Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

I plan on dropping an NV4500 into an 83 6.2 diesel 700r4 suburban.

Does that AA bellhousing accept a factory GM slave cylinder? If so what slave did you buy?

thanks

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

Yes, the AA bell accepts the GM slave when using the AA slave bracket. The bell pn is 712576 and the slave bracket is pn 715535. Both bits came from Summit Racing. The slave is the ’85-’91 design.

Take a look at Advance Adapters website as it gives all the details you need.

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

That time of year again for steelies and Swampers. Hoping to go on a snow run after the Holidays and once we actually get some snow :smoke:

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Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

That looks good! Find another 146 CI for that thing yet?!?

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

dam! thats a fine looking sub DirtyLarry

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

Lookin good Dirtylarry, oh ya you can have some of our snow and please take the -35celcius cold too.
http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/...ps76db9a19.jpg
Mudman, without mud right now.

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

Larry, how do those swampers do in light snow and ice? The NV swap looks really nice you did last winter too!

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

Thanks!

The snow would be okay, but no thanks on the - 31 F! :lol:

They are horrible on snow packed and icy roads but they really go like mad in the deep snow.

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

Looking good Larry! I got some 2' drifts out here but I'll be selfish and keep it. How is the family life?

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

Tough to say if I like it better with or without the hub caps. Either way is bad ass!

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

Very sharp burb Larry! You've got a good eye for building a 4x4!

John

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

Excellent excellent excellent! Both the Suburban and the information that I have just learned. I have an early NV4500 waiting to go in my '83 and I've been wondering about length, driveshafts, etc when the SM465 comes out. That Suburban looks great! I am a huge fan of tall-&-skinny tires as well.

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

Thanks! The tall skinny's will be coming off shortly as it is almost that time of year to run the bald all-terrain tires again :lol:. I still haven't had a chance to run the Burb to the mountains and play in the snow yet this year :(

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

Well crap! I would like to be able to tell some elaborate story of how a Taxi cab bashed into me after it was highjacked by escapee spider monkeys from the local zoo but that didn’t happen. Ah, Nope! I backed into a pole a few weeks ago…. Errr!

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I fixed the bumper the next day with a porta power and floor jack. It came out alright but it doesn’t look near as nice as the solid virgin GM step bumper that it once was. My buddy Coloradobill and I will be building a new one for it soon similar to what is on the K10.
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The K10 felt sorry for the Polar Bear so it donated it’s tires to the Suburban for a while. It was time for a change as I am getting tired of the black steelies that were on it and the Super Swampers are not a realistic tire to run year around. I really like this tire and wheel combo on this truck more than any other. I'm actually thinking of leaving this set on the Burb and get a new set of wheels and tires identical to these to put back on the K10
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Nothing new to report on the Burb other than I’ve been collecting a lot of 8.1L bits and pieces here and there. Hope to get the engine swap done this winter

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

Still looks great, bumper and all.

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

Those wheels and tires look great on there. Man that is such a clean burb. Very nice Larry.

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

Nice looking Burb! :metal:

Looks like another great vehicle for one of your adventure trips!

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

The Suburban is looking good! Cant wait to see the 8.1 under the hood.

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

Are those wheels 8" wide?

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

Larry you ever look at the eaton fuller 5spds? I figure probably not as they aren't popular especially compared to the 4500s but we use them at work and i always thought they would be an interesting swap

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

I vote to keep those wheels on the polar bear.

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

They're actually 8.5" wide.

Yes, but not for swapping. As a side job back in ’96-‘97, I used to drive a ’95 Kodiak rollback wrecker (an official Brickyard 400 wrecker to boot) with a Caterpillar and Eaton 5 speed in college. That trans is the epitome of a dump truck transmission. I would not want to swap one off those into anything smaller than a medium duty truck plus there is no way to marry a tcase to one of those. International used to use a Eaton 5 speed with o/d in their pickup trucks back in the 60’s but I think it is a different model than what GM used in the medium duty trucks. International ran divorced tcases though.

