Fosscore's 2013 Suburban LTZ Build Thread

[Fosscore]

Just to have a little of my labor and tinkering being a small piece of a part of that legend makes me happy.

And that’s part of the reason some of us continue to hang around this forum for golden nuggets and high fives just like that.

 

[adventurenali92]

@adventurenali92
Has the Mac daddy with the Rupes machine which would be great.

For now I am happy with the Porter Cable.

And especially the Rupes polishes and pads. Color coordinated for dummies.


View attachment 408075View attachment 408076

Yeah their woods and polishes are awesome!

 

[iamdub]

Just to have a little of my labor and tinkering being a small piece of a part of that legend makes me happy.

I rock 'em with pride! I'll be proud of them tow loops at my next breakdown, too!

 

[Fosscore]

What a wild ride the last few months have been.

I flew back to Arizona to visit my parents 2-7 August 2023. Helped them do some storage unit and garage cleaning from a recent move to a new house and just hang out, have meals and talk about stuff. Dad was not doing so great, but my wife's parents had flown in from Australia and only had 3 weeks left so I flew back to Florida. During my return journey, mom took him to the hospital. He spent the next month in 4 different facilities, each one finding out even more. Local ER, rehab, Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, local ER and finally he passed away on Friday, 8 September 2023 at the local ER. He was suffering and in pain the entire month and he never would have recovered from what he was experiencing. A sad day, but I am very grateful that I made it out there for that week. He is in a better place.

He is probably hanging with Jimmy Buffett drinking Coronas and margaritas as he loved the tropics. There is a great picture of him smiling in a pool in Mexico, with hat and sunglasses, 2 middle fingers and a cocktail in his hand >> (this will be memorialized by his poker buddies as they are going to use the picture and have many decks of cards made so he can be with them, still kicking their a$$e$ each week at their "prayer meetings". Lol

A few pics from near my mom's house. AZ never disappoints.

 

[PG01]

What a wild ride the last few months have been.

I flew back to Arizona to visit my parents 2-7 August 2023. Helped them do some storage unit and garage cleaning from a recent move to a new house and just hang out, have meals and talk about stuff. Dad was not doing so great, but my wife's parents had flown in from Australia and only had 3 weeks left so I flew back to Florida. During my return journey, mom took him to the hospital. He spent the next month in 4 different facilities, each one finding out even more. Local ER, rehab, Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, local ER and finally he passed away on Friday, 8 September 2023 at the local ER. He was suffering and in pain the entire month and he never would have recovered from what he was experiencing. A sad day, but I am very grateful that I made it out there for that week. He is in a better place.

He is probably hanging with Jimmy Buffett drinking Coronas and margaritas as he loved the tropics. There is a great picture of him smiling in a pool in Mexico, with hat and sunglasses, 2 middle fingers and a cocktail in his hand >> (this will be memorialized by his poker buddies as they are going to use the picture and have many decks of cards made so he can be with them, still kicking their a$$e$ each week at their "prayer meetings". Lol

View attachment 409744



A few pics from near my mom's house. AZ never disappoints.
View attachment 409745View attachment 409746View attachment 409748

Sorry Michael, he’s definitely in a better place. Love the ‘finger’ pic.
Prayers buddy

 

[adventurenali92]

Sad to hear of you dads passing!! Praying for you and the family right now!

 

[Tonyrodz]

So sorry to hear of your loss. It's never easy to lose someone you love, but like you already said--he was suffering and he's in a much better place now. Always nice to do a celebration of life, instead of mourning his death.

 

[Fosscore]

I flew out to Arizona a couple days later to be with my mom and I spent the next 2 weeks helping getting her affairs in order. I also cleaned/organized/donated/trashed so much from the garage that just needed to go. We all know the oldies hoard so much stuff, so I effected change without prejudice (gave my mom a few items to make her feel good to go through and keep) and closed the excess storage unit (from the recent house move). Saved her $300/month.

I did a quick detail (as best I could without all my own gear) on her 2009 Honda Pilot which only has 75k miles on the clock and the dealers want it badly. It is paid off and she is not interested in selling! Still in great shape with some normal wear and tear areas and I would have bought it from her for sure. It is the Touring Edition and has all the bells and whistles for the year. Needs new headlights and the passenger front door handle is loose. Didn't notice that one until I had to leave and she rarely has passengers, so she never noticed and I drove the whole time...soooo there you go. I'm due to go back in a few weeks, if nothing gets in the way, so will order some Amazon headlights and fix that door handle.

