'99 Suburban Overland Rig

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JackE

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Next in line was trying to figure out where to mount the 55" light bar that I have moved from one vehicle to another. Up on the safari rack was the best choice so I didn't have to deal with the noise of having it right over the windshield. Mounting it farther back also took care of the glare on the hood and windshield.
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JackE

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Killiing time on the local swap n buy page while the wife is grocery shopping, I found this bull bar for $20. I went and picked it up and was back at the grocery store before she was done shopping.

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JackE

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All it took for the new headlight assemblies to make the priority list was asking the wife to pick me up from work one night. The originals were so crappy she insisted I order something new right away.
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I didn't like the way these mounted, the way they sat in the hole, the way they shined, or how dim the high's were, besides one of the low beam bulbs burned out the day after I mounted them. These went back and another set was ordered and mounted.
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This set still doesn't fill the hole as well as I would like, but they have a nice shine pattern and the look good, so they are on to stay for a while.
 

JackE

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After taking a few road trips and calculating my MPG, I decided to get a set of highway tread tires and mounted them on the set of Alcoa wheels I had the Treadwrights on, and put the Guard Dogs on the shot out aluminum wheels for off road use only. I also removed the safari rack for everyday driving, it easily goes back on for off road trips. By doing these two things, I went back up to 14 mpg from 9-10 with the off road gear. My problem now, is I don't have the big LED bar for my night time desert driving. I decided to make that a permanent part of the Suburban instead of a removable off road accessory. It took the better part of a morning, but I removed the front bumper and bull bar and did some executive engineering on the mount brackets and put the bar inside the bumper.

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I don't quite like the placement, but I need to get a plasma cutter to notch out the bull bar so I can move the bar about an inch farther forward. As it sits now, I can't adjust it up and down at all.
 

JackE

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Finally had a week off work last April so I decided to go after the oil leak I have been avoiding. The rear main was leaking all over everything. I decided to go with removing the tranny so I could also drain as much fluid out of it as possible and change the filter too. As I started that process I soon came to realize the rear main wasn't leaking, it was the oil pan gasket, right at the back. It's such a pain to change that with the engine in, I decided to just pull the engine and get the crank turned to get rid of the cold start knock I suffer with. I don't have a local machine shop so when I got to the point I could yank the crank I was in quite a hurry so I could send it with my mom to the big city shop I use. I didn't look anything over, just took 10 minutes to get it out and bagged to send away. I knew it was in rough shape, but trust my machine guy to fix me up.

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A few weeks later I went and picked up my freshly turned, shiny, good as new crankshaft! It was way worse than I expected, he took 20 off the rod journals, and 30 off the mains! I got home and decided it was time to go over the rest of the engine and replace everything that was needed. I know better, I should have done that before I sent the crank out. I found an awful lot of this inside the block!

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Long story short, the entire engine came apart. Back to the machine shop with the block and heads. Now I have a completely rebuilt, zero mileage engine in my Burb! Valve job, block bored 30 over, new engine mounts, water pump, radiator, A/C pump, condenser, oil cooler lines, basically if it could be replaced, I replaced it! Hind site 20/20, I should have just ordered an engine from Jegs, Cost would have been close and I would have only been out of commission for a month or so instead of 4 months. However, now I have the satisfaction of knowing the build was done to my specifications, and the joy of knowing when it comes to the big jobs, I STILL GOT IT!!!
 

JackE

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I have been running the Burb for a few months now. I was meticulous with my break-in procedure. A few weeks ago I got called on to put her to the test. My son called, stranded out in the desert a good 350 miles from home. Time to mount my first of hopefully many rescue missions. That is one of the reasons for my owning and building my Suburban. Hooked the trailer and took off. 13 hours later, I pulled in the driveway without a single issue! The worst of the hills I had to climb was about a 2500 ft. ascent over an 8 mile winding stretch of road! Sanity did an amazing job! I pulled that mountain pass as hard as I dared. Engine temp stayed right at 200, trans temp about 180. I couldn't ask for better!

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JackE

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Made some shop time today. Mounted the continuation duty relay to the second battery. I wired the trigger wire for the relay to the keyed side ignition circuit fuse in the underhood distribution box. This will take the second battery out of the mail loop with the key off.

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thz71

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Nice build man! Love detailed builds like this! Keep it up!

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JackE

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Thanks!! Cold weather and I DO NOT get along well, so not much gets done in the winter months. It’s killing me too! I have plenty planned for the soon to be here warmer days so I’ll be adding plenty more.
 
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