88 silverado suburban

[jott_06]

Had the camaro out so I had to grab a pic of it with the burb

[jott_06]

I was knocking a u joint out of my new drive shaft so i could take it with me to the parts store and i notices some old writing on the shaft. It said 1977 3/4 ton FORD 4x4. So i guess i got a ford shaft. Oh well. The length is dead on. Just had to get a couple 1310/1330 conversion u joints.

[jott_06]

Got the conversion U joints put in my ford driveshaft. I'm going to have to lose the carrier bearing crossmember to make room for the one piece shaft. Should i put something back in its place?

[MTCK]

Nice work. Can you remove the carrier bearing and keep the crossmember?

[jott_06]

i was able to keep some of the crossmember. I did have to do some trimming on it though. The ford shaft bolted in like it was factory. And it eliminated all of the vibrations I was noticeing and some that I didnt realize were coming from the driveshaft. The whole vehicle feels tighter and smoother on take off and cruising.

[jott_06]

Dropped the burb off for some work. Having a local shop replace the Front axle U-joints, Ball joints, and bearings and seals if needed. The U joints on the ends of the front axle shafts were shot. I dont know how they have stayed together this long.

[jott_06]

They installed 4 new ball joints with grease fittings, 2 new greasable axle joints, bearing seals, and drag link. I still feel some wandering in the steering. Wandering if the gear box is just worn out.

[RDrancher]

You have a very cool rig here! I don't recall seeing a granny gear trans in a Burb before. Good job.

[jott_06]

Thanks. I havent seen another one either. Getting ready to go pick up some brake parts at o'reilly's. I replaced the master cylinder with a brand new Duralast unit because my pedal was always hard and sometimes didnt want to return, but now I have a broken bleeder on my left caliper. Then while trying to get it out i broke a screw extractor. So I did some calling and decided to spend the $22 and just replace the caliper. Might even grab a set of pads while I am at it, these ones still have some life but look like they are going to crumble.

[jott_06]

Had my local exhaust shop bend me up some pipes to kick the tailpipes out in front of the rear tires.

I had them do the bend at 70* and then once they are on I will trim then ends at the same angle even with the body.

[jott_06]

Tailpipes are on and cut to length.


I have to admit. It sounded much better when it was dumped straight out of the mufflers. But at least we wont get fumes inside and might be able to talk inside the vehicle.

[jott_06]

Took the suburban to a judged car show last weekend and actually got top 75. I have showed at this show for 10 years with 4 different vehicles and untill now only placed twice. And that was with a 2000 Saleen Mustang. If feels good to know that people notice the work I put into this thing.

[MTCK]

Looks real good. Been driving it much?

[jott_06]

not as much as i should. We take the kids to the drive in movie in it and i have done a few car shows but it mostly sits. the spot that i have to park it in my yard isnt convienient to drive it daily

[COS399]

Great job and nice work.

[manimal]

You did an AWESOME job!

[jott_06]

thank you. The family and I took it out on Sunday drive last week and tried to get lost on some back country roads. We had a blast and that old 4 speed is alot of fun

[Barbecue]

Great looking Suburban. You did a good job of the lift: not too much but just right. I'm not a huge fan of all the modern rigs out there that people jack to the sky - you did a good job to respectfully stay out of that crowd. Well done!

[jott_06]

Thank you. I was trying to keep a stock-ish appearance but with a little of my own style. I like to look at huge trucks but with a wife and kids they just aren't practical.

[NastyBuzzard]

Great find on that 1 pc driveshaft. I really wish I could find a 1 pc for my crew cab short bed build. I really hate 2 piece drive shafts. I am converting my 88 crew cab to 4x4 as well. I had to use the same slot deal for the engine xmember. If you have the time you should check out my build thread and see if I made any visible mistakes.

[jott_06]

I will check it out

[jott_06]

Well, I sold my original 14 bolt out of this thing so its time for paint!!!

Spent this evening stripping everything off of the roof so I can start prepping it.

The plan is to start with the roof and paint and reassemble it before doing any other tear down. I just want to get the roof out of the way. Then couple small patches it needs on the quarters and tear the rest of it down to prep for paint.

[MTCK]

Nice. Keeping the same color?

[jott_06]

Keeping the black parts black but the grey is getting changed. Not going to give away my color for the center quite yet.

I got a gallon of Kirker "Super Jet Black" so now I can get busy on the roof


Also picked up some new Goodmark inner fenders and ordered the patches for my lower quarters today

[jott_06]

I was out getting the new inners out of their boxes so I figured I would grab a pic of one with the current state of the Suburban in the background. i had to tarp the roof because their are a Zillion holes in it from all the trim and roof rack that I pulled off.