OBS Suburban Solid Axle Swap | 1994 Chevy K2500 Suburban

In this video, we are taking a walk around our 1994 K2500 Suburban and discussing the solid axle swap that we did. We talk about the parts used to do the conversion as well as a couple of issues that we ran into during the process.
The overall lift came out to about an 8" lift up front and a 7" lift in the rear. This clears the 37" Maxxis Razr tires with minor trimming of the front bumper and wheel well.
Below are most of the parts I used in this project so far. I am not an affiliate nor am I sponsored by any of these companies in any way and I will not receive any monetary gain if you use these links. This list is provided to help you with inspiration for your project.
Front Axle - 2008 Ford F350 - lkqonline.com/
Front Suspension/Coilovers - www.wfoconcepts.com/Default.aspx
Shackle Flip - www.offroaddesign.com/4-shack...
Zero Rate Add-a-Leaf - www.offroaddesign.com/1-zero-...
Angled Axle Shim - www.offroaddesign.com/angled-...
U-Bolt Reversal Kit - www.offroaddesign.com/3-4t-14...
Rear Shocks - Rancho RS9000 - amzn.to/3KRQtXo
Rear Brake Hose - amzn.to/3Hdafue
Wheel Adapters - www.motorsport-tech.com/bora.html
Wheels/Tires - ntwonline.com/
Front Drive Shaft - 4xshaft.com/
Front Unit Bearing - amzn.to/3Gil6BZ
Front Caliper/Bracket - amzn.to/3rgL6te & amzn.to/3rg2pdT
Front Rotors - amzn.to/3oeZOiq
Front Diff Cover - www.ruffstuffspecialties.com/...
Rear Pinion Guard - www.barnes4wd.com/GM-14-Bolt-...
Front Locker - amzn.to/3HjJ29o
Rear Locker - amzn.to/3Hi4knP
Rear Differential Carrier - amzn.to/3gf4QXU
Rear Ring and Pinion - amzn.to/3rirW6h
Front Ring and Pinion - amzn.to/3ofoQxJ
Front Diff Overhaul Kit - amzn.to/3Gg3Ux0
Rear Diff Overhaul Kit - amzn.to/347aJ6T
Music by audionautix.com

[@Blobby_Hill]

thats a sick ride

[@stoprez2006]

Thanks! We will have some more videos of it coming pretty soon. Just picked up more hardware for it and I can't wait to share the installation with y'all!

[@hammerhead19able]

Beautiful Rig. Thank you.

[@stoprez2006]

Thank you for your kind words! I have a lot more in store for sure!

[@nickstewart3725]

Found you from WFO...looking forward to all the Suburban goodness you guys have to offer!...can't wait to get started on my build!

[@stoprez2006]

Please feel free to DM me on Instagram if you have any questions. I love helping others with their builds and seeing them come together. This phase of the project was a lot of fun and I love how well it has worked so far!

[@kgoff6]

Great video man! Super informative. I just parted out my 06 superduty to repurpose the axles and wheels/tires. I'll be ordering the wfo kit this week to mount it all under my lb7 swapped 95 k1500! This is the best video I've found showing the front set up besides wfo's videos. Thanks!

[@stoprez2006]

Thank you! I really appreciate that. One thing I found early on in my swap was the fact that there were a lot of the small but critical details that were left out of most videos on this swap. I was hoping to fill that gap. Please reach out via my Instagram, @aberrantgarage, if you have any questions. I might reach out to you about that Duramax swap for future plans 😏

[@yfz450jrc]

Awesome build. Very informative video. Just ordered the WFO swap kit for my 1994 2 Door Yukon, and this was extremely helpful. Thank you!

[@stoprez2006]

Awesome!, Thank you for the supportive words! I learned quite a bit a long the way and helping others with their builds and sharing the knowledge is one of my favorite things. Please feel free to check out my FB and Instagram pages for more on the truck. Also, feel free to reach out if you have any questions. I will do my best to answer them!

