1988 2wd 4bt cummins chevy suburban conversion lowered

[wildcatjason1]

Just FYI 5000 is cheap for cummins swap.

[smithkid1996]

@wildcatjason1 oh, i know 5,000 is really cheap for that, i have seen the engines alone go for 5,000... a month ago on craigslist there was a 4bt cummins online for 900 bucks, i wanted to buy and rebuild it so bad, it was just sitting in a junkyard. it even came with all the accessories and the turbo.

[wildcatjason1]

autoworldmt makes several swap parts thats where I bought the bracketry for the stock ac compressor.

[smithkid1996]

@wildcatjason1 cool, i was lookin' at that bracket. i must say, with all that yellow, its actually a nice looking engine.

[wildcatjason1]

About 5000 dollars.

[smithkid1996]

@wildcatjason1 5 grand for the swap? hmmm... do YOU think its worth it? i think 5K is a bit much, but i dont know what kind of power/upgrades it has...

[wildcatjason1]

@smithkid1996 Do I think it was worth it as in resell..no. Do I think the drivetrain will return it's money back to me and out last any brand new SUV out there. Most likely. That price is with a totally gone through cummins and a brand new transmission. I would do it again in the sense it beat buying a 15000 dollar 7 year old vehicle that's not capable of hard mileage. Depends what you want. It has no upgrades in the drivetrain, but I wanted gas mileage. May do some slight upgrades in the future

[smithkid1996]

@wildcatjason1 honestly, i would suggest a 6BT fuel pump, and a big turbo, those will not hurt mileage (if anything, the turbo will help it) and (according to everything i have read on the web) its not too hoard to adapt the parts.

[smithkid1996]

if you don't mind me asking, how much did the swap cost? is there any way to keep AC? (i live in the desert.) i noticed that pulley was not hooked up.

[wildcatjason1]

@smithkid1996

[wildcatjason1]

a gas v6 can't tug like this inline 4 diesel. do your research. It came out of a 10000 pound vehicle put in by the factory.

[smithkid1996]

@wildcatjason1 don't forget, it was a 10000 pound step van that was then loaded up with cargo, but it also wasn't made for speed. it was just a step van...

[whatdidisee]

might as well use a vortec 4.3 its lighter as well lol

[smithkid1996]

@whatdidisee the vortec V6 does not have quite as much torque, but also, in that truck it would only get about 15MPG if your lucky. the cummins gets way better (i have heard from 24-35MPG) also, there are a lot of parts from the 5.9L that can be put on the 4BT that make it WAY faster then any other I4 out there.

[wildcatjason1]

@smithkid1996 I have a 3200 governor spring and stock IP setting. I would compare it to having a 305 in it the way it was that gets 25 mpg on the highway (awesome for a suburban). It should be a little nicer with the 5 speed I am installing

[wildcatjason1]

@smithkid1996 I would compare it to driving a 305 in a suburban just with a 3200 governor spring and stock IP settings.

[smithkid1996]

@wildcatjason1 seems a bit low on power, but i have only driven two cars, and both of them have over 400ft-lbs of torque so i am used to having PLENTY of power...

[wildcatjason1]

@smithkid1996 it has a little over 300 ft lbs because it is a 4bta. Like you said earlier there are lots options available for performance improvements, but this one will never see over 400 ft lbs. I plan on a little more turbo and a injector upgrade that is about it.

[smithkid1996]

@wildcatjason1 lol, that pretty much all i thought you would ever put on it.

[wildcatjason1]

I know but the suburban is a lot lighter then a step van and a suburban was never built for speed either. I just hate to read another person's ignorant comments about diesels. This thing is capable of 100 mph the way it is (it may take 10 miles), but that is plenty fast for a family vehicle. I really wish we'd take some pointers from Europeans. Half the vehicles they own are diesels and the get great mileage with plenty of power.

[smithkid1996]

@wildcatjason1 i really think diesel is the way to go, they have the potential for HUGE amounts of power, and still get much better mileage then gas engines.

PS: given the opportunity, would you swap a 12 valve 6BT engine instead, or are you happy with that? (sorry for all the questions, but no one ever talks about the 4bt, so its nice to ask an owner all the questions that don't get asked often...)

[wildcatjason1]

@smithkid1996 I have only driven this and a 24 valve. The 24 didn't seem to shake as much at idle. I was getting use to it though. I like the gas mileage. I need to put more miles on it to give you a better answer.

[smithkid1996]

@wildcatjason1 oh wow, i just looked at when the video was posted online, wow, yeah you must have hardly put any miles on it.

[wildcatjason1]

@smithkid1996 it has 40 miles on a new rebuild before one of the adapter bolts backed out into the flywheel. Gave me an excuse to put this 5 speed behind it.

[smithkid1996]

@wildcatjason1 LMAO, yeah i was wandering why you did all that, to then turn around and tare it all down and put a new trans in. at least all of the clutch linkages should be really easy to come by and pretty cheap because it should be the same as the C10/C20.

[wildcatjason1]

@smithkid1996 Yeah I would have never done this if I wasn't already having to take that tranny out. I bought an aftermarket wilwood clutch pedal leaving my brake alone (I have the hydroboost hooked up and I am not messing with it.) and the zf 5 uses a hydraulic master and slave. I have the diesel version which has a higher first and an external slave. Very nice.

[smithkid1996]

@wildcatjason1 so are you keeping the rear end gear the same? are you upgrading the trans at all? (all thought on something just being used as a family hauler wouldn't need it)

[wildcatjason1]

@smithkid1996 I don't need to upgrade the transmission. It's suppose to be capable the way of 420 ft/lbs. It's from a 7.3 ford f350. I am keeping the 10 bolt. It has a 3.42 gear. I've actually played with the idea of changing it to a 3.08 for better highway mileage, but I may pull a travel trailer with it some day so I haven't decided yet.

[smithkid1996]

@wildcatjason1 if your pulling a travel trailer with it, i would keep it the same, and maybe upgrade the engine a bit, it seems like it would be a little under powered to be towing all that weight up hills.

i might actually be rebuilding the turbo from an F350 soon... we will see how that goes... LOL.

[wildcatjason1]

thanks!

[73SDR]

Nice feet! :-)