She was in a pretty good spot when I left (as best she can with so much on her plate) and has her 3 sons working all angles to get things/accounts streamlined (attorney/bank/accountant/funeral home) and all the rest of the stuff in this kind of situation. With all myself and my 2 brothers could do via phone and text (one brother lives in town with her, so I flew back to my family in Florida.

I also decided to buy my dad's vehicle so my mom didn't have to try and sell it herself or get stiffed at the dealer and the family discount is pretty nice. Not free, but better than private and I am ok with that. My wife has wanted something a bit more fuel efficient for running around town/school drop offs with the latest technology, gadgets and safety equipment. She loves the Burb, but 11-12mpg with a 25 gallon tank is rough in stop and go traffic. You all know the joy and pain....

So joining the Suburban is a 2021 Buick Envision Essence AWD, Satin Steel Metallic
w/ Ebony accents, Ecotec 2.0L Turbo, 9 speed automatic transmission and fully loaded. One step down from the top of the line Avenir model, but not missing much. So far she is pretty stoked with the new ride. Even got approval from my soon-to-be-drivers permitted daughter! Not bad for an old person's vehicle...

In preparation for the sale, before my mom and I agreed on the sale, (still under 3yr/36k warranty until April 2024 and 5yr/60k powertrain until 2026) I took it into the dealer for a rotate/balance/alignment (at my cost, but worth it) and had to fix a DIC light (turned out to be a fuse and under warranty).

Also got it into the detail shop mostly to focus on the interior. I had given it a full clean and shop vac as well as wash so it wasn't a show for the detailers. Of course, they were impressed it turned up already cleaned!! Haha would you expect anything less of me?

They gave it a full shampoo, steam clean and ozoned the daylights out of it. I changed out the cabin filter as well. They also clay barred, deconned the paint and did a spray ceramic. It turned out really nice, buuuuut still needs some love once I get some time to hit up the little imperfections already spotted....

Fresh after the detail and the tidy garage which now houses the Honda Pilot.

 

[89Suburban]

I flew out to Arizona a couple days later to be with my mom and I spent the next 2 weeks helping getting her affairs in order. I also cleaned/organized/donated/trashed so much from the garage that just needed to go. We all know the oldies hoard so much stuff, so I effected change without prejudice (gave my mom a few items to make her feel good to go through and keep) and closed the excess storage unit (from the recent house move). Saved her $300/month.

I did a quick detail (as best I could without all my own gear) on her 2009 Honda Pilot which only has 75k miles on the clock and the dealers want it badly. It is paid off and she is not interested in selling! Still in great shape with some normal wear and tear areas and I would have bought it from her for sure. It is the Touring Edition and has all the bells and whistles for the year. Needs new headlights and the passenger front door handle is loose. Didn't notice that one until I had to leave and she rarely has passengers, so she never noticed and I drove the whole time...soooo there you go. I'm due to go back in a few weeks, if nothing gets in the way, so will order some Amazon headlights and fix that door handle.

She was in a pretty good spot when I left (as best she can with so much on her plate) and has her 3 sons working all angles to get things/accounts streamlined (attorney/bank/accountant/funeral home) and all the rest of the stuff in this kind of situation. With all myself and my 2 brothers could do via phone and text (one brother lives in town with her, so I flew back to my family in Florida.

I also decided to buy my dad's vehicle so my mom didn't have to try and sell it herself or get stiffed at the dealer and the family discount is pretty nice. Not free, but better than private and I am ok with that. My wife has wanted something a bit more fuel efficient for running around town/school drop offs with the latest technology, gadgets and safety equipment. She loves the Burb, but 11-12mpg with a 25 gallon tank is rough in stop and go traffic. You all know the joy and pain....

So joining the Suburban is a 2021 Buick Envision Essence AWD, Satin Steel Metallic
w/ Ebony accents, Ecotec 2.0L Turbo, 9 speed automatic transmission and fully loaded. One step down from the top of the line Avenir model, but not missing much. So far she is pretty stoked with the new ride. Even got approval from my soon-to-be-drivers permitted daughter! Not bad for an old person's vehicle...

