89 suburban project

[TheDirt520]

Hello I'm working on a 89 Suburban I found on CL for $200 mostly stripped down but it was cheap and rust free, plus I parted out a 81 crew cab dually 2wd which is supplying the front suspension rear axle and dually fenders for my burb I've had it, sorry worked on it a total of 3 days now, it started life as a 1/2ton 4x4 but since it was missing the complete drivetrain and running gear I'm making it a 2wd dually lowered flat black with a kick ass stereo,,,, here's where I'm at so far,,,,, damn can't upload pics from my phone will add them in a couple mins
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[lolife99]

Will be watching for pics!

[TheDirt520]

Heres the pics, damn windows phone wont let me do crap on it

[TheDirt520]

i stripped it of the ac crap and maybe a blockoff plate, Im going to fill the quarter panels with expanding foam made for filling pontoon boats, i will also fill the inside of the doors and anyother open cavity in this truck like the area around the roof, 4 18" Fi audio subs are gonna shake the crap outta it

[TheDirt520]

I thought about just converting the 4x4 frame to 2wd but instead of making sure all holes get drilled right, i found a frame on CL for $150, i'm just going to change the upper balljoints and swap over the lower arms and spindles from my dually, i will be swapping the rear leaf brackets over from a 1/2ton 4x4 since they hang lower i can do the axle flip and have room for the massive dana 70hd rear axle(thing is a beast)

[TheDirt520]

all this crap takes me awhile since i do 95% of it myself with no help, but when its done ill be able to say i did everything myself,, yes people i know the welds on the firewall plate are sloppy but i have about 4 hours of welding time, my welds on thicker metals are way better!,,, before the new frame goes under i will clean and paint the frame and underside of the truck there will be no other color besides flat black on this sub, no chrome, nothing,,,
So after getting the 4x4 frame out i had to figure out what to do with it, then i got a good idea, put it under my crew cab body,, the blue pickup in the pics is losing its life for parts for the other two trucks, at 6'11" i cant drive standard cab pick ups

[Hoods69BadBowTie]

Nice sounds like a fun project. Cant wait to see some pics after you get more done. Keep up the good work

[YoungBurb88]

I got to lookin at those picks and apparently our burbs (before your project) were pretty similar.. had the exact same interior, only difference I could see would be the rear door and exterior paint..... One thing I was going to ask about is the gas tank - does the dually conversion require that you move and/replace the tank due to space constrictions?

[TheDirt520]

No the tank will stay put, im pushing my rear axle back 2 inches so I don't have to cut the dually fenders and it'll still clear the tank,, tomorrow I'll be doing some work, gotta clean and paint the frame, and swap over the dually parts I'll add some pics on the conversion
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[YoungBurb88]

Okay, I was just curious about the tank issue as those 36 gallon "barrels" take up a lotta room.

[y5mgisi]

Subscribed.

[TheDirt520]

Woke up late today felt kinda lazy but managed to get some work on my frame, do to minor differences in the 1/2ton suspension and the 1ton i decided to swap out the whole crossmember, matched up to the 1/2 frame perfect, out back I cut off the stupid stock rivets for the leaf spring mounts to change them for the narrower 1ton parts, they dont match up at all, theres 4 rivets on the front 1/2 mounts, 6on the 1ton,, theres 6 rivets on the 1/2ton rear with 4 on the 1ton, but since i'm moving the rearend back 2" i'll use the top rear hole(front mount) and swivel the mount torwards the back some, and drill the other holes, this plus the axles spring pads have extra holes i should pick up the 2" i need,, I need to remember to take pics before and during my work, i always forget and take them when i'm done for the day,,, I'll try, more to come tomorrow

[TheDirt520]

ohh plus I cut out the old dually bedsides to use the piece for a template for the mounting holes on the suburban and to open up the wheelwell so theres no tire rub,,,, Last pic is my lazy ass cat named Dog (just happened to transfer over with my pics)

[TheDirt520]

pressure washed the frame today and moved the axle under just to see what it looks like, tomorrow i'll take the drill and wire wheel to the frame then paint ithave to figure out what to do for the leaf spring mounts , the last pic is about where i need the axle to sit(height wise)

[TheDirt520]

Thanks I've wanted one every since I saw Twister years ago, got quite abit of work to do still but it's coming along, I'll get it paint next week and get the body in one piece then it'll be something to look at.
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[truckfan]

subscribed

[thirdstreettito]

Subscribed!

[LT7A]

I like the enthusiasm. I'd bet that dually fenders, pontoon boat foam, four 18 inch woofers, and everything's gonna be flat black might have added up to a project that didn't come together in the way it was first conceived... More power to him if it did!