99 Chevy K1500 "Ron Suburgundy"

[EricM]

Hello! This will be the general, all purpose thread for my new to me 1999 Chevy K1500 Suburban. It is being called "Ron Suburgundy". It got that name in this manner: When I was texting the previous owner about the rig I asked what color the interior was, he said,"Um, it's like a burgundy color". It turns out the interior is "red" as defined by Chevrolet. Later when we go to look at the Suburban it turns out the guy selling it is named "Ron" and the two things just kind of went together and my wife started calling it "Ron Suburgundy"




This is what it is replacing:

We are pop-up campers and have towed our trailer with a 2001 Jeep Cherokee sport. We went camping this past weekend (memorial day) and we were totally stuffed, we realized we have simply outgrown it. My 14 year old son has to really fold himself up to get in the back seat. We started looking on Tuesday this week and bought it on Wednesday, titled it on Thursday and started working on it on Friday (it needs a little TLC)

The stats:
1999 K1500 Chevy Suburban
White outside / Red (Burgundy) inside
4X4, Class II Tow hitch receiver
Tailgate (not barn doors)
Captains chairs front / bench rear (third row missing)

What it needs (needed):
Radio not working (replaced fuse, now working though it is from a Pontiac, LOL)
AC not working (now working after adding an entire can of R-134a, it may still need more)
HVAC not blowing out of Dash (fixed after removing a piece of rubber that was not allowing the duct actuator to move)
Driver side window rubber getting caught up when rolling window down (fixed, trimmed the rubber)
7 Prong electrical trailer connector not passing electrical signals
Add trailer brake controller (I have this, I took it off of my Jeep)
Tires (I found cracks on one of the tires extending onto the sidewall, the other three really don't look that hot either) I plan on getting these on Saturday June 1, 2013, honestly I will probably get whatever they got at Sam's club.

What has already been done:
Rebuilt heads
New intake gasket
New head gasket
New plugs, wires, distributer
Fuel injector updated to a multipoint fuel injection system
New Air filter (it is nearly as big as the one on my Cummins B5.9 turbo Diesel!)

Engine bay glamor shot:




This will be used just like out jeep was, as a Family camping, geocaching, utility vehicle. I have to get hot on making it "road worthy" as we leave on June 6, 2013 for a 19 day trip to Colorado.

 

[EricM]

Today I got the tires replaced at Sam's Club. I went with an "LT" tire with the load rating of "E". They are manufactured by BFGoodrich.

Out with the old:

And in with the new:

I went to a local Pick n pull lot with the intention of getting Rear seat headrests, a third row seat, and maybe a radio. I only found head rests worth getting, there was only one third row seat and it had mold on the bottom of it. All the radios had previously been removed, oh well.

Here are the cool carts they made from angle iron and temporary spare tires that you can pull around with you.

That got pretty heavy even by the end of the first row (there were 28 rows) so I put it back and got this one instead, much easier to pull around (toolbox for scale):

I also un-****ed the rats nest of wiring at the rear of the 'burb and re-wired in a new 4 prong and an adaptor to the 7 prong trailer wire harness. I wish people either wired things correctly or just go ahead and spend the money to have someone do it right. I would have taken pictures but I was "in the zone" with the wires and didn't want to stop or lose my place.

Tomorrow I plan to wire up the trailer brake controller and fix the one door that won't lock (it's stuck).

By the way, I found where I can pick up the brake signal and send the "blue wire" to the back, but I am not sure where I get 12V and where to run the ground and suggestions would be helpful, thanks.

 

[BurbanAZ]

good clean looking truck, i love the suburbans and their solid trucks. Its going to pull that trailer better than the jeep also. I have the same rats nest of wiring from the previous owner on my current suburban too, drives me nuts. Im gonna have to pull it all out also and re do it.

 

[BBslider001]

Nice find!! Enjoy it and we'll be watching for upgrades/fixes!

 

[contento]

Any relation to Ron Swanson?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86mg3HHz0JY

 

[EricM]

That actor has spent some time here in Champaign, I have been in the same room as him a number of times, though he couldn't pick me out of a line up.

 

[EricM]

Nice find!! Enjoy it and we'll be watching for upgrades/fixes!

Thanks! I will have updates!

 

[EricM]

Brake Controller install.

So, I searched the internet for installation of the brake controller. I found that in 2000 and newer Suburbans you just get an adaptor and plug it into part of a junction box. Well this is a 1999 so I had to go the long way around.

On my jeep I had the controller hard wired straight to the battery. I did not have an Auxiliary 12v wire hooked up to charge the trailer battery when it was connected. On 1999 and older Suburbans (and other GM trucks of this vintage) they did do you a few favors. Firstly they ran two wires the length of the truck for you, a blue and orange wire. The blue is for the brake signal to the trailer and the orange is for auxiliary power. The posts are 8mm. I got two 8mm bolts (13mm socket fit them) to secure the wires to the posts.

