Tacticool MT830: the ZAVurban

[TechNoir]

I just acquired a 2001 suburban Z71. My plans are kinda basic, a 2.5-3 inch lift, skid plates, and bigger tires, along with a prerunner style light bar , a roof basket with a few lights, and black wheels with 285/75/17's ,as far as engine modifications go the truck has 216k so a 6.0 swap is in my head if anything goes wrong haha, I mostly want a fun useful comfortable dd that can double as a zombie apocalypse vehicle and tactical style roadtrip vehicle. Im hoping to make it a multipurpose vehicle, based around a capable 4wd that can travel long highway distances and still excell in light offroad adventures. i'm planning a few trips and light modifying...

here's what I'm starting with:

and this is what my old tahoe looked like; so I basically want a slightly lifted more useful version of this...

I do have a few questions, the 12 year old + 200K miles make bushings and springs deteriorate, would replacing the rear springs with new oem height and the body bushings with urethane ones afford me a bit more height ? since i dont want a huge lift (3 inch max ) any recovered height is a plus.

my first modifications are a toolbag with 8mm-thru 18mm craftsman wrenches , screwdrivers, pliers , a set of thick jumper cables (not sure of specs atm) and a cheap foldable knife/multitool , as well as a few fluid changes and cranking the front torsion keys.


ANY ideas or suggestions are welcome, my main goal for this truck is these next few trips : Naples Fl, to Greenville Sc. and Naples Fl to Los mazos Jal ,Mexico.

 

[Superu]

Nice truck. As you've stated you aren't looking for a huge lift, I'd suggest going with a 2" leveling kit and put some bigger A/T's on it. I have the Truxxx leveling kit with 285/75/16's (33's) on my 03 Suburban and have been very happy with the combo. Also replaced the rear Nivomat self leveling shocks with a Bilstien spring and shock combo.

 

[TechNoir]

I saw the bilstein springs online but couldn't find very much info besides that they are stock height springs... and i plan to go with a 2.5'' front key and 1.5'' rear spacer to accomodate for loads and people weight.

 

[Superu]

I saw the bilstein springs online but couldn't find very much info besides that they are stock height springs... and i plan to go with a 2.5'' front key and 1.5'' rear spacer to accomodate for loads and people weight.

Not sure about the height of them as I didn't check. They were required replacements if replacing the factory Nivomat self-leveling shocks on the Suburban. The kit I used for the lift/level included spacers for the rear as well as the shock extensions for the front. The front keys are adjustable to give you up to 3" but I just wanted the truck to sit close to level and have clearance for the 33"s. This combo has worked well and gives me the extra clearance underneath that I was looking for as well as keeping things level when loaded.

I normally carry 5 people, a 45l fridge freezer, National Luna PPP with a Group 31 battery, recovery and camping gear and this setup is ideal for maintaining ride height and position. Just my .02

Good luck with your build and keep us posted on the progress.

 

[Superu]

I wouldn't waste money replacing good springs with OE spec replacements.

For the Bilstein / Nivomat swap, new springs are required since the stock springs are too soft and wouldn't give you the handling or ride height you need.

 

[TechNoir]

that's what i figured , plus the fatigued old springs could stand to be replaced . and this truck already has 265/75/17's (32.5) , i want a 285/75/17 (33.8) i hope it fits without too many issues, and im debating wheel size, 17x9 -16 , 17x9 -6 , 17x8 0, i wanted teflon coated but the price pretty much doubles...

 

[TechNoir]

ok, not much of an update beside i made the round trip from naples fl, to greenville sc with zero mechanical issues, took it on a lot of back country roads, and a TON of highway, even got it fully airborne ,by mistake but it was still fun, no offroading except for a drive thru petting zoo type deal, i wouldn't even mention that as offroad lol, mostly just off pavement. but i did put together a second toolbag with straps, zipties , fuses and added some snips and othe misc items.

everyone was looking at my boot on the way back ..lol .



i did manage to get a bubble in one of the tires , and found out the tool to lower the spare is MIA... so time to fix that. and i would've loved to have had some driving lights ...

 

[Saiyan66]

The wheels look much better in black. Sounds like you have a good plan and aren't going to go crazy with the lift part. You will likely have to do a little trimming in the front to clear 285/75's but it shouldn't be too much. The 5.3 motor is great and if it does kick the bucket, I would just replace it with the same thing. The 6.0 really isn't all its cracked up to be and gets much worse mileage than the 5.3.

 

[chilliwak]

First off welcome to the site Tech and congrats on your new purchase. We are all looking forward to seeing what you will do with your new `Burb´! Cheers, Chilli.....

 

[TechNoir]

So, just ordered my 2 inch keys for the front and 1.5 spacers for the back and two of four 285/70/17's bfg's ...starting to put parts on her.... how do the keys affect camber up font? like cranking the keys?

 

[Treybiz]

So, just ordered my 2 inch keys for the front and 1.5 spacers for the back and two of four 285/70/17's bfg's ...starting to put parts on her.... how do the keys affect camber up font? like cranking the keys?

Yes.. Your angles will be affected on everything. Saying that, I have Keys on my Sliverado and they are set around level with the rear if not a little higher in the front. Been that way for the last 70k and about to roll 100k total on my way home from the office. I haven't had any issues per se but i did replace most of the steering parts at 80k from wear (Also have winch, arb bumper, and 325/60/18 tires and a give it the skinny pedal driving style.) I rotate my tires often and get my alignment checked sort of often. Did you get shocks? Some of the leveling keys come with extenders or you can get longer shocks from various mfgs. I broke one of the extenders that came with my Pro-Comp keys the first weekend after install at my deer camp. Replaced the fronts with longer bisteins and zero issues with those.

Sorry, started to ramble.

Trey

 

[TechNoir]

i didn't get shocks yet, i'm also going to get my other two tires , i plan on getting new oem rear springs and maybe front torsion bars... and urethane body bushings, i'm going to try and lift the body (and chassis) at least to it's original state. i'm going to look up how to adjust camber besides the torsion bars.

 

[TechNoir]

got all my tires and suspension lift

 

[BurbanAZ]

Looks good

 

[TechNoir]

i had to cut my spare out from underneath ... and there is no room for than inside, with a double stroller and two kids .