6.7 Cummins Suburban Build

[grampsbutler]

Here are a few more. You can see how tight of a fit the winch is. In fact you have to install it with the bumper off. There is not enough clearance to mount the winch with the bumper installed.

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[DoubleDingo]

Yeah, I have got myself in a pickle on some eastern sierra side slopes. Looked unassuming until each movement caused the truck to slide a little more down the hill. Was able to get the truck out but it took some creative traction device placement, very careful low gear and clutch slippage and precise wheel turning, as trees were involved. Got out without rolling over or body damage, but it was close. Sounds like you were in some steeper terrain than I encountered on my excursion.

 

[grampsbutler]

Bumper is powder coated and installed. I got the winch on and wired up, and installed some quarter lights. The wiring was very easy, I tapped into the headlight wiring harness. At first lights didn't work at all, then I realized that the LEDs are polarity sensitive, so repining the connector fixed that.

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[grampsbutler]

Cargo slide-out:

I have not done a great job of documenting the build recently, but here is what I have on the cargo slide out. I picked up a set of 60" locking drawer slides from Vevor. Bolted them to the frame using 1/4" angle. Then using 1" angle and 5/8 birch ply, I made a tray frame. It is really simple, but works remarkably well. There are still a few additional modifications I need to make...... 1: it needs a handle. Its really hard to pull it out when parked down hill especially when wearing gloves. 2: It still needs paint, so I'll have to tear it apart at some stage.

The result is life changing.... I took it out camping and skiing this winter, and I can put all my gear in the back, and still access it by pulling the drawer. Pictures below.

Next steps in this build:

1: Rear bumper build with a swing out tire carrier.
2: Fix the air conditioning (see my earlier post about wheeling through Utah in the middle of summer)
3: Renew the rubber seals in doors and tailgate. Its really drafty when cruising down the road at 75.....and my wife hates the wind noise.
4: Rear axle seal refresh and locker install. This is bottom of my list for now, but I want to get it done some time this year.

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[grampsbutler]

It has been a while since I got time to work on the truck. Next step for my build is to build a new rear bumper with swing out tire carrier. I had fabricated a swing down hitch mounted carrier, but it was a real pain, because the 37" wheels are HEAVY. Having to dead lift it each time I wanted to pull down the tailgate made it unworkable.

Ive been looking around at designs, including the one offered by baseline overland. There are a few things I don't like about them: None that I have found have a built in hitch mount, and they are all over $3K. So I figured I'd do a custom build. Ruff Stuff Specialties has a lot of the items needed including a very nice hinge, pul pins etc. I placed an order with them so that I cam measure out the components and adjust the design to fit.

I am now at the stage where I have the design in CAD, and am ready to refine it. I have it laid out with a tire carrier on the right side and a water tank carrier on the left. There is room to stack 2 water cubes on the left side. I don't need to carry extra fuel, because the 40 gallon tank in plenty for anywhere I will go, but its always a pain to dig around in the back of the truck to get the water out to refill bottles when on the road.

I got the model of an 80s suburban from another designer, I checked some of the measurements against my truck to make sure it was scalled correctly. I also just bought a 3d scanner, which I am still learning to use. I used it to scan the water cube, which was very helpful when laying out the geometry for the carrier.

Comments are welcome. Once I have the design final I'll start documenting the fabrication.

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[DoubleDingo]

Once you get acquainted with the 3d scanner, scan the burb.

 

[Chevy 88]

If you don't mind my asking, how much are you into this truck so far?

 

[grampsbutler]

If you don't mind my asking, how much are you into this truck so far?

I have kept careful track of the costs...... So far I am in this truck for 37k not counting my time. I could have done it a lot cheaper, but I wanted this to be done right. I have also made some mistakes along the way, had to rebuild wiring harness several times, which have added to the costs.

I anticipate putting an additional 5k into it, before I consider it done.

Here is a link to a spreadsheet that I have kept to track all the small things that I have bought along the way. The sheet includes links to many of the items that went into the truck.

 

[grampsbutler]

Once you get acquainted with the 3d scanner, scan the burb.

I will.... right now, I am focusing on smaller components that I am using for the build, but once I have the thing mastered, I will put up a model of the truck body. The model I used seems to fairly dimensionally correct, so I am happy to share a link to the files. I will also post a link to my own CAD files for the rear bumper once it is final so that anyone interested can use or improve the design files.

