Re: 1971 4x4 Suburban Project - the 'Family Adventure Wagon'
 

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I can see all of the pictures on the first page and the drive in picture on the second page.

LockDoc

Re: 1971 4x4 Suburban Project - the 'Family Adventure Wagon'
 

I think the only people that can see the pics are ones who viewed it in the past and its cached. I had all these pics in one of my albums, and now that album is gone.

I sent a message to admin about it and have not gotten a response. You can't edit posts that old to reattach. Sorry everyone. I'll make a whole new thread when I have time.

Re: 1971 4x4 Suburban Project - the 'Family Adventure Wagon'
 

I went into my Browser tools and deleted my cache. I can still see all of the pictures in the thread and all three of your albums in your profile, one album for the thread and two albums for the for sale stuff. I can also download your pictures from this thread. I don't think I could do that if they weren't on the site.

LockDoc

Re: 1971 4x4 Suburban Project - the 'Family Adventure Wagon'
 

I can seem em all now, weird. My computer clears the cache twice a day.

Re: 1971 4x4 Suburban Project - the 'Family Adventure Wagon'
 

Still unclear why pics show up for some and not others. I'll stop linking pics from my album and just add them to the bottom of my posts...

Did some more work on the suburban. My used axles turned out to not be such a deal as the front leaked. On a Dana 44 there is only an inner seal, nothing on the outer part of the axle tube so you have to pull the cover and remove the axle shaft to replace the seal.

Of course NAPA sold me the wrong seals the first time so there was the requisite mid-project trip to the parts store.

Sorry for the dark pic.

Re: 1971 4x4 Suburban Project - the 'Family Adventure Wagon'
 

As long as I had it apart, I did new rotors and calipers. I added HAWK HPS pads as they did a great job improving the stopping of my Cherokee.

Re: 1971 4x4 Suburban Project - the 'Family Adventure Wagon'
 

Got smart and invested in a popup tent for shade. Also scored a deal on a Portacool standalone evaporative cooler (grey thing in the background). Makes a big difference when working outside on hot days!

Re: 1971 4x4 Suburban Project - the 'Family Adventure Wagon'
 

My old man is a retired 'gear man' who worked on semi truck axles and transmissions. He helped me do the seals. Its great to have knowledgeable help. He even had the big weird socket for the hub lockrings.

When he had the axle apart, I thought I'd get the brakes bled. In addition to the new calipers, I'd installed new longer flex lines in the front and back.

I got this slick Motiv power bleeder. Its really nice, but you've got to get it sealed well. The supplied chains are useless. First try with a clamp I didn't get it sealed well and started squirting brake fluid everywhere - right above where my dad was working on the axle.

Well got it sealed well and pumped it up again. Big mistake - the front calipers weren't mounted and the power bleeder adds enough pressure that I pushed the piston out of the caliper. Yep brake fluid everywhere again.

But managed to get it all sorted eventually and I'm pretty happy with the braking now. I only put the Hawk pads in the front and now it will lock the fronts before the rears, so I will probably add them in back too.

Re: 1971 4x4 Suburban Project - the 'Family Adventure Wagon'
 

I've still got some bad vibes in the back when I hit 55mph. When you change tires, wheels, driveline, axle, and springs all at the same time, it can be hard to track down the culprit.

I've measured and remeasured my driveline angles and tried several different shims. I guess I need to have my tire balance rechecked and the driveline balance rechecked now. I'm going to put it up on stands and run it to see if there is a bent wheel or axle (both bought used).

So had to press the old Cherokee into service for another camping trip.. :(

Re: 1971 4x4 Suburban Project - the 'Family Adventure Wagon'
 

And I'm still getting lots of 'help'... :)

Re: 1971 4x4 Suburban Project - the 'Family Adventure Wagon'
 

Looks like a couple of future hot rodders in the making.

Re: 1971 4x4 Suburban Project - the 'Family Adventure Wagon'
 

Nice looking Suburban, like what you've done to it. Maybe we'll see you around town.

Re: 1971 4x4 Suburban Project - the 'Family Adventure Wagon'
 

Thanks. Cool to see there are several Reno area members here!

Re: 1971 4x4 Suburban Project - the 'Family Adventure Wagon'
 

Added some slip on seat covers today. My seats are actually very nice and the front has been reupholstered by the previous owner. But I've got kids and a dog, so I wanted to protect the seats.

I would have loved to find some that resembled the 'highlander' plaid, but didn't find anything. So I decided to go with traditional horse blanket. They certainly look period correct. Reviews for the $40 ones on Amazon weren't encouraging, so I got these from FIA out of Canada. I'm pretty happy with them. They are certainly heavy duty.