In preparation for the sale, before my mom and I agreed on the sale, (still under 3yr/36k warranty until April 2024 and 5yr/60k powertrain until 2026) I took it into the dealer for a rotate/balance/alignment (at my cost, but worth it) and had to fix a DIC light (turned out to be a fuse and under warranty).

Also got it into the detail shop mostly to focus on the interior. I had given it a full clean and shop vac as well as wash so it wasn't a show for the detailers. Of course, they were impressed it turned up already cleaned!! Haha would you expect anything less of me?

They gave it a full shampoo, steam clean and ozoned the daylights out of it. I changed out the cabin filter as well. They also clay barred, deconned the paint and did a spray ceramic. It turned out really nice, buuuuut still needs some love once I get some time to hit up the little imperfections already spotted....

Fresh after the detail and the tidy garage which now houses the Honda Pilot.
View attachment 409804View attachment 409805View attachment 409806View attachment 409807View attachment 409808

That garage is sik.

 

[Fosscore]

Departure day came and I left my mom's house in Arizona at 1100 and headed for El Paso where I would stay the night at my aunt and uncle's house. The Buick was so smooth, comfortable and easy on the road. The mpg's were amazing and I started dialing in the tech and menu side of things. Man there is a lot. Makes the NNBS seem basic and it is fully loaded on the LTZ level, but not like the Buick.

I asked my mom to keep SiriusXM on for my trip, so the EQ limits were first to be "fine tuned" with the bass note elevated for the 9 speaker Bose system. Sounded very nice with Ch. 39 thumping and guitars cranking down I-17 and I-10. I missed both Phoenix and Tucson peak hours and sailed off to the border through that beautiful part of Arizona and New Mexico and on into Hell Paso for a 1930 arrival.

We saddled up and headed out to Kiki's for some great Mexican food and chatter.

My uncle told a story that he sat at that bar at age 10 with his grandfather and got served a glass of beer way back in the mid 50s.

I had just seen them at Thanksgiving 2022 when I delivered a Subaru Forester to my aunt from another estate sale in Arizona. I would have bought that car back then with 7k miles, but my dad told his sister first and she got a winner. Loves it. And to note on vehicles, my dad most recently had driven an 08 Yukon Denali and a 2020 Sierra Denali plus all the square bodies (Suburbans and pick ups), a couple Caddies (El Dorado Biarritz and Allante) during the 80s, so he loved his GMs. Never recall seeing a Ford in our driveway until my mom got a Ford Explorer in the 90s.

We returned home to chat a bit more and finally retired around midnight. He had always been a hardcore Dallas Cowboys and Coors fan. He had a Coors Light with dinner and broke out a Coors Banquet stubby bottle for our final conversation. Funny the things you remember. We used to go there for Thanksgiving as kids, since my dad's mum, 3 sisters and brother all lived there. There were 6 siblings in total. My dad was 2nd oldest. Now there are (3) the oldest, youngest and middle sisters left.

Buuut before sleepy time, we took a side trip into the garage for the best part of the night.

We spent time talking about (well me mostly listening as his knowledge base with off the charts) The 1955 Chevy he bought for $75 when he was discharged from the service. He was an engineer by trade and worked at the White Sands Missile Range.

He could fix anything and the parts and tools around that garage were numerous. I did not get a picture of the pegboard, but tools of every shape and size and multiple styles of the same tool populated the best looking tool wall I have every seen.

He’s 78 now and a bit slower, so the '55 hasn’t been out of the garage in a while and is coated with some Texas dirt. He showed me some pictures of when she would get on the road and she was a real head turner.

I cannot recall all the things he was saying about the car but he knew it intimately, the changes he made, the comparisons to the 57 Chevy, the paint job, the reversal of the color palette on the seats, the chrome trim on the headliner, the alarm system he wired up before he attended UTEP, with a hidden key in the drivers door that he could open just enough to not set off the alarm, but be able to unlock the door and get to the glove box to get the ignition key before it set the entire alarm off.

Talked about the windshield, non-louvered cowling '57 had a louvered one, no seat belts (man it was so nice sitting behind that big wheel), etc....hard to recall it all.

Very very cool!!

