Infectious Off-Road.com

In order to replace my 96 Dodge 2500 v10 that my Dad will now use as his welding rig, I bought a 1988 1/2 ton Suburban.

I looked on Craigslist for a few hours and found this beauty out in California City (the guy I bought it from wasn't living in it, or making meth in it, that I know of.)

Its an 88, with a Goodwrench Crate 350 and rebuilt 700r4 in it, with stickers from rebuild on both. It has 152k miles and the speedo is correct for the 35's on it.
Supposedly it has 4.10 gears and an Eaton locker in rear, but nothing has locked so far, and it ain't so fast.

Plans: Take the 1/2 worn 35's off my YJ, (Toyo MT's, 35x13.50r15) and put them on the Burb to make it more street friendly. Take the 35x14.50/15 Swamper TSL's off the burb and put them on my YJ to make it do a little better off road, I hope, and it'll look bad ass

Here's where you guys come in!
DO I CHOP THE TOP OFF BEHIND THE REAR SEAT???? I used the bed of my pickup fairly frequently and liked the space, but the idea of having an enclosed rig that I can sleep in on things like Ball and Chain Run, is also appealing.

The burb is cool, its tagged and smogged, and I got it on the cheap. The paint sucks, (which I can fix) and it needs seat covers, but otherwise, its not bad. All the lights and gauges work, All but 1 power window works fine, and that one has a regulator to fix it.

So what ya'll think? Chop it or leave it alone? I'm not looking for a show queen, just a tow rig that I can get in and wheel a little if I need to get somewhere, and as a spare car for kids.

Forgot to post a pic.

Sweet!!!!!!


Chop it so I can learn from your mistakes!!!! Kidding, Leave it!

Dont chop, but do paint it canary Yellow

Nice find!

I too say leave it.

Paint it red and give Jeff a run for his money!

Sent from the beach with a beer in hand!

I say leave it and watch this for ideas on how to convert your bed into a thing of camping luxury.

[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4OMuyOfQE0[/url]

I could put it on 1-ton axles, get some 46" MRAP tires. (46x15r20 Goodyear MVT's) but that would eliminate use as a tow rig because the poor little 350 can barely turn the 35's now.

Jeff, if I swap it to D60 and 14 bolt, do I have to shorten the driveshafts??


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No. You dont need to shorten them. The rear will need a conversion joint. But that is about $12.00.

Nice looking burb, that is still one of my favorite driving vehicle for long hauls. One thing I would do is beef up the rear suspension. Mine was a half ton as well and after towing the bayliner a few trips it started sagging really bad. Maybe grab some 3/4" springs? Another part that broke was the auto locking hubs, I would change them out to some warns manual locking to be safe.

nice find!

it's the new sub-club

heffy, zak & mark
they're IOR, BRC, & RBR (really big rigs)

Its only a 1/2 ton and you want to use it as a tow rig, so I would:

1) Change out leafs to heavy-duty. I had to go with 1-ton springs on my 3/4 ton Suburban to tow.
2) Air bags in the back
3) Rated "E" tires, at minimum
4) As many engine mods as you can possibly do to wake up that engine. My 89' 3/4 suburban with a 350 would only do about 30MPH towing my boat over the pass. That engine only puts about 140HP to the rear wheels in one of the heaviest vehicles ever made.
5) Look into a 1-ton axle swap. The 10-bolt/12-bolt axles on those older 1/2 ton suburbans can barely handle the weight of the vehicle alone.

Good lookin out ya'll. I've got a set of cucv 14 bolt and D60 with a Detroit in back and 4.56 gears. Also have the springs from that rig as well. All the towing it will see is my YJ once in a while, but I'm sure even that will be hard on it. I'm not sure if the crate 350 that's in it is rated at the same HP as the original engine, but it moves itself ok now. I'm sure with a load, I'll have to get out and push to get up the hills.

Who knows what I'll end up doing with it. I'll probably paint it, drive it for 6 months and end up selling it. If I do, I'm keeping the 1 ton axles.


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[quote="Zak.Taylor"] I've got a set of cucv 14 bolt and D60 with a Detroit in back and 4.56 gears. Also have the springs from that rig as well.[/quote]
There you go

I got a good haul at the junkyard yesterday. Picked up a front bench seat to replace the destroyed stock buckets. Now she seats six, or 9 if I put a 3rd row in it. Also nabbed the nylon retainer strap for the rear door, it was busted. I also swapped the 35's from my YJ over to the burb and put the TSL's that came on it on the YJ.

I need to finish sanding it and then paint. I am thinking Desert Tan and then maybe stencil "War Pig" on it somewhere or have vinyl decals made for it.

What ya'll think? I'll be sleeping in this beat for ball and chain. Can't wait!!!

Also, with the smooth-rolling 35's, it pulled the 58 climb at 65 in OD. I am thinking the crate 350 that was put into it has a little more than the stock HP.

Also, it came with manual locking hubs....no auto-lockers here.

The Truckurban was born today. Used 5 cut off wheels and took a couple hours. I can now haul trash cans to our dump without a trailer and my quad fits in the back.

I'm going to pull the D60 and 14 bolt off my k30 and put it on the burb later this week. I got some old hmmwv 37's from Josh Mouton (I got your $$ when I see ya) and those will go on too,

This thing is pretty cool for a beater.[img]http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/02/17/ehahyvaq.jpg[/img][img]http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/02/17/yjyny7er.jpg[/img][img]http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/02/17/ejyvuhyn.jpg[/img]


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Nice chop job!

I love it!!!!!!!!!!

right on

Looks awesome!

Sent from the beach with a beer in hand!

I started swapping over the tons today. Got the rear out of each rig. Looks like the u bolts will swap over but the rear shock mounts are opposite, that's an easy fix though. I've got hmmwv 37's for it.

I wish it had the 454. I'd be putting it on 46's.


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This beast will be at ball n chain!!! I'm doing the mud hole, sluice, and the waterfall! F the sheet metal! Lets play!

Once this thing is destroyed, I'll pull the drivetrain for my YJ or a scout. What ya'll think??


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Sounds good to me!!!!

Sweet! Sounds like fun!

Sent from the beach with a beer in hand!

The tons were going to require a few hundred in parts (brakes, spring perches, etc) to put them on the burb. The spring mounts matched up on the Yj, so here it is, sprung over on 3.5" lift springs, on 37's and d60 /14 bolt. I'll need a Dana 300 now in order to make em work on the yj. Or flip the tubes around on the front. This is going to take me a while to finish but at least it'll be cool when it's done.[img]http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/02/24/eguquvy9.jpg[/img][img]http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/02/24/ra7u3ane.jpg[/img][img]http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/02/24/6u8uze3y.jpg[/img]


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