jeffm333
TYF Newbie
This winter I picked up a 2013 z71 Suburban to outfit as an Overlanding and long distance/duration road trip vehicle. I have the interior, solar, sleeping and storage platforms, cabinetry, fridge, house batteries, shore power/inverter setup complete and have been doing some light traveling. (I’ll post pics of the full buildout eventually for the Overlanding crowd).
She has some transmission/torque converter woes creeping up I am having to deal with sooner than I wanted, so figure while the vehicle is down it’s a good time to do the suspension.
Primary goal is increase ground clearance as for when I am hsing on BLM and National Forest access/logging roads, with the occasionally more challenging off-roading in the desert or mountains. I’m not rock crawling, but want to be good in the snow in winter and able to get to almost all the places I could get to with the 2002 leveled/lifted tahoe z71 with stock size KO2’s on it. (Sadly longer wheelbase and worse approach angles on a suburban will be limiting, but I wanted the extra space so went with the suburban this time). The vehicle sees a ton of pavement though too - lots of cross country highway miles.
Ground clearance for off-roading currently seems pretty poor (I can barely slide under the truck for an oil change and I’m a thin guy). The current suspension components are original and the ride is currently horrid; they need attention now anyway. After extensive reading here and elsewhere, this seems like a typical solution: replace the shocks (billstein 5100’s? Maybe rough country lit or Rancho?) and level the front up 2”-2.5”, and bring the rear up maybe 1” or whatever is needed to make it near-level. I’d like to go with just slightly larger tires, most likely BFG AT KO2 10-ply tires. I want to avoid having to drop the diff or modify other steering components thus limiting the lift size. Atleast for now
.
If I can get back to Tennessee before the transmission gives out I can do a lot myself. But currently I’m in Nevada and most likely will just have it done here. (If any of you are in Reno or Vegas area and know reputable shops I’m open to input)
Anyone have some experience on lifting the gmt900 suburbans and increasing their off-road clearance and capability a bit?
With the Overlanding build out, the truck is also heavier than the average suburban. Even with all the seats and numerous panels out of the vehicle, she probably has the equivalent of about 500lbs of cargo at all times… so I’m also interested in any thoughts on suspension component upgrades that would help with managing the ride with a heavier cargo load.
Thanks for getting This far in my long post!
She has some transmission/torque converter woes creeping up I am having to deal with sooner than I wanted, so figure while the vehicle is down it’s a good time to do the suspension.
Primary goal is increase ground clearance as for when I am hsing on BLM and National Forest access/logging roads, with the occasionally more challenging off-roading in the desert or mountains. I’m not rock crawling, but want to be good in the snow in winter and able to get to almost all the places I could get to with the 2002 leveled/lifted tahoe z71 with stock size KO2’s on it. (Sadly longer wheelbase and worse approach angles on a suburban will be limiting, but I wanted the extra space so went with the suburban this time). The vehicle sees a ton of pavement though too - lots of cross country highway miles.
Ground clearance for off-roading currently seems pretty poor (I can barely slide under the truck for an oil change and I’m a thin guy). The current suspension components are original and the ride is currently horrid; they need attention now anyway. After extensive reading here and elsewhere, this seems like a typical solution: replace the shocks (billstein 5100’s? Maybe rough country lit or Rancho?) and level the front up 2”-2.5”, and bring the rear up maybe 1” or whatever is needed to make it near-level. I’d like to go with just slightly larger tires, most likely BFG AT KO2 10-ply tires. I want to avoid having to drop the diff or modify other steering components thus limiting the lift size. Atleast for now
. If I can get back to Tennessee before the transmission gives out I can do a lot myself. But currently I’m in Nevada and most likely will just have it done here. (If any of you are in Reno or Vegas area and know reputable shops I’m open to input)
Anyone have some experience on lifting the gmt900 suburbans and increasing their off-road clearance and capability a bit?
With the Overlanding build out, the truck is also heavier than the average suburban. Even with all the seats and numerous panels out of the vehicle, she probably has the equivalent of about 500lbs of cargo at all times… so I’m also interested in any thoughts on suspension component upgrades that would help with managing the ride with a heavier cargo load.
Thanks for getting This far in my long post!
