When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
This 2008 Suburban has been in the family in the saltless state of South Carolina since 2009 when it was bought used with roughly 50,000 miles on it. I've been a truck guy from when I first got my driver's license and anyone that has owned one knows what I'm talking about. Once you have one you always want one!
Trying to keep this story in a nutshell, my uncle owned this burb and puts on lots of miles. When I got this from him, it had 422,XXX miles...... and a blown trans. Both engine (LMG, Flex Fuel, DOD) and transmission (4L65E) were original! Being from WI, my friend and I comtemplated different ways to get the truck back up here. We ended up snagging a junkyard trans, putting it in a rental car trunk, and drove to South Carolina where the flat lined Burb was sitting. After 5 hours on our back and some sore necks we had a running, driving high milage Burb to drive back to Wisconsin. Flawless victory!
Goals for the Suburban are
-Clean up body
-Rebuild Rear End
-Rebuild Engine
-Front suspension work
-Eco Mods if possible
Pics from the history:
Low milage 4L65E in trunk of rental car.
Trans swappin!
All cleaned up back in WI and removed door mouldings that were peeling off.
Rear end had some bearing noises going on, but to be expected with almost a half of a million miles. Rebuilt using new bearings and needed one new axle as well. $375 with fluid, not bad.
I'm not sure how many of you have taken apart these newer axles with the ABS at each rear axle..... what a PITA to get the axles out of the tube. Required a slide hammer.
Few months later I had this sitting on the alignment rack at work doing at oil change and wanted to check front end parts. Found I needed upper ball joints and lower ball joints along with sway bar end links. $450 later the front end was back to par.
I've been able to enjoy this truck for almost a year now but have noticed the DOD vibration coming to a stop is very annoying. Along with slight lifter noise every so often.
Ran the truck up to my local performance shop to remove the DOD. Much nicer! $189 service
PRE DOD: Running regular 87 with 10% ethanol I've managed 21MPG on 55mph highways with cruise locked in at 62mph. This is a 120 mile trip up to the cabin on a regular basis. Keep in mind this is with some ECO driving IE. Coasting more than usual, easier acceleration, etc.
With more time this summer I figured the DOD lifters had about enough and the engine was time for replacement. Even if I didn't they would probably only fail in the coldest months of WI. Being proactive I found a rotating assembly for $250 at a junk yard with 101,000 miles on it selling it as a core.
After tearing down the "core" I wasn't entirely excited about it. Looks like someone liked to go past their oil change interval or it was another ring sticking oil burner. Oh well....
New bearings (mains, cam, rods), hone the cylinders, rings, valley cover, timing chain and gears, oil pump, tap out the DOD passages and plug them, block the oil pan pressure releif valve, valve job and resurface and good to go. Oh yeah, best part is the Cam Motion Stage 2 cam!
Also added in some Howards Cams pushrods (they're 20mins away) and some lower milage valve springs that came off my brother's 2009 CTSV.
Once the "core engine" was rebuilt it was time to pull the heads off the current running engine in the truck. While the heads were off being machined I could focus on getting the engine out much easier, the new one in, and fixing some wiring and other odds and ends. One thing that did make it easier was to flush the cooling system with water. Makes for a less messy swap.
To my disbelief the original engine was in awesome condition, dispite burning a quart of oil every 1500 miles and making some lifter noise. Been on Mobil 1 since 50,000 miles.
No catchable lip with a fingernail!
I did notice more oil buildup on the DOD cylinders, not sure if this is common or not?
Once I got the heads back from the local machine shop (Appleton Crank does an awesome job) it was time to assemble!
Currently the new engine is in and has about 400 miles on it. Has issues hot starting on E85 and has a stumble off idle with both E85 and 87. Snagged a LM-1 wideband this weekend. Now I have to find a weldable threaded plug and start some tuning with HPT!
I'm going to start using the LS1 basemap timing and go from there. If anyone has any maps using the Cam Motion cam it would be greatly appreciated if you have any input. Everything else is stock.
I'd rework your own timing map instead of putting in GEN 3 LS1 timing.
Start with VVE tuning then work on the MAF curve, then you can adjust the timing as you see fit. You have to do both of those first because of the camshaft change.
I'd rework your own timing map instead of putting in GEN 3 LS1 timing.
Start with VVE tuning then work on the MAF curve, then you can adjust the timing as you see fit. You have to do both of those first because of the camshaft change.
Awesome, thanks for the input. From what I've read and seen I should have a Main VE table, or labeled as "Primary". I don't have that option. I've just been adjusting the MAF calibration from the scanner data.
Long overdue update on the Burb. Roughly added 22k miles on the truck since the last post. Best mileage I've gotten has been 23.7
This is the same trip to the cabin as mentioned earlier. Roughly 120 miles one way and I use this as my control to see where I'm at.
Wife and I headed to Nashville and Florida, averaged 18.1 mpg with heavy AC on and 75-80mph freeway speeds. Sucks with the 4l60e going any faster. Probably could have done much better with sub 75mph speeds, but no time for that!
Let me tell you, this engine hauls the mail after 3400rpm to redline with this cam and tune. Low end has picked up some but not as much at I'd prefer, big truck and small engine. Engine is a stock rebuild, minus DOD, airaid pipe, cam motion stage 2 cam, and stock manifolds and exhaust. Overall very happy with the outcome.
HP Tuners was a huge learning curve despite previous tuning years ago. I've got a good handle on this truck as of now and would gladly share my tune if anyone is interested. Shoot me a PM
Now the most current modification is the Tahoe hybrid front bumper and hood. Fairly easy swap but not cheap! Found this stuff at a yard a few hours away, no one wants to ship this stuff.
Just got this stuff on today, I'll post up results hopefully sooner than later.
08-07-2016, 02:48 PM
Great White Project
