1978 K10 Suburban

[nitro_rat]

There is no support for solid front axle ABS sensors until late 90's Dodge/Ford 3/4-1 tons. (I'm leaving out '94-01 Dodge 1/2 tons because those axles are junk) Chevy and Dodge shared some brake components during that time so it may be possible for a 95-99 K2500 Suburban ABS unit to communicate with the Dodge unit hub front wheel sensors. I have no idea if the Ford stuff would be compatible or not. So that means you'll have to build a custom Dana 60 to use the most undesirable ball joint Dana 60 outers ever made.

Easiest way to get this setup to fit would be to use a K30 Dana 60 housing and whack off the king pin inner c's. Buy a 00-01 Ram 2500/3500 Dana 60 and carefully remove the Inner c's from the tubes. Put the Dodge ball joint inner c's on the K30 tubes, set caster to taste (7° is usually about right). Run the Chevy inner axles, Dodge stubs and outers. If you've gotten this far I'm sure you can figure out the brake lines on your own...

Your other option is a setup that was used to convert a 6 lug 10 bolt for a SAS swap in a H3 Hummer. This kit adapted the H3 brakes to the 80's K10 Chevy axle. I don't know if the company is still making the kit but I believe that it was compatible with the Hummer ABS system. With that setup you would probably match the rear with a 00-06 disc brake rear axle from a Silverado 1500 and use the ABS unit from a 00-06 1500 Suburban. This would be a 6 lug setup and would require 17" wheels to clear the H3 front rotor/caliper combo.

So there you have it, your best options for adding ABS to a "squarebody" Chevy 4x4. 8 lug or 6 lug both covered.

Dollar for dollar the hydroboost swap is the best upgrade you can do for these trucks and it's a factory engineered bolt-in!

 

[FCM]

@nitro_rat, thanks for all the info. I am still just throwing around idea with people I know and trying to work the ABS idea in my head. I appreciate the suggestions as to how it might be feasible.

 

[FCM]

My dad is still wrapping up some details with his radio tower. I went over yesterday to help, but he ended up needing to run some errands all morning and then it was a one man job when he got back. He showed me how to lace the cables to the tower, which is fairly easy and straightforward, so I did a few of them before my dad took over and he finished up what he could. With my dad either gone or not needing my help for most of the day, it gave plenty of time to work on my suburban. The goal for the work day was to separate the body from the frame and, if I had time and figured out how, to pull the frame out from underneath it. By the time I showed up in the morning, my parents had already left so I went straight to work.

I suspect that the body of the suburban is way heavier than I think it is, so I am trying to make it as light as I can for lifting. In my previous attempt at fixing the ‘burb, I had already removed the driver-side inner fender and the hood. This time around I am going to remove the entire front clip. There wasn’t any surprises when I started unbolting the fenders, the remaining inner fender, or the radiator support. I had a little issue getting the passenger-side inner fender out, but quickly realized that if I finished removing the outer fender first, the inner could be pulled straight out. While this was not difficult, it did take a bit longer than I expected. No big deal, at least all my nuts and bolts are organized; time for lunch.

As I was walking back out to get back to work, my folk showed up. My dad and I worked on the tower for a short bit before he took over and I went back to the suburban. At this point, I was looking to remove the body mount bolts/nuts and get some separation. My systematic approach was to start on the driver side and working my way front to back, then back to front up the passenger side. The first bolt was a pain in the rear. I tried using a pneumatic impact to no avail so I ended up having to use a breaker bar, hands, and feet to spin it the entire time. No worries, I needed the workout anyway. The next two nuts spun off fairly easily, but the rear nut was just spinning the lag bolt. To make things just a little less easy, the nut is tucked inside the frame, meaning I was using a breaker bar and then a ratchet. To fix the spinning bolt, I used a pair of vise-grips to grab the head of the bolt and a big screwdriver to block it from rotating around. The screwdriver was in the gap between the tailgate and the body where the hinge is. That finished up the driver side, and the passenger side nuts/bolt spun off without any issue. A total of two bolts and six nuts meant it was nearly time to separate the body from the frame.

Now to disconnect everything else, which there isn’t much of. The wiring harness was mostly disconnected from the front clip removal, but there was still the wires for the tail lights and fuel tank. I ended up dropping the fuel tank to get its wire off; luckily it was mostly empty. With the wiring harness removed, I disconnected the clutch and double checked that everything looked clear. Now to verify that I could get separation, I was going to use a pair of hi-lift jacks to lift the body. I know the body isn’t a stable lifting location, but I figured since I was just looking for separation and not to hold the full weight of the suburban, it would be okay; any extra body damage could be repaired later. I took one of the hi-lift jacks and placed it at the rear, driver-side wheel. As I started lifting, something happened that shouldn’t have. Instead of the body lifting off the frame, the entire back corner of the truck was being lifted, axle and all. I quickly lowered the jack and began assessing what was hanging me up. I couldn’t see anything, so I asked my dad for advice. He didn’t have anything more to suggest than I already did, so we got underneath and double checked everything. As far as could tell, it should be free, but it isn’t. There are twelve bushings under the body, but only eight of them have a bolt through them. The four bushing that are boltless, we suspect, are what is holding everything together still. How? I don’t know yet. My mom called us in for dinner before we could really do much to them and the sun had set by time we finished eating.