My back / middle seat is from a 74ish suburban so it is a 70/30 split. Good luck finding anything to fit that. However I realized I'll usually have the small seat folded up, so I got a small bench seat cover like for an old toyota and it did pretty good for the long section, just a bit long.

Re: 1971 4x4 Suburban Project - the 'Family Adventure Wagon'
 

Still struggling with my vibration. Put it up on stands today and found this. Driveshaft has some up and down motion. Not sure if it is the shaft or the axle. Axle was used, driveshaft got shortened when it was all installed.

Emailed the company that shortened the shaft and will see what they say.

Can't figure out how to embed the video, but here is a link:
https://youtu.be/hykrsMDBKdg

Re: 1971 4x4 Suburban Project - the 'Family Adventure Wagon'
 

Longer version, in case anyone is that bored....

https://youtu.be/IF4LGGbXGSE

Re: 1971 4x4 Suburban Project - the 'Family Adventure Wagon'
 

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Looks like the whole assembly is moving in and out of the third member. I wonder if it is the bearing that is bad. That would also let the shaft move up and down.... Dunno' I will look at it again

LockDoc

Re: 1971 4x4 Suburban Project - the 'Family Adventure Wagon'
 

Got my driveshaft rebalanced. I noticed when I brought it back in that it had one weight on one end. Now it has two weights on one end and a weight on the other end.

My vibration is still there, but significantly reduced. What remains could be a bit of tire vibes or due to pinion angle. Its good enough I feel okay driving it.

Also scored a serpentine belt kit at Summits scratch and dent pile. Was $987, got it for $380.

Re: 1971 4x4 Suburban Project - the 'Family Adventure Wagon'
 

Glad you got part of it resolved anyway. That is a steal on the serp setup. Was there something missing?

LockDoc

Re: 1971 4x4 Suburban Project - the 'Family Adventure Wagon'
 

Still chasing a vibration!

Found one rear tire had a bit of a bounce, and decided the hub was a touch loose. Tightened and and no change.

Took it to the place where I had the driveshaft shortened and took him for a ride. The best he could come up with was that the transfer case output seemed a bit sloppy. So I'm going to do a fluid change and replace the output bearing and seal. Not very optimistic that is the issue.

Re: 1971 4x4 Suburban Project - the 'Family Adventure Wagon'
 

Decided to take a break from chasing the vibes and do some simpler projects.

My headlights have been a bit flaky, so I decide I might as well upgrade them.

I did some research here and liked the H4 and relay upgrades some guys do so I decided to take that route.

Bought Cibie 82440 H4 housings on ebay for $94. Also bought a H4 relay harness for about $20.

On Amazon I bought some H4 80/100W bulbs.

Got everything installed in about an hour. Haven't had a chance to drive at night yet to test and align/aim, but they certainly are brighter than stock, and now the headlight voltage doesn't need to go through the dash switch.

Re: 1971 4x4 Suburban Project - the 'Family Adventure Wagon'
 

I also did some tuning. I thought my advance came on early and had too much, so I changed some things. I have the MSD Streetfire HEI.

I changed springs to the next level firmer based on the spring kit instructions. I also added the vacuum advance limited to setting 'B'. This was all based on what I've read has worked well for others.

My carb is an Edelbrock 1406. I've read many people swap the jets/rods for those that come stock in the 1405. So I made that change too.

The result was a nice improvement in responsiveness and acceleration. I feel it has a fair bit more power from 2-3000 rpm. So if you have a MSD dist and/or a 1406 carb, I suggest trying out these changes.

Re: 1971 4x4 Suburban Project - the 'Family Adventure Wagon'
 

You might try to find a shop that has one of these analyzers to locate your issue.

https://www.vehicleservicepros.com/i...iagnostic-unit

Re: 1971 4x4 Suburban Project - the 'Family Adventure Wagon'
 

Subbed to watch!

Re: 1971 4x4 Suburban Project - the 'Family Adventure Wagon'
 

Sweet - another tool I need!

I don't imagine that's something NAPA will rent/loan.

I overheard two guys talking at the airport about Dodge using a system like this to diagnose vibrations. I wonder if the local dealership has one.

Re: 1971 4x4 Suburban Project - the 'Family Adventure Wagon'
 

I'm not surprised to hear a Dodge dealer having one. I've had a little exposure to a couple of later model Dodge 4x4 3/4 tons and drive the drive train vibration issues when they get up around 100k on them. All that Cummins torque takes its toll.