Here is that exact roll back years later when it carried the blue truck to the exhaust shop after a BBC swap. Fun truck to drive but I wouldn’t want its trans in anything smaller.
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1116/...59358bf1_o.jpg

Yeah, that is the plan. I'm going to reorder these exact wheels from Desert Rat Off-Road again and get another set of Fierce Attitude tires for them to go back on the K10. The K10 is wearing Super Swampers at the moment, which is fine for local trips but not for the yearly desert trips. Next desert trip is May 2015.


Oh, here is a little something I've been working on for the Polar Bear :smoke:. Still have lots of integration parts to buy so it will be a while before it actually goes in but may happen by the end of 2014.

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Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

Man! I want an 8.1 so bad!

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

That's a cool thing to have hanging out in the shop! Hope all is well over there!

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

I see what you mean for how we use them behind 4-6cyl qsb cummins its easy to shift even with the hd clutches but after looking up the specs even for being average length there nearly 100lbs more than the 4500s so i think I've settled on a 4wd t56 swap lol going against everyone elses theories i believe it will work

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

Been a while since I’ve posted up any updates to the ole Polar Bear...

Last year one of my buddy’s bought a 2wd ’89 Suburban to pirate the engine and trans from to throw in another project vehicle. Lucky for me the donor Burb had the exact same color interior with a mint condition 3rd row seat. The Polar Bear was originally equipped with a 3rd row seat but it came to me with the seat missing. Cool to have a matching 3rd row seat now!

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Mr. Dog really likes the third row seat. He likes to ride back there like a boss
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The donor Sub also had a mint condition set of front inner fenders. As we all know, the squares are notorious for growing rust at the inner fender where it is double walled at the cab area. Even rigs from the desert grow rust in this spot.
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Donor inner fenders all scuffed up and lathered in a fresh coat of tractor paint. Not just any paint, but the good ole cancer causing, lung clogging, ozone eating, baby bird killing oil based stinky arse farm paint. This stuff works great and is tough as nails. The brand of the paint is Van Sickle. Try it….you’ll like it!
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Much better!
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She is a clean machine at the cab supports where the square body rigs are also famous for rusting
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Purdy!
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Umm, really purdy! Also installed a factory battery tray for an aux battery while I was at it. It is amazing that for being 25 years old the factory jack and tools are still present. They look like they never even had been used either.
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Also got another set of Strike 8 Desert Rattler wheels to pay the K10 back for the tires and wheels the Polar Bear stole from it a few months ago. Just need to order up another set of Fierce Attitude tires before next season.
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And, we took the little monkey for her first camping/fish trip in the Bear a few weeks ago.
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Camping here was certainly not an exotic destination away from civilization like I prefer but this lake is a great lake to take the wife and baby with conveniences the ladies prefer (bathrooms and it close to home). We just camped in my in-laws popup trailer.
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That's it for now :exit:

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

That's a great use for the back seat! Thanks for the update!

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

Oh, I forgot I hadn’t added anything about the clean power I added to the cargo area last fall. Last fall we had a little day trip over Medano Pass to the Sand Dunes which was the motivation I needed to wire up 12V power in the back of the Burb in order to run the National Luna refrigerator that usually lives in the Phoenix camper on the K10. I’ve gotten spoiled having cold pop and food in the K10 so I had to make accommodations for the fridge in the Suburban too because you know, you can’t go on a day trip without cold pop. http://coloradok5.com/forums/images/...histerical.gif

You would think stringing 12V power to the back of the Burb would be a short project….nope, not at this garage. 3 night’s worth of project :lol:

