The Pig Rig

[ejs262]

I figured I might as well get a thread going for my Suburban as well.

the as stock details:
1988 V10 Chevrolet Suburban
LO5 TBI 350, 700R4 transmission
3.42 front and rear, with factory rear "locker"
31 gallon fuel tank
nasty 31x10.50s...



as it sits now:

stock engine with a fresh crank and bearings
stock rebuilt 700R4
28 spline 8 lug front axle, 9.5" 14 bolt rear axle, 4.10 gears again with a factory "locker"
40 gallon fuel tank
big block radiator and shroud,
custom front bumper, with mile marker 9500 pound winch.
4" off road design lift kit
33" BFG Mud Terrain KM3's



within about a week of getting the new crank in, and having the engine running and driving, my dad and I took off for Alaska, putting over 5700 miles on it, further than the straight line distance from Pearl Harbor, HI to New York, NY, of coarse,

The route



some highlights:

Camping on the Old ALCAN HWY



Entering the Arctic Circle





Pit stop somewhere off of the ALCAN



Fire Dept sign on a pizza box!



MT Denali




the Sign post forest



I couldn't leave without making a sign and posting it, thankfully, I had a paint pen, and an old water jug. it's held on by a screw off of the dashboard!



unfortunately, I was sideswiped by a drunk the day before this trip began, but nothing stops a Pig Rig adventure!



the truck was totaled, every panel on the driver's side was bashed in pretty bad by the drunk, but I kept it from the evil clutches of the insurance man, so I still have it. I also pulled the rear seats out, so that I could set it up for camping, but I now realize that my idea didn't add enough camping capability, and removed too much day to day capability, whats the point in having a truck that big that can only hold two people!

So. what's next? I drive it almost daily, but I would like to not have a bashed up body, and I would like to increase the range. the overall goal, is to have a truck that I can do everything OK, but not something overly specialized, need to haul a car on a trailer? Pig Rig is on it. want to go off road? Pig Rig. Want to drive across country? Pig Rig it is!

the basic plans:

When I bought the Pig, my only vehicle was my Harley, which leaves alot to be desired when you own a house and need to haul stuff, and my budget was very tight. now, my budget has opened up a bit, so since this one is totaled, my plan is to find another, but be very picky this time, find the truck I want, instead of the one I need. I mention above that I want to increase the range, and at this point, with a 40 gallon gas tank, there's not much bigger I can go there without an aux tank, which isn't out of the question, but what will give me a range jump, is a fuel swap, so I'm going to try and find a diesel. then, take everything worth having on the current Pig, and transferring it to the new Pig. other plans, I've been keeping my eyes out for a 10.5" 14 bolt from a later model to swap in, with slightly higher gears, probably 3.73's, or maybe even 3.42's and disc brakes. . it'll help quite a bit with the range problem. I'd also like to swap in a dana 60 front axle, but finding one that's reasonably priced is difficult, especially when what I have isn't broken.

so, diesel huh? yep, the old 6.2 isn't the powerhouse that a duramax is, but they can be reliable, and make decent enough power with some mods. right now, my plan is to either build a turbo kit, and turbo charge it with an air to water intercooler, or, buy a surplus 6.5 turbo diesel from a HMMWV and drop it in, with an intercooler, and probably a turbo upgrade.

I'll update this as I go. the next trip, is to Oklahoma for my best friend's(who also has a rad Suburban) wedding, about another 4000 miles of driving. I'm going to plan the route this week, if you have any recommended stops between Bremerton, WA, and Oklahoma City, OK, I'd like to hear them!

[SuperBuickGuy]

the truck was totaled, every panel on the driver's side was bashed in pretty bad by the drunk, but I kept it from the evil clutches of the insurance man, so I still have it. I also pulled the rear seats out, so that I could set it up for camping, but I now realize that my idea didn't add enough camping capability, and removed too much day to day capability, whats the point in having a truck that big that can only hold two people!

