Kevin McNulty
Former Editor, Mud Life
Ever since our economy took a nosedive the staff here at Petersen's 4-Wheel & Off-Road has been preaching the economics of DIY projects and budget builds. Why? We want to see you out on the trail. Doing the work yourself saves a boatload of money in labor costs since the average shop mechanic and fabricator charges $90-$100 or more an hour. In theory, the cash saved on labor for a full suspension install could purchase a bunch of tools or a great set of wheels and take a big dent out the cost of tires.
We love old 4x4s big and small, so when we ran across this '71 K10 Chevy Suburban we had to work our magic by lifting it with a functional suspension and adding some performance off-road wheels and tires. We called Skyjacker Suspension for a 6-inch leaf spring suspension, and the guys at Dick Cepek for some cool new DC-2 wheels and 35-inch-tall Mud Country tires. We then spent a warm sunny day in the driveway installing the suspension and thinking afterward that if we had paid someone to do the work for us we would have spent well over $1,000 in labor. Instead, we picked up some extra parts and had fun driveway-wrenching with a friend.
Skyjacker suspensions for the '68-'72 Chevys are available in 2-, 4-, 6-, and 8-inch lifts. With the 6-inch lift, the 35-inch-tall tires didn't rub when we made our way through the trail. The system comes as a complete kit and is similar to other early Chevy leaf-sprung models; these basic install steps aren't just specific to this Suburban but will work with GM trucks.
So our advice to you is to do the work in your driveway if you can, and invest the savings back into your 4x4.
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