Parked next to it was a 2013 Silverado with 19k miles and looking good. He told me a story of a construction zone orange cone that was kicked up by the truck in front of him, went under the left wheel, ran down the length of the underside of the truck with a racket before finally getting left behind with no other damage to anything else other than the bent tie rod that he still had in his "spare parts". You wouldn't believe the cone could do that, but it must have hit with such blunt force on the spot. And it missed everything else.

He had also recently sold a 1986 Suburban with over 200k miles and 30 plus years in the family.

Further, his son was a big car guy too. No pics to share unfortunately. He had a 1967 Camaro, and 2 late model (closer to the 2020s) Corvette (can't recall badge/numbers and Camaro (might have been ZL1). He used to race those on the track doing 150mph.

I had planned an 0600 ETD and of course woke up way before my alarm in the 0400 hour. I got up, but nobody else was up, so I relaxed until I heard movement. A quick breakfast and they gave me a bunch of snacks and off I drove making sure to turn right rather than left and wind up in Ciudad Juarez, which was right there.

San Antonio, another 8 hours away, was my destination for the night. Another perfect weather day, smooth sailing with regular rest area stops to recharge. I rolled into S.A. around 1730 to my brother's house to stay for the night. Short story, he moved from Arizona to Vermont, got a new job and the company was based in Texas, so they suggested he buy a house for income tax reasons. Great neighborhood, all the houses look the same, small cul-de-sac on the far west side of town.

He had been busy, so the interior is 1/2 painted, carpet is 1/4 ripped up, there was a bed to sleep in, some fizzy waters in the fridge and a towel to dry off after the shower. His neighbor had lowered the A/C before I arrived and I took advantage of the stop. Keypad entry made it easy to come and go.

With all that had gone on over the past 1.5 months, I was not sleeping much, which would plague my travel days as I got into the solo road trip.

I had planned a massive day from San Antonio so I put my head down to get as much rest as I could because the next days were going to be massive.

>>The far rack is all 1955 parts and you can see the start of the peg board to the left. That Shop Vac by the left wheel had a note to replace the motor. Lol so nothing was wasted and always repaired.

 

[Fosscore]

1993 Silverado, 19000 miles

Rest area in Van Horn, Texas

 

[Fosscore]

Just a bed in my brother's house.

Just a bit under 1/2 way leaving San Antonio at 0005 in the morning.

USS Alabama in Mobile, Alabama. Really pretty drive across the Bay. No time to stop and take a look, but those guns....

Pulled from the webz.
A large, heavily armored and gunned ship. The USS ALABAMA was armed with:
9 × 16 in (406 mm) guns
20 × 5 in (127 mm)DP guns
6 × quadruple 40 mm (1.6 in) AA guns
35 × single 20 mm (0.8 in) AA guns

I woke up too early again in San Antonio, but had gotten some sleep. I was out the door and on the road at 0000. I wanted to get home in the 3 days, but I was still 24 hrs out and nobody to trade off with. My wife wanted to fly in and drive back with me, but that wasn't really an option with the kids in school and spending money on a flight ahead of my travels, so we talked on the phone a lot as she was tracking my progress. lol

I sailed through San Antonio and miles and miles of construction, battling the 18 wheelers in the narrow sections with concrete barriers on either side, mere inches from the door, on uneven and bumpy roads while there were trying to not hit the other side. Felt like I was racing NASCAR with way more at stake. Scary as hell!

I still hadn't really left total civilization like in New Mexico and needed a stop at 0330 and Buc-ees was on my list to stop at. We don't have these in S. Florida and I missed my chance to stop at one during a lacrosse tournament last season up north. It was everything that everyone had said. If you know what I'm talking about then you know. If not, go look it up. The size of the fuel stops in Texas have so many pumps, it is crazy. Fuel prices were in the low to mid $3/gallon 87/89 and diesel was under $4/gallon the entire state and into Louisiana. The Florida panhandle would start ticking up and S. Florida was higher, but not as bad as the $7/gallon in California I saw comparatively.

I was pretty tired, so I put my sunshade up and next thing I know, I had slept/rustled for about an hour and decided to get back on the road at 0445. Ready to do battle with Houston, at least I had avoided the dreaded rush hour standstill and got through to the other side in good time, but battled the concrete barriers forever. Even had to get off on the frontage road due to construction and the police waving us through. Finally I spit out onto the open road and gotta love the 80mph speed limit in Texas. I could feel the effects of not enough sleep on top of the exhaustion setting in. I crossed into Louisiana a little after sunrise, hit up a fuel stop and got another 30 minutes of rest, but couldn't seem to get any more.

