89 3/4 Ton conversion consideration

[Vbb199]

So, some of you may or may not have seen me say, that my 89 r1500 suburban was purchased by my dad when it was a couple years old.

It's got a strong very low mileage HO350 in it now, 700r4 with a shift kit now, factory tranny and oil cooler, 3.42 rear, power everything, rear ac and heat, 3rd row seat.

He always wanted to do 2 things to it.
A 3/4 Ton conversion, and cab lights.

I have a complete cab light setup off a parts truck burb and I planned on just cutting out a section of the roof in the parts truck as a template so I can cut the cab light holes out perfectly.

That's not hard.


I now have a 14 bolt rear end that came from a k20/c20 with 3/4 Ton springs on it, 3.73 geared. And dad's got a torch cut 3/4 front half of a frame off a 2wd burb, he's also got 8 lug wagon wheels that would work fine for my 31x10.5x15 tires.
I might would even convert the drum 14 bolt to disc brake in the process, upgrade the master cylinder to a bigger one as well.
All the pieces are available here to do this amount of work, I would just obviously need to do new balljoints, steering linkage, some sort of bs for the rear spring hangers that I can't remember, change rear driveline yokes, and get different drive/driven gears for the 700r4 with the gear change.

If anyone's been watching, this kinda work wouldn't be hard at all for me, just would time and dedication, and patience, not to mention I would need a temp truck while I do the work.

Any suggestions? Pitfalls I may encounter?

I don't want to hear "just buy a 3/4 Ton burb", constructive advice would be appreciated.
This is almost a completely rust free truck, and the sentimental value of it alone just cannot be replaced. THIS IS the truck I want to be driving, not some alternate rust bucket bs.

Basically I'm asking, if someone has an objection, or if this will take more work than what I'm thinking.
I could have that front end converted to 3/4 Ton in a weekend if I have all the parts and people will leave me tf alone LOL

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[Blue Ox]

I did it on a K10 burb, so it was two axles. But as long as you know which are the right pieces i.e. which brake package you are building, there's no reason you can't do it.

 

[Dutch Rutter]

I say do it! After the work you've posted up I'm sure it'll be great. I don't know a whole lot about burbs especially that year. But I have seen where the rear shocks seperate from their mounting holes in the frame. I would think the heavier suspension setup might increase the chances of that happening. Might want to see about re engineering that in some way.

Sounds like you have a pretty solid plan!

 

[Vbb199]

I did it on a K10 burb, so it was two axles. But as long as you know which are the right pieces i.e. which brake package you are building, there's no reason you can't do it.

When you say brake package, you mean lines and master cylinder and calipers and all?
As I said, I think maybe it would be an ideal time to move to a disc conversion on the rear end while I'm at it, and get a 1 ton or 3/4 Ton Master cylinder for the system.

Is there a difference in 1/2 ton and 3/4 Ton hard line size?

 

[Vbb199]

I say do it! After the work you've posted up I'm sure it'll be great. I don't know a whole lot about burbs especially that year. But I have seen where the rear shocks seperate from their mounting holes in the frame. I would think the heavier suspension setup might increase the chances of that happening. Might want to see about re engineering that in some way.

Sounds like you have a pretty solid plan!

You're saying where the factory shock knobs (for lack of a better word) in a the frame will eventually work their way out of the frame?

 

[Dutch Rutter]

You're saying where the factory shock knobs (for lack of a better word) in a the frame will eventually work their way out of the frame?

Iirc and I think there was a post on here about it. Its the same issue as the pickups. Being the single sheer point for the upper mounts. They tend to flex or something which causes the frame to end up cracking. But, and this is going off memory so I could be wrong. The burbs upper mounts are harder to fix because they are closer to the body, or something like that. Fabbing up a double sheer bracket for those positions might be enough.

ORD sells double sheer brackets but only for the pickups for some reason.

https://www.offroaddesign.com/rear-...87-91-k5-blazer-jimmy-k10-and-k20-pickup.html

 

[Dutch Rutter]

Found the post.

https://www.gmsquarebody.com/threads/rear-shock-mount-problem.21073/

 

[Arkansas_V8]

Just Get a 3/4 ton Suburban. Lol

 

[Vbb199]

Just Get a 3/4 ton Suburban. Lol

Mf I knew you'd say that

 

[Vbb199]

Found the post.

https://www.gmsquarebody.com/threads/rear-shock-mount-problem.21073/

I see.

That wouldn't be hard to make something and fix.

 

[Arkansas_V8]

Mf I knew you'd say that

Also, let me know when you start. I may need to text you every couple minutes. Lol

 

[Vbb199]

Also, let me know when you start. I may need to text you every couple minutes. Lol

I love everyone that's close to me or in my family to death, but DAMN thats Annoying when I'm busting ASSSSS on something,
Text Text Text Text Text Call "vinceee" Text" "dad" "dad" "Vinceee" "hey man what are you up to"

 

[Blue Ox]

When you say brake package, you mean lines and master cylinder and calipers and all?
As I said, I think maybe it would be an ideal time to move to a disc conversion on the rear end while I'm at it, and get a 1 ton or 3/4 Ton Master cylinder for the system.

Is there a difference in 1/2 ton and 3/4 Ton hard line size?

When I did mine I copied the JD7 brakes from my pickup truck. I don't think the lines are different, but the calipers, master, drums, shoes and wheel cylinders are all different than a standard K20. I didn't want to play engineer, so I just replaced all the components with the correct ones. However, if you're going to do a disc conversion then you're going to be playing engineer anyway.

 

[Arkansas_V8]

I love everyone that's close to me or in my family to death, but DAMN thats Annoying when I'm busting ASSSSS on something,
Text Text Text Text Text Call "vinceee" Text" "dad" "dad" "Vinceee" "hey man what are you up to"

Why I don’t keep my phone close when I am doing things and I don’t take it to bed.

I wouldn’t purposely distract you. Love you man. LOL

 

[Bextreme04]

If you have the 52" rear springs now, you will have to move the rear spring hangers back. The holes are already there in the frame for the 56" spring hanger location. While you are there and moving stuff around, I'd suggest getting a pair of 3/4 ton suburban or pickup springs from a GMT400 or GMT800 truck. You will have to move the front spring hangers forward about 4 inches. I see these springs on marketplace in my area for $50-100 a set all the time. It will supposedly greatly improve the ride while still giving you the extra load capacity. I'm planning on doing this when I switch from the saddle tanks to the blazer tank in my truck, combined with some tuff country ez-ride HD springs in the front with a small 2-3" lift to clear my 35's.