53 Surburban "Family Truckster"

[oldman3]

Good to hear about members meeting up...Jim

[Modges'66]

Marc,
I forgot to mention that my buddy is having a car show this Saturday (9/18) at his customs shop in Kent City just north of Grand Rapids. This show should be fairly large as the one that he had this spring had several hundred cars. It would be great if you could make it!
PM me if you need more details.

[youngrodder]

So we have been taking the Truckster out as much as possible. We went on a decent drive to Join Mike (Modges 66') at a car Show at Star Customs on Saturday. We had a great time. I just passed 2,000 miles since July.

During these 2,000 miles there was this strange sound inside the inner walls of the interior in the back by the rear most side window. I kept saying it sounds like a chain that is dangling. It drove me nuts especially on long drives. You could hear it whenever turning to the left.

Look what I found..... I was pretty spot on in my description of the sound.

I couldn't see the chain at first. I removed a small access panel by the back doors and stuck a finger in and felt something strange. After fishing around for a bit and prying with a large screw driver I found this chain.....I was so happy to find the source of the noise.

Weather permits we will hit up a show in Gas City Michigan which is about 3hrs away.

Marc

[8man]

Was that the dog's collar from Family Vacation in the Family Truckster?

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by 8man

Was that the dog's collar from Family Vacation in the Family Truckster?

That's comedy gold right there....hell it might be.
I kept the chain.

Marc

[Modges'66]

Ha-Ha-Ha!!! That is pretty epic!
I wonder how long it has been there, and what the real story is behind that chain?
I wish that I was in a situation where I could tag-along to the show with you this weekend!
Maybe next show-season!!

[mongocanfly]

Marc ...i could see it now..!!!

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by Modges'66

Ha-Ha-Ha!!! That is pretty epic!
I wonder how long it has been there, and what the real story is behind that chain?
I wish that I was in a situation where I could tag-along to the show with you this weekend!
Maybe next show-season!!

Right I know. From the rust it has been there for a bit.

The weather looks suspect for Saturday. It might be a no go. We might hit one up closer to home (Marshall) if the weather looks sketchy.

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

Marc ...i could see it now..!!!

Pretty much... the only difference is mine was on the passenger side. ha ha

Marc

[youngrodder]

Warning....Photo heavy update!!

Since our maiden voyage to Columbus, OH in Mid July, we have have been burning up the roads as a family in the Truckster.

We have hit up several cruise nights, car shows, cars N coffee events to name a few. I have regularly driven the Suburban to work and run errands (like Home Depot) as well as a few ice cream runs.

The odometer sits just under 2,500 since (Since July). All of this driving has made me realize I NEED cup holders. I have an idea for a slick solution without detracting from the simplicity of the interior/dash. More on that later.

We have had a blast. Here are some pics from the various events.

Thanks

Marc

[youngrodder]

More pics////////////////

[youngrodder]

I told you it was picture heavy..

The last red sky pic was from our way home from a cruise night yesterday in Middlebury IN. It was the last cruise night of the season and had well over 1,000 cars. It was a great time for a drive. MI weather in the fall is the best time to have an old car/truck to bomb around in.

Marc

[mongocanfly]

all that great work is paying off it looks like..!!!!

[NorCalGal]

Love all the photos of your family enjoying your suburban.

[oldman3]

Marc, great pics and great looking family, continue to enjoy...Jim

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by 8man

Very nice!

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

all that great work is paying off it looks like..!!!!

Originally Posted by NorCalGal

Love all the photos of your family enjoying your suburban.

Originally Posted by oldman3

Marc, great pics and great looking family, continue to enjoy...Jim

Thank you all....These are the main reasons behind this build. I have had a few people ask "How much $$". I'm having too much fun driving this thing to think about selling it. Besides I need to finish it the last 5% over the winter.

Marc

[Tempest67]

Great pics, great use of the truck, and great build

Glad to hear that everyone is enjoying that very cool truck.

Thanks for sharing

[Dieselwrencher]

Awesome pics, and keep them coming. We just did a large cruise here as well and I enjoy it for the same things this time of year. It has been pretty warm this fall and I'll take it so I can get a bunch of stuff done before it turns to cold in a weekend. That's how it seems to work here lately.

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by Tempest67

Great pics, great use of the truck, and great build

Glad to hear that everyone is enjoying that very cool truck.

Thanks for sharing

Thanks and thank you for continued interest...

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Awesome pics, and keep them coming. We just did a large cruise here as well and I enjoy it for the same things this time of year. It has been pretty warm this fall and I'll take it so I can get a bunch of stuff done before it turns to cold in a weekend. That's how it seems to work here lately.

Yes, same here with the weather. I'm getting it tuned on the 15th and have some other upgrades over the winter but I had to put it up (just yet). I'm going to head over to a fellow board member this weekend to meet him and check out his projects. He's on the other years/body style sections. Everyone that I have met in person from this site have been great.

Thanks
Marc

[youngrodder]

Operation Cup Holder/////

With driving as much as we do it helped to identify how badly I needed cup holders in the Truckster. Like most of the build details I didn't want the cup holder to look like a stuck on after thought. I also didn't want to spend a ton of $$ on a solution.

I purchased a double barrel cup holder from LS Fab. These were designed with the intent of mounting under the dash. Since I used a custom lower dash panel and was out of real-estate I come up with a different solution. These cup holders are SS and very heavy gauge metal. Like all of their other products very nice quality.

I purchases some tube clamps of Amazon that would be used for mounting lights on an off road vehicle. I then cut up the mount to better fit my location. The offset of the mounting hole location I drilled were dictated by the seat spring supports. The goal was to center the cup holders in cab.

Pretty happy with how it turned out.

Cheers....

[Tempest67]

nice touch

[8man]

I like that. Good idea for use with a bench seat.

[Dieselwrencher]

That turned out really nice.

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by Tempest67

nice touch

Originally Posted by 8man

I like that. Good idea for use with a bench seat.

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

That turned out really nice.

Thanks Guys.....I toyed with having it mounted only on one side and be able to pivot/spin it to fit under the seat out of sight. I didn't like how much of the cup holder I would have to cut to pull it off. Also I was pretty certain it would not be as stout as this mounting method.

Thanks
Marc

[JJH Jimmy]

It was nice to meet you yesterday. You have done one hell of a job on it. That is one sweet ride!

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by JJH Jimmy

It was nice to meet you yesterday. You have done one hell of a job on it. That is one sweet ride!

Thanks Josh

On Saturday taking advantage of this great fall weather, I cruised over for Josh's (JJH Jimmy) to check out his projects. I really like what he's got going on.

Thanks your chatting about trucks on Saturday.

**Oh, it tried out the cup holder this weekend and I'm very pleased. The ergonomics of the location works great.

Marc