It Begins Again: Chevy Suburban Camper Build

TLDR;
I bought a 3/4 ton, 4WD Chevy Suburban and plan to build it out as a camper to replace our 2008 Toyota 2WD Sienna camper. Our goals? More rustic camping. And the ability to tow a "basecamp" travel trailer with AC, heat, potty, and shower.

I'm currently enjoying my first go-round with COVID. So lucky you, dear reader. I have the time to bore you with an entirely too-detailed, fever-brained post about how we decided on the Suburban.

After nearly four years of tweaking our 2008 Toyota Sienna into a decently-capable campervan, the unexpected happened.

I ran out of things to tweak.

I find myself in the position of my old guitar teacher: 

"It's always about the next guitar."

We've got a comfortable bed. Solar power. House electric running a 12V fridge. Enough storage space organizing the equipment we need to camp with. All on a reliable, easy to drive, easy to park, quick to setup platform. We've taken multi-week trips in a van build that I initially intended for 2-3 night trips.

Yet, there are still annoyances:

We aren't campfire people, so the only inside "hang-out" space to occupy between sunset and bedtime are the van's not-too-comfy front seats. And they're a hassle - we have to move them all the way forward to sleep and then all the way back to sit in. At the edges of camping season the days run short and we get even more of that time between dark and sleep.

No overnight heat or AC shortens our camping season. Once it's colder than 40 at night or warmer than 85 during the day, we're out.

Lack of a shower, potty, low ground clearance, and two-wheel-drive limit camping locations.

Realizations:

• These annoyances are actually limitations of this minivan platform (ie not easily fixable.)
• Our Sienna now has 232K miles on the odometer. I know its a Toyota and may go another 100K, but my GenX brain still thinks cars die at 100K and this thing is just an automotive freak.
• I usually hold onto cars too long and they leave me behind a tow truck. I wanted to get the next vehicle before I needed the next vehicle.
• The easiest and cheapest way to get AC, heat, potty, and shower would be to buy it in the form of a used RV.
• We don't really know what life post-Tulsa is. One potential timeline has MsBoyink as a travel nurse.
• Oklahoma summers can be very long and very hot (ie I needed something to do.)
  

New Hobby

So I started a new hobby.

Shopping for the next vehicle.

If you know me at all you know I love researching and shopping for vehicles. Maybe to the point of obsession. Or not wanting to actually buy something - because then I'd have to stop shopping.

(Rabbit trail: Anyone else remember the TV ad that featured the store "Al's Rug"? It only has one rug to sell. But Al doesn't want to sell the rug. "Because then I wouldn't have any rugs to sell." That's me sometimes with buying vehicles.)

Suffice to say I looked - exhaustively - at all the options. I'll spare you the full list, but here are the primary candidates:

AWD Sienna

Toyota made the 2004-2010 Sienna in All Wheel Drive (AWD). I could find a lower-mileage, AWD, same-generation version of our current van.

Upsides would be just being able to cut/paste my entire build over to the new rig. Parts removed from the new van could re-outfit the old van for easier selling, aftermarket lift kits are available, and we'd have better offroad abilities.

Downsides are the AWD vans didn't come with a spare tire, they are still a unibody vehicle, and the front seats are the same (uncomfortable.)

AWD Chevy Express

Chevy made the full-size Express vans in AWD from 2003 - 2014.

Upsides are you can find these vans used as the platform for conversions with luxury interiors and raised roofs. Aftermarket lift kits and bumpers are available. The added size would allow for hang out space.

Downsides are the size and drivability in our current urban life. And as a tall person, I've always been frustrated with the lack of legroom for drivers in full-size vans. Passengers can kick back with their feet up while I'm crammed in a corner with no room for my knees...

4WD Truck and Truck Camper

Upsides with this option are that any common 4WD truck would make a better offroading platform than an AWD van.

A used truck camper would give plug and play comfort with HVAC, potty, and shower. We could change out the vehicle or camper independently.

Downsides are needing a pop-top camper to fit in our current parking structure (or renting offsite storage for the camper), somewhat cramped living quarters in truck campers, and cost of truck campers.

And, have you ever looked at something that made all the logical sense in the world but you just couldn't get interested? That's me and truck campers.

Chevy Suburban

Just like how we toured nine different apartments in Tulsa before renting the first one we looked at, a Suburban-based camper was the first option I looked at.

