Mike's 60 Suburban build

[Corts60]

man that thing is looking sick Mike! Well done.

[mikesacs]

Originally Posted by Corts60

man that thing is looking sick Mike! Well done.

Thanks.

Hooked up the tach wiring last night and adjusted it. Drove it today and it works great. Some of the next things on my list are rear bumper, tow bar, change ring and pinion, replace leaking master cylinder, and electric trailer brake.

[padresag]

Originally Posted by mikesacs

My carrier turned out to be an open one. I ordered an Eaton posi, 3.73 ring and pinion, and bearing kit all from thegearshop.net. Returned the noisy gears. Been driving it a lot lately and really like it. Can't wait to get the rear end changed to the 3.73 for some highway driving.

I need to do something with the front leaf springs. They are the stock 2 leaf and bent below flat about an inch. I did add about 200 pounds to the front with this engine. I found some 1400 lb springs (200 over stock) that show a 1 1/8" arch. Does that mean my front end will be 2 1/8" taller than it is now? The truck is 2 1/2 lower in the front than the rear currently.

there is a 3rd avail. my 84 frame has a 3rd leaf, but just on the one side as you can see in the picture. I was talking with someone else who has seen that 3rd leaf before.

By rondavid at 2012-08-18
ron

[mikesacs]

Originally Posted by padresag

there is a 3rd avail. my 84 frame has a 3rd leaf, but just on the one side as you can see in the picture. I was talking with someone else who has seen that 3rd leaf before.

By rondavid at 2012-08-18
ron

I think the 1400 lb springs I'm looking at have three. That will be the route I'll try. Why does your truck have 3 on one side only?
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[padresag]

Originally Posted by mikesacs

I think the 1400 lb springs I'm looking at have three. That will be the route I'll try. Why does your truck have 3 on one side only?
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I really don't know why. that is the way that I got that abortion. must have been added as the ubolts don't protrude from the nuts.
think that I might just c/l the rolling frame for a few days and if that don't work, just cut it up and keep the axles and such
ron

[Zane M]

Great build.

[mikesacs]

Spent Saturday working on the rear end. Changed the ring and pinion from 4.10 to 3.73. This put the diesel RPMs where they should be. It took about 6 hours of work and this was my first one. It is a 14 bolt 10.5" full floating axle. I replaced the open carrier with a Eaton posi unit. Drove it for 170 miles so far without any noise or problems. The backlash ended up being .007 after about 4 times changing the pinion shims and the pinion preload is at 35 inch pounds. I've heard that the 14 bolt is one of the easiest to set up.

My front is a Dana 44 8.5" with 4wd hubs, brakes, and axle u-joints to deal with that I didn't on the rear. I think that will be a two day job. I'll tackle that job in a month or so, before 4x4 season.

[mikesacs]

Been doing some driving and mileage calculations. These are all based on about one tank of fuel each and the engine and rear end are not broke in yet.
16 mpg when the rear end was 4.10 with mixed driving
18 mpg mixed driving with the new 3.73 rear end
19 mpg at 70 to 75 mph interstate
20 mpg at 60 mph highway

They should get slightly better as the parts break in and I keep fixing things. Overall I'm happy with the milage.
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[mikesacs]

Finally picked up an original bumper for the suburban. The one it came with looked awful. Spent about 2 hours on the press trying to get some of the dents and bends out of it. Built a trailer hitch that fit between the frame rails.

[Bigffjoe]

Nice and clean, looks Great!

[piratexpress1369a]

nice work getting the dents out

[mikesacs]

Removed the seats and economy heater box. Painted the floor and firewall with POR-15 and then installed the Fat Mat. I have jute padding and a new firewall pad next. After that I install the new A/C evaporator and heater under the dash. The new floor mat will be last.

[piratexpress1369a]

the por-15 easy to work with ..brushed or spray

[Bigffjoe]

That looks like nice floor cover, what did you put down and where did you get it?

[mikesacs]

Originally Posted by Bigffjoe

That looks like nice floor cover, what did you put down and where did you get it?

I brushed on the POR-15 then applied Fatmat Rattle Trap. That's the reflective stuff. Then a 1/2" layer of jute padding then the floor mat. I found the mat on another thread http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=529854
From www.stockinteriors.com
It didn't lay as well at the upper hump as the guys in the thread have. I'm hoping that it will lay better when summer rolls around.

You can also see the new vents for the A/C unit in the photos.

[jmack91z28]

This is a great build. Where is the rest of it?

Any update on how the 6.2 is holding up? Fuel mileage reports?

[mikesacs]

Well, life has just been moving fast lately. I do intend to start working more on the burb. I have been driving it alot and I love it! I did replace the front end with an Aulburn and 3:73 gears to match the back. It was a Dana 44. I must say the after doing the Dana 44, the 14 bolt GM rear end was childs play!

I just swappwd out the quald headlights for 9007 style bulbs and plan do do the upgraded relay type harness soon.

[mikesacs]

I just installed a new set of headlights with the 9007 bases. These are the ones LMC sells along with a relay harness. I ended up doing a lot of modification with the harness to make it work. It is installed backwards with the wiring routing through the passengers side of the radiator support. I did this to keep the power leads as short as possible. They are connected directly to the alternator. The light output is extremely better than stock. I still need to work on the aiming. I followed some instruction to adjust both high and low pattern about 3" lower at 25'. I did this for both high and low, as the instructions said. But, when I try them on the road both patters are about in the same place. Which I guess they should be since that is how I aimed them! I moved the high beam lights up some and that helps, but I still feel like I'm missing good instructions for quad headlights.

[mikesacs]

Another pic.

[McMurphy]

Did you ever get your rubber floor mat to relax?
I know Markb has one like that, and I think he provided some tips and tricks for getting his to conform and lay right....

[mikesacs]

The floor mat still looks nearly like it did when I installed it. I did try a heat gun and that would allow it to be worked nearly flat, but it would still regain its memory after some time.

[63suburban]

nice work, thanks for sharing.
does the floor mat fit the passenger side of the floor well?
I noticed how the sub floor is slightly different than the trucks. if you got any pics of the back and passenger side that would be nice to see.

[mikesacs]

Originally Posted by 63suburban

nice work, thanks for sharing.
does the floor mat fit the passenger side of the floor well?
I noticed how the sub floor is slightly different than the trucks. if you got any pics of the back and passenger side that would be nice to see.

Here are a few pics of the floor. Passenger side front and the other two are with the passenger seat tipped forward to show the rear.

[McMurphy]

I cannot help but wonder if heating it with the gun, then rapidly cooling it with rags soaked in ice water would not reprogram the material memory.

I guess if I were in your situation, that is what I would try next.

[mikesacs]

I installed some gas struts for my rear hatch. I thought this would be a quick and easy job, but like most things it took me 5 times longer than I thought. I planned to drill the rivets out of the original supports and bolt a ball stud in their place. I soon found out that there is not enough room to fit the ball and strut between the hatch and the body. Thus I extended the strut to fit forward of the hatch. It took several attempt to make brackets that worked well. I ended up using 14 gauge stainless and struts that are 10.5" closed and 18" open with 48 pound force.