[CH0PSV1LLE]

So me and my wife have been talking about the next truck I should pick up since I sold my k5 blazer last week. It was originally my weekend warrior/bug out/project truck but after weighing everything up I decided to got with a suburban instead....... Here's what I'm looking forward to:
-6.2l turbo diesel engine
-nv4500 manual transmission
-dual transfercases (np203/205)
-2.5 ton rockwell axles (stock gears)
-12 inch lifted suspension
-46 inch military tires
-a heavy duty exo cage (end of the world designed
-custom engine snokle
-front & rear winches
-ranger green & matte black paint job
-custom lighting (360 offroad, military black out, chassis/rock)
-aftermarket high capacity fuel tank
-on-board air compressor
-on-board welder
-ham/cb radio & on board wifi
-gps unit & dash mounted compass

Right now I'm looking at is a 91 fully loaded 2500 suburban with barn rear doors in damn good condition for under $3k. Its registered as a diesel with a clean title.

 

[OldCootHillbilly]

Yer gonna need that diesel otherwise a gas will need a fuel trailer behind it.

 

[CH0PSV1LLE]

Yer gonna need that diesel otherwise a gas will need a fuel trailer behind it.

Sorry dude, I messed up on the title.......... Of course its going to be a diesel. The suburban I've got my eye is a 6.2l diesel engine. I've been researching a hydrogen hybrid conversion on top of a huge turbo charger. The goal is have a rig that gets 30+ mph, can do 0-60 in under 10 second and can pull anything.

 

[Tirediron]

You may want to reconsider your engine choice, the 6.2/6.5 chev engine is not a real strong platform, is a pain to start and will never get the milage you are looking for underload. the other problem with them is that at 21 to 1 compression they generate a lot of heat under load. they are a good engine for a stock sub or pickup on its own but suck under heavy load. A cummins 12valve 6bt with an inline pump would be a lot better suited to your project.

 

[NaeKid]

May I make some suggestions to your plan for your BOV?

AirBag suspension (18-wheeler air-ride suspension) limited to about 4" lift with a triangulated 4-link rear (for decent flex) and a pivot-one-link front. Use the same axles as planned with stock gearing and put in matched set of Detroit lockers. Use significant body-trimming to fit the tires of choice.

Dual-snorkles with air-valve so that you can use a cable-pull to switch between outside air and air from the cabin-space. Yes, when pulling air from inside the cabin, it will be very noisy, but, it should also be slightly cleaner. Also, run a snorkled exhaust to put the spent-gasses above the cabin at the rear.

As far as the tire-choice goes, I believe that I am running the same kind of tires on my little YJ (military-stamped XML). The tires are good with amazing load carry capacity, but, the sidewall flex isn't quite good enough unless I reach closer to atmosphere PSI. Also, I have a hard-time sticking to the trails when they are damp-clay, too much sliding around for my taste with little control of direction. A set of Irok's are in my future-plans for my little Jeep. Maybe a set of PittBulls, Interco or other offroad styled tire might do you just as well as the military tires.

With the weight that you are talking about, I would choose between boxing the 3/4-ton frame and replacing it with a 1-ton frame to limit frame failure. With the upgraded frame, mount winching-points to the frame for side-pulling for others to pull you sideways safely or use it for self-recovery by pulling yourself sideways as required.

Winching. Running dual winches is great, would you run PTO off of the dual-cases or run hydraulic or electric winches? Synthetic-cable will lower chances of personal-damage due to breaking cables - is that also in your plans?



Other than those little points, sounds like you have your plans in gear! Good luck, I would love to see progress pictures!

 

[Tirediron]

Couple of add ons 30series subs don't exist, you might be able to modify a K30 crewcab frame, boxing the existing frame would add a lot of strength, as long as you add clean out points. Inside air works well, ducted behind glove box , a bit louder especially with a diesel. For sheer reliability military wrap leaf springs are hard to beat, but lack articulation

 

[NaeKid]

TiredIron,

That is basically what I was meaning - putting the 3/4-ton body onto a 1-ton chassis derived from either the 1-ton van or the 1-ton pickup truck. Some minor frame modifications would be required (like body-mounts) but the general fit would be close-enough.

With the list of modifications that CH0PSV1LLE has listed, I would imagine that body-off would be part of the plans - too much work planned with the body on the frame ...