I am a junction block junkie! I love these junction blocks GM used on the firewall of 73-91 square body trucks as they are so useful to use everywhere. I added one of these junction blocks to the RH fender to carry the power to the rear of the burb. For this location I removed the cross bar and added a fuse. Since this picture was taken I had to move the headlight relays and junction box down about 2" as the hood hinge was running too close. In fact, the hood hinge rubbed a hole in the headlight relay then water got and I lost my headlights coming home from the airport earlier this summer. Errrr
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Pinch mount stand-off bracket just forward of the RH wheel well as the power lead goes up into the cargo area. All the wiring is 10 gauge wire slid inside 7/32 vacuum hose. I like to run single power leads inside vacuum hose for added chaff protection.
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Gave the pass through a good soaking of undercoating
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Added another junction block in the right rear quarter panel just forward of the wheel well. I was able to gain access to this spot by way of a speaker hole. It was a tight hole to conduct business!
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All that work for 3 damn sockets!
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Oddball Hella plug for the National Luna refrigerator, 2 port USB outlet and regular 12V outlet
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Also added some tied downs to the floor while I was at it. Can’t have that refrigerator bouncing around bonking people on the head
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This is how it looked loaded for our day trip. Ah, had nice cool drinks all day long ;)
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Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

Still the best V2500 I've ever seen! And only getting better!

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

You can never have too much power! I had three ports on the short bed, and the crew cab is getting more. Is the power switched with the ignition or do you not want that with your fridge back there?

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

That is for sure. We need more power for all of our electronic gadgets these days. Right now the power that feeds the first junction block under the hood is wired directly to the battery (the fuse is at the junction block). Once I get a dual battery isolator I will move the power feed to the aux battery on the driver’s side. With the power in the rear being intended to run the refrigerator and to charge gadgets like phones and cameras they need to be powered all the time rather than key on. The dual battery isolator protects the start battery anyway so even of the fridge runs it dead we can still start up the next day :lol:

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

Nice additions lately, thanks for sharing posts and good ideas.:thumbs:

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

Larry I was wondering how well you liked those Fierce tires? Got to like them somewhat because they are going to be on both rigs haha

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

You know, I love those tires. The Fierce Attitudes are definitely my tire of choice right now. For load range E they ride great, have great road manners (much better than I would have ever expected) and do very well off-road. The set that is on the Burb now rolled on the K10 back and forth to California all over the back country in Mojave Desert, Death Valley, went on a different trip to the back country of Utah and two trips to Flagstaff. I figure these tires are getting close to 9,000 miles on them with a good 1/3 of that being on dirt roads/trails and they barely show any wear. In fact, it wasn’t until I bolted them on the Burb did they start to show wear. I noticed some outer wear and feathering last week so I ran it over to have the toe adjusted and did a quick rotate.

For a comparison, I bought a set of load range E 285 Goodyear Duratracs for my Silverado HD this past August because GY had an $80 instant rebate which put them less than the Fierce. The Duratracs are awesome looking tires but they seem to float and wander all over the road. The ride is horrible as well. An unladden IFS HD truck rides pretty sucktastic as it is then with these Duratracs every crack in the road is like an explosion of discomfort where even pocket change in the ashtray flies around like a bomb went off. I dropped the pressure down to 38 psi and they still ride like solid rubber tires. At 38 the tires actually looks like they're too low on air. I haven’t had these tires on anything exciting yet so too soon to tell how they will do in the snow and stuff. Probably wouldn't buy those again.

Once I get this 8.1L project for the Burb out of the way that is eating all of my lunch money I still need to get another set of Fierce Attitudes to pay the K10 back before the Desert Trip 2015. Got another set of the same wheels, now I just need the tires. Speaking of the wheels I found something interesting with these wheels I'll have to post up when I get some time.

Anyway, yes....I highly recommend the Fierce tires! The barb wire on the sidewalls looks pretty childish but other than that they are great tires!

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

I have heard really good things about the Goodyear Kevlar mtr. I'm thinking of getting a set for my K25.

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

Very nice looking old sub, enjoy your threads. nice work!

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

OK it sounds like some 8.1 swap updates are in order! I think I'm going to try some Cooper ST Maxx once my truck is up a bit higher.

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

I've heard the same thing about the Duratracs Larry. My brother is tire shopping right now and he was going to get the duratracs but they don't offer them in a 305 anything 16. It's either a 285 or 315. If he goes with them he'll more than likely have to go with the 285's. It's surprising what isn't available in an load range E 285 or larger 16" tire these days. I think it's crazy with how many old trucks are running 16" tires on them.

