General vehicle thread

[ray1970]

I have 2 drift trikes. Neener.

I kind of giggle picturing you and the hubby having some sort of Mario cart races.

[buffalobo]

Wait till you see people putting litter bike engines into lawn tractors or snowmobile engines into single seat go-karts.

We built a cart with a 440 Kawasaki snowmobile engine on it. Couldn't keep it on the track. Pulled the engine and put it on a scaled down sand rail to run the dobe's.

[MrPrena]

Tip for eurocar drivers:
As you know NAPA have many of many sales. During that sale+promotion+online coupon etc, it can actually be much cheaper than popular online stores.

Now the real juice.
Sometimes walmart online would have a super sale on fluids. Have them send it to Walmart and it can be rewarding. I once bought 9qt of (avg price 15.99/qt) 10w-60 oil for 8.99 at a walmart online.

[Aardvark]

Hope I'm not breaking protocol. Anyone out there have a Lexus Rx330 or 350? How do they do in CO snows? How about going up the high passes?

[Gman]

Hope I'm not breaking protocol. Anyone out there have a Lexus Rx330 or 350? How do they do in CO snows? How about going up the high passes?

All right. Who let this guy in here?



Protocol? There's a protocol?

[brutal]

Wait till you see people putting litter bike engines into lawn tractors or snowmobile engines into single seat go-karts.

We built a go-kart with a 440 Ski-Doo engine and G-60 series 15" wheels/tires on the back (shows my age) and little 8" kart wheels on the front. Wicked fast and wicked squirrely.

[Erni]

There is some extensive knowledge between several of the members here, that likely goes well beyond the very basic information you are seeking in regards to suspension leveling. Ask your questions, perhaps someone has an answer that will safe you time and possibly money.

Sent from my SM-G986U using Tapatalk

Ok, I gave it some though and here it is.

Use case: I want to use my suburban to go off into the mountains more and just hang out and explore. For instance when it gets snowy like this go somewhere on a mountain road and get out and just chill out. And when it is warm take a few trails and let myself and doggo enjoy a night under the stars. No need to have a prerunner or rockcrawler, just something that will get me there and back. The suburban is a great truck for our family as it seems to be just the right size for road trips, and I hope to squeeze in a few more before the kids start their lives.
Modifications: The suburban has the Chevy rake and the front is about 2 inches lower. This never bothered me too much, but since I am working on the front end now is the time. Plus that looks a) bad for an off-road truck b) looks like a good way to mess up the front end off-roading.
Ideally I level out the front by raising it about 2 inches. I can do that with new keys but then I am reducing the down travel of the wheels. This seems like a bad thing, and I think having a mostly symmetric up/down travel is the way to go. Not really interested in jacking this thing up, but maybe a 4" lift kit with 2" in back to get it level is the way to go? Larger tires are not really in the mix right now - I would like to go 33"+ but to do it right it means front and rear diff gear ratio change. Plus the truck would go up by 5" in the front and probably look funny with the 31" on there right now. Also I don't want to go too high, so that it fits in the garage for service and work (HOA nazzis).

So I have no experience with this and want to make the right choice without screwing this up or having to redo the whole thing in a few years. Open to suggestions and guidance on where to look and who to talk to. Also, if the cost of this upgrade reaches the equivalent cost of buying something like an LR3 or a more off-road capable rig of similar size then maybe that is the way to go. And if I am off my rocker feel free to point me in the right direction. Thanks.

[Irving]

I'll have to respond later, but so far it looks like you're over thinking. Everything you described can be done with your stock suburban. Whole the front might look lower, due to independent front suspension, I bet you have the same clearance under both diffs, if not more in the front. Also, you won't really notice losing the down travel. It means you'll potentially lift a tire sooner, but the increased CV axle angles would be a bigger deal.

[Erni]

I'll have to respond later, but so far it looks like you're over thinking. Everything you described can be done with your stock suburban. Whole the front might look lower, due to independent front suspension, I bet you have the same clearance under both diffs, if not more in the front. Also, you won't really notice losing the down travel. It means you'll potentially lift a tire sooner, but the increased CV axle angles would be a bigger deal.

So if I got this right:

1. Stop overthining.
2. Just order the parts with the 2" key.
3. Get ready for frequent CV replacement.

How frequent? 50k, 200k?

[Irving]

So I raised my front end about 2" and haven't broken a CV. It's only been 14k miles, but my vehicle is not a daily driver, so a good portion of those miles have been on fire roads while hunting all over the state. I've done some wheeling, but nothing very technical.

My comment about over thinking was more about getting a 4" lift, because to go that far likely requires a level of custom building that you don't want to do, or pay for, for what you'd get. I think with a full size rig, you'll more often run into fitting on a trail, or dragging your ass end around everywhere.

Just because you lift, doesn't mean you HAVE to lift 2". I'd look at your axle angles now and see what's up. Also look around on line and see what guys with the same vehicle have gone with and their results. Light off-roading like you've described shouldn't put too much of a strain on your axles.

What size tires do you have now? Going from a 31" to a 33" might not bother you all that much as far as gearing. You'll mostly notice that on the street though. Once you are in 4-lo it's less of an issue.