This Sub Gets Down With Help From Performance Online
IN A PREVIOUS ISSUE, I WALKED YOU through a Cummins swap on this ’69 Suburban (C10G, spring 2018, “Swap it or Leave It,” pg. 68), and this time around I’ve dropped the suspension. I like the look of a ’bagged truck/SUV, but I’m getting older and prefer the dependability of a staticdropped vehicle for daily driving. This family-fun truck needs to get down the road, haul a trailer, and sometimes I need to travel out of state, which is why I chose a complete static suspension from Performance Online (POL).
The Cummins-swapped Suburban was in need of a more modern suspension to navigate city streets. The suspension was stock, and nothing had been replaced since it was new in 1969. If you think removing old stock suspension will only take a few hours, you are sadly mistaken. Plan a full day for disassembly. Spray everything with penetrating oil the day before and have all of your heavy-hitting tools ready to go.
When thinking about suspension, consider the main purpose of your vehicle. Is it a show vehicle or a daily driver? Will it be a weekend toy, or will you use if for work? Once you’ve nailed down your truck’s main use, think about the wheels and tires you want to run. How tall will the tires be? What size wheels do you want, and what will be the offset? If you’re going to run a smaller wheel and also want to run disc brakes, will they work together? What rear gear ratio will you use?
One advantage of going through a company like POL is that it sells everything you need to tackle a big project like suspension. You can work with someone in sales or talk to tech support for different applications. Ultimately, you should do your own research but get confirmation from the manufacturer before you order suspension parts.
After collecting all of the parts I needed, I took the Suburban to Kevin at Grunion Customs in Phoenix. He’s helped with many of my builds and has the best guys working for him. Jon and Robbie have been in the custom car/ truck scene for most of their adult lives, and they’ve worked with Grunion Customs for many years. Kevin had a heavy hand in building my ’63 C-10. This suspension installation took two guys two and a half days to finish and cost about $2,000. The effort and money were worth it. The Suburban not only looks better, it handles better too.