Overlandtowater
Well-known member
Oh yeah well for one year I could deal with that...I starting to think I couldn't afford to visit the east coast......
2000 Suburban K1500 budget low lift with 37"s
- Thread starter CrazyDrei
- Start date
CrazyDrei
Space Monkey
paroxysym,
I lived in MD for 15 years and there are some great hidden gems if you look hard enough. Ocean City has changed to be more of Jersey Shore than MD over the last two decades. Thank goodness Grottos is still open up the road in Rehoboth. I like the charm of endless beach all to yourself at Assateague despite the hefty price tag.
Thanx for the compliment, Ava-burb is quickly growing on me. I like the fender flares, they looked better on a non black truck but they are there for practicality: legally cover the tire tread and hide the rust damage of lovely New England.
As far as the color goes, I have never liked black vehicles and still don't like it but can live with it for now. Not sure what color to go with when I most likely wrap it however getting the rear end and tailgate painted/wrapped same glossy black will be a priority this spring.
Next steps in the coming weeks will be to replace rear bumper, finish the cladding, replacing both front seats and center console, and wiring up light bars back in. Also need to finish ripping apart the Avalanche as well as finding and fixing a brake line leak on my 96 Tahoe plow truck. All that while taking care of 4 year old, 3 year old and 10 month old.
Stay tuned for more shenanigans!
Rangadanga
New member
Hey drei, read your whole thread, great truck. I didnt see it, but have you measured your differential and frame rail height from ground? Just curious what the numbers are.
CrazyDrei
Space Monkey
Rangadanga,
Thank you for taking the time to go through my build and adventures.
Rear diff sits at 11.5"
Frame rails at 14.5"
Front diff at 14.5"
This gives me 25.2 degrees break over angle, compared to 2017 2 door Rubicon's 25.8 degrees. Not bad for a 130" wheel base truck.
Stay tuned for more shenanigans!
02TahoeMD
Explorer
Yeah I am in complete agreement of what Ocean City has become.? Especially considering the absolute mayhem at their big car show last year. There is a reason my family travels 3 1/2 hours south to the Outer Banks for our vacations! Grottos is a great pizza joint for sure, even Rehoboth bears no resemblance to the town I used to visit as a kid.
May I place a vote for an earth tone wrap for the Ava-burb? I think it would look great in one of the earth tones you can get from Toyota and Jeep these days.
CrazyDrei
Space Monkey
02TahoeMD,
No idea on the final color yet. I either want something subtle like the earth tones you are talking about or something bright and ridiculous. I used to have a 67 VW Baja Bug that was barney purple when I bought it and I repainted it neon fluorescent yellow, just like those "glowing" school crossing signs. That will be a project later on this summer.
Stay tuned for more shenanigans!
CrazyDrei
Space Monkey
Avalanche bumper: Part 2!
CONTINUED FROM PART 1 a few pages back
In part one, link above, I removed the Avalanche bumper from the Avi and propped it up on milk crates next to my Sub and was surprised how much wider the cladded bumper was than the factory Suburban bumper. Finally had time to mount it.
Inside of the 2003 Avalanche bumper, yeah it's a New England truck, significantly more rust than my rust free 20 year old southwest bumper.
I lightly scraped some of the rust flakes off and sprayed a couple coats of Rustoleum I had laying around.
Stock bumper, well with the 3" body lift brackets. Notice the gap between the bumper and liftgate, it's relatively small.
Bumper is off. I discovered a lot of surface rust, a lot more than I expected. I lightly sanded and sprayed the rear frame section with the rest of that Rustoleum paint. It's not a definitive treatment but a bandaid that will help the frame last one more winter before I take the body off and re-paint the entire frame.
Old Sub bumper on bottom and newer Avi bumper on top.
Poof, and just like that the bumper is on. Notice the gap is a lot bigger than what I had before on the Sub bumper. Avi bumper has this gap to account for the tailgate going down. I have room to adjust the bumper in all directions and will shrink the gap it it really bothers me.