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

Not trying to hi jack DirtyLarry but I had what is hopefully a quick question. I have a 6 round pattern 32 spline 205 that I am planning on mating to a NV4500 from a 94 Chevy k2500. I was going to run the AA spacer but feared my t-case shifter would then be to far back into my bench seat. So since both a 32 spline will they mate up without any mods as long as I clearance the nv4500 for the t-case linkage?

If not what are my options to mate them directly to keep my drivetrain shorter and t-case shifter more forward?

I would have sent a PM but you don't have that option.

Thanks in advance for any input.

Re: Polar Bear Suburban
 

Well not much to report on the engine just yet but it is eating my lunch money! Boy am I glad I decided to throw a RayLar cam in this engine! Let me tell you why….. This engine was a warranty core that has been laying around for 7 to 8 years. The causual failure was the oil pump drive, which breaks the drive shaft when the drive locks up. The pump drive basically takes place of the distributor where it supports the top side of the oil pump drive shaft. Same design as a 6.2/6.5L diesels. Back around 2006/2007 these oil pump drive failures were pretty common due to a supplier issue and the drives were on intergalactic back order so many engines were swung to avoid Lemon Law for days out of service. Anyway, knowing this engine had suffered the oil supply issue I dropped several rods and mains. All of the bearings looked great so I hoped the cam bearings would be too. Then I decided to add the RayLar cam and when I yanked the old cam I found the cam bearings were toast! They have huge burn out marks on them, especially the center bearing. They did not spin in the bore but the surface of the bearing look like crap. So it is a damn good thing I decided to install a RayLar cam otherwise I wouldn’t have known the cam bearings were toast until I fired it up and found low oil pressure. Also found one phuckered up roller lifter as well. The roller won't even roll till you tap on it on the bench.

The ***** of it is now is finding all the bits and pieces. The rod nuts are one time use only and so far I can only find 5 new nuts. I still need 11 more and GM has them on an 8 week lead time. Hopefully, I can find some on dealer’s shelves. I see Scoggin Dickey has some but they want a left nut for each rod nut. Lifters are easy to come by on Ebay but I played hell finding the right cam bearings as the Sealed Power M1404 (?) bearings Napa lists are not right. GM actually lists 3 different bearing part numbers to make up the 5 positions. The Sealed Power cam bearing kit uses one bearing for each position. That may have worked out fine but I don't want to take my chances running a high dollar camshaft on questionable aftermarket cam bearings.

I also bought a set of head gaskets, 5 rod nuts and all of the seals/gaskets from work but I still need to buy head bolts providing we remove the heads while replacing the cam bearings. We’re hoping we can sneak the cam bearings in without yanking heads to pull pissers out of the way. If we end up pulling pissers at least I have the head gaskets here if we need them. We’ll see! I was hoping to get this engine installed over Christmas but this latest delay skewed that plan. Prolly be sometime the first quarter of 2015 by the time it is installed.

Oh, I also got a set of shortly Sanderson headers for it too. I am really anxious to see how it runs with a cam and headers compared to the blue trucks stock 8.1L. I am a 100% header hater so I hope these Sanderson’s make me a lover because I haven’t found a friggen header that I ever liked. I hate the leaks, burnt wires and fried starter motors that headers are so often responsible. We see how these work out. The headers on the 396 on my little hot rod 68' GMC have pretty much ruined me of headers


Hey Chevy 3+3,

You really don’t need that spacer if you change the front input shaft to a short 32 spline input gear. ORD sells short inputs and may even give you a healthy trade for the long you probably have now. Regardless, which way you go to bolt the tcase to the trans you will need to come up with a solution for the 205 shifter. ORD’s twin stick is probably the best solution out there. I used their twin stick on the NV4500/205 in my K10. Check it out.

Oh, check this out. The blue truck made it to Peterson’s 4 Wheel & Off-Road! January 2015 issue which hits newsstands any day now. I haven’t seen the mag yet so I am as curious as anybody.
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5613/...1e5219d6_b.jpg