My wife was calling often to see how I was doing, plus my brother and I had many calls talking about administrative stuff and I always had tunes going. I cruised through Mississippi and Alabama with Tallahassee being my plan before sunset. The rest area stops were more often and the fatigue was real. I saw a Suburban facing the wrong way across the interstate and their caravan had broken free and was upside down and flat as a pancake. You could see the bedding and bikes like a nice piece of cake sitting there. The traffic was backed up as EMS was on the scene, but didn't look like anybody had been hurt due to the Chevy still being on 4 wheels.

Traffic was never a problem as there were no holidays to contend with. This was just a long day and pushing too hard. No issues, the car ran well. The fuel tank when full showed in the upper 400 miles to empty. The DIC fuel calculations showed 30mpg and average speed of 70mph as I just set the cruise control and kicked back watching the landscape go by.

Getting to Tallahassee was rough. I finally got into town. Thankfully FSU was playing at Clemson so the town was not full of fans. I fueled up, cleaned the bugs off the windshield and noticed a nail in the passenger rear tire. Very close to the sidewall. MFkr!! I had noticed the TPMS was low even when I was with my dad the first time. When I first arrived one side was at 41psi and the low tire was showing 26psi. The tires were all over the place. When I took it in for the service before I left AZ, I had mentioned it to them, asked again on payment and they said they couldn't see anything. Maybe I picked it up later or they missed it? Don't know, but there was one there and I still had 450 miles to Ft. Lauderdale to go.

I grabbed some food, saw a tire shop and stopped in at 1745, just before they closed and he said nope. Too close to the sidewall. I asked them to air me up so all 4 corners were the same and found a motel that had a good review online and that was an outright lie!

It was a POS, well used and abused typical big college town, brand name, next to many others near I-10. It was rough, but I got a hot shower, ate my food, watched some college football, made some calls and sacked out. The Day 4 final push was in the morning.

There were some very noisy guests outside my door and up and down the stairs that would wake me up in a few hours, but I managed to fall back asleep, then again at 0230. Half asleep, I called the front desk and nicely told them about the noise and said I had just driven in from San Antonio for 18 hours the day before (yep left at 12midnight and arrived at 1800 the same day) and I was up in a few hours and to please get them to STFU!!!

I was on the road by 0500 wanting to wake those noisy guests up, but was grateful the tire still had the same air as the night before and never wavered during the travels down south. I ran into the first rain I had seen in 2.5 weeks and it hammered down. I arrived home a little before 12noon shattered and glad to be there. Not much time to waste, we had a BBQ with some long term friends that I thought was just a small thing, but it was loud and 20 people or more. I tapped out quickly as I was too tired to socialize. It would be the first night in a loooong time that I actually slept 8 hours without staring at the ceiling or getting up. I felt very groggy, but grateful the next morning.

 

[Fosscore]

Back in Florida. The wife is super happy with the new ride. Daughter already drove it around the neighborhood as she is ready to get her drivers permit on 1 November. She asked me to pick her up from school one day this week in the Suburban because she missed it. The nostalgia. Ummm ok, no worries. I proceeded to listen to her and her friend, whom we carpool with, talk for 20 minutes about all kinds of stuff. You sure can learn a lot by not saying anything. lol ammaright?

That was a loooong trip. Some calculations based on a full tank at the start in AZ.

Distance 2480.8 miles.
Fuel Economy 29.9mpg.
Average Speed 68.7 MPH
34 hours from AZ to FLL

$65.86 / 14.016 gallons in Deming, NM
$47.14 / 12.089 gallons in Fort Stockton, TX
$45.41 / 12.080 gallons in San Antonio, TX
$30.43 / 8.117 gallons in Baytown/Houston, TX (Buc-ees)
$38.10 / 10.081 gallons in Mandeville, LA
$50.57 / 12.458 gallons in North Tallahassee, FL
$50.52 / 12.059 gallons in Okeechobee, FL

TOTALS $328.03 / 80.9 gallons

AVERAGES $46.86 / 11.557 gallons per fuel stop / $4.04 per gallon

I sent my mechanic buddy the tire pic. A new one is on order. $300 ouch!! Continental ProContact 245/45/20. Will get mounted before the weekend. Tire pressure still holding strong.

