension where I think I'll be happy. nearly 12" separation at axle, about 10" at frame. 50 degree triangulation on uppers with lowers slightly. Numbers work out to slightly negative neutral roll axis and adjustable anti-squat with center hole at about 50%, 1" up 36% and 1" down to 68% if I remember right. Should work nicely for intended use.



Then I borrowed a set of 40s to get idea for front axle placement:







More to come...

Best of Luck,

Mike
 

'05TJLWBRUBY

Adventurer
So a buddy of mine is building a Bronco for running Baja. He was looking for a big block to power through the silt down there and wanted low end grunt over the standard high rev LS style engines in use today. I've thought about my use and decided it made sense to donate my engine to his build. Besides, the Ford guys will likely go crazy knowing his Bronco is powered by a big block Chev! :sombrero:

Not gonna lie, this was a huge pain in the rear end- but it's out!







And now we're up to current point. Time to get shop all cleaned up then get back to work on locating front axle and burning that in. Lots more to come.

Best of Luck,

Mike
 

FBJR

Adventurer
You really have your work cut out for you, but great so far.

Are you sticking with the same engine or have something else in mind?

Even with the 37's, how is your clearance up front with such a low lift?

I like the 205 setup. Have a 205 for my build and like that option you showed.

Subbed now!
 

chilliwak

Expedition Leader
Well it should be interesting to see what happens with your motor in a Fraud. I like the idea of a good GM motor making something into a powerhouse. Keep posting those pics so we can follow what you are doing... Cheers, chilli..:)
 

'05TJLWBRUBY

Adventurer
You really have your work cut out for you, but great so far.

Are you sticking with the same engine or have something else in mind?

Even with the 37's, how is your clearance up front with such a low lift?

I like the 205 setup. Have a 205 for my build and like that option you showed.

Subbed now!

Thanks guys!

I'm not really sure at this point on what to do with the engine. Few ideas kicking around but nothing solid made up yet. As much as things change, I'll hold out a while on that decision. Still a ton of suspension work to dial in first as well as few other things. I'm not sure I'm following with what you mean on 37s with clearance? The pics above are with 40s to get an idea of front axle placement. Overall rough measurements put the front axle about 8" forward from where it would have been with IFS setup. This should clear the rear of the front fender/firewall area with room to spare. I don't like rubbing and don't want excessive work massaging that area so better to go forward a bit more than wind up tight there. I'm also running dually width axles so I'm out about 5" more on each side than what an SRW would be. Will run a deep backspace rim to pull them back in some but it will still be wide, thus allowing more room everywhere for tire clearance. I'm trying to build around 45 degree steering to keep thing safe. I can get 50 but but not sure it's worth pushing the axles/joints to that degree we'll see. Should have plenty with front 3 link design to clear frame/lower link and get a good steer angle on 40s. The frame is essentially 1/2" lower than stock so yes, it's low. I'll trim fenders to clear once axles are set. Having the engine out now allows me good room to work so that's a relief. I'm really excited to use the 205/Eco box setup. I have a lot of work into hand dressing the gears there and rebuilding the thing so it feels really nice now and should work very well. The gearing options are exciting, really looking forward to testing that out.

Thanks again,

Best of Luck,

Mike
 

FBJR

Adventurer
Yep, I was referring to the front. 8 inches forward may do it with those.

I'm still up in the air on spacers on my 91 swap since I am using H1 tires wheels also. Dually axles are really just spacers for most axles (cept your van axle).
 

'05TJLWBRUBY

Adventurer
Life gets in the way far too easy. Should finish up some ranch work this weekend then hope to get back on Suburban HD soon. Been collecting a few parts, but that's about it lately.



Best of luck,

Mike
 

chilliwak

Expedition Leader
I cant wait to see more progress on your `Burb´Mike! That suspension is massive! Keep us updated with lots of pics. Cheers, Chilli...:)
 

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