I also like the simplicity of leaf-spring but spring-bind on a heavy-truck like his would be too much. Then we are talking coil-overs, coils-n-shocks or air-bags. My YJ has insane amounts of flex on leaf-springs, but, my YJ is a bit of a rare-bird. It has won trophies for best-flex in class (leaf-spring 4-corners) at different competitions, but, in direct competition with coil-sprung, I am still lacking and there is no competition when it comes to coil-overs. I score almost 1000 on a 23° RTI ramp, my buddies rig on coils scores 1200 on the same 23° RTI ramp ..

For CH0PSV1LLE's build, he would probably want to maximize flex while maximizing load capacity - to that end, airbags would probably be the better choice.

 

[nj_m715]

Scrap the hydrogen gen and read up on wvo. I wouldn't toss out a good running 6.2/6.5. I've worked on plenty of them and owned a couple over the years. Most bad things you hear normally come from misinformation. Many people think they are gas 350 conversions. Others note that they have a weak inj pump and suggest running a dodge or ford. Well, the older fords use the same type of IP. My 2 cents, run it until it dies. I think you'll be happy with it.

 

[CH0PSV1LLE]

What I'm looking at is a budget build. A Cummins turbo diesel would be ideal but the cost is more then I'm looking at spending. The suburban I'm looking for is a 6.2l diesel with out the turbo. I would go with a turbo 6.5l but they have more problems then the 6.2l. I've been reading up on how to give these low hp high tq engines some duramax power levels.

The 2.5 ton rockwell axles and the 46" tall military tires seem like overkill but since the both of them come off the same truck, there is no need to re-gear the axles to the tires. I've started looking into rockwell prices but the 46" tires are $200 each. (I payed $260 per baja claw for my old k5 blazer.)

As far as the suspension goes, I'm not looking for a rock crawler....... I want something that can see over stuff and power over all obstacles. I live in Gilroy California and its a mix of suburban and ranch/farm living. In a shtf event I plan on using the farming irrigation systems to pick up the in-laws and head for the hills. I'm lucky enough to live within a few miles from nothing. (Check out google maps)

Because I know the limited flex of this rig, that exo cage is needed to keep from damaging the rigs lower half. 4 wheel & off-road has a feature titled "The Snowburban". Ill post pictures when I get to my lap top.

Ill start looking into the wvo too....... It'd great to get at least around 25 mpg out of this rig.

 

[nj_m715]

How much experience do you have building and running off road 'wheelers? I think you might find it's not going to be very streetable with that much unsprung weight and I think you'll be lucky to get double digit mpg with a big hp motor and 46" even if it's a diesel. I had a jeep with a mild small block and 44's. Sure I drove it around town, it wasn't always fun and I broke plenty of stuff. Now I have vw diesel powered geo tracker on 31" with a snorkel. I never get out in the mud any more, but that little thing went down every trail that my jeep could.
I'm just saying I've been there and done that. If you have built a couple trucks before than you know full well what you're getting into and you can ignore my 2 cents. I'll find a pic of my old jeep and a link to the truck I have now.

 

[nj_m715]

Ok, here we go. Exo-skel and skid plates. This was at Tellico NC about 1998-2000 or so. I forget what trail, but the two guys behind my jeep are trying to figure out how I got a tire on top of the rock while the rear axle stayed level with a basically conventional suspension. This was before the rock buggy days, when 3 or 4 link rears were hot.

Here's the p/u I drive now.
http://www.preparedsociety.com/forum/f21/quick-run-down-my-well-equiped-bov-3704/

 

[Tirediron]

If you plan on getting high hp out of a 6.2 you will spend more money than just converting to a 6BT, the 6.5 is a better engine than the 6.2 all things considered,until the electronic pumps ruined it. they will make 350hp , but not for long and not cheap. I am not 6.2/6.5 prejuduce , I have one in a '93 k3500 and am a HD mech, these precombustion engines have limits and 250hp is about it with any kind of reliability.
As for your drive line mods wouldn't a Dana 60/14bolt gm be more than enough?? and a lot more "streetable" and they have brakes that work. Again not trying to rain on your parade,just want you to think it through.:2thumb:

 

[CH0PSV1LLE]

After taking the last week to work everything on paper I've decided to go with a used military blazer (m1009). I still have the 5" lifted suspension, 3/4 ton axles I built up along with the "mighty mouse" small block I pulled off of my truck before I sold it. The biggest project I'd have to do would be swapping in the small block in the diesel engine and converting the 24 volt electrical to a 12 volt system.

I'm going to see if I can't make a deal with the surplus guy and try to pick up a second m1009 for cheap. My son wants a blazer so I figured I may as well set him up right.