[@donburshaw6505]

I just watched this, and have a 2 door yukon as well. Was thinking of wfo kit as well. What the kit cost ya? Said and done

[@yfz450jrc]

@@donburshaw6505 the kit is 20% off for Black Friday right now. I was ~$5500 for front and rear with fox front coilover. However after buying/building the axles and various other parts like rear shocks and drivelines etc. it will quickly be 2-3xs that.

[@c.shoefish]

I have a '00 k2500 pick up that im planning to do a swap on, this was very helpful, thanks.

[@stoprez2006]

I'm glad you found it helpful. Feel free to reach out through DM on Instagram if you have any questions! My Instagram is @sanctifiedex

[@jimmyjack7141]

Nice build, I am building a 1994 k2500 suburban cummins swap and maybe using the front and rear axles from the Dodge.

[@stoprez2006]

Awesome, please let me know if you're documenting the build somewhere, I would love to watch it progress. I have been thinking about a diesel swap too but I kind if want to do a Duramax.

[@str8burbn]

Sweet rig I’m doing a dana50 swap on my 01 suburban 1500. Can’t wait to get rid of the ifs

[@stoprez2006]

Sweet, going to go with leaf springs or coils? I was on the fence with the IFS. Part of me wanted to do some sort of custom long travel but that is above my skill level and bank account at this point 😅

[@theautoanswerman8063]

Great information. I also have a 94 k2500 suburban

[@stoprez2006]

Thank you! We have had this truck since 2000, when I was a teenager, and always told my parents I wanted to lift it even if they didn't want me to 😂

[@theautoanswerman8063]

@@stoprez2006 great information. I love the build. I'm in Sacramento

[@stoprez2006]

@@theautoanswerman8063 thanks! We are just getting started on this one, I have a lot more in mind for it.

[@azaelnoris5911]

Hello, thanks for share, I'm in the middle of the SAS proccess on My 1999 2-door Chevy Tahoe, Did you install a slip yoke eliminator?

[@stoprez2006]

I did not, at least not yet

[@dante04srt]

Getting ready to do ghe same thing on my Cummins swapped K3500 dually. Picked up a complete front frame section from a 2005 F350. Not entirely sure if I'm going to stick with the Ford springs or go coilovers (due to cost) but we'll see. I really love the WFO cross member but my transmission is slid back 4.125" inches with the 12 valve swap so not sure what I'll do there. I'd hate to hack up a $900 mount but who knows.

[@stoprez2006]

I think you could probably slide the crossmember back and drill new holes. You would definitely have to make custom length radius arms though

[@dante04srt]

@@stoprez2006 I'd probably keep the crossmember in thr same position and just cut and reweld the trans mount back

[@tinkeringtimmermans5249]

Nice truck, do you find the wheelbase limiting? I’m planning a future family wheeler, I’m debating between an obs Tahoe or suburban that I will likely sas. I do like that you can get a suburban in a 3/4 ton chassis

[@stoprez2006]

Compared to a jeep, the wheelbase has pros and cons. Where I live, I haven't found many instances where the wheelbase has been a hindrance. If anything, having a longer wheelbase has helped me make climbs and stuff that the jeep guys have difficulty with. In another environment, say Colorado for example, the longer wheelbase could be an issue. With the 08 Super Duty axle, steering isn't horrible but there are options to get a few more degrees out of it. Overall, I have been pretty happy with it. I would like for articulation in the future but it works well for our uses now. Having the 3/4 ton chassis is great, especially since it came with a 14 Bolt from the factory.

[@tinkeringtimmermans5249]

Thanks for the info, great content 👍

[@neilmarshall4927]

What are the specs on your Rims? 12" wide? -44 backspace? I love that look

[@stoprez2006]

Thank you for the compliment. The wheels are 17" and they are 9" wide. They also have a 0mm offset and 4.5" backspacing. It looks like they are wider/deeper because the Super Duty axle is about 6" wider than the stock IFS suspension was and has the Ford 8x170 bolt pattern. Since the stock 14bff rear axle was similar in width to the IFS and had the wrong bolt pattern, I put 2.5" spacers on that adapted the stock 8x6.5" bolt pattern to the Ford pattern.

