1988 1 ton suburban buildup

[xpndbl3]

finally got the title fixed to the right year. Really happy to see all the other burban build threads lately. Now to figure out a good storage solution for where the spare tire used to be. Thinking of mounting a tool box or some other storage bin for straps, spare fluids, etc.

[zukrider]

im doing the rear storage as my first build project. itll be a few before i get started though.

my plans were to have a few sliding drawers, a door to a big area, as well as incorporating some electronics and a subwoofer. even thought about doing it on the pass side, to even it out a bit.

what are your thoughts?

[xpndbl3]

Well it's been a while, got to play in some snow the other day, blew up my front spicer locking hubs and had to swap in some new superwinch ones. Hopefully they hold up better, couldn't find any other brand locally and it was stuck in the locked position.



Finally got around to that motor swap, well at least starting on it. So far I have 14 hours into reworking this 2004 motor harness for my 5.3L engine. Have all the wires deleted that I won't be using(probably 30-35 all together) and just need to hook up all the pink wires(ign hots) along with the orange wires(constant hot) to my fuse panel. Then as soon as the temp gets in the 50s range I'll swap it out.

[coreys88burban]

NICE! i seen this one on cardomain but you hacent updated it! lol ill be fallowing the swap as well, Im planning a cammed 6.0 swap into mine, either a LQ9 or LQ4 whaterver comes my way when the money is right. then a built 4L80e with around a 3000 stall, btw if you can get yourself some WARN premium hubs, they are fantastic! ive never used superwinch hubs though, how are they working out?

[xpndbl3]

hubs are working fine, locally there was no warn options besides for dana 44s, and that obviously won't work on my dana 60 front. Ya I haven't used cardomain in a long long time, not even sure I could log into it at this point. 5.3L gets better mileage than 6.0L and it's still a 125hp jump from what I'm running now, so I wasn't too worried about it. Plus 5.3L are all over ebay for $350-550, and 6.0L were $1200+ from what I saw. So maybe if this one blows up later on down the road I'd upgrade but for now this will do nicely. Plus it's 85 pounds lighter than the motor in the vehicle presently.

[coreys88burban]

hubs are working fine, locally there was no warn options besides for dana 44s, and that obviously won't work on my dana 60 front. Ya I haven't used cardomain in a long long time, not even sure I could log into it at this point. 5.3L gets better mileage than 6.0L and it's still a 125hp jump from what I'm running now, so I wasn't too worried about it. Plus 5.3L are all over ebay for $350-550, and 6.0L were $1200+ from what I saw. So maybe if this one blows up later on down the road I'd upgrade but for now this will do nicely. Plus it's 85 pounds lighter than the motor in the vehicle presently.

you make a good point on the motor, 125hp jump is great i have a tbi350 as well maybe ill do a 5.3 too but im not sure yet, i want something i can afford to do and 5.3 are pretty cheap. i wish i could put an allison with a dana 60 front and a 12v cummins! lol

[xpndbl3]

unless you tow 99% of the time on long trips, diesels are highly overrated IMO. These new gen 3 motors from GM absolutely are amazing. It would take me tens of thousands of miles to break even on the cost difference, then there's the huge weight penalty for trying to run a diesel as well.

[Larry]

Nice Suburban xpndbl3! You’ll love the injected Vortec.

[xpndbl3]

Thanks larry, ya I looked around for an 8.1L like we have in our 2005 3/4 ton suburban, but the prices for them are insane around the chicago area. So I ended up with the 5.3L which should stay in a pretty nice powerband with the th400 and no o/d in the trans, I'm guessing the extra 3-400 rpm on the highway will keep it in check.


Still unsure of what other common expo mods are to these vehicles. I already did the 1 tons and shackle flips, etc. Have the CB and some off road lights, truck works great on dirt roads just rides a little too stiff, but then again I haven't weighed it town with 500 pounds of stuff for a long trip yet. Probably will change out the front pro comp springs to those tuff country EZ rides and swap to 4 new shocks before taking it out this coming summer. Debating sleeping arrangements inside the truck along with more sensible storage inside. Luckily the most important piece of the puzzle is already installed, the vehicle rod holder for those trips out fishing.

http://www.basspro.com/Rod-Saver-Veh.../15989/-181046

Also makes for an excellent way to air dry wet shirts or pants while driving in case I'm caught out in the rain.

[Northman]

Great Truck !