Our "What are we going to do?" 66 Suburban Build

[RockTonka]

Originally Posted by piratexpress1369a

Wow that is a tight fit

Yep, but it's all in there!

Originally Posted by Captainfab

Nice work.......

Thanks Capt., we appreciate that!



We've had the reworked tranny back from BTE for a couple weeks now.

BTE has impressed the s**t out of me with their support and willingness to help with some problems I had with a local builder.

If you remember, I sourced a few parts from BTE in spring...aluminum drum, input shaft, intermediate shaft, torque converter, mechanical diode, and a few other little things. I had a local builder assemble the tranny.

We cooked the tranny in the first 10 or so miles!

I reached out to BTE for direction... I knew there weren't any problems with their parts, but I didn't trust my builder any more.

BTE had me send the tranny to them in Mt. Pleasant, MS so they could inspect it. They quickly found a couple builder related problems.

BTE completely rebuilt the tranny, tightened up the TC a bit, and had it back to me in less than a week!

We reinstalled the tranny tonight...I don't expect any more problems with it.

[likaroc13]

Originally Posted by Captainfab

Nice work.......

Sounds like some great customer service from fellow Mississippian's at BTE as well!

[RockTonka]

Originally Posted by likaroc13

Sounds like some great customer service from fellow Mississippian's at BTE as well!

Yep, definitely!



My son didn't like the interior light housing and decided to do something about it.

He ground the perimeter down until the center released and replaced it with a piece of light cover from the shop.

He's replacing every bulb in the burb with LED's...should be a lot brighter!

[RockTonka]

We also disassembled the front end, painted everything, and reassembled...going back together for good...again!

[piratexpress1369a]

Awesome..you going to test it on the dyno

[RockTonka]

Originally Posted by piratexpress1369a

Awesome..you going to test it on the dyno

No, not on a chassis dyno. It's been tuned on the engine dyno...that was important to get it dialed in. I can't justify the $$ for time on a chassis dyno.

[RockTonka]

Continuing with the conversion to all LED...much brighter!

[RockTonka]

We finished up most of the wiring (lights, new fans, tranny temp sensor, etc), topped off all the fluids, and put a few miles on it this afternoon.

We kept it conservative...only about 20 miles, but we did hammer on it a few times. Everything kept cool...maybe too cool. The burb ran great though, gonna try to just kick back and enjoy it for a bit...although there are a few more things I want to do to it.

[cwcarpenter98]

Dadgum, definitely my favorite suburban

Are y'all still running the Camaro rear sway bar?

[RockTonka]

Originally Posted by cwcarpenter98

Dadgum, definitely my favorite suburban

Are y'all still running the Camaro rear sway bar?

Thanks CW!

We pulled the rear sway bar off...the mounts on top of the axle were hitting the frame as we played around with spring rates on the coil overs.

We will run a bit with just the coil overs to see if they can compensate much for body roll...we have adjusted the rebound/compression a bit with positive results though.

[cwcarpenter98]

Originally Posted by RockTonka

Thanks CW!

We pulled the rear sway bar off...the mounts on top of the axle were hitting the frame as we played around with spring rates on the coil overs.

We will run a bit with just the coil overs to see if they can compensate much for body roll...we have adjusted the rebound/compression a bit with positive results though.

That would be a good reason to pull it off
I just went back to where y'all installed it (page 12 for anyone else wondering) to see how y'all had mounted it. I want to add a bar to my truck as well, so I've been gathering up ideas. Still have stock stuff under mine, so no worries about hitting anything yet.
Sounds like the coil overs are the way to go, but for now, stock is just fine

[RockTonka]

Originally Posted by cwcarpenter98

That would be a good reason to pull it off
I just went back to where y'all installed it (page 12 for anyone else wondering) to see how y'all had mounted it. I want to add a bar to my truck as well, so I've been gathering up ideas. Still have stock stuff under mine, so no worries about hitting anything yet.
Sounds like the coil overs are the way to go, but for now, stock is just fine

If you were closer, I'd make you a deal on my old one...shipping probably isn't worth it.

[cwcarpenter98]

Originally Posted by RockTonka

If you were closer, I'd make you a deal on my old one...shipping probably isn't worth it.

That would be sweet, but I agree, shipping would be way too much. I'm sure I can find a bar somewhere around GA. There's a few places that I need to go to, just haven't had the time this semester to do so

[likaroc13]

Glad to hear it's back together & running! Hopefully it all continues to work well from here on out. I know y'all are ready to just enjoy the fruits of your labor. Any thoughts yet on the headlights? I've noticed lots of folks switching to LED headlights these days, even on more modern (but not new) stuff.

[RockTonka]

Originally Posted by likaroc13

Glad to hear it's back together & running! Hopefully it all continues to work well from here on out. I know y'all are ready to just enjoy the fruits of your labor. Any thoughts yet on the headlights? I've noticed lots of folks switching to LED headlights these days, even on more modern (but not new) stuff.

Preliminary thoughts on lights are that they are fairly bright, low beam is the upper half and high beam is upper and lower at the same time...with that said, I haven't been out at night with them yet.

We'll see how long they last...

[piratexpress1369a]

Sounds awesome glad you are out driving and enjoying it

[RockTonka]

Originally Posted by piratexpress1369a

Sounds awesome glad you are out driving and enjoying it

Thanks PE!

[RockTonka]

....

[RockTonka]

All LED is fairly bright!

First pic is low beam, second is high...then back-ups and interior.

[piratexpress1369a]

That is awesome

[RockTonka]

Originally Posted by piratexpress1369a

That is awesome

Thanks PE, this will improve the handling a bit and more importantly (for us), the arms will move the wheel centerline forward an inch. We need a smidge more clearance on the driver side header.

Everything came apart nicely...new upper shock mounts got welded on (couldn't get to the backside with boxed frame).

We're going to order in some heavier front springs...the stockers, although relatively new, are a little overwhelmed with the added weight up front.

[likaroc13]

Nice! Definitely need all the good handling you can get with a beast like that.

[RockTonka]

Originally Posted by likaroc13

Nice! Definitely need all the good handling you can get with a beast like that.

It can't hurt!


We ended up working with Eaton Detroit Spring for different front springs, these guys know their sh!t...wealth of knowledge for sure.

I measured my existing springs at 0.79" dia. and 13" long free length. This is a little heavier than stock C10. Eaton recommended a 0.815 dia. at 12 5/8" long...jumping me from a roughly 800lb/in to 1000lb/in spring rate and keeping my ride height exactly the same.

They had these springs in stock and shipped out the same day I called.

The new springs are the clean ones...can't tell much difference side by side, but I can tell a big difference installed.

We also got the Porterbilt arms installed tonight (quick note about superior customer service...texted Nate with a question on the installation and he answered within a few minutes late on a Saturday afternoon).

Moving the wheel centerline forward an inch is a subtle difference, but noticeable and provides us with needed clearance.

[RockTonka]

Buttoned back up...

[likaroc13]

Looks good! Always a huge plus when you get good customer service. Some companies need a good lesson in that!