[@turq57nomad]

I have a 94 k2500 454 also. I’m in the beginning planning stages of a build. My ABS module went bad a few years ago. I unplugged it and the abs light is always on now. Since you rerouted the lines, do you have an ABS dash light on? Do you still have the module you took out? If so, would you want to sell it?

[@stoprez2006]

I do not have any brakes lights on any more. I removed some wiring that wasn't used anymore, i.e. wheel speed sensors up front and the gm front axle actuator stuff, but I believe the power plug for the module is still there. I do have the module. Reach out to me privately on either FB or IG or via email, all of which can be found on the channel's About page.

[@ttengineer404]

So is it possible to keep the ABS system? Also, after labor, what was your cost in the conversion? Ive got a '99 2 door tahoe that I want to do this kit on.

[@stoprez2006]

I think that it is possible. I was on the fence about keeping it in the first place but the location I chose for the coilover towers prompted my decision. If that module had still been installed when I put the towers in, I may have been able to prevent the interference. Also, you could possibly relocate the module too. As far as the all in cost, that is hard to say. I was originally quoted in the $15-20k range to have WFO do the swap. I am not that rich and I wanted to challenge myself to do it on my own. There are a ton of variables such as what small parts your specific situation will need like fittings/fasteners, any other work you do along the way, gears and lockers, etc. When I did my SAS, I pulled the motor and trans and replaced a ton of gaskets and cleaned everything up, deleted the ABS which meant new lines and adapter fittings, and did gears/lockers with full differential overhauls. I haven't added up my receipts but I would venture a guess to say I probably am somewhere around $10-12k all in at this point. Rough numbers, I have about $4700 in front suspension and axle, $450 in rear suspension, $1800 for wheels/tires and bolt pattern adapter for the rear, $1700 for the gears/lockers and diff rebuild, $500 for the front drive line, plus all new unit bearings and brakes for the front axle, and all the gaskets and small parts for the engine/trans. None of this accounts for any labor rate since I did all the work myself, with the exception of most of the welding as I enlisted the help of a good friend. I did the fitment and tacking of the welding parts and he made sure it was all glued together properly. I know this is a pretty lengthy response and I apologize if it is more than you were looking for but your question is pretty involved and not as simple as one may think. I hope this gives you some insight for your project. If you ask whether I would do it again considering the cost and time involved, I would say absolutely! I loved the process and have joked with my wife about building a SAS OBS Chevy for one of my kids just so I could do it again haha. Please let me know if you have any other questions.

[@Kyle-ev4fk]

@@stoprez2006 I appreciate you taking the time for such a lengthy response. Does it drive like an old solid axle suburban on 37" tires?

[@stoprez2006]

@@Kyle-ev4fk As compared to stock, I think it rides way better! There is still some room for improvement as one could consider my setup to be incomplete as I don't have any sway bars or a steering stabilizer. It has some body roll to it though I would say it is less than one would expect for a rig this tall that has no sway bars. There was a significant amount looseness in the steering at first but then I started going though parts that weren't replaced initially, i.e. tie rod ends, steering box, etc., and found a bunch of stuff that needed replacing which tightened things up a lot. I think a steering stabilizer, or the hydro-assist I have been saving for, will be the final link I need. It is super smooth riding though. The coilovers make the front end float and the Ranchos I have in the rear are ok, one day the back will be on Kings too and se will really be riding like a dream. As is, it rides as nice as our Escalade ESV, just not nearly as fast as the Escalade haha

[@Nova_17_]

I have been trying to decide between a solid axle swap and a 6 inch suspension lift and 3 inch body lift for 37’s on a 2500 burb. The cost to do leaf springs would be over double the ifs route and I don’t do rock crawling, the main off-roading I do is mudding and sand dunes so I don’t know that the solid axle is what I need or if it’s overkill.