So. what's next? I drive it almost daily, but I would like to not have a bashed up body, and I would like to increase the range. the overall goal, is to have a truck that I can do everything OK, but not something overly specialized, need to haul a car on a trailer? Pig Rig is on it. want to go off road? Pig Rig. Want to drive across country? Pig Rig it is!

the basic plans:

you realize the Whale is 2 passenger? (and 3 adequate-sized-dog).... if you go back on the thread that contains the Whale, past the stories, there's an 85 Suburban and before that an 84? https://bangshift.com/forum/forum/ba...wanderer/page2 sadly the pictures at the start were photobucket and no longer exist

gearing, you think it's a pig now, 3.23 and diesel (the 84) 1000 miles per 40 gallon tank but zero to 60 was measured on a calendar. 4.10 is a good number for the diesel with 33s or 35s (and turbo, of course)

[ejs262]

you realize the Whale is 2 passenger? (and 3 adequate-sized-dog).... if you go back on the thread that contains the Whale, past the stories, there's an 85 Suburban and before that an 84? https://bangshift.com/forum/forum/ba...wanderer/page2 sadly the pictures at the start were photobucket and no longer exist

gearing, you think it's a pig now, 3.23 and diesel (the 84) 1000 miles per 40 gallon tank but zero to 60 was measured on a calendar. 4.10 is a good number for the diesel with 33s or 35s (and turbo, of course)

I was planning to drop down to about 3.73, or maybe 3.42, I figured that would give the best of both worlds, I'm not worried about going fast, but I do want to be able to tow with it.

the daily practicality IMO is limited, by only having two seats, especially because I only have 2 seat vehicles at the moment. if I retained the middle seat, I wouldn't lose much in storage that I gained from removing it, but I would be able to haul a group of friends through the mountains to go snowboarding or whatever, and I have a few ideas of ways to make up for the losses.

[SuperBuickGuy]

next time you're by, look inside the 'burb. I agree with you that you lose only minimal space with just folding the seats flat - I needed the space for water but I also found it was a PITA to get out and dressed without being at floor level. Plus I built it up so I'd have storage under the bed.... that said, I'm not sure this is the final itneration, I'm seriously considering doing a pop top or even mounting a pop top camper to it (thus seating for eating inside and cooking). With anything, it's a work in progress - part of me wishes I'd gone the Blazer with a pop top route.... and who knows, if I get some projects done I might undertake that...

[ejs262]

next time you're by, look inside the 'burb. I agree with you that you lose only minimal space with just folding the seats flat - I needed the space for water but I also found it was a PITA to get out and dressed without being at floor level. Plus I built it up so I'd have storage under the bed.... that said, I'm not sure this is the final itneration, I'm seriously considering doing a pop top or even mounting a pop top camper to it (thus seating for eating inside and cooking). With anything, it's a work in progress - part of me wishes I'd gone the Blazer with a pop top route.... and who knows, if I get some projects done I might undertake that...

we considered putting a blazer top on my dad's 86 before it was T-Boned.

I'll take a look, but I'm not sure it'll sway me on this one, there have been several times recently where it would have been really nice to have the back seat in there. I still have them, but I'm not sure where the belts went...

Here's the small platform I built to go where the seats were, it opens up gull wing style to allow for storage underneath.

[SuperBuickGuy]

I'll take a look, but I'm not sure it'll sway me on this one, there have been several times recently where it would have been really nice to have the back seat in there. I still have them, but I'm not sure where the belts went...

I may have belts for that, if I do, they're yours but they're blue

I have a way of hauling 4 adults - the Colorado - if I didn't I'd simply own 2 Suburbans. My 3.23 geared one hauled 16 people and 15 bikes on Orcas Island to the top of Mt. Constitution.... I seriously had to consider putting it in low range on the climb (up to 12%) - point is there are days when the capacity is nice... that said, that was 10 years ago and I haven't needed it since.

[STINEY]

My 3.23 geared one hauled 16 people and 15 bikes on Orcas Island to the top of Mt. Constitution..

Color me impressed. 16 people, meh not bad, typical bug-jam stuff. But 15 bikes....yeah, impressive.

[Dan Barlow]

My dream trip is driving up to Prudhoe Bay , Alaska . But if I started from here in Indy , It would be a months worth of driving and nothing else . So I'll have to suffice myself to just straight north into Canada' till I run out of road .

[ejs262]

My dream trip is driving up to Prudhoe Bay , Alaska . But if I started from here in Indy , It would be a months worth of driving and nothing else . So I'll have to suffice myself to just straight north into Canada' till I run out of road .

I can't speak for the rest of Canada, but Yukon Territory, and the countrysides of British Columbia are absolutely gorgeous! I don't think I'll ever top my trip to Alaska, unless I do it again, if you can make it happen, do it, you won't regret it.

[SuperBuickGuy]

I can't speak for the rest of Canada, but Yukon Territory, and the countrysides of British Columbia are absolutely gorgeous! I don't think I'll ever top my trip to Alaska, unless I do it again, if you can make it happen, do it, you won't regret it.

I have a friend from college whose parent (and now probably him) run Crombie Logging. Went up there a few times - beautiful area.