Upsides are that Suburbans can easily be found in 1/2-ton or 3/4-ton versions, 2WD or 4WD.

Building a camper out of a Suburban isn't a new idea - there are examples to copy ideas from. There are (or were) even a couple of companies specializing in custom Suburban camper builds.

Downsides are as big as Suburbans look, the build-out space is only longer than the Sienna. Interior height and width are actually smaller. The Suburban would be less nimble around town than our Sienna (but it's not like full-size trucks are rare - it is Oklahoma.)

Door 1, 2, 3, or 4?

Round and round.

MsBoyink is a patient woman. But it was cheap entertainment. Two things happened.

The first was camping next to a couple that drove a full-size van towing a small travel trailer. I realized a "two-piece" setup like theirs could work for us. I could setup the tow vehicle as a short-term camper, then we could buy a small travel trailer to solve the AC-heat-potty-shower issue. The trailer purchase could wait until the right time - like if or when the travel nursing became a reality.

The other was parking next to a Suburban while out shopping. It didn't seem as big in person as it was in my head. Wheelbase is the same as the crew cab truck we fulltime RV'd with. I loved that truck. It was comfortable for me with plenty of legroom. A similar-era Suburban would sit the same.

So I had a goal.

The Target Truck

I wanted:

2000 - 2006 Chevy Suburban or GMC Tahoe XL
Suburbans older than 2000 carried the spare tire inside the vehicle and moving it requires an expensive custom rear bumper. 2007 and later Suburbans are large SUVs rather than trucks. The bumpers are all plastic covered and the engines had fuel management issues. The 2000 - 2006 era feels like the sweet spot with underbody spare tire, good parts availability, and reliable drivetrains with lots of 300K examples on the road.

2500 (3/4 ton)
If we just wanted to build a camper, a 1/2 ton Suburban would suffice, but if we also wanted to tow a trailer I wanted the added capacities of the 3/4 ton truck. The transmissions are also more reliable and the ride heights are higher.

4x4
No point in making this transition if we didn't get more offoading ability.

6.0L or 8.1L Engine
Our truck had the 8.1L and I loved that engine, but I don't expect to pull a trailer that big again. The 6.0 gets a bit better fuel mileage when not towing. I was open to either option.

Under 200K Miles
I didn't see the point of replacing a 200K+ vehicle with another.

Rear Hatch
In this era you could get the double "barn doors" or the flip-up rear hatch. Our plan is to build a rear kitchen like our Sienna and the hatch is handy as a quick awning. The rear visibility is also better.

Cream Puff
None of the other options (colors, cloth or leather, trim levels, etc) made a difference so long as the truck was well-kept. My "tell" is the condition of the driver's seat. If I see gaping holes in the upholstery I lose interest. Yea, I know, it's all fixable but it just tells me something about the previous owner. If you can put up with horrible-looking seats what other repairs are you neglecting?

Price Range
Based on my requirements, and from my research, it looked like the actual market was from $10K - $20K. Note - I've never found any vehicle pricing guides like Kelly Blue Book to be close to reality. These trucks were all selling for at least 2X - 3X what KBB shows. Looks like 4-5 years ago the prices were lower (which says a lot about the new truck market.)

I also had to factor in location. I've purchased cars from out of state and no matter how I got them home it always seemed to cost $1200 - $1500.

How I Shop

I look everywhere - online anyway.

eBay. Bring a Trailer. Cars and Bids. Cars.com. Kelly Blue Book. Craigslist. Classified forums on ExpeditionPortal and OverlandBound. I even swallowed my pride and reactivated a long-mostly-dead Facebook account to use Marketplace. I setup email alerts where I could. I look at recently-completed auctions.

After a couple of weeks I was able to get a feel for the true, current market value of the truck I wanted.

Craiglist FTW

Just after having a conversation about how Facebook Marketplace has totally taken over the classifieds market from Craigslist, a truck matching my punchlist showed up on Craigslist.

2000 Suburban, 2500, 4WD, 6.0, 175K miles. Rear hatch, good seats, and overall a clean looking truck. Listed for $11K - not a screaming deal, but a fair price.

The bonus? It was at a dealer just two hours away. We could drive over, test drive/inspect it, and have it looked at by a 3rd party mechanic. If it proved a keeper it was just a drive home.

That's pretty much what we did.