Secondly, there is no need to hack into the brake pedal wiring, they gave you a post inside the Suburban that gets power when you brake. On the left side of the drivers footwell is a panel. One of the ports is labeled "NAT", there are two posts in there. The right one is what you use a spade connector to and run the line to the Brake controller for "braking signal". (no picture of that, sorry, too dark for my phone to get a decent pic.)

In this picture you can see the blue and orange wires in the engine bay. you have to get them unhooked from their plastic clip that is behind the brake booster.


In this picture I show you what the clip looks like. It is easiest to open with a flat head screw driver. Just pry it open.


Inside this black cover are two Auxiliary power terminal.


And here they are, they are labeled as "Aux A" and "Aux B"


You can see they both have 12V even when the key is turned off.


I hooked the Orange wire (it comes with the correct termination piece already installed on it) to Aux B. I hooked the power lead (read wire with 20AMP fuse in line) (after cutting a very small hole in the steering shaft grommet to run it through the fire wall with the ground and then the blue wire.) to the Aux A tower. I then just ran the white ground wire over to the fender and used a self tapping sheet metal screw to attached it there (there was already a small hole there I just kind of piggy backed it).



Not Pictured is the connection to the blue brake controller wire.


At the back of the Suburban I cut out the tangled mess the previous owner had where nothing worked and removed the 7 prong connector that had pieces of plastic broken off of it. I wired in a new 4 prong connector and then attached a 7 prong plug to it. The 7 prong came with a pig tail that went right to the four prong connection and then had three wires left.

Here you see the 4 prong connector plugged into the pig tail of the 7 prong connector (on the left of the picture). You can also see that I ran one of the loose wires (the white ground wire) over to the same ground location as the wire that grounds the fuel filler tube. (on the right of the picture)



In this picture you see where I have connected the last two loose wires fromt he 7 prong plug. I have the Blue brake signal wire going to the blue wire and the orange 12V aux power from the Suburban connected to the Black loose wire for the plug.



I checked to make sure that the power was going to make it to the battery on my trailer, here you see it that 14 volts will charge the battery while we drive. It will also provide power to the refrigerator in "DC" mode while we drive.


The brake controller is in the cab where I wont hit it with my knee I forgot to take a picture of that, but you have seen brake controllers before, I am sure.


I hadn't backed the trailer with this 'burb yet so we took it to a local high school parking lot to practice. Here is a picture of it all hooked up.

 

[EricM]

Tonight I got the non functional door lock functional again. Well, not fully functional. The lock would not move at all. I took the door panels off and started fiddling with the linkage. It became apparent that the solenoid for the power door lock was frozen. I disconnected it from the linkage that operated the lock and all was well. Now it is a manual lock. We will just have to remember to lock that one door after we use the power locks on all the others.


I also put my CB in the rig. It isn't a high end one, but it still picks up the highway trucker chatter. Here you can see it mounted on the center console. Sorry about the dark pic, I was rapidly running out of daylight.

I can now say we are officially "road ready". We leave Thursday for our 19 day trip to Colorado.

 

[BBslider001]

Tonight igot the non functional door lock functional again. Well, not fully functional. The lock would not move at all. I took the door paleness off and started fiddling with the linkage. It became apparent that the solenoid for the power door lock was frozen. I disconnected it from the linkage that operated the lock and all was well. Now it is a manual lock. We will just have to remember to lock that one door after me use the power locks on all the others.


I also put my CB in the rig. It isn't a high end one, but it still picks up the highway trucker chatter. Here you can see it mounted on the center console. Sorry about the dark pic, I was rapidly running out of daylight.

I can now say we are officially "road ready". We leave Thursday for our 19 day trip to Colorado.

Sounds like a really fun trip! Keep us posted. Are you going to track mileage and that sort of thing?

 

[EricM]

I *may* log the milage. then Again, I may just close my eyes.....

 

[EricM]

We are in Colorado. We have wifi here at the state park, but I don't assume we will have it at the remote campsites we will be in.

I will try to upload a few pics.

 

[EricM]

Oh by the way, we got 13.5 mpg on the first 42 gallons, and then 12.5 mpg on the second tank. We defeninatly were doing more climbing on the second tank. So so far about 1 mpg better than the Jeep was getting....

 

[EricM]

At the second stop at Cherry Creek State Park in Colorado. We will visit family here a few days and then head up ino the mountains.

 

[BBslider001]

Looks fun!! I love camping with my family in state parks or random RV Parks. You can find some real hidden gems. Good to hear on the mileage...not bad for towing and with a Burban! Enjoy!!