 

[nj_m715]

Keep that 6.2 on moth balls. You might be swapping it back in after fuel gets to $5+ per gallon. Or send it to me

Get a good electrical chart for the truck. I might have one on cd if you can't find it. Most of the truck is already 12v. Only the starting system is 24v if I remember right (it's been about 10yrs). If you have twin alt. you should be able to charge the truck with one and use the other for a welder.

 

[Tirediron]

the 6.2 to small block swap is easy , every thing bolts up,even the exhaust if you run 350 truck manifolds,the accessory mounts on the 6.2 heads are the same pattern as most 350 chev heads, 6.2s also really respond to big (dual 3'')
exhaust and get relly good fuel milage.

 

[CH0PSV1LLE]

Keep that 6.2 on moth balls. You might be swapping it back in after fuel gets to $5+ per gallon. Or send it to me

Get a good electrical chart for the truck. I might have one on cd if you can't find it. Most of the truck is already 12v. Only the starting system is 24v if I remember right (it's been about 10yrs). If you have twin alt. you should be able to charge the truck with one and use the other for a welder.

One of my buddies and chevy guru has done a few 24v to 12v conversions so he'll be giving me a hand with that....... He's asking what I'm going to do with the 383 I have sitting in storage but I'm not sure if I'm want to keep the 6.2 and add a banks turbo kit or swap in my 383.

 

[piglett]

So me and my wife have been talking about the next truck I should pick up since I sold my k5 blazer last week. It was originally my weekend warrior/bug out/project truck but after weighing everything up I decided to got with a suburban instead....... Here's what I'm looking forward to:
-6.2l turbo diesel engine
-nv4500 manual transmission
-dual transfercases (np203/205)
-2.5 ton rockwell axles (stock gears)
-12 inch lifted suspension
-46 inch military tires
-a heavy duty exo cage (end of the world designed
-custom engine snokle
-front & rear winches
-ranger green & matte black paint job
-custom lighting (360 offroad, military black out, chassis/rock)
-aftermarket high capacity fuel tank
-on-board air compressor
-on-board welder
-ham/cb radio & on board wifi
-gps unit & dash mounted compass

Right now I'm looking at is a 91 fully loaded 2500 suburban with barn rear doors in damn good condition for under $3k. Its registered as a diesel with a clean title.

this sounds like a good setup for a mud toy however it will be very heavy & will suck fuel like a pig. also if you want to keep a low profile, keep that beast in the barn. they will spot you 5 miles away in a tall truck like that
exactly how streetable could a rig be on 46's ???
i say 36's would be plenty big enough but the rest of your wish list sounds good to me

piglett

 

[CH0PSV1LLE]

this sounds like a good setup for a mud toy however it will be very heavy & will suck fuel like a pig. also if you want to keep a low profile, keep that beast in the barn. they will spot you 5 miles away in a tall truck like that
exactly how streetable could a rig be on 46's ???
i say 36's would be plenty big enough but the rest of your wish list sounds good to me

piglett

Haven't checked in for a while but I went ahead and picked up a 89 diesel suburban with a 6 inch and 37s. Just about done with a complete tune up and the next thing to do it is rebuild the 3/4 ton axles, brakes and hydro assisted cross over steering system. Eventually I want to rebuild the suspension for 8 inches of lift and a set of 40s. My wife has decided that I should make this a week end family rig after her dad gave us his little mazda for an extra car. This works out great since I work a stright shot 20 min away and it cost me $25 in gas a week.

Now that I have a basic bov I've been thinking about a secondary rig that I could build to help my primary bov overcome obstacles and sticky situations. I've looking at chevy trazer conversions and im pretty much sold on the idea. I've started looking for a m1008 k30 pick up for all its good stuff. A k5 blazer frame is easy enough to find in a bone yard or craigslist and I know a guy that's done this conversion so ill just stand on his shoulders so all the hard stuff is taken care of........... So anyone have anymore thoughts?

 

[Tirediron]

If you are doing a frame swap you mat want to look for a crewcab K30/35 the frame is pretty close to the K5 profile (you just have to trim the back off to the right length)My son and I are seriously considering a bob tail K35 CC for a offroad/resque truck,

 

[CH0PSV1LLE]

If you are doing a frame swap you mat want to look for a crewcab K30/35 the frame is pretty close to the K5 profile (you just have to trim the back off to the right length)My son and I are seriously considering a bob tail K35 CC for a offroad/resque truck,

Good idea....... I was on the off road design website and saw the quad cab flat bed rig. I think id rather do that since id like to have my posse tag along when go on my mid-adventures. I want to use my burban as a daily driver.