Fosscore's 2013 Suburban LTZ Build Thread

[BADRIDES]

FINALLY!!!!!!! Exact wheel I would have put on there. That has always been my favorite GM wheel if they are OEM or replicas

 

[Fosscore]

FINALLY!!!!!!! Exact wheel I would have put on there. That has always been my favorite GM wheel if they are OEM or replicas

@BADRIDES

Thx man! Might be the first time ever on either one of my build threads....lol. Appreciate your vote of confidence. Took me about 3 looks, wishing for 24s on TBSS reps, but that was another fond memory.

Being period correct and just a great looking OEM issued wheel back in the day. Now being a couple generations back in the GM timeline, there aren't that many around anymore, so even better.

Got them on sale for 10% off and sat on them for a couple weeks in the garage, waiting to get new tires after a long road trip. Applied 3 coats of ceramic and had them mounted on 285/45/22 General G-MAX AS-07 Ultra High Performance All-Season tires. Pretty neutral looking tread pattern and non-directional. I like the sidewall, as all the lettering is very low profile, easy to clean and shine plus they complement the CK375s (aftermarket CA82) very nicely.

 

[Fosscore]

Detail time.

Did an iron decontamination and clay bar to start. Not too much purple, but cleaned and smoothed the surface and ready for the 2-step polish. I decided not to go too aggressive and started in the middle of my polish and pad combo then finished off with a polish and seal by Chemical Guys.

Smooth again and shiny.

Finally had a chance to properly clean and shine the tires with the Dura-Coating system.

Dura-Dressing Total Tire Kit XL (2 Cars/SUV/Pickup Truck) Made In USA

The XL Kit is the equivalent of 2 Single Vehicle kits ($96+ Value) No Silicone / No oils / No solvents / Non Flammable / Water based / Eco Friendly ***2-3 low profile Tire Cars, 1 SUV or 1 Pickup Truck: XL KIT***Dura-Dressing Permanent Tire Dressing will outlast and...

dura-coating.com

Takes a lot of scrubbing to get them perfectly clean. You can see from the pictures, the brown is dirty and still needs to be scrubbed and when it bubbles up with white foam and no more brown, it is clean. Back and forth, side to side, circular, next to the rim, scrub, rinse, set, repeat again and again. Took me about 3 times each tire and they have never had a shine on them since new, as I was waiting to get this stage done. Just new tire, road grime and brake dust to scrub off. Good shoulder workout for sure. @adventurenali92 showed me this.

Got all 4 tires cleaned the day before and then applied the coating with the provide curved sponge after polishing the truck out in the morning. Got 3 coats on the driver’s side. I had moving blankets covering the tires on the passengers side as the sun was superheating that side.

I turned the truck around to do the passenger side with the tires out of the sun. Got 3 coats on them, and then a random shower popped up about 3 hours later. The sun and heat had given them a good time to dry, but full cure is 12-24 hours.

The consistent shine, even in and after the rain, and simple cleaning is what we are going for. Perma-shine.

And a few pics...

 

[Fosscore]

 

[BADRIDES]

View attachment 464792View attachment 464793View attachment 464794View attachment 464795

Looks great and I hope you have better luck with the Dura Dressing than I did. DO NOT let it get on your new wheels cause it's he!! getting off. Shine is nice but I didnt like having to be so dern careful applying it.

 

[Fosscore]

Thx man, the shine right now looks amazing! I was as diligent as I could be in the heat. And yes very careful hands were needed. Sweat dripping out of my gloves, wiping the curved sponge around the tires and making sure ever dimple of rubber was coated up/down, left/right and hopefully no streaks. Just make the tire smooth lol.

A few damp rag wipes of the wheels near the bead and I even managed to knock over the bottle once, but cleaned up the driveway quick smart to prevent any staining. We shall see after the first heavy rain, how it looks.

 

[Fosscore]

The Suburban had developed a very loud droning sound in the interior between 15-40mph. I did some online research first, which suggested cupping tires, out of balance wheels or a bad wheel, but never dug deeper and got busy with work, so hadn’t had a chance to dig into it.

Tried to get video but the exhaust droned that out and we had been on the road, blah blah stuff. Dropped it off at my buddy’s shop for a test ride and diagnosis. He was worried it was a wheel issue initially. He put it up on the lift, wobbled all the wheels and it was the least tight.

Got the stethoscope on it and yep wheel bearing was shot. Same wheel as last time, maybe 1-2 years ago had Precision in there…?? IDK time keeps flying. Had a Timken bearings in there when 07Burb had it. This girl likes to eat wheel bearings for lunch it seems. IDK.

Tire wear is even and good. Suspension is tight front and back and the ride is good. So he threw a new bearing in the front passenger side and back to normal interior sound levels.