Next week weekend I doubt I will have much time to spend working on the suburban, but it is my goal for next weekend to get body/frame separation. Until then, back to daddy duty.

 

[FCM]

Today was a short working day since it was my niece's birthday party. For the time I was working, I figured out that I was just being a pansy last weekend and just needed to lift the body a bit more to get seperation. I came to this after about half an hour of double checking any connections points and using a tire spoon to make sure they were free. After that, I put the hi-lift back to the rear wheel well, lifted the body a bit more, and saw light between the frame and body. With that, my suburban goals were accomplished and I hung out with family for the rest of the day. As the birthday party wound down, my dad and I were talking about how to pull the frame out from under the body and decided on using some eight foot timbers, some jack stands, and a bunch of cement blocks. We drove to the store and bought the two timbers before it was time to load my wife and kid up and head home.

It will be a few weekends before I can get back out to work on the Suburban again. When I do, my next task is to lift the body from the frame and drag the frame out from underneath it. If that goes quickly, I'll set the frame on jack stands and start cleaning it up. I suppose I should get some primer and paint ready to protect any freshly cleaned sections of frame.

 

[MTVR]

To each his own, but with that list you may want to consider starting over with a clean truck from somewhere without salt or winter. Just my .02 good luck though, that's a heck of a to do list

Amen to that- this thread reads like an epic Greek tragedy. I'm just thankful he didn't kill the occupants of the oncoming vehicle.

He bought a 40 year old cancerous wreck that barely moved under it's own power more than seven years ago, and it's even further away from being roadworthy today than it was the day he bought it.

Even if he does ever get this thing going, it's still got a tailgate instead of barn doors.

 

[zoomad75]

Amen to that- this thread reads like an epic Greek tragedy. I'm just thankful he didn't kill the occupants of the oncoming vehicle.

He bought a 40 year old cancerous wreck that barely moved under it's own power more than seven years ago, and it's even further away from being roadworthy today than it was the day he bought it.

Even if he does ever get this thing going, it's still got a tailgate instead of barn doors.

That's being positive for sure. You don't like it, you don't have to read it. Posting such encouraging comments isn't really helping. I've seen worse brought back from the edge. Let the guy do his thing.

 

[MTVR]

That's being positive for sure. You don't like it, you don't have to read it. Posting such encouraging comments isn't really helping. I've seen worse brought back from the edge. Let the guy do his thing.

I was agreeing with the comment made by twodollars.

I never said I didn't like it.

I am not "not letting him do his thing". He's free to do whatever he wants.

And I too have seen some vehicles brought back from extremely poor condition also. But those were generally valuable and irreplaceable historically significant vehicles being restored on massive budgets, by professionals far more skilled, expending thousands of man-hours. It is WAY more expensive to repair/restore a vehicle, than it is to just buy a decent one to start with.

I wish him the very best, but he has amply demonstrated that he is in WAY over his head- he nearly killed innocent motorists over the mechanical complexities of LUG NUTS.

As twodollars said, he'd stand a much better chance of completing a vehicle project, by starting with a much better vehicle, hopefully one with barn doors.

I think you've got it backwards- blowing smoke up his posterior is cruel, given what we've seen over the past 6 years or so on this thread.

 

[FCM]

About three weekends ago I went out to lift the body off the frame, but my plan failed miserably. The gist of it was to slide a pair of landscaping timbers under the body and use the two Hi-Lifts to raise one end enough to set some barrels underneath, then repeat for the other end. It was a sketchy plan to start with, but when the timber started flexing before they even had the full weight, I scrapped that idea and spent the day hanging out with my folks.

Fast forward to yesterday.

My folks are out of town this weekend but I wanted to get back out to my suburban and try to get the frame out from under body. With a new plan, I started my working day around ten in the morning. I had left the timbers between the body and frame from my last attempt and they were still important for this attempt. Before I did any lifting though, I needed to prepare my working area by dragging my dad’s rusted out Ford Falcon forward to clear a space for where the body was going to be. I didn’t see any tow points on that car, so the front sway bar was volunteered as tribute. I’m really glad it is a light car on loose-ish dirt. With the car out of the way, I set the two hi-lifts up on the same side of the suburban and started jacking. The idea was to have the body slide off the frame using the timbers and then roll onto its side. The tires on that passenger side of the suburban were already flat, so it was the natural choice to pivot off of. By myself, I would give one jack a few pumps and then go to the other and give it a few pumps. It was a slow process having to go back and forth, but it was my solution to keeping things “under control” and not having the jacks fall off or slide out. As you might imagine, the jacks are not nearly tall enough to tip the body over. I started with the jacks on the ground, then the running board, then the frame, and eventually only the taller jack on a cross member. With that, I was out of lifting capacity and just had to push it the rest of the way by hand. Don’t worry, I wasn’t in danger of being squashed like a bug. The body was already resting at a steady angle on the timbers, but just needed a little extra to roll onto the ground and clear the frame.


