My 85 4x4 Suburban

[rcbildr]

Just thought I would post some pics of my 4x4 project. I bought this a couple years ago, literally pulled it out of a field with a bad engine (the block was cracked) and got it going with another 6.2 I found in a wrecking yard and drove it for a while.


Then as I was moving the tranny went out on it and I converted it to an SM-465 and put some 33's on it...and drove it some more.



Then early this year the tranny developed some issues and a few weeks ago I started the latest round of fixes....and now it looks like this.



I took it to a shop because the tranny had a bad bearing noise and the clutch was messed up. The shop ended up rebuilding it completely. The gears were in good shape, but sometime before I got it the bellhousing bolts were loose which egged out the center of the housing. That ruined the input shaft, output shaft, and the pocket bearing that supports them. Fortunately I had a spare bellhousing, but on the test drive the shop noticed the bearings were going bad in the rear end. I had another rear end with the same ratio, so I decided to get the last few parts I need for the 4" lift and did the lift a rear end swap all at once.

The test drive after the lift was very scary, I had no brakes and the steering was very loose. I found the rear brakes were not working at all so I put all new stuff on and then I replaced the steering box. I also checked the ball joints nad they were bad too. I have all that fixed now, and it drives great...kinda. The steering is still not right and I will be working on that next week...just have to replace the tie rod/steering that attaches to the pitman arm. The other thing I need to do is hook up the parking brake, the rear end I used was from an 82 Burb and the parking brake system is completely different. I bought some Lokar cables and I have to figure out how to connect everything.

After I get the steering and parking brake done, the rest is mostly cosmetic and interior...at least now I can drive it.

Thanks!

[Zoomad75]

Sweet burb. Now we need some wheeling pictures when you get the little issues ironed out. Keep up the good work!

[Kurt L]

when i lifted my 75 blazer i had to put the braided steel line on the back.the one that comes from the frame to the junction box on the rearend.i had brakes after that.then put the braided lines on the front no more problems.you might check into that rc.

[rcbildr]

Thanks!!!! I've put on a new steering link and that helped out a lot. It's still a little loose, but I think that is in the link that goes between the knuckles...just have to have a friend come over and help me with that. Found another problem that I have to deal with before I really drive it on the concrete freeways, one shock is just not enough on the front and things got really bouncy (and scary) when I was driving on I-5.

The problem I had with the rear brakes was with the automatic adjusters, they were stuck and the shoes and drums were really glazed over. I installed all new parts back there, got it adjusted right and then really bled the system out and now it stops better than ever....thanks for the tip though.

Thanks again, I can't wait to take it to Reiter Pit (a local off road place) and see what it can do.