 

[DoubleDingo]

I will.... right now, I am focusing on smaller components that I am using for the build, but once I have the thing mastered, I will put up a model of the truck body. The model I used seems to fairly dimensionally correct, so I am happy to share a link to the files. I will also post a link to my own CAD files for the rear bumper once it is final so that anyone interested can use or improve the design files.

Small derail:

Three years ago we had Civil3D training, and the instructor had a hotrod laptop that he used not just for Civil3D but also to do 3D scans. He showed me some of his scans, it was so cool. He said it's very handy when renovating a house or building, because you can get a before scan, then a down to the studs scan, and then plan the build. He even scanned his property, everything looked so real, the tree bark looked like feel the texture of it.

 

[grampsbutler]

Small derail:

Three years ago we had Civil3D training, and the instructor had a hotrod laptop that he used not just for Civil3D but also to do 3D scans. He showed me some of his scans, it was so cool. He said it's very handy when renovating a house or building, because you can get a before scan, then a down to the studs scan, and then plan the build. He even scanned his property, everything looked so real, the tree bark looked like feel the texture of it.

They are pretty amazing, and the prices have come way down. The place where they struggle is with shiny, and dark surfaces. It takes some technique to learn to use it without it losing its tracking. They rely on visual reference points, so for large flat / contoured surfaces, you need to use reference points to help it track. The accuracy of the scans is also pretty amazing. The output of the scan is only a surface (obviously) but it is really helpful when laying out geometry, because you can visualize clearances, interferences etc. For a parametric model, you still have to build it CAD using the surface as a reference. I use SolidWorks for CAD, but at this point Creo and Autodesk are all pretty much equivalent for design work.

I bought the 3d Maker Pro Magic Swift Plus, (https://store.3dmakerpro.com/products/magicswift-plus-3d-scanner) I'm not yet ready to give it a glowing review..... I need a bit more practice with it. My buddy bought the Moose (https://store.3dmakerpro.com/products/moose) and he seems to be getting better results than I have scanning his race car. I chose it, because of the large format capability. I wanted to use it to scan the Burb, but it seems to struggle a bit with smaller items. I'm still learning, so with a bit more practice I'll have a better sense.

 

[palogarage]

If you dont mind me asking currently working on a 6.7 swap into a 85 crew cab. Would you be willing to share the file for the engine mount/crossmember setup so i could order one from send cut send? Super sick writeup man cant wait to see more of it

 

[Groverk20]

Radiator choice and set up:

Another weekend and more progress for the books! I got the radiator and core support in the vehicle! It fits but only just.

Radiator choice was something that I made long before the swap. The third gen dodge radiators are huge, 26.5625x32.4375 providing 861.62 square inches. I knew that I was not going to be able to get enough surface area to match the dodge radiator. The standard chevy radiator is 19x28 = is 532 sq inches ---- 38% smaller. The diesel version of the chevy radiator has a larger surface area at 19x34 inches = 646 sq in------ 25% smaller. By going up to a 4 core radiator I am effectively doubling the surface area, but also introducing some inefficiency from going from 2 cores to 4. So in round figures I should get JUST enough cooling with the chevy diesel 4 core aluminium radiator.

The bottom line: the dodge radiator won't fit in the chevy, so the point is a little moot, but it helps me to sleep at night doing some calculations and thinking it through.... The other option would have been to go with the second gen radiator, but that would also have been undersized for the third gen motor, and would have required butchering the radiator core support.

I opted to go with a custom fan shroud with three 12" electric fans. Between the longer engine, and the fatter radiator core there is no room to run the mechanical fan... I only have 1/2 inch to spare with the electrical fans. I am really interested to see how it performs.....My guess is that it will be fine under normal conditions, fine at low speed/power but will start to get hot at higher speeds and long climbs on the freeway.

Back up plan: I can add an additional auxiliary radiator, if heat becomes an issue. I am 75% confident that this won't be necessary, but the plan is there in case I'm wrong.

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Hey Gramps, do you have a part number I can reference for that Rad? Been following this swap for a little while, farming ideas for my K20. Its a 5.9 commonrail/g56. These posts have been so damn helpful when I'm in a bind.