[ejs262]

Pictures don't do it justice.

[ejs262]

well, I went to OKC, I had minimal problems along the way, the transfer case doesn't like 4 high, I think the linkage needs to be adjusted, thankfully, I didn't need it that often, I also fixed an oil leak while in OKC, other than that, the truck has been dead nuts reliable. the trip was about 5100 miles, covering 11 states, and more state/national parks/forests than I can count. Some quick math suggests I get about 12 MPG, without factoring in the times I missed turns (I don't GPS) or when I doubled back to try and find my phone after I lost it in Colorado(Which is why I don't have pictures from the Pacific Coast HWY or Bonneville... )... The BFG tires saved my ass on a snow covered mountain road in southwest Washington, they grip like mad, I couldn't be happier!

The way there:



The way back



Some pictures.

[ejs262]

been almost a year since the last update, and there really hasn't been much to say. I was daily driving it until about mid july when the ignition module flaked on me, and didn't have time to fix it before going underwater... I put a new AC Delco module in earlier, along with a new battery, turned the key, and it sprung to life!

Watching enginemasters early this morning, I saw an episode where they took a stock engine like I have in the pig, threw on vortec heads, an intake, carb, and cam, and picked up almost 130 hp, and ooldes of torque. I don't plan to ditch my TBI setup, so I'd need to update the computer. I'd go with a Dynamic EFI EBL flash, and maybe a 454 throttle body. I'd rather not put headers on the truck, even though I know the factory manifolds are total crap, mainly because I don't want to make a new exhaust. If I run a very mild cam, I could still make a huge improvement over stock, even with the junk manifolds. I have a buddy swapping to aluminum heads, and I might be able to snag his old vortecs really cheap.

Did a quick parts tally, and I could probably pull this off for about $800 depending on the cost of the heads, the hands down most expensive part being the EBL computer.

Intake~$300 new, ~$100 used
cam- ~$180 or so
EBL-Flash ECU mod- $450
TBI to 4bbl intake adapter.~$50
I already have most of the gaskets I need on hand,

The pros:

MORE POWER!
probably better drivability

The cons:

Will probably need a better fuel pump, I don't remember what I put in, but if it's a stock TBI pump, they barely support stock power levels.

money could go towards a diesel or LSx series engine.

the big unknown:

fuel economy change, I feel like this could go up or down. way less pumping losses from the shitty heads, but power takes fuel so...

[SuperBuickGuy]

some thoughts:

don't forget this - vortec exhaust ports are different then prior SBC. They will leak with the old manifolds.

I had TBI with Vortec heads (on my FJ40) - worked fine, eventually I got tired of no top end and went to FiTech. I get better fuel economy now. To get the best of the TBI, you need a better cam. Believe it or not, the Vortec exhaust manifolds aren't that bad - especially since the TBI will utterly choke off the upper rpm range where headers really matter.

Here's the rub. Flashing a chip is a $100 if you send it to Howell's.... but still you have one-wire o2 sensors and 8-bit technology. Add to this the hassle of sending it back and forth. With that said, I have a friend who flashes those (more importantly he has the gear to do it) - he works for City of Seattle as their technogeek, he also drives a '40.

Nice thing about TBI is you can use the same fuel pump, but if you ever change to something modern, you'll be dropping the tank and putting in a Walbro.... which is dead simple, it's plug and play.

using your math..... 4 barrel dual plane for Vortec $100 (I might even have one). FiTech $550 and you have modern tech. Add another $100 for a new fuel pump....

if you don't have heads, I can't remember if I found the valves for them, but I have a set that are clean and ready to assemble and use.... I even have all the TBI stuff I removed from my '40. I even have the Howell's computer that's already flashed for a turbo 350 trans and eliminates the speedo-sensor requirement.

[Captain]

Loved Your Adventures !!!
The Pandemic Cancelled my trip to the Northwest VIA Canada Rte 1 last summer !!!!
But Alls Good, Building a New Travel Base Camp Vehicle for 2021. (see Capt's New Tow Rig)
That and the new trailer I built in Dec. - Feb. 2020 to haul my Timber Cruiser (Trails Set Up Samurai)
and the Kabul Kab Service (Ural Motorcycle w/sidecar) will be Hitting the Roads after Spring Break Up
and I get Vaccinated for the Virus, (plus my boosters for disinitary, yellow fever, malaria, and tetnus....)
Keep Up The Life off Adventures !!!!
I was Lucky,my job took me to Get Places to Explore. All over the US and Canada.