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| Rural Idaho, near Montana border (photo by V.A. McMillan, April 2026) |
Blog Post Title: Mountainman’s Suburban Project – Part I
Date: 12 November 2026
I am back. One adventure is behind me and another will begin soon.
Which makes this the perfect time to introduce you to my Suburban
Project. I will start this three-part series with the initial build
projects and then in part two I will share the lessons learned during
the purchase and export/import process to get my Suburban into
Canuckistan from the US of A. The final part will explore ideas of
what I could do in the future to make a good rig, even better.
Super quick back story...my old truck, the 1998 Chev Tahoe was
killed by a commando deer that assaulted the Tahoe at highway speeds
while traveling back to Alberta in 2024. Was able to complete the
final 600km (~400miles) of that journey without half the grill, and
the loss of the headlight and turn signal assembly on the driver’s
side. The cooling system had suffered a minor leak, but a jug of
pre-mix saw me safely to the end of that journey. The insurance
company would not agree to rebuilding the Tahoe...too old and too
many miles (Just shy of 600,000km when I had to said good-bye.) This void in
my transportation resources was temporarily filled by my generous
wife who shared her vehicle.
The search for a new ride had been underway before I lost the
Tahoe. I had been following Suboverland on YouTube (
https://www.youtube.com/@suboverland
) for years. I was intrigued by Grady’s approach to bringing
extended life to the reliable Chev Suburban platform. I will dive
deeper into the purchase process in Part Two (Insert Link). Visit
https://www.suboverland.com
for more info and see what projects Grady is working on.
Sneak peak...Mountainman’s New Ride – May 2026
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| Suburban Arrives in Manitoba (photo by V.A. McMillan, May 2026) |
This is a 1989 Chev Suburban Silverado 4x4 with a Chev 350 and
auto transmission. Sitting on 33’s with an estimated mileage of
113K miles when I picked it up. Currently, approaching 124K miles.
Yes, that is a solid front axle with double shocks up front on each
side. And Warn manually locking hubs. Very old school. I like it.
The interior is where we will focus for the remainder of Part One.
I ordered and received a single tool drawer unit, that can also
double as a bed platform. It was originally mounted behind the second
row jump seat. Below is an early photo.
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| Lower Birch Creek, Idaho (photo by V.A. McMillan, April 2026) |
I had intended to build my own cargo organizers on the sides at
the rear of the truck, so moving the bed platform/drawer unit to the
driver’s side was an easy switch. I will include a mix of my rough
sketches and photos to describe what happens next.
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| Sketch of Driver's Side Unit (by V.A. McMillan, May 2026) |
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Initial Sketch for Driver's Side Unit (by V.A. McMillan, May 2026)
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Chev Suburban Design Image (Found on the internet)
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Photos of the first load of ¾” Birch shop grade plywood,
cut to size by Windsor Plywood, and the initial layout of pieces to
construct the driver’s side cargo unit.
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| Initial Supply of Plywood for Build (photo by V.A. McMillan, May 2026) |
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| Prepping (photo by V.A. McMillan, May 2026) |
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| Layout (photo by V.A. McMillan, May 2026) |
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| Test Fit Top (photo by V.A. McMillan, May 2026) |
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| Driver's Side Roughed In (photo by V.A. McMillan, May 2026) |
After building the rough “box” for the driver’s side, I then re-located the drawer unit and secured it to the side unit.
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| Drawer Unit Attached (photo by V.A. McMillan, May 2026) |
The drawer unit came with a 20” extension “tabletop” that
could be used for increasing the sleep platform or when the tailgate
was open, to be used as a counter for a hasty kitchen out the back.
Once I had my cooler unit mounted beside the second row jump seat, I
no longer had 20” of interior space to use the included extension.
I crafted a 12” extension to create a full length sleep platform.
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| 12" Extension (photo by V.A. McMillan, June 2026) |
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| 12" Extension - Close Up (photo by V.A. McMillan, June 2026) |
Before I finished the driver’s side unit, I built the
passenger’s side cargo unit. My intent was to create a traveling
and working space that allowed me to utilize the large windows in the
back of the Suburban to observe my surroundings when I was inside.
Therefore, I did not want a floor to ceiling storage solution to
block my view.
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| Sketches for Passenger's Side Unit (by V.