My Beast is a Little Run Down
I have owned my 1997 Chevrolet K2500 Suburban for three years. In that time, I have driven it to California three times, once with a boat in tow,
and once we drove to San Bernadino and drove a tiny house to northwestern Oregon.
It has also been to Texas and to South Carolina, where it endured a hurricane that bent the trailer it sat next to
I have even hauled dirt in it.
My family of six was also unfortunate enough to have to live in The Beast for a couple of months. The Suburban is very much a part of the family. We literally owe this truck our lives. We will never part with it. Now that we are more settled and I have a large amount of space to work, I want to give our poor baby a refresher. It has some rough spots and about 320 thousand miles( not sure, the odometer has never worked) give or take of wear and tear.
Being an expert auto mechanic, this project is not only well within my skill set, but it will be a lot cheaper than paying someone to do the work. Having said that, I have very little experience doing body work. It is an art form and a wholly different specialization from the mechanical end of things. I will be learning and growing my skill set in this series because I will be doing all of the work except paint. I do not have the facilities to properly paint a vehicle, though I am really good at spraying.
There are things I would like to add to the Suburban as well as some things I will be removing. Below are all of the before pictures, and after those, I will discuss some of my plans for going forward with this adventure.
The grill is plastic and has to go. I will be replacing the front bumper and adding a winch.
It needs paint badly
The driver door handle came off in South Carolina. That inspired me to delete them altogether
I am going to install a nice luggage rack/kayak holder.
This window broke one day when I shut the door, so I will have to replace it.
The interior is in bad shape as well.
Mechanical
The engine, transmission, and axles are in really good shape for their age, however, I plan on securing replacements which I will rebuild and then swap out. It does need a distributor, which is broken. I will be replacing it with a high energy ignition system.
The front suspension is in bad shape. It needs a steering box, tie rods, a center link, springs, shocks and bushings. It also needs bearings and a brake upgrade. Luckily some of that comes with the lift kit I plan on installing.
It needs universal joints in both driveshafts.
It will have new rims with bigger tires.
Getting Started
I will start by sanding and preparing the body, getting rid of the door handles and all of the non-metal parts on the outside of the truck (Chevy symbols, plastic trim, etc.).
I will be doing video and picture updates as things progress.
I will be posting a concept of what I want this project to turn out as. Think rolling billboard!
The truck will now have a new name "Steem Beast". That is the tag that I will be posting this under from now on. #steembeast
Please keep watching and supporting. I can't do this without a little help.
Thanks for hanging in there with me. I love ya!
I welcome your opinions, concepts, color schemes, whatever. Please be part of the conversation.
I am open to sponsors. A sponsorship will buy you space on the Steem Beast for your @username or your website.
I love family cars that have been there since day 1, can't wait to see your updates !!
It's old, but it has a lot of life left in it.