53 Surburban "Family Truckster"

[Iceburgh]

Good on you......gotta bigger set than I do. I went with 18" so I don't get near the body in that area. 1 crease and buckle from driving and you aren't fixing it easy if at all.
We are pulling for you

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by Iceburgh

Good on you......gotta bigger set than I do. I went with 18" so I don't get near the body in that area. 1 crease and buckle from driving and you aren't fixing it easy if at all.
We are pulling for you

Your just smarter than me that's all.....

Marc

[youngrodder]

The weekend progress. I determined that I would need to shorten my ZR2 rearend in order to allow the wheels to go up inside the Suburban body when aired out. I had never taken a posi rearend apart. I ran into a few snags. I will take the housing and axles to Moser Engineering. It is a 3 hr drive one way but very cheap to have them narrow the rearend plus I can reuse my stock axles as they will shorten them and re-spline them.

I will take 4.25" out of each side reducing my WMS to WMS width from 63" down to 54.5". I also took my rear 20" x 10" rims from my 48 truck to see how everything is fitting. In the second pic the top of the tire is actually up in the pocket that I made. The wheels were nice to confirm more trimming of the body was needed. I will probably only run a 9" rim in the back to provide more wiggle room because it is tight. Keep in mind at drive height I will have no issues.

Also while I had the axles out I drove out the studs so that I can get the same thread as the front hub which uses C-10 parts.

I'm getting closer but I'm bottomed out on the jack so this will have to wait until I get my shortened rearend back to confirm everything.

Marc

[RockinKees]

I think it looks beautiful!
And I haven't seen it with the fender on yet
Nice work!!

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by RockinKees

I think it looks beautiful!
And I haven't seen it with the fender on yet
Nice work!!

Thanks Kees, I held a fender up but I need to clearance the top fender flange just like I did the body to give the tire room to clear. I'm holding off cutting the fender until I validate that my plan will work first. I'm dying to throw the fenders on to see it laid out.

Marc

[oldman3]

Looks good Marc...Jim

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by oldman3

Looks good Marc...Jim

Thanks Jim

[youngrodder]

I spent a few hours screwing around in the garage this afternoon. I worked on the front fenders. When you run 20" rims with bags you need every inch you can get to turn especially if running inner fenders. One trick I did on my 48 is I removed the inner brace for the front fenders. This allows you to remove the mounting tab on the wheel opening flange. Then you can roll (hammer over) the lip of the wheel opening to gain more room. By hammering against wood and taking your time you can roll the edge without effecting the outside of the fender. It also seems to add a little stiffness to the fender by hammering the flange over.

I also receive my last part from Porterbuilt which is the front sway bar. Nice quality piece (as usual). The only issue is I measured the overall width incorrectly by 1/2". I will either have to modify this bar or have PB make me a new one. I still need to figure out the best approach.

Here are some pics to get an idea of what I did with the front fender flanges.

Marc

[youngrodder]

One more straggler of the sway bar end.

Marc

[mongocanfly]

Marc that's a good idea on the fender lip..will you seal the hammered down gap with sealer or something to keep dirt and water from getting in it and staying?

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

Marc that's a good idea on the fender lip..will you seal the hammered down gap with sealer or something to keep dirt and water from getting in it and staying?

I plan to bedline the backside of the fenders so I will make sure to brush some behind the flange.The fenders are in great shape. Water will run out and down from behind there. I'm not too concerned about it.

Marc

[99 to Life]

looks good. for extra support you could even weld a steel strap inside the fender. tuff decision on the sway bar. I'd say just modify it and save everyone some shipping! don't feel bad, I measure wrong all the time!

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by 99 to Life

looks good. for extra support you could even weld a steel strap inside the fender. tuff decision on the sway bar. I'd say just modify it and save everyone some shipping! don't feel bad, I measure wrong all the time!

Yeah I'm not too concerned about fender support. It still has a lot even with the brace removed. I will probably see if a shop close by with a tubing bender can just bend each side in slightly (.25"). The front sheet metal was in place making it tougher to measure so I ended up being off. Sometimes having another set of hands in the garage is a must.

Marc

[lower50's]

$260 to shorten the axle housing and axles is a great deal. It's always about $200 per side for me. Your fender lip turned out nice.

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by lower50's

$260 to shorten the axle housing and axles is a great deal. It's always about $200 per side for me. Your fender lip turned out nice.

Yes, I called around and it was cheaper than anyone plus I can reuse my stock axles. The best part is Moser will do all this work and let me wait for them for same day service since I'm driving 3 hrs one way. I decided the take Friday off from work to make the road trip. Thanks

Marc

[youngrodder]

I have been focused on getting the rear end shortened and then rebuilt with new brakes...The backing plates were rusted bad so I purchase new ones. While I had the axles out I removed the brackets that hold the backing plates to clean them up by sandblasting them and primering them then repainting them...You might notice that I also cut off the parking break bracket in an effort to clean the design of them up since I wont be running a parking brake.

I also added more support for my floor structure and then I recut my factory wood to get an idea of how the wood floor will fit.

This is the rear housing that will be getting shortened on Friday.

Marc

[RockinKees]

Great service of Moser to let you wait on the job!
Mostly it's out of the question with such large jobs...

Parts looking good!

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by RockinKees

Great service of Moser to let you wait on the job!
Mostly it's out of the question with such large jobs...

Parts looking good!

Yes Kees they have been great from a customer service standpoint that's why I wanted to give them a shout out. I will need to be out of the house by 5:30 am to make it there on time. Something tells me even though it's a work day I will spring right out of bed. Funny how that works.

Marc

[Advanced Design]

Good going Marc...hard for me to see though because of all the dust!

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

Good going Marc...hard for me to see though because of all the dust!

Thanks Doug...I'm sure you are making your own progress.

Marc

[lower50's]

That's cool you don't need a P brake, 99% of automatics aren't used anyways.
Found this on FB yesterday.

[69CST-V]

Nice progress Marc....

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by lower50's

That's cool you don't need a P brake, 99% of automatics aren't used anyways.
Found this on FB yesterday.
Attachment 1617745

Thanks for the pic. Jim pointed it out to me yesterday. The funny thing is that picture was just before it was road worthy. One of my favorite pics and one of the older ones.

Originally Posted by 69CST-V

Nice progress Marc....

Thanks Bryce

Marc

[oldman3]

Hey Marc, tomorrows the big day, will be waiting for pics, etc...Jim

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by oldman3

Hey Marc, tomorrows the big day, will be waiting for pics, etc...Jim

You know it...I'm excited to get it chopped down so I can finalize the rear suspension/wheel tub part of this build.

Thanks
Marc