juddspaintballs
my balls are painted!
1999 6.5L Suburban K1500 with 280k on the clock but only 220k on the motor.
It's nearing the end of it's life as a family truckster and will soon be replaced with a Volvo XC90 for toting the tots. I just bought a tractor for the property and will need to pick up a bumper pull trailer to haul it around every now and then. I don't think that it's up to the task of towing around 10k+ as it sits right now. I believe I have 4.10 gearing in the Suburban. I hate the IFS on there too. The Suburban won't be anyone's daily driver very soon.
I've been thinking about it, and once I replace it as a family vehicle, I want to do a solid axle swap. I don't particularly need taller tires or a lift on it, but I want a solid front axle. When I do that swap, I'm considering re-gearing to a better ratio for towing. 4.56 ratio, perhaps? I can swap in a 14 bolt FF in the rear at the same time and ditch the SF I currently have.
As it sits right now, the Suburban struggles to maintain 70 mph up over our little mountains with a 5x10 utility trailer and about 1000 lbs on it. It's not a fuel issue, I believe, based on all of the fuel system upgrades I did this past summer. It's not an exhaust issue with the 4" diamond eye exhaust. The PMD is new and mounted on a heat sink in the grille. The transmission is only a couple years old. My manual wastegate opens at 14 PSI and the turbo frequently goes over 10 PSI going up the hills with that load. When the transmission drops out of OD, I'm pegging 14 PSI the whole way up the hill and losing speed. EGT's are still in the safe range. Stock computer. I think gearing might be my issue.
To do the swap I wanna do will cost me a good chunk of change. The axles themselves aren't incredibly expensive (D44 front, 14 bolt FF rear). Re-gearing them will start costing money. The spring mounts for the front won't be too hateful, but all of the other little bits that go with it start to add up like cross steering, new springs, etc. I'll be honest, I don't want to start dropping too much $$$ if I can avoid it. It's got a little body damage, the hood is peeling, a rear barn door is starting to rust and so is the rear bumper, and there are many tiny little annoyances that need replaced or fixed. I only want to make it work until I can get a newer diesel pickup to safely tow my tractor around. The thrill of the project does make me want to still do it, though. Hey, I converted my s-10 blazer from the 4L60e to a NV3500 after 205k miles because I prefer a 5 speed.
Any thoughts? Is the gearing (most likely) my issue?
It's nearing the end of it's life as a family truckster and will soon be replaced with a Volvo XC90 for toting the tots. I just bought a tractor for the property and will need to pick up a bumper pull trailer to haul it around every now and then. I don't think that it's up to the task of towing around 10k+ as it sits right now. I believe I have 4.10 gearing in the Suburban. I hate the IFS on there too. The Suburban won't be anyone's daily driver very soon.
I've been thinking about it, and once I replace it as a family vehicle, I want to do a solid axle swap. I don't particularly need taller tires or a lift on it, but I want a solid front axle. When I do that swap, I'm considering re-gearing to a better ratio for towing. 4.56 ratio, perhaps? I can swap in a 14 bolt FF in the rear at the same time and ditch the SF I currently have.
As it sits right now, the Suburban struggles to maintain 70 mph up over our little mountains with a 5x10 utility trailer and about 1000 lbs on it. It's not a fuel issue, I believe, based on all of the fuel system upgrades I did this past summer. It's not an exhaust issue with the 4" diamond eye exhaust. The PMD is new and mounted on a heat sink in the grille. The transmission is only a couple years old. My manual wastegate opens at 14 PSI and the turbo frequently goes over 10 PSI going up the hills with that load. When the transmission drops out of OD, I'm pegging 14 PSI the whole way up the hill and losing speed. EGT's are still in the safe range. Stock computer. I think gearing might be my issue.
To do the swap I wanna do will cost me a good chunk of change. The axles themselves aren't incredibly expensive (D44 front, 14 bolt FF rear). Re-gearing them will start costing money. The spring mounts for the front won't be too hateful, but all of the other little bits that go with it start to add up like cross steering, new springs, etc. I'll be honest, I don't want to start dropping too much $$$ if I can avoid it. It's got a little body damage, the hood is peeling, a rear barn door is starting to rust and so is the rear bumper, and there are many tiny little annoyances that need replaced or fixed. I only want to make it work until I can get a newer diesel pickup to safely tow my tractor around. The thrill of the project does make me want to still do it, though. Hey, I converted my s-10 blazer from the 4L60e to a NV3500 after 205k miles because I prefer a 5 speed.
Any thoughts? Is the gearing (most likely) my issue?