bagged burb project..

[jbjburbs]

This my 94 burban i bought. the guy before me did most of the work, and i thought i had more time to build this project right... not the case, but i found another solution and i will post that later...

[jbjburbs]

more pics.. had to photo shop (too big to post). notice the last couple pics.. the sub in the background is my next project, dad's old one. he has a 72 sub he wants to replace it..

[jbjburbs]

Here are some pictures of the new burban...

[jbjburbs]

Well, I'm back online my first year of a new career and marriage kept me from this forum...the 94 burban is gone, but I just replaced it with a 1996 GMC Burban

[jbjburbs]

Sorry, not very organized, but here are some of the plans....

Full airride w/digital controls
ART upper and lower A-arms
custom cups up front to lay the cross member
KP Component bolt-on 4link and cantilever kit for the rear
modified to fit the burban rather than the pick-up (i'll document this closely)
Minimal floor cutting, but truck should lay frame in the rear
rhino lining as under coating
powder coated frame/axel/etc...
Flat black paint
22in wheels/tires
bigger brakes at some point
some audio (nothing over the top)

I have suspension parts in hand and the rear on order, so hopefully I will start there and work up. The truck is from northern Ohio, so it clean but the frame is rusty (hence powder coat). The suspension parts will be laid out and configured, cutting will follow, then i'll pull the body off the frame and work on body work while the frame is out. I hope to see street time this summer, but who knows... I'll try to be more faithful to this thread as i find frustrating to find very little build threads on Suburbans.

[tvblazer78]

Very Cool! I will be keeping my eyes on this one, I would like to do this to my Tahoe down the road.

[ChevLoRay]

Guess there ain't nuthin' like dragging hitch receiver, huh?

Interesting project. Keep us posted.

[jbjburbs]

Alright guys... i've been gone for a little bit, but i've been busy. I got my ART upper and lower control arms installed. I also have my KP kit on hand. We just finished playing with the front today. It doesn't lay near low enough, so i'm trying to get some drop spindles and i might be shortening my cups for get some more drop.

The kp kit install will come later, and i have picks of front progress and will post tomorrow.

[Restrorob]

I'm along for the ride !!!

[89muscletruck]

nice

[19723DR]

You've got to love Suburans. Looks good.

[jbjburbs]

parts going in and front shot before removing.

[jbjburbs]

Here are some progress picks so far, but i need drop spindles (duh). I'm also at crossroads as my sensible side says keep within reason and my not so sensible side says not low enough...LAY ROCKER!!

[jbjburbs]

O yea the boxes hold everything for the rear...but i'm still debating on how drastic i want this truck. the body sits about 2in higher than the frame, so with 2in drop spindles i would have roughly 2in between frame and ground with about 4in between the ground and body... if i cut the cups a couple inches and notch the frame then i lay and body (rocker) is about 2 inches from the ground. I could body drop the truck 3in and leave the cups alone..i also noticed about an inch between the body and top frame rail...cut the mounts an inch short?

I can't decide as i'l like to drive this sub daily and sell my tahoe, but if it's too extreme than that would be dumb...opinions?

[jbjburbs]

Started on the rear destruction...i have a shot of the rear before we tore into it, one after all big stuff came, and the last is one of 4 riveted mounts that have to go..We started to mock fit the KP kit and finding the difference between a pick-up and suburban.. but it's still relatively close. I'll post more as we get closer.

[jbjburbs]

Got most the stuff out of the way and started mocking up the 4 link and cantilever kit from KP. Talked to them before ordering and i knew we would be close to fitting, but not a direct bolt-on. What I've found out:

1. The leaf springs are shorter on the suburban, so the front mounts need to be moved up on the frame.
2. the front brackets work better if you flip them over and switch sides..driver to pass and pass to driver. It provides better clearance and keeps the bracket more centered in the frame.
3. the cantilever kit will have 2 bolts that line and the rest need to be drilled.

We're going make 6"x14"x1/4" plate and weld the kp brackets to it. then we will drill and bolt the plate to the frame. Since the pickup brackets don't line up for a suburban and redrilling holes would be putting a lot of force in spot we figured our plate would be much stronger.

For the cantilever in the back we're planning to put a plate on the inside of the frame rails with the nuts welded to it. This way running the bolts in will be much easier since the gas tank in they way and some of the rear frame is boxed.

We will also make probably be making a custom bracket for the panhard bar, too. I will take better pictures once we pull the frame from the suburban.

Now this is a lot work for a bolt-on kit, but keep in mind the kit we bought was intended for completely different truck. I bought this setup knowing i would have to workout some kinks, but i also knew it would strong, reliable and very close to what i needed. A bolt-on kit is only putting wholes in the frame, so the truck could be returned to stock and/or upgraded rather easily.

[jbjburbs]

here are some pictures of our work, a couple shots of what ride height should be and a kp 4 link and cantilever kit... i'll better ones once we pull it apart again..

[Restrorob]

Sometimes it's easier to modify a existing part than build one from scratch....

It's coming along well, Keep up the good work !

[jbjburbs]

well, spent the weekend under my tahoe instead of the suburban. since we have it rolling we've been getting everything else up to date on maintenance (the shop has had oil, brakes, bearings, tire rotations, etc done on like 4 cars in the last week). I'm waiting on my brother to come home and get his truck caught up before diving into the sub again...impatiently waiting BTW.

However, i got some 2in shackles put on dad's 94 suburban today... it's 2/2 drop on it now. He's had the shackles for a long time, but a week after sitting next to my burb he wanted them on...

[jbjburbs]

Hey... still alive, but bombed with weddings and work lately. I was able to purchase some drop spindles last week.. 2 inchers from DJM.. not much but still an update.

[jbjburbs]

Saw these over the weekend, plus a couple box suburbans laying frame/rocker. The orange sub has been in a few mags this year and gets in the weeds. However, we passed him on I-75 somewhere in kentucky...nice to see a driver. The white one is a hauler, but i thought it looked cool (ride height of mine with 22's i hope).

[jbjburbs]

ok... i did it again... i'm going to add a 3rd sub to this build thread...this one was a driver laying crossmember and gas tank for a good price, so i had to...i'm going start cleaning and getting the details right, but pictures are coming...here's a teaser..

[jbjburbs]

welp...worked on the latest burb today. pulled out the speaker junk and cleaned it up all over. It could use another good cleaning, but one day at a time. The pictures suck, but dad's 53 panel had me parked in...

[jbjburbs]

heres the old boxes for 4 15s and some amps (forgot to take a shot before i started, sorry i was about to put those heavy bastards back in). Also had wood covers that went from 2nd row to the barn doors to hide the air stuff. I plan to move the stuff from the notch and custom mount a 3rd row seat. I don't need or want subs, so i have plenty of room.

I also plan to put in faux floor even with the notched floor and hide the air stuff under it. new air compressors will be hidden in some sound barrier compartment but in the truck for winter driving...

[jbjburbs]

1st Truck/car show is in!!! Lay'd Out @ the Park in Morristown, TN was a success. I saw a lot great trucks and found some inspiration. The sunburn i got is also a great excuse to hide in the garage for a while. Picked up some wheel tubs for the rear there, too... hopefully progress will start real soon.