[@stoprez2006]

I will be honest with you, I do have a significant amount of $$$ wrapped up in this. Some of that is a wash between a regular lift kit and this swap. For either setup, you're going to need wheels/tires and going to 37s is going to require a re-gearing. I don't know what engine you have but even with the torque my 454 is putting down, my transmission was on borrowed time with stock gears. Do you need lockers and stuff like I did, probably not but it isn't significant cost in the grand scheme of the build and mudding could benefit from locker whether on IFS or a solid axle. I thought about staying with IFS and building that as much as I could to push the limits of it with upgraded shafts, steering, etc. but at the end of the day, the cost of upgrades and the characteristics of a typical IFS lift just didn't make the cost difference worth it for me. There are several drawbacks of a typical IFS lift that I wasn't comfortable with and the lift kit market for an OBS 2500 Suburban is awful, there is only a couple companies to choose from. A couple questions to ask yourself are 1) are you doing the work yourself or having it done, 2) do you have the skill and equipment to do it yourself if you want to, 3) are the cost differences worth the benefits? The ride alone of the coilovers over torsion bars justifies the cost for me and the capability of the Super Duty 60 and the braking improvement is icing on the cake. Given the chance to build another SAS OBS, I would go this route again hands down over a standard IFS lift. Now a custom long travel system.......

[@Nova_17_]

@@stoprez2006 i have the skills and knowledge as well as the tools and abilities to do either way but the time factor tends to shy me away from the solid axle. As a budget off-road rig, it’s hard to justify the price when it also means the truck would just take a lot longer. The solid axle does sound nice for the fact of how horrible torsion bars are on obs trucks to work with. There are absolutely benefits to both sides. I would be doing leaf springs given my budget so ride quality is gonna be pretty rough either way. Thank you so much for all the helpful information! And lockers are definitely a must for any off-road rig in my opinion.

[@stoprez2006]

@@Nova_17_ honestly, if you went with a 99-04 super duty axle and leaf springs, your timeline wouldn't be too much longer than an IFS lift. The IFS lift requires removal of all the same parts. Removing the factory control arm mounts would add a little time but not that much given the right tooling. ORD has bolt on brackets that are pretty inexpensive and easy to install and they also do custom leaf springs which would make the ride quality way better than typical lift springs from a square body. The increased strength for mudding, lockers, and tires could easily justify the time. Consider how much time you could gain back by not having to keep changing broken CV shafts?

[@Nova_17_]

@@stoprez2006 this is very true, the time and cost of ball joints and cv axles could make it worth it along with tie rods and alignments

[@stoprez2006]

In all honesty, I am not trying to sway one way or the other. I simply want to highlight some other view points and maybe challenge you to think a little different is all. IFS lifts definitely have their place but the market for a 2500 Suburban is severely limited so your not likely to get a lot of performance benefit for the style of wheeling you intend to do. I would also be willing to bet when you factor in the recurring repairs we both mentioned, your return on that initial investment may come sooner than you think. Shoot me a DM on IG, I would love to follow along when your build gets under way!

[@jorgeortegasanchez7263]

Also what kind of tires and rims are those and how much u pay for them.

[@stoprez2006]

The wheels are the cheapest set of 17" steel wheels I could find from National Tire and Wheel's website. Tires are 37x12.5x17 Maxxis Razrs. I got them I. A package deal from ntwonline.com so they arrived mounted and balanced.

[@backyardbuilds4797]

Is that tower going to fight with a turbo on a 6.5

[@stoprez2006]

Unfortunately, I have a big block in my truck and not a diesel, so I don't know if that would be an issue

[@erscustoms911]

Hi I am your insurance agent, I see you no longer have abs… Please call me as your rates have now changed lol 😂

[@stoprez2006]

Shhh.....you didn't see anything.......