The truck presented and drove well. The 3rd party inspection, well, they didn't find anything obviously wrong with the truck. They were able to pull the service history which showed regular maintenance work. But their approach from that point was to compare the maintenance it showed to what the factory suggested, and create a quote for any mismatches (ie, "I don't see a transmission flush listed so it needs that.")

And their line-item suggesting $900 worth of new spark plugs and wires was a tip-off to their business model. It may have been a minute since I did that job on a car, but I seem to recall maybe spending $80 on parts and taking an hour

The shop seemed disappointed when I declined their $4,400 total of suggested maintenance work and only paid for their inspection.

We finalized the transaction with the selling dealer, filled up the gas tank (39 gallons - ouch), and drove it home.

Further Inspection

Tires

The tires are Michelins, are a size up from stock, and are in excellent shape. They aren't the tire I would have purchased, but I can't argue Michelins. Not needing new tires is at least $1500 back in my pocket.

Locker

I researched the truck's RPO codes and determined that it has a factory locker in the rear and 4.11 gears.

Stereo/Nav

The truck has a high-end, professionally-installed aftermarket stereo with camera inputs and built-in Garmin navigation. But it sounded horrible. I played with it, got a backup camera working that the dealer didn't know about, diagnosed a blown subwoofer, and found an inoperable left rear door speaker. By turning off the sub and re-EQing the system it sounds decent.

Video

I found a VHS(!) player under the rear seat connected to a 5" drop-down screen for the second row seats. It also has a TV tuner, but I'm not sure what it's using for an antenna. The dash stereo will play DVDs, so suddenly I have a vehicle that can show a double-feature concurrently.

Security System

It has an aftermarket security system from a defunct company. I didn't like the idea of aging, non-stock electronics that could strand me if they failed, so I found a local shop to remove it.

Already Replaced:

• Peeling chrome door trim
• Some burned out lights
• Faded headlight and turn signal lenses
• Missing radio antenna
• Underhood light

A neighbor loaned me an angle grinder to cut off the locking hitch pin. This let me remove the hitch drawbar that I was sure to bang my shin on eventually.

I need to repaint the roof rack, tow hooks, and receiver hitch. Then it needs a good detailing. It's shiny, but I think I can get it looking better with a serious Karate Kid effort. And I'll get the stereo back in full working order.

The Camper Build Plan

The idea is to basically re-create our Sienna build in the Suburban.
We'll have to rethink things based on the interior space differences. I'm not sure how it will all play out yet, but overall:

Exterior

No huge changes to the exterior/stance/tires. I like how it stands now and don't see a need to add a lift, custom bumpers, brush guards, etc based on our expected use.

2nd/3rd Row Seats

These will all get removed. Some builds keep one or both second row seats but we'll need all the space there we can get, and we don't often need to carry passengers.

Platform Bed/Drawers

The rear will get a platform bed tall enough to allow 6" tall drawers across the rear. The platform will have two long drawers accessible from the rear and one or two shorter drawers at the front.

Amidships

The fridge, house battery, and water storage are the big puzzle. I think they will all end up in a custom cabinet located in the second row seating area behind the driver's seat. Many Suburban camper builds put the fridge between the front seats. I don't like the idea of having to reach in to get food from that spot. I'd like to retain the stock console and drink holders.

I hope to keep the passenger second row area open to serve as an entry point.

Rear Side Windows

Many Suburban builds completely block out the rear side windows with walls of cubby storage systems. I can see why - there's a ton of space in those spots.

But I don't want to permanently block those windows. We might need more clothes storage. If so, I'll consider some sort of shelf or hanging system for the rear driver's side window.

Roof

The roof will get the solar panel and awning currently on the Sienna. And possibly a storage box at some point. I'd love to get an inflatable tandem kayak into our traveling mix again.

The Big Questions

How. And Where.

We're in an apartment. I have covered parking and can do some of the work out there. But there's no power and I'm subject to the weather.

I have a collection of hand tools and a power drill. The rest of my power tools are in storage in Missouri.

There is a Maker Space in town. And I may be willing to farm some of the work out.

No solid answers yet, but that's OK. I like starting things with no idea how they'll get done. It gives the universe a chance to get involved.

In the meantime, I'll just keep chipping away at the small things I can do on the truck. There's no hurry. Part of the reason I bought now was to give myself a long transition time (so long as that Toyota keeps going down the road.)