I gave the Buick and Suburban a solid wash to get the bugs, bee poop and rain dirt off. Then it hammered down even harder in successive storms.

I ordered new Husky X-ACT Contour mats for the Buick (I have the Weather Beaters in the Suburban, but wanted to see how much nicer the step up was.)

I am still battling the Suburban rear sway bar bushing issue. I pulled the current one out as the new ones from Cognito in California had arrive while I was in Arizona. NOPE!! Too big. They are 1.5" and it appears that the bar and current used bushings are more 1.25-1.3". Grrr....old ones back on.

Wrote to Cognito. Traded messages and they had 1 pair that they are sending me at no charge, no shipping and to keep the other set. They are no longer selling that Cognito bar. I asked her to send me 2 sets. She said we don't have any, nor any of the brackets (see previous posts about the larger bushings and brackets) but to contact Hellwig as it is their sway bar.

Well at least good info, customer service and new bushings should be here in a week from California.

The Buick has one very small ding in the leading edge of the hood which I may get taken out at some point. They actually put a clear bra on the front of the hood, so not sure how it got thru that.

I also noticed that my dad ran it throught the car wash and the fine line scratches on the wheels are pretty bad. I pulled out the DA the other day on one of the wheels with a coarse pad and polish and it brought it back to life with lots of shine. I might just pull the wheels one at a time and give them a solid detail to knock down those scratches and make them shine really well. Hard to show in pictures and nobody else would notice or even care, but it stood right out to me. Since the wife like's the dark wheels (very dark grey, almost black with a bit of small flake in there, they might as well be in better shape...so that will happen.)

Other than that, the vehicle is in really good shape. A few small paint chips, a missing floor mat (solved with the Husky's), some marks on the visors and A pillars from dirty hands and the fine line scratches, the vehicle (can't call it a truck, not really a car, but listed as a compact SUV, so there we go) is in great shape. All the tech and plenty of room in all 4 seats. The front seats are raised from where they bolt into the floor, so the kids in the back have plenty of leg room, which I noticed in the front too. Impressive for such a small ride.

It is possible I ran 2400 miles with that nail in the tire. Didn't cause me any problems once I had the same PSI in the tire.

Near Gainesville at 0730 on my final push home.

Before even washing it, I removed the 4 badges from the rear end PRONTO!! Looks way better. Much cleaner. AZ plates coming off soon with new FL registration.

Just different enough that the bushing was too big and never touched the bar.

 

[89Suburban]

Back in Florida. The wife is super happy with the new ride. Daughter already drove it around the neighborhood as she is ready to get her drivers permit on 1 November. She asked me to pick her up from school one day this week in the Suburban because she missed it. The nostalgia. Ummm ok, no worries. I proceeded to listen to her and her friend, whom we carpool with, talk for 20 minutes about all kinds of stuff. You sure can learn a lot by not saying anything. lol ammaright?

That was a loooong trip. Some calculations based on a full tank at the start in AZ.

Distance 2480.8 miles.
Fuel Economy 29.9mpg.
Average Speed 68.7 MPH
34 hours from AZ to FLL

$65.86 / 14.016 gallons in Deming, NM
$47.14 / 12.089 gallons in Fort Stockton, TX
$45.41 / 12.080 gallons in San Antonio, TX
$30.43 / 8.117 gallons in Baytown/Houston, TX (Buc-ees)
$38.10 / 10.081 gallons in Mandeville, LA
$50.57 / 12.458 gallons in North Tallahassee, FL
$50.52 / 12.059 gallons in Okeechobee, FL

TOTALS $328.03 / 80.9 gallons

AVERAGES $46.86 / 11.557 gallons per fuel stop / $4.04 per gallon

I sent my mechanic buddy the tire pic. A new one is on order. $300 ouch!! Continental ProContact 245/45/20. Will get mounted before the weekend. Tire pressure still holding strong.

I gave the Buick and Suburban a solid wash to get the bugs, bee poop and rain dirt off. Then it hammered down even harder in successive storms.

