The Story Of A Cummins Suburban (Lots Of Pics)

[notchbackgta]

Thats awesome, I need to do something like that in the future

[lower50's]

Great job!! Using all the space you have effectively is good for saving time and adding comfort. I will have to use some of your ideas in the back of my jeep.

[mosesburb]

Originally Posted by notchbackgta

Thats awesome, I need to do something like that in the future

Thanks!! It really helps use space more completely.

Originally Posted by lower50's

Great job!! Using all the space you have effectively is good for saving time and adding comfort. I will have to use some of your ideas in the back of my jeep.

Thanks!! Yeah, use the ideas, just pay me royalties. It's nice because now I can move stuff around and keep it there while traveling. Some of the stuff never gets removed from the truck, so it can just stay put. I don't think I added any gear since the remodel, but having more room sure makes it easier to deal with.

[mosesburb]

So after all of these miles, one thing I was not liking so much were the Rancho RS9000 shocks. I did some research and finally settled on a set of Fox 2.0 Performance Series IFP Smooth Body Shocks. I went with the non-reservoir units on the recommendation of a Fox representative. He said if I was going to Baja, I needed reservoir units. If I wasn't going to Baja, the non-reservoir units will easily handle any other roads in North America. So, I got my measurements and started shopping. It's always a challenge shopping for shocks by dimensions as the shock specs don't always match up with the specs you have to fill. I found the ones that were as close as possible and ordered them up.

Fronts:



On the rears I opted for the Roost Shields. They protect the shock shafts from flying rocks and debris.



It was an expensive upgrade, replacing seemingly "good" parts with other good parts, but the result was a ride that seems much more controlled on the rebound side. The oscillations seem more controlled. Less "bucking", if you will.

Somewhere along the way and another 30k service came up. Along with other things, I serviced the trans with another load of liquid gold from the GM store in the form of the specific NV4500 lube. I also serviced the trans filter:



For such a simple device, this thing works amazingly well. The lube I drained out still looks fantastic. Good enough I have saved the lube from both services so far (thought about reinstalling it both times too). One I carry in the truck as emergency refill and the other I keep in the shop as backup lube. Since both services have yielded such good looking lube, I'm considering running the interval out a little bit--especially if I install a cooler on the box.

Another issue I had to address was replacing some more junk-ass reproduction chinese parts with some good old domestic NOS GM parts. I installed the reproduction tail light lenses when I built the truck and they are already looking pink at best. I couldn't bring myself to install another set of the junk-ass chinese crap, so I scoured a set of NOS GM lenses:



Junk-ass chinese crap vs real domestic high grade NOS greatness:



Keep your GM vehicle all GM......Good words to live by.

[lower50's]

Funny how your filter looks like a ball of yarn. I have the bucking issue in my '87 Jimmy maybe time to ditch the rancho's.

[hgs_notes]

Was it worth it? Without knowing what you spent it's hard to say but it does look good. If it works and you're happy with the look then it was. I didn't know there was a cable driven tach available for these. I'm surprised you haven't fabbed up some kind of special fit glove box to fit in there yet, considering how much effort you put into storage space on this rig.

[Dieselwrencher]

It looks very nice! I miss my factory diesel tach cluster. By the way, those new shocks are pretty sweet too!

[lower50's]

I'd say it was worth it! All looking original and got to eliminate 2 gauges. Nice install.

[deejaaa1]

yeah, it was worth it. i can say that because it's not my money. but it does look good.

[1985-GMC]

Nice work! More great upgrades to give us all ideas for our junk

[mosesburb]

Originally Posted by hgs_notes

Was it worth it? Without knowing what you spent it's hard to say but it does look good. If it works and you're happy with the look then it was. I didn't know there was a cable driven tach available for these. I'm surprised you haven't fabbed up some kind of special fit glove box to fit in there yet, considering how much effort you put into storage space on this rig.

Glove boxes and liners in these thing piss me off. Every time I have to get to something behind it, it has to come out. Installing them is easy, but removal sucks. I thought about some other storage device, but I have so much available elsewhere I liked this better for mounting other "dashboard" type things. Since this pic, I have mounted a T handle Bowden cable in there, on a bracket, to control a heater coolant valve. This way if we get somewhere and it gets cold, I don't have to get under the hood to open the previous ball valve I had. I can just pull the cable and get heat or turn on the Webasto unit.

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

It looks very nice! I miss my factory diesel tach cluster. By the way, those new shocks are pretty sweet too!

Thanks!! Thanks again for the help in figuring out the option group for the drive parts.

Originally Posted by lower50's

I'd say it was worth it! All looking original and got to eliminate 2 gauges. Nice install.

Thank you!!

Originally Posted by deejaaa1

yeah, it was worth it. i can say that because it's not my money. but it does look good.

Thanks!!

Originally Posted by 1985-GMC

Nice work! More great upgrades to give us all ideas for our junk

Thanks!!

[1985-GMC]

So did anyone else notice that photo****et updated their terms of service...

[MaxPF]

Originally Posted by 1985-GMC

So did anyone else notice that photo****et updated their terms of service...

Photobucket sucks balls. Nick is on another epic road trip right now (talked to him via text today AAMOF) so it will be a few days before he gets home and can fix the pix.

[1985-GMC]

What they did is extremely ****ed up. They've basically decided to hold everyone's pictures hostage unless they fork out $400 a year to enable 3rd party hosting. I'm sure there's hundreds of thousands of people that have posted millions of photos on thousands of forums and all of a sudden none of the pictures work. I'm thinking its going to be longer than a few days before its fixed.

[Dieselwrencher]

I'm betting over 3/4s of my build threads are all gone now too. What a chit show PB you bunch of greedy sons of..........

I don't know if they'll even go back we'll just have to see.

I did get a pic from Nick last week and he was in Montana. I hope all your travels are going well dude!

[mosesburb]

Well, I've redone the pics on a few of the first pages. It's a bunch of work and I haven't had a bunch of time to devote to it lately, but it's a start.

Anyway, here's a new pic to end the old year:

[Dieselwrencher]

Awesome! What are you running for head lights? I don't remember but I'm betting they aren't plain old halogens are they?

[mosesburb]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Awesome! What are you running for head lights? I don't remember but I'm betting they aren't plain old halogens are they?

Sylvania Silver Star headlights. One step or two above plain halogens. I can't bring myself to spend the hundreds of dollars per lamp assembly when a stray stone kicked up off the road can take them right out of service. These Silver Stars are noticeably brighter than the halogens they replaced and cost somewhere in the low $20's each. Supposedly they don't last as long as standard halogens, but I have had good life out of mine.

[1985-GMC]

Did photo****et pull their head out of their as azz? It looks like all of your pictures are back!

[mosesburb]

Originally Posted by 1985-GMC

Did photo****et pull their head out of their as azz? It looks like all of your pictures are back!

I'm sure it's an error on their part, but, yeah, get them while they're hot!! Kind of nice looking back through the thread. There is some neat stuff in here.

[70custom20]

Jealous every time I read through a few pages. I’d really like to do this to my K20.

[kikkegek]

Man this is/was one of my favorite topics to follow. Loved reading and looking at your updates��������