To say that I was pleased with myself would be accurate. I didn’t actually think I was going to be able to get this done, but I did! There was still more work to be done since I didn’t want to just leave the yard looking like that. In order to get the body right side up, I needed clear a place for it to sit. Again using my tow strap and Jeep, I dragged the somewhat rolling suburban frame out and set it next to the Falcon. With a quick repositioning of the Jeep, I then connected the strap to the cargo rack of the Suburban. Before I just pulled it over, I set some old tires under each corner so it would have a somewhat cushioned landing. Again, I wasn’t sure if it was going to work, but it worked beautifully. A slow steady tug and it flopped right on over onto the tires as planned.




Since it is my intent to try and salvage the body, I needed it to be up and out of the dirt. I could have left it on the tires, but that is more rednecky than I wanted. Using the Hi-Lifts again, I raised the rear of the body by the fender well so that I could get some concrete blocks my dad had laying around underneath. I worked one side at time and then moved to the front. The front was a bit trickier because there is not any great lift points. I finally found a pinch seam on the firewall that seemed to support the weight, so I quickly and cautiously slid the concrete blocks underneath before moving to the other side and repeating the process. Turns out I had to readjust the amount of blocks I used on each corner to get the body high enough and level-ish, but the extra time and effort will pay off once everything settles, I think.




I thought about just calling it a good day at this point, but I had plenty of daylight left and figured I would straighten up the area and set myself up for success on my next work day. With that intent, I decided to use a Hi-Lift method that isn’t recommended by most to move another old truck frame laterally about three feet. Hi-Lifts are notorious for being unstable when lifting, but that can be a useful tool. I lifted the rear of the frame using the bumper and then pushed the entire thing over to knock it back down. Works like a charm, as long as you mean for it to happen. With that old frame sitting straight, I decided that the Falcon would sit nicely beside it and then the Suburban frame between it and the body. Moving the Falcon was easy enough. I put a tire between my Jeep’s front bumper and it, then pushed it mostly into place. It was a bit crooked so I used a Hi-Lift again to straighten it out. I little side note; the Falcon might be rusting away but those bumpers are solid. I used both front and rear bumpers to raise it and push it over and they didn’t budge or even flex. With the Falcon in its place, I repositioned the Jeep to push the Suburban frame into place. Again using the tire between, but Jeep and the frame, I started pushing it into place. Very quickly I realized that this was not going to be a productive task. The front wheel kept turning the wrong direction (towards the flat side) despite setting them opposite. I could have probably pushed a little, reset the front, pushed a little, and so on and so forth, but I wasn’t in the mood for that now. I backed my Jeep out of the work area and started looking for a come-along or the manual hoist my dad just bought for one of his other projects. I couldn’t find a come-along, but I did find the hoist, so I walked it to the back yard and set it near a tree that looked like a suitable anchor point. I also grabbed a chain from the rear bumper of the Suburban and the tree saver from my Jeep. With all of that, for intents and purposes, I set up a recovery. Using the manual hoist is a slow process, but it pulls well. I wasn’t too concerned about the chain snapping and whipping back at me since the frame moved relatively freely and I wasn’t straining the hoist.




I’d guess about thirty minutes later I had the frame in place. I again almost called my day done, but I decided to do one more thing; set the frame on jack stands. Again, using a Hi-Lift, I raised one corner at a time and placed a jack stand on a concrete block and positioned it under the axles. I’ll eventually yank the axles out and move the jack stands to the frame itself, but for now, this will work just fine.




As always (mostly), I cleaned up my work area at the end of my day and then drove myself home. I made good progress this weekend and can now move onto cleaning the frame and making sure it is ready for a life of adventure, regardless of how intermittent it might be.

 

[FCM]

In the past few months, I have been preoccupied with school and taking care of the family. Needless to say, there has been no work done on the Suburban during that time. That streak ended a couple days ago when I was able to get over to my parents house and start removing any bolt-on items from the frame. There wasn't that much left and I didn't have much time, so it worked out well.





I was able to remove the transmission/transfer case, exhaust pipes, fuel/brake hard lines, motor mounts, shocks, winch, and some other random brackets that I'm not sure what were. The only thing left that is bolted on is the suspension/axles and the transmission/transfer case cross member. Before I get to that though, I need to get some cutting, grinding, and flapper wheels to remove the bumpers and side-steps. After that, the suspension/axles and cross member comes out, the frame goes directly on jack stands, I start taking the frame to bare metal, and then adding a protective coat.

Hopefully I will be able to find more time to work on the Suburban now that I am about to be finished with school.