[@kevinwest3689]

My 93 single cab short bed had a gutless TBI 5.7 for some reason the license bureau in insurance feels it has a V6 or a 305 ? I swapped in a 6.0 ls 4l80e bolted to my 241c Terminator x max ECU 14 bolt semi float 6 lug 488 gears with Detroit truetrac on Mickey Thompson 35's and possibly turbo in the future, has a 3 inch body 6in ifs lift. $150 6 months liability insurance 😁 man I'd like to do this swap but whoa that's a lot lot of money. I hope I don't regret currently working on putting the 9.5 ifs out of the donor 2004 2500hd in it. All I have to buy it the high-dollar axles, gears to match the rear and a e-locker or air and compressor, ham joints solid rod for tie rods.... stupid question " do those ford axles or solid axles not have ball joints? I've Hurd people say that a Dana 44 is not much improvement over ifs. Go with the 60 or leave it be. I guess the answer for some like me is, if you cant afford it, there's your answer. Buy ball joints wheel bearings in bulk.

[@stoprez2006]

@@kevinwest3689 it is a 60 with ballpoint instead of kingpins but it is way stronger than the stuff in these trucks from the factory. There are ways to do it cheaper but I'm pretty happy with it so far

[@kevinwest3689]

@@stoprez2006 I didn't realize some solid axles have ball joints. I bet you are happy with it, I would be, don't think I can afford to be so happy. Might be cheaper easier to just go by a ford and put the turbo 6.0 ls in it. Thank you for your time sir 👍

[@josae.d]

@@kevinwest3689 There are ball joint eliminators out there. Im building my 05+ SD D60 for my 1/2 ton obs burban as we speak.

[@robertgreatsinger9179]

Could you direct where I might find just original front CV axle, ? 93 K2500 truck ... Chevy dealer parts man said according to VIN my oem part # is 26062614.....

[@stoprez2006]

Rockauto.com has 3 options at the following link: www.rockauto.com/en/partsearch/?partnum=26062614 I hope this helps!

[@bartbarnett2811]

So did anybody else get the creepiest commercial of all tamed by a broken beast on pocket FM super creepy kind of rapey

[@stoprez2006]

Gonna be honest with ua here, not sure what you are talking about...at all

[@rossmccoun6475]

How the ride compared to stock ifs?

[@stoprez2006]

As far as comfort, it feels great, nice and smooth especially on road. Off road I have had no complaints either. It's seriously like wheeling on a couch haha

[@bernandoturner4840]

Gas almost $6.00 A Gallon..I want this Truck Sooooooo bad… big block V8… I wish this Truck was Mine..🙄

[@stoprez2006]

With gas prices as high as they are, it isn't cheap to drive, that is for sure. That said, I love driving it. Now to find a way to increase the fuel efficiency.....6.0 swap.....maybe a Duramax.....Time will tell

[@jorgeortegasanchez7263]

How much you spend

[@stoprez2006]

After the front axle swap and associated suspension, rear shackle flip, wheels and tires, gears and lockers, front driveshaft, and a bunch of odds and ends like gaskets, water pump, radiator, steering box, etc. I've probably spent close to $12k. The motor and trans both leaked pretty bad, the steering box and new axles tie rod ends we super sloppy, and a bunch of parts that I replaced for the sake of reliability, were all done as part of the build. We use it a lot on road and I want to do some long distance trips like Moab so we wanted ot comfortable, capable, and reliable.

[@taylorharrison2348]

Now duramax swap? 😅

[@stoprez2006]

If I could find a donor cheap enough, I would definitely consider it. An LQ4/LQ9 is much more likely though. I love the big block but its SOOOOO thirsty 😭

[@victorramosjr2445]

Who gives a ^&%$ about the windshield washer fluid bottle? Those things don't work and are worthless & irrelevant when you have a big bad ass Burban like that. Just use Rain-X on your windows after you give them a good cleaning.

[@jeremypilot1015]

No ABS??!!! I mean how do you stop that thing. You look too young to know how to pump your brakes lol

[@stoprez2006]

It stops pretty well but it will definitely lock up those 37s! Just have to work the pedal a little bit haha