2003 Chevy 2500 Suburban - overland build

[boss324]

I love how Rare Parts included sales slick to help me spend my money! I guess I know what to replace next...idler/pitman arms maybe idler arm bracket..just never ends.

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[boss324]

I can report back the endlinks really take the harshness out of the ride and same with the HD tie rod ups when hitting potholes. Really happy with this setup thus far. I ordered some energy sway bar bushings to finish the front end and now thinking about doing some Sulastic shackles for the leaf springs for the rear. Shackles should take some of the harshness away from the solid rear axle and HD leaf springs. Wife and kids should be happy once done.

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[Craig M]

Wow, cool rig and great job so far!

I had a NBS Suburban (2005 Z71) for a few years but when I was originally shopping for it, I really was hoping to find a 2500 instead. My brother had one that I loved but they are pretty rare out here so I ended up with a 1500. I loved it and only got rid of it because I had been itching for a more trail capable rig for a while.

Here is my old rig:

 

[boss324]

Wow, cool rig and great job so far!

I had a NBS Suburban (2005 Z71) for a few years but when I was originally shopping for it, I really was hoping to find a 2500 instead. My brother had one that I loved but they are pretty rare out here so I ended up with a 1500. I loved it and only got rid of it because I had been itching for a more trail capable rig for a while.

Here is my old rig:
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Nice Z71 looks leveled? I see a few on this site built up. Yeah I bought mine new in 03 and searched for a while until I found one well equipped. What did you swap her out for?

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[Craig M]

Yep, just with Ford keys in the front (torsion bar) and puck spacer in the rear. It actually worked well but of course the ride suffered some. That said, the long wheelbase of the suburban helped there, and the springs were a bit soft at their age.

I sold it and picked up a 2012 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited last August. I've been on the full size kick for the last several rigs and was ready for something smaller. I had a 90 Full Size Bronco before the Suburban, and an Crew Cab F350 bfore that.

Here's the Bronco when I was selling it a few year ago (4" lift on 33's):

 

[boss324]

Oh nice! I want to build up a 96 Bronco and drop a Coyote 5.0 in it! I can't see me getting rid of the Burb so I do have to pick the trails to fit the Burb. Still should be lots of places I can go..

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[boss324]

My Energy sway bar bushings came in today!

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[tbisaacs]

Changing my links and bushings made a monster difference in my suburban.


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[boss324]

My Suburban has 36mm 1 3/8 sway bar which on most parts store or online stores show only up to 33mm 1 5/16th a pain to locate. These are only available with the endlinks which I didn't need but can keep for the poly bushings on the endlinks when needed.

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[boss324]

Changing my links and bushings made a monster difference in my suburban.


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I agree! Took all the harshness from my Burb very happy!

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[boss324]

Pretty happy with the Sumo springs up front so I am also going to go with some Supersprings bump stops in the rear to replace the OE ones. Since doing the 2" lift block the OE are pretty much useless. Sumo has the 2" spacers along with the longer design to activate sooner. Less roll, more comfortable ride and acts as a helper spring under load.

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[maxfederle89]

Really enjoyed reading your thread! I like how you are approaching your build up. I know my front end needs work on my old pickup. I'm mainly focusing on trying to get my engine tuned up and the sebsors sorted out but I will need to address the front sooner or later. Was replacing your ball joints and what not fairly easy to do yourself?

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[boss324]

Really enjoyed reading your thread! I like how you are approaching your build up. I know my front end needs work on my old pickup. I'm mainly focusing on trying to get my engine tuned up and the sebsors sorted out but I will need to address the front sooner or later. Was replacing your ball joints and what not fairly easy to do yourself?

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Thanks bud! This was done over time it never ends with any hobby...lol Yeah swapping out the coil pack and Platinum plugs made a world of difference. Throttle response and just idles silky smooth love it. My upper ball joints came as a part of the Cognito UCA. Still need to replace my lower ball joint eventually still look good.

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[boss324]

Very happy with my current setup! Recently took an 1800+ mile trip to Seattle and mount Rainer was epic! We we're unfortunately on a very tight schedule but was able to spend a full day circling mnt Rainier loop 1. Highly recommend this route to all who visit. Suntop lookout (5200ft) was a nice off-road trip off this route. 360 views were spectacular and the drive up can be done in a car but obviously SUV or Truck is ideal some Rocky sections can ruin your day if you slice a tire. Anyways my current setup could use a little more help comfort wise with the solid rear axle. Next up on my list are Sumosprings bumpstops in the rear and Sulastic shackles to take the vibration and harshness away. Fox shocks does a good job of soaking up the terrain just need to smooth out the ride as my family seems to always mention the harshness of the ride when in the third row.

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[maxfederle89]

That looks fabulous! Just beautiful. How was your mileage on that trip?

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[boss324]

That looks fabulous! Just beautiful. How was your mileage on that trip?

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Trip computer showed the following:
1812 miles
152 gallons of fuel
Avg. 11.3 mpg

Many many pros to owning a 2500 Suburban. Gas milage isn't one of them the 6.0 liter likes to drink gas + lifted and bigger tires really made my milage worse. Iirc it was 12-13 stock on avg now more like 11-12. Still what else swallows up cargo and seats 8, swallows up miles with ease and able to climb a rough rough road 5200 ft in comfort...lol well at least I keep telling myself that at the pump!

BTW Paradise off loop 1 had the best sceanary!

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[maxfederle89]

Trip computer showed the following:
1812 miles
152 gallons of fuel
Avg. 11.3 mpg

Many many pros to owning a 2500 Suburban. Gas milage isn't one of them the 6.0 liter likes to drink gas + lifted and bigger tires really made my milage worse. Iirc it was 12-13 stock on avg now more like 11-12. Still what else swallows up cargo and seats 8, swallows up miles with ease and able to climb a rough rough road 5200 ft in comfort...lol well at least I keep telling myself that at the pump!

BTW Paradise off loop 1 had the best sceanary!

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Man it's pretty up there! Thank you for the full report. That's not surprising to me. I'm not doing much better. On a long road trip when I head to western Nebraska I think the best I did was 13.8mpg... That's on 265/75r16 with my knock sensors out of wack. Really hoping to see some improvement when I replace them. I'll log my mileage on my upcoming camping trip. Should be just under 1000 miles.

I'd sure love to go to that area someday. Thanks for sharing those great pictures.

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[boss324]

Also noticed some vibration on the right side at speed (75+) thinking of doing the HD Rare Parts idler and pitman arm. Just had the tires rotated and rebalanced so will see if this helps. I've been reading that it can be a bad u-joint and by rebalancing the drive shaft will fix this symptom. Will need to get that squared away first.

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[boss324]

Did some maintenance on the Burb today. Ran 1 gallon of full strength Dex-cool antifreeze through the system and 1 gallon distilled water saved me a few bucks $15 to be exact. Ready for another 75k miles.

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[boss324]

We (Jelorian) did the full Corral Hollow trail this past weekend and came out pretty much unscathed. However i did rub both of my running boards on the tight switchbacks on a rock and tree truck. Rock sliders are a must next mod. The trail was easy up to the cabin the remaining trail was moderate with the toughest part was navigating the large rocky sections and switchbacks.

I think it would be a lot more difficult if we came in on 7N35 vs 7N09 trail head. That would have been pretty difficult going up that side in the burb most likely 4LO up that side for sure. Rocks ruts washout exposed tree trunks, tight switchbacks. All in all an awesome trail!

Here are some pics..

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