Re: 1971 4x4 Suburban Project - the 'Family Adventure Wagon'
 

Kinda looks like yours. Got an extra

Re: 1971 4x4 Suburban Project - the 'Family Adventure Wagon'
 

North Cascades!!! I love that place! If you ever have a chance to go, do it!

Re: 1971 4x4 Suburban Project - the 'Family Adventure Wagon'
 

I should have picked up a bunch of those when I was up there. Stupid Stupid Stupid lol.

Im not sure if you can even get them online anymore.

Re: 1971 4x4 Suburban Project - the 'Family Adventure Wagon'
 

The shipping was the killer. $12 bucks

Re: 1971 4x4 Suburban Project - the 'Family Adventure Wagon'
 

Sweet! Where do I get one of those?

Re: 1971 4x4 Suburban Project - the 'Family Adventure Wagon'
 

So they’re 16.99 plus 11 shipping ouch! Good news. I bought an extra. $25 and I’ll drive it over from sparks. Or google northern cascades institute

Re: 1971 4x4 Suburban Project - the 'Family Adventure Wagon'
 

Thank you, I appreciate that.

Here's the link for anyone interested:
http://north-cascades-institute.shop...r-14-x-22.html

Yeah $17 for a 14" poster is pretty steep. Too bad it isn't blue!

Re: 1971 4x4 Suburban Project - the 'Family Adventure Wagon'
 

I had decided that my 'vibration' might actually be a very obnoxious exhaust resonance / drone. The vibes are the same frequency as the exhaust note. It had straight back dual exhaust with no cross over and straight through mufflers, which from what I've read, would be prone to such things.

I'd already bought some 2.5" 'ram's horn' manifolds to replace the stock cast iron truck manifolds, so I decided it was time to put them on.

Not sure it makes a big difference in performance, but they look nice.

Re: 1971 4x4 Suburban Project - the 'Family Adventure Wagon'
 

Took it to an old school exhaust shop and talked it over with the old guy who's been doing it for 50 yrs. Told him I wanted it quiet. Got it back with a 14" magnaflow that was NOT quiet.

After some back and forth they agreed to make it right and got this set up. Dual 2.5" pipes to a single muffler with a 3" output. Sounds nice and mellow.

Re: 1971 4x4 Suburban Project - the 'Family Adventure Wagon'
 

However it has NOT fixed my vibration. So still working on that. :(

Re: 1971 4x4 Suburban Project - the 'Family Adventure Wagon'
 

Looking good! Good luck in hunting down the vibration.
I had vibration problem on mine too. It ended up being a combination of a worn carrier bearing (which I replaced with a billet carrier bearing and a new drive shaft) and the ring gear carrier was disintegrating. So a good used carrier, new ring and pinion, a new axle, and all new bearings were installed and now things are much quieter.

Re: 1971 4x4 Suburban Project - the 'Family Adventure Wagon'
 

Long time between updates. My suburban doesn't fit in the garage, so I don't do much to it in the winter months.

This spring had lots of yard work, and my wife and kid actually got the Coronavirus (serious stuff folks, my wife was wiped out for two full weeks and is still not 100%). So no time for wrenching projects.

But finally get some stuff done. I replaced the oil in the trans and transfer case (it was fine, and new fluid did not cure my vibes).

I rebuilt the Edelbrock carb. My first one and it wasn't that hard. Followed a you tube video. While I was at it I installed the 'off road' spring kit from Edelbrock and put in a block on the rear fuel passage. Cuz its a 4x4 ya know.

I re routed the plug wires with some wire holders. Had to customize a bit since the rams horn come up higher than other manifolds. Not perfect, but will keep the wires off the exhaust.

Re: 1971 4x4 Suburban Project - the 'Family Adventure Wagon'
 

Since watching 'Engine Masters' test of carb spacers I decided it wouldn't hurt to add a 1" open spacer.

I retuned everything and it runs really nice now. It certainly picked up power from the carb rebuild (was pretty gunky inside, and I think the secondaries were sticking) and other stuff. I also found a vacuum leak.

I am frustrated with the choke. Even full warm, the quarter round part that keeps your idle higher when cold sometimes barely catches the throttle lever. It makes we wonder if the choke ever fully opens.

Re: 1971 4x4 Suburban Project - the 'Family Adventure Wagon'
 

I have a new harmonic balancer to install, since I'm still shotgunning my vibration issue. I've decided if that doesn't cure it, I'm just going to drive it until the vibes get worse and are easier to diagnose or go away. I have some sound deadening mat to install, so maybe I'll throw that in, turn the radio up, and ignore it!