Body lift on 95 6.5TD Suburban

[Travis Lane]

well thank you for answering my questions! I'd love to see what it looks like with the body lift!

 

[Travis Lane]

Anything yet?

 

[FellowTraveler]

Any pics, or?

 

[FellowTraveler]

BUMP!

 

[3500_6.5]

The only picture I have of "after" right now. Also put new tires on it and dropped the front end back down so it didn't sit so much higher than the rear. Running 285/75R16s now.


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[3500_6.5]

This is the only "modification" needed for a diesel under the hood. Turbo clears with no issues, has plenty of room. Also had to bend the inner fender some bc it hits the downpipe slightly with the lift.


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[FellowTraveler]

Looking good indeed!

 

[3500_6.5]

This is where the inner fender needing some "tweaking" to keep from hitting the downpipe.

Front bumper brackets to raise the bumper with the body.

Brackets to lower the lower half of the fan shroud to keep from hitting the fan. Also comes with spacers and longer bolts for between the upper and lower fan shroud.

Body lift pucks in the back above the fuel tank.

Side views with the lift. As you can see, the ac lines are visible now. I will eventually secure them back up in the body to where they should be only visible where they go through the frame on the front. But with the nerf bars I don't think it will be very noticeable at all.

A couple of after shots.


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[3500_6.5]

Next step will be changing the lug nuts so I can put the center caps on. Then on to replacing the injection pump, finishing my turbo master (bolted shut right now), and then paint. Eventually plan to put a built rd4 mechanical pump on it from R&D and go all out power wise on it. But that will probably be a ways down the road....


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[Will L.]

Where the bottom of the fan shroud moves, it looks like you need a block off plate to stop air intrusion into the fan area so the fan has to draw all of it's air through the radiator. Cant really tell if that's what I'm seeing there.

 

[3500_6.5]

Yeah, there is a gap. Would help, but to be honest I probably won't worry about it unless I have cooling issues. It's always done well as far as engine temps go, so I don't think it will affect it any, but we will see once summer comes around. All of my heavy hauling is usually done with my dually, so the burban isn't usually worked all that hard. Rarely pull more than 4 or 5k with it if I even use it to haul.


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[Travis Lane]

That looks amazing! My wife is gonna be happy once I get hers on!

 

[SmithvilleD]

I'm doing a 3" body lift for several reasons: stance, better downpipe path, & a little more room (vertically) to fit in an LB7 Duramax intercooler/rad stack.

As this thread discussed the 3500HD core support, thought I'd add a few pics showing the relative fan/core support/shrouds alignment with a 3" body lift: stock core support - vs - 3500HD core support that I'm modifying extensively to fit the intercooler.

Not certain yet if using the stock shroud will work out, but using the 3500HD core support can definitely improve the vertical alignment of the rad/IC stack & fan/shroud.

 

[handcannon]

View attachment 45970 View attachment 45971 View attachment 45972 I'm doing a 3" body lift for several reasons: stance, better downpipe path, & a little more room (vertically) to fit in an LB7 Duramax intercooler/rad stack.

As this thread discussed the 3500HD core support, thought I'd add a few pics showing the relative fan/core support/shrouds alignment with a 3" body lift: stock core support - vs - 3500HD core support that I'm modifying extensively to fit the intercooler.

Not certain yet if using the stock shroud will work out, but using the 3500HD core support can definitely improve the vertical alignment of the rad/IC stack & fan/shroud.

I find this very interesting Smithville!! I've had something like this on my distant radar for a while. The info I had gathered didn't involve the 3500 HD though, except for maybe using the lower grill valance from a 3500 HD.

What I found was that the radiator for a DMax, from about 2007 and up for a few years, was almost the same as our rads, except about 5 inches taller. The biggest difference I can remember was that the outflow tube to the water pump was angled upwards. The engine and transmission coolers were there, and in the same basic locations, and this rad is designed for use with an intercooler. To me this said better cooling capabilities.

My biggest concern was that I was thinking that I would have to do a rather tall body lift to use that radiator. That is why I am very interested in what you do, and how you go about this modification. I hope you post more info as you go through this.

Don

 

[SmithvilleD]

I have the same front bumper brackets shown earlier in this thread which moves the bumper up 3" so stock appearing & not need the 3500HD grille extension. Will see if it needs any ducting to ensure air finds it easier to go thru, than around the stack.

