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

Nice. Good news. I would like to compare notes. I think my bolts are ok mine was mostly restored in 1999 but sat in Palm Springs garage since then. Never started needs dash re-wired.

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

Well it was a lot of work to post all these pics and copy/paste all the notes....

Seriously its been tough as its too tall and long for my dinky two car garage. Working in the driveway sucks. That and apparently its not cool to be running a grinder or a welder with little kids underfoot.

My plan was to go with a NV4500, but now I'm considering just adding a Ranger Torque Splitter. It goes in front of your 4 spd and has direct and overdrive. So you get your overdrive gear, and can split other gears. Plus its alot cheaper, and would be cool to have more sticks!

https://www.advanceadapters.com/prod...etainer-index/

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

I picked up 95% of a gear vender overdrive. If I can find a Holley sniper and change out the upholstery to something other than white, I’m done with parts accumulation phase.

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

Love the build! I'm jealous of the 4wd....probably going to put a locker in my C20 and see where that gets me.

If you ever decide to go with the Sniper EFI, you won't regret it, especially if you go on a lot trips that take you from sea level up into the mountains. We did a trip a few years ago that started at sea level and topped out over 7K feet. My buddy's carb'd small block was struggling up top. The Sniper on my 6.0L LS never sputtered.

Looking forward to more updates!!

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

Thanks, glad you like it.

Yes Sniper EFI is on my want list. The Edelbrock runs pretty good right now, so I can put that off for a bit. Need some time for my wallet to recover!

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

I too have been looking at getting a Ranger spliter for different project. The only negative feedback I have found is that they can be noisy.

As much as I don't like working under the truck in the driveway all I have to do is think back to my days doing repairs on logging equipment in the woods and it all seems pretty good. The problem was using my buddies body shop for the paint and body work. It sure didn't take long to get spoiled using a two post lift.

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

I really like your roof basket set up too....I'm an idiot and gave away a set of 6 of those old Quick-N-Easy brackets a few years back. Now they're "Unobtanium".

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

Took it to the drive in last night. I think I read that there were only about 30 drive ins still in the US and we are fortunate to have one in Reno.

The suburban is a great drive in rig. We put the air mattress in the back and enjoyed Toy Story 4 and the Lion King with the kids.

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

very cool!!

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

Got back Sunday night. Mod phone number for pick ip

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

Is no one seeing my pics except for the last one? Tried to show this thread at a friends house and no pics. Log on at home and I see the pics. Went to check my gallery and the album I put all these in is gone ??

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

All of the pics are showing up for me.

Jack

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

Just checked and I can see them.
The Drive-in photo is making me want to head over to Newberg and catch a show at the HW99 Drive-in. Now if they would just show something I want to see.

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

This is awesome! I almost went with those same wheels, but the wife didn't like them as much as I did, so I ended up with some classic Alcoa-style Pro Comps. I'm not sure what wheel size you're running, but when I got rid of my 16.5s, I went with 17" wheels, so I could run LT315/70/17s (same size as factory Hummer H2 tires). My thought was it would probably be easier to find H2 tires than a 35x12.50x17 if I was ever on the road and had a blowout.


Good to see another 3/4T 4x4 Burb on the board!

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

I can only see the drive in pic. I have been following this thread and had been able to see the other pics, no idea what happened.

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

-
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'... :)