Close up. Crack in the bumper is from the previous owner. Added character, as if this thing needs any more.
After all this time I finally got that step bumper I have always wanted!
Another angle from passenger side. Spare tire is not in yet.
Passenger side view.
Another angle of passenger side view.
All buttoned up, spare tire up in factory location, license plate lights in and hooked up, towing plug zip tied in place.
Spare tire fits very well and does not interfere with the departure angle. Likewise the cladded bumper extends lower than the original bumper and covers more of the hitch without interfering with the departure angle.
Overall I am very happy with the fit and finish. I might trim the plastic and adjust the bumper up 1/2" to close the gap at the bottom of liftgate.
Only two downsides to this bumper so far. It's 2-3 lbs heavier than the bumper it replaced and the crack from the previous owner is the character that I did not add to the truck myself.
Price of the project: FREE.
Finally getting that step in the bumper I always wanted: PRICELESS.
Not being able to practically use that step because it's 30" above the ground: MORE PRICELESS!
Stay tuned for more shenanigans!
CONTINUED FROM PART 1 a few pages back
In part one, link above, I removed the Avalanche bumper from the Avi and propped it up on milk crates next to my Sub and was surprised how much wider the cladded bumper was than the factory Suburban bumper. Finally had time to mount it.
Inside of the 2003 Avalanche bumper, yeah it's a New England truck, significantly more rust than my rust free 20 year old southwest bumper.
I lightly scraped some of the rust flakes off and sprayed a couple coats of Rustoleum I had laying around.
Stock bumper, well with the 3" body lift brackets. Notice the gap between the bumper and liftgate, it's relatively small.
Bumper is off. I discovered a lot of surface rust, a lot more than I expected. I lightly sanded and sprayed the rear frame section with the rest of that Rustoleum paint. It's not a definitive treatment but a bandaid that will help the frame last one more winter before I take the body off and re-paint the entire frame.
Old Sub bumper on bottom and newer Avi bumper on top.
Poof, and just like that the bumper is on. Notice the gap is a lot bigger than what I had before on the Sub bumper. Avi bumper has this gap to account for the tailgate going down. I have room to adjust the bumper in all directions and will shrink the gap it it really bothers me.
Close up. Crack in the bumper is from the previous owner. Added character, as if this thing needs any more.
After all this time I finally got that step bumper I have always wanted!
Another angle from passenger side. Spare tire is not in yet.
Passenger side view.
Another angle of passenger side view.
All buttoned up, spare tire up in factory location, license plate lights in and hooked up, towing plug zip tied in place.
Spare tire fits very well and does not interfere with the departure angle. Likewise the cladded bumper extends lower than the original bumper and covers more of the hitch without interfering with the departure angle.
Overall I am very happy with the fit and finish. I might trim the plastic and adjust the bumper up 1/2" to close the gap at the bottom of liftgate.
Only two downsides to this bumper so far. It's 2-3 lbs heavier than the bumper it replaced and the crack from the previous owner is the character that I did not add to the truck myself.
Price of the project: FREE.
Finally getting that step in the bumper I always wanted: PRICELESS.
Not being able to practically use that step because it's 30" above the ground: MORE PRICELESS!
Stay tuned for more shenanigans!
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Overlandtowater
Well-known member
I like it.
Overlandtowater
Well-known member
nice to know in times like these.
rayra
Expedition Leader
man, all that crazy stuff and your frame rails are just .25" higher. But I grant your suspension and wheel setup are good bit better than mine. I just cheated. Ava-Burb / BurbLanche is looking better. Bet some folks give puzzled looks trying to figure it out.
eta I'm liking the end step bumper too. MIght have to look into that for mine. Hitting the auto wrecking yards around Memorial weekend to scavenge for some parts, will have to keep an eye out for the bumper. What are the boxy protrusions on top at the ends. That's there I have my CB and HAM antenna mounts, I"m wondering what sort of structure is there, if I could still put antennae there and have them fit above the step (yes I know it's not a good place for antenna)
Last edited:
CrazyDrei
Space Monkey
rayra,
Those raised squares are purely cosmetic with absolutely no support underneath them. In the Avalanche they were the raised prominences where the rear quarter panel "sat" on the rear bumper most likely to prevent flapping in the wind. As far as the step bumper goes, I really like the look of it. It bolted right up to the frame with good fit and finish. There is also room to really close the gap which requires very minor trimming of plastic, which I will do sooner or later.
