Suburban Assault Vehicle

LooseC, I'm cornfused .....on the 'I'm in a damn good mood' thread you displayed a very sweet looking very newish Ram 2500 hemi 4x4 pickem up that is yours also ?

In reply to 759NRNG:

Yes, that's my new truck and it's the nicest thing I've ever owned, but there are reasons I drive my old Suburban instead. Attached is a picture of my beloved 2005 Dodge Ram Daytona that I had owned since new. It was a great truck, fast and stylish, fun to drive, etc, etc. When I got it, I hauled the occasional kart or parts in the back but usually I just hauled fuel in the custom 400 litre tank I had built that slid in the back. 12 years and 215,000 kms later, it was starting to rust around the wheelwells, the exhaust manifold had a bad leak and the drivers seat needed replacing. I could have spent the money to fix these things but the truck was also not good at towing my race car because I lowered it and the truck weighed less than the trailer so the tail would wag the dog a little. So, I traded it in and got the amazing Power Wagon, which is superior in nearly every way except for fuel economy when empty and 0-60 mph acceleration. Ok, so before I got the Power Wagon, we had a giant dump of snow and my wife's Mazda 3 had real trouble getting around. I bought the Suburban to give us a go anywhere vehicle with an eye towards turning it into the ultimate tow vehicle. I was going to fix it up, put an LS motor in it and a 4 link suspension. Then I got the Power Wagon and suddenly there was nothing I could do to the Suburban to match the road trip capability of the big Dodge. I put the Suburban up for sale but just got some insulting offers so I decided to keep it and make a long term project of it. I am glad I did because now I drive it every day so that I don't have to put all the runaround miles on the Power Wagon. I save the Power Wagon for trailer towing and road trips because it's a superstar at those things, a luxury vehicle that also happens to have locking diffs, skid plates, sway bar disconnect and a winch. Driving the Suburban gives me a daily sense of adventure, of accomplishment, sort of like the automotive equivalent of a mud run. And after a week of driving the difficult to shift, smelly, slow, non air-conditioned Suburban, getting into the Power Wagon is like an ice cold beer at the end of a long, hot day of yard work.

[URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/loosecannon/media/IMG_2197_zps0k0mi4wy.jpg.html][/URL]

Makes perfect sense to me.......Party on Garth!!!!

Getting into the Suburban has been, umm, difficult and I couldn't find a set of running boards I liked, so I built some myself. The bedliner was a messy nightmare to apply, won't do that again. [URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/loosecannon/media/Suburban/IMG_0118_zpsyiotl9dz.jpg.html][/URL]

[URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/loosecannon/media/Suburban/IMG_0217_zpsljcg0cen.jpg.html][/URL]

[URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/loosecannon/media/Suburban/IMG_0222_zpscylcbuyw.jpg.html][/URL]

And I added Blinky decals to the sides and back door

[URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/loosecannon/media/Suburban/IMG_0225_zpsvq9jiqqg.jpg.html][/URL]

loosecannon wrote: Getting into the Suburban has been, umm, difficult and I couldn't find a set of running boards I liked, so I built some myself. The bedliner was a messy nightmare to apply, won't do that again. [URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/loosecannon/media/Suburban/IMG_0118_zpsyiotl9dz.jpg.html][/URL] [URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/loosecannon/media/Suburban/IMG_0217_zpsljcg0cen.jpg.html][/URL] [URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/loosecannon/media/Suburban/IMG_0222_zpscylcbuyw.jpg.html][/URL] And I added Blinky decals to the sides and back door [URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/loosecannon/media/Suburban/IMG_0225_zpsvq9jiqqg.jpg.html][/URL]

The fish and signage make it. Awsome work!

Looks awesome!

That's a kick ass truck man.

That is great looking truck, and I love the new signage. A friend had a lowered 2wd one in college, these are really neat vehicles.

Nice. I sold my 69 burb a few months ago and regretted it, so have agreed to buy another one....I think it's a 69, but not sure. It is a 3 door, GMC 4x4, so I'm looking forward to picking it up. It has some period correct mods like hickey fiberglass hood and sidewinder winch.

Looks like you got some bedliner on yur chooz Ha!!! White for the roof?.

Blinky....as chosen by Briget?

In reply to 759NRNG:

Yes, Briget suggested Blinky. I'm not thinking about the roof right now, gotta fix race car

Blinky rocks.....yea I noticed (PinkP)

loosecannon wrote: Getting into the Suburban has been, umm, difficult and I couldn't find a set of running boards I liked, so I built some myself. The bedliner was a messy nightmare to apply, won't do that again. [URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/loosecannon/media/Suburban/IMG_0118_zpsyiotl9dz.jpg.html][/URL]

not sure if your interested in to it or not but as long as your welds are good and sealed you could put an air chuck on those running boards and use them as on-board air tanks.

In reply to edizzle89:

Good suggestion, but I doubt they are air tight

Since I last posted about the Suburban, I made some cup holders out of aluminum and added a rear heater-it stays toasty warm even on cold Canadian days. I had it out in a snowstorm the other day, ripping around in 4wd and having a good time, when the whole Suburban went dead. It turns out that having the headlights, front heater, rear heater and windshield wipers going at the same time overheated the ignition switch and melted a wire. I put the heaters on relays now so that problem is fixed. Ok, back to today. I couldn't find a correct spare tire mount for the rear bumper so, guess what? I built my own using only scrap steel from other projects. And I also finally tracked down the proper 3/4 ton dog dish hubcaps and put those on,too. The only problem with the spare tire mount is that the bumper is not strong enough to hold it solidly, and will have to be reinforced.

Did some actual off roading with it. Things started off well but deteriorated once water was introduced

Sand Dunes and water holes

Hmmm spending anytime around you could prove to be very challenging 

What’s new with this burb?

OHSCrifle said:

What’s new with this burb?

I put on eBay with a high enough reserve that I wouldn’t feel bad if it sold, but it didn’t quite make it. I have it in storage until I have the time and money (mostly money) to fix it up right. I want to fix the rust, double the power and put a link style suspension in on it. 

I have ordered all the panels I need to make the Suburban rust free. I have a complete floor, rocker panels, rear panels and even the taillight mounts coming from LMC truck. It's a huge project-literally.

I am a full time welding student now and for a project, I built a bumper

awesome bumper and rig overall

OK, both bumpers are built and today I finished a roof rack, too.

Very glad it didn’t meet reserve on eBay. That is looking awesome.   Gonna keep the same patina look??