Also adding a stock type air dam below the bumper - think it has potential to increase flow thru stack by increasing differential pressure before/after the stack. Appearance-wise, the air dam also hides frame showing below bumper after body lift. I tend to believe the logic that our truck's cooling is more airflow thru stack limited, than radiator size limited.

Here is a picture of the stock rad setting in the taller HD core support. Note the top of rad no longer show above the core support. Along with that dip in the bottom core support rail, it appears air might have a straighter shot to the rad.

The Dmax rad I have is for the earlier years & it's lower connection does angle up a bit. Where the stock 6.5 rads have two connections: 1 for heater core flow return & 1 for expansion tank return, the DMax rad has just one connection angled a bit toward the engine - so will have to sort out that plumbing difference. When I have the fabrication done fitting the rad/IC, I'll do a post with details & avoid further hijacking this thread on body lifts. Just thought pics of the HD core support were relevant to the body lift topic.

 

[handcannon]

Good info there, and very interested in how this works out for you. Please do a new thread on this radiator mod as I'm very interested in your results.

Just the other day I finally had a chance to view first hand, and measure, the grill extension (valance) on a 3500 HD dually. The valance adds a total of close to 7.5 inches of height, which would be real hard to work with on our trucks without a super tall body lift. I have never been a fan of body lifts, but if that is what it takes to make the cooling problem better I would find a way to do it that would try to mask the extra height. The bumper brackets seem to push the bumper a little bit forward of what our trucks have also.

Don

 

[SmithvilleD]

As the 3500HD trucks are on a different frame, I think the front bumper does mount lower, relative to the grille on them. The HD's core support is extended down not quite an additional 3" (compared to our stock core support) where it meets the body bushings. In the pics above, my cab is setting on the 4 rear 3" body lift pucks. There is just the stock height Energy Suspension poly bushing (no 3" lift puck) setting under the right front of the HD core support & there's ~ 1/4" - 1/2" space remaining, so will have to come up with something to make up that difference.

This core support might could be modified to fit the later DMax taller rad (might have to cut off tray the rad sets on, & add metal to lower it). But fitting the taller IC from the later DMax's is problematic. The IC has to fit under the tube structure that crosses the top of core support - in the space (front to back) that the original brace rods occupy.

Later today, I'll get a pic with the front bumper on the 3" lift brackets, to show how the diesel bumper holes line up vertically with the cooling stack. Need to see if there's a way to move the tow hooks up 3" & the mounts be strong enough they could be used. Such a mount needs to be inside the frame tube & share that space with the body lift bumper brackets. I'm not a fan of how leaving the tow hooks in stock mounting height with body lift - they stick out right about the bottom of the air dam.

 

[handcannon]

I am aware that the 3500HD trucks had a different frame. They had a taller frame cross section, and also where the bumper mounts the frame swooped down lower. I never thought about how this may impact the radiator core support size and shape though. Another aspect to consider.

This core support might could be modified to fit the later DMax taller rad (might have to cut off tray the rad sets on, & add metal to lower it). But fitting the taller IC from the later DMax's is problematic. The IC has to fit under the tube structure that crosses the top of core support - in the space (front to back) that the original brace rods occupy.

Later today, I'll get a pic with the front bumper on the 3" lift brackets, to show how the diesel bumper holes line up vertically with the cooling stack. Need to see if there's a way to move the tow hooks up 3" & the mounts be strong enough they could be used. Such a mount needs to be inside the frame tube & share that space with the body lift bumper brackets. I'm not a fan of how leaving the tow hooks in stock mounting height with body lift - they stick out right about the bottom of the air dam.

I definitely was thinking about having to mod the core support by dropping the lower channel down to accommodate the taller radiator. But, without the funds to buy the rad to experiment with all I could do was think and dream about the mod.

Any more pics and info will be greatly appreciated. I can at least be thinking and dreaming in a more correct manner (until I can someday afford to start the project). It is real easy for me to "build and modify" things in my head, until I can actually do the work.

Don

 

[SmithvilleD]

Here are a couple more pics of progress on grafting in the DMax IC/rad stack & relocating the B&M 48 plate oil cooler so it's not adding heatload to the A/C condenser or rest of cooling stack. The 3" body lift & 3500HD core support is what allows space to fit the oil cooler there. Will see if the oil cooler gets adequate airflow in this location.

 

[3500_6.5]

We ran a trans cooler there on a gas truck. Got too hot for our liking without an electric fan. With the fan there were zero issues.


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