I will try to figure out how to attach the rear plastic cladding quarters to the AvaBurb.
I am also very tempted to pull the grey avalanche plastic trim off the tailgate and attach it to the lift gate of the Sub, to further confuse everyone.
And yeah, the looks I get are priceless. Most people ask me how I added a Suburban rear to the Avalanche.
Stay tuned for more shenanigans!
rayra
Expedition Leader
"Most people ask me how I added a Suburban rear to the Avalanche. "
lulz. Most folks have no idea that vehicle beauty is only skin deep. Or the lengths that big auto makers go to in commonality of parts / efficiencies in mass production.
thx for the info on the 'box'. It's really not a good location for antenna, either for radio wave propagation or aerodynamically. Last time I tried to mount a 48" Firestick at the back right corner, on their spring mount, thing oscillated around so hard above 60mph that it was whipping the tailgate / window / tail light lens so hard I was worried the window would shatter. Dismounted it on the shoulder of the highway.
I'm just going to need to run the antenna cables to the roof rack mounts instead, eventually.
Going to have everythign in back pulled apart for finishing my winch power cabling in a few weeks, I'll probably undo the antenna cabling then.
I might try a test run with the antennas installed without their spring mounts, and see what their gyrations are at my usual highway cruise speeds.
And I've been meaning to get a tall whip antenna anyway, which should work ok on the corner. (shrug) haven't been working on the issue
lulz. Most folks have no idea that vehicle beauty is only skin deep. Or the lengths that big auto makers go to in commonality of parts / efficiencies in mass production.
thx for the info on the 'box'. It's really not a good location for antenna, either for radio wave propagation or aerodynamically. Last time I tried to mount a 48" Firestick at the back right corner, on their spring mount, thing oscillated around so hard above 60mph that it was whipping the tailgate / window / tail light lens so hard I was worried the window would shatter. Dismounted it on the shoulder of the highway.
I'm just going to need to run the antenna cables to the roof rack mounts instead, eventually.
Going to have everythign in back pulled apart for finishing my winch power cabling in a few weeks, I'll probably undo the antenna cabling then.
I might try a test run with the antennas installed without their spring mounts, and see what their gyrations are at my usual highway cruise speeds.
And I've been meaning to get a tall whip antenna anyway, which should work ok on the corner. (shrug) haven't been working on the issue
Overlandtowater
Well-known member
Ive got a 106" steel whip that I wanted to put mine but eh I might go with something smaller. I ran twin 106's on an F150 I had I could talk to Canada on certain days from SE Mo.....I could turn my box on and talk to Canada all day...but SHHHHHHHHHHH....
rayra
Expedition Leader
heh. I've had a 102" whip on my Amazon wish list since Oct 2016, as well as a tip clip retainer so I could bend it forward and pin it to my roof rack. Just never got to it yet
never got the mobile ham radio or my tech license yet, although I have been farting around with cheap handhelds.
One of the other things I want to add is a ceiling rack setup for fishing poles and that long antenna.
If I wind up buying a 4'x8'x1/2" black HDPE sheet to re-make my roof deck I'll have plenty of material to mill a real nice ceiling rack from. Have a few doodles laying around, was thinking about doing it in hardwood to match the rear drawers. I tighter trimmer version of this -
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Amazon.com: Antenna Whip Tie Down: Automotive
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One of the other things I want to add is a ceiling rack setup for fishing poles and that long antenna.
If I wind up buying a 4'x8'x1/2" black HDPE sheet to re-make my roof deck I'll have plenty of material to mill a real nice ceiling rack from. Have a few doodles laying around, was thinking about doing it in hardwood to match the rear drawers. I tighter trimmer version of this -