Except for some exhaust from the Black Widow. Still love it. Wife moans a bit every now and again, but sure isn't shy on the take off. Heavy foot! Sounds good, but cannot sit at 2000 RPM as that is the drone setting. Cruise control at 1900 RPM and we are good. And my neighbor with her Corvette cold starts in the garage and the R8 next door to her and his other Audi and BMW all with performance exhaust. Rapsy cold starts FTW!

I may not have the flashiest or the fastest, but I do have the most room and still shiny, even though theirs are garage-kept! Lol

Dura-Coating on the tires is still looking good and the ceramic on the wheels makes a huge difference. Go from an 18 inch rain deficit to raining almost everyday off and on and still shining.

 

[07Burb]

Wow. Crazy how this rig goes through wheel bearings so fast. Wonder why that is?

 

[Fosscore]

Wow. Crazy how this rig goes through wheel bearings so fast. Wonder why that is?

That there is a mystery. And that wheel too...He was perplexed and why he thought it was the wheel being loose, as the bearing was replaced 1 year ago and a bit? The interior was pretty hum-hum loud at those speeds. My daughter and wife even complained lol, which above their chatter and always loud music, is truly amazing that they would complain about the truck being noisy lolol..

 

[PG01]

I wonder, is it the side that you were unable to debadge? Maybe that little fender bender knocked something outta whack in the front suspension leading to it eat up bearings?

 

[Fosscore]

I wonder, is it the side that you were unable to debadge? Maybe that little fender bender knocked something outta whack in the front suspension leading to it eat up bearings?

@PG01

Good thought but doubtful. It was such a low speed impact and happened behind the A pillar and in front of the C pillar, never hitting the panels in front or behind those pillars. I can't imagine any alignment or weirdness would be causing it, but good thought. If you did not know, you would not know that there used to be a dent there. @07Burb PDR guy did a killer job!

 

[07Burb]

@PG01

Good thought but doubtful. It was such a low speed impact and happened behind the A pillar and in front of the C pillar, never hitting the panels in front or behind those pillars. I can't imagine any alignment or weirdness would be causing it, but good thought. If you did not know, you would not know that there used to be a dent there. @07Burb PDR guy did a killer job!

After that PDR, I seriously felt like we were driving a brand new rig at that point.

 

[Fosscore]

After that PDR, I seriously felt like we were driving a brand new rig at that point.

Exactly! Hard pressed to believe that the long body is 13 years old!!

 

[Fosscore]

Had these stickers since 2016. eBay special < $6.

Tackled this massive project this morning while it was raining.

Recirc button looks new again. Did the fan buttons a few years ago.

Looks like the driver’s side cold - will be next. I’ll allow it for now.

 

[BADRIDES]

Had these stickers since 2016. eBay special < $6.

Tackled this massive project this morning while it was raining.

Recirc button looks new again. Did the fan buttons a few years ago.

Looks like the driver’s side cold - will be next. I’ll allow it for now.

View attachment 467869

I need to do that to my son's truck but what is the prep work like?

 

[07Burb]

Had these stickers since 2016. eBay special < $6.

Tackled this massive project this morning while it was raining.

Recirc button looks new again. Did the fan buttons a few years ago.

Looks like the driver’s side cold - will be next. I’ll allow it for now.

View attachment 467869

‘Bout time

 

[Fosscore]

I need to do that to my son's truck but what is the prep work like?

@BADRIDES

Here are the stickers. I took an Exacto knife, scraped off the OEM paint, leaving the edges (maybe 1mm?) so no bleed thru. Or if the paint is already gone to the edges, just Sharpie it before you apply the sticker.

You can pull it off and reapply if it is not straight. The stickers are so small and getting the edges to line up perfectly took a few tries. I used the magnifier on my iPhone to see it properly.

You can see I've used 3 stickers. The rest of the buttons are still in good shape.

 

[Fosscore]

‘Bout time

I'll rephrase...I had stickers in the build binder since 2016. The recirc button has been/was missing paint since.... IDK 2020-2022? Mystery....TBD....

 

[BADRIDES]

@BADRIDES

Here are the stickers. I took an Exacto knife, scraped off the OEM paint, leaving the edges (maybe 1mm?) so no bleed thru. Or if the paint is already gone to the edges, just Sharpie it before you apply the sticker.

You can pull it off and reapply if it is not straight. The stickers are so small and getting the edges to line up perfectly took a few tries. I used the magnifier on my iPhone to see it properly.

You can see I've used 3 stickers. The rest of the buttons are still in good shape.

How well does the light shine through the sticker at night?

 

[91RS]

I just searched eBay and found used control heads and radios that weren’t peeling for all of mine.