I ordered new Husky X-ACT Contour mats for the Buick (I have the Weather Beaters in the Suburban, but wanted to see how much nicer the step up was.)

I am still battling the Suburban rear sway bar bushing issue. I pulled the current one out as the new ones from Cognito in California had arrive while I was in Arizona. NOPE!! Too big. They are 1.5" and it appears that the bar and current used bushings are more 1.25-1.3". Grrr....old ones back on.

Wrote to Cognito. Traded messages and they had 1 pair that they are sending me at no charge, no shipping and to keep the other set. They are no longer selling that Cognito bar. I asked her to send me 2 sets. She said we don't have any, nor any of the brackets (see previous posts about the larger bushings and brackets) but to contact Hellwig as it is their sway bar.

Well at least good info, customer service and new bushings should be here in a week from California.

The Buick has one very small ding in the leading edge of the hood which I may get taken out at some point. They actually put a clear bra on the front of the hood, so not sure how it got thru that.

I also noticed that my dad ran it throught the car wash and the fine line scratches on the wheels are pretty bad. I pulled out the DA the other day on one of the wheels with a coarse pad and polish and it brought it back to life with lots of shine. I might just pull the wheels one at a time and give them a solid detail to knock down those scratches and make them shine really well. Hard to show in pictures and nobody else would notice or even care, but it stood right out to me. Since the wife like's the dark wheels (very dark grey, almost black with a bit of small flake in there, they might as well be in better shape...so that will happen.)

Other than that, the vehicle is in really good shape. A few small paint chips, a missing floor mat (solved with the Husky's), some marks on the visors and A pillars from dirty hands and the fine line scratches, the vehicle (can't call it a truck, not really a car, but listed as a compact SUV, so there we go) is in great shape. All the tech and plenty of room in all 4 seats. The front seats are raised from where they bolt into the floor, so the kids in the back have plenty of leg room, which I noticed in the front too. Impressive for such a small ride.

It is possible I ran 2400 miles with that nail in the tire. Didn't cause me any problems once I had the same PSI in the tire.
View attachment 409850

Near Gainesville at 0730 on my final push home.
View attachment 409851


Before even washing it, I removed the 4 badges from the rear end PRONTO!! Looks way better. Much cleaner. AZ plates coming off soon with new FL registration.
View attachment 409852View attachment 409853


Just different enough that the bushing was too big and never touched the bar.
View attachment 409854

I had no idea Buicks were even still made.

 

[Tonyrodz]

I love your road trip stories. You're like a great novelist. When I read your stories, I'm right there with you. I can picture everything you've experienced on the road. That's some awesome story telling. Glad you had a safe and mostly uneventful trip back home. I hope the Buick will be as good as a vehicle as the 'Burb is.

 

[07Burb]

Sorry for your loss @Fosscore

 

[Fosscore]

Blackstone oil sample analysis for the Suburban came in.

Sorry Michael, he’s definitely in a better place. Love the ‘finger’ pic.
Prayers buddy

Sad to hear of you dads passing!! Praying for you and the family right now!

So sorry to hear of your loss. It's never easy to lose someone you love, but like you already said--he was suffering and he's in a much better place now. Always nice to do a celebration of life, instead of mourning his death.

Thanks guys. Appreciated.

 

[Fosscore]

That garage is sik.

Yes it is. Nice house and property they were able to get from the sale of our other house we had since 1985. Super nice area under development and the houses all have 3 cars garages. The odd part is that the 3rd single door is manual at their house? Stupid for the oldies. So I moved a storage rack in front of that door since there is only 1 vehicle now. Now the garage is open to walk across and be able to see what else is on the racks.

 

[Fosscore]

I love your road trip stories. You're like a great novelist. When I read your stories, I'm right there with you. I can picture everything you've experienced on the road. That's some awesome story telling. Glad you had a safe and mostly uneventful trip back home. I hope the Buick will be as good as a vehicle as the 'Burb is.

Thx Tony. Glad you enjoy the storytelling. I am also hoping it will be a good vehicle. We have some warranty time left, so I told my wife if you don't like it or it gives us trouble other than normal maintenance, we can trade it in on something else, but enjoy if for now while the warranty is good.

 

[Fosscore]

Sorry for your loss @Fosscore

Thx man.