My 99 K2500 Suburban

Jman95 · Oct 26, 2020

Onto the frame!

So as I mentioned above, there was some very substantial rot in the front part of the frame, the heads of the bolts for the gearbox were pulled through the outer rail and welds were rusted and cracking. The frame was immaculate from the firewall back.

So I got with a reputable body/frame shop to cut the frame at the firewall and weld in a donor.

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Leaving the cab and most of the chassis intact so measurements could be taken to make sure everything would be straight and true when finished.

Then it was time to blast and paint the frame, working in a small garage with not a lot of tools at first, had to use my noodle a bit, with the help of my old man and my oldest brother (gotta give credit where it’s due lol). I ran a router bit down the center of 2 6ft. 4x4s so that the drip rail of the rocker would sit down inside the 4x4 nice and snug. Also took a chisel and carved a nice square for the feet of my jack stands, so as to stabalize the board from wanting to to tip or twist on me.

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Was able to get the frame out easily this way.

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This way worked for me, however it was a little shady. If anyone wants to try this at home, I will say that I am not responsible for anything that happens. I don’t recommend doing it this way, much safer with an actual lift.

Jman95 · Oct 26, 2020

The frame was out, I wasn’t ecstatic with the weld job the shop did at all..

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At this point I shelled out some money for factory service manuals, so I could double check measurements to save myself a headache later on. Fashioned some fish plates after sealing those burn through spots with some welds of my own. (They heard about it :banghead:

)

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Not the prettiest work, but definitely more effective than what was there in my opinion. (I thought when cutting/welding frame rails, that they were supposed to be cut on an angle or diamond style cut, not straight up and down? I’m not sure though..) I made angles on the plates to try to spread the stresses across greater areas at different angles, rather than a square.. at least it works that way in my mind lol

Sent the frame out for sandblasting and powder coat.

Before:

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After:

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The frame was powdercoated in June of 2018, it sat in a climate controlled garage until this May.. I flipped the frame up on its side to move some stuff around in the garage and noticed the powdercoat flaking off of the bottom of the frame.. apparently the company only sandblasted the top of the frame.. :banghead:

So, I know of a heavy diesel truck body/frame shop through my work, got it loaded up and taken there to be sandblasted and painted again..

It was blasted completely and coated with Amershield by PPG. It is a single stage Primer/Paint combo that dries to 8mils thick and is highly corrosive resistant. In my opinion it looks better too.

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So after going back after other people more than once, there she sits.

We got the undercarriage next!

SUBURBAN5 · Oct 26, 2020

Awesome job on the frame.

HotWheelsBurban · Oct 26, 2020

Jman95 said:
The frame was out, I wasn’t ecstatic with the weld job the shop did at all..

You must be registered for see images attach

At this point I shelled out some money for factory service manuals, so I could double check measurements to save myself a headache later on. Fashioned some fish plates after sealing those burn through spots with some welds of my own. (They heard about it )

You must be registered for see images attach

Not the prettiest work, but definitely more effective than what was there in my opinion. (I thought when cutting/welding frame rails, that they were supposed to be cut on an angle or diamond style cut, not straight up and down? I’m not sure though..) I made angles on the plates to try to spread the stresses across greater areas at different angles, rather than a square.. at least it works that way in my mind lol

Sent the frame out for sandblasting and powder coat.

Before:

You must be registered for see images attach

After:

You must be registered for see images attach

The frame was powdercoated in June of 2018, it sat in a climate controlled garage until this May.. I flipped the frame up on its side to move some stuff around in the garage and noticed the powdercoat flaking off of the bottom of the frame.. apparently the company only sandblasted the top of the frame..

So, I know of a heavy diesel truck body/frame shop through my work, got it loaded up and taken there to be sandblasted and painted again..

It was blasted completely and coated with Amershield by PPG. It is a single stage Primer/Paint combo that dries to 8mils thick and is highly corrosive resistant. In my opinion it looks better too.

You must be registered for see images attach

So after going back after other people more than once, there she sits.

We got the undercarriage next!

Good looking truck, glad it's starting to come together!

Jman95 · Oct 26, 2020

SUBURBAN5 said:
Awesome job on the frame.

Appreciate it

Jman95 · Oct 26, 2020

HotWheelsBurban said:
Good looking truck, glad it's starting to come together!

thanks!

Jman95 · Oct 26, 2020

After getting burned twice, I decided to tackle the undercarriage myself. It wasn’t in horrible condition to start with. I decided I wanted to spray it with bedliner. I added more support to my 4x4s since I was gonna be under it.

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The truck didn’t have floor mats until I bought them. Snowy salty boots are to thank for this more than likely..

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The d/s footwell, here is a pic from the interior..

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Could be worse for a truck that spent its life in the salt belt..

Jman95 · Oct 26, 2020

Hit the entire undercarriage with a wire wheel, cleaned it, cleaned it, and then cleaned it some more. Switched over to the DA Sander with 180 grit, hit the entire thing with that, cleaned it some more..

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Mixed up some Epoxy Primer from Raptor Liner (bedliner I used, stuck with their whole system in case I had any issues)

Laid a coat down before I redid all the seam sealer.

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After redoing all the seams and letting them cure, laid down 2 more coats of primer.

Jman95 · Oct 26, 2020

The Raptor Liner is tintable, so you mix it with paint of your choice with the binders removed. Your local paint supply store will know what you need once you tell them your using it for raptor..

I mixed mine with paint code “PBS” which is a deep water blue pearl coat.

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Sprayed the entire undercarriage and cowl with the liner, let it cure for 7 days. I though 1 thick coat would have been enough but it shrunk a bit after curing so I did a second coat.

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The metallic comes through in the liner pretty nicely, hard to tell from the pictures.. obviously this is gonna be the color when the truck is finished..

Raptor is very forgiving to apply, I sprayed the primer through a harbor freight HVLP gun, and the liner through the shutz gun. It is possible to shoot the liner through an HVLP gun once reduced with urethane reducer. That is the plan for the rest of the truck, getting as close to a matte finish as possible. Haven’t decided for sure yet.

SUBURBAN5 · Oct 26, 2020

That is awesome. I'm jealous lol. I wanna do that to mine now....

My 99 K2500 Suburban

Jman95

OBS Enthusiast

Jman95

OBS Enthusiast

SUBURBAN5

I'm Awesome

HotWheelsBurban

Gotta have 4 doors..... Rawhide, TOTY 2023!

Jman95

OBS Enthusiast

Jman95

OBS Enthusiast

Jman95

OBS Enthusiast

Jman95

OBS Enthusiast

Jman95

OBS Enthusiast

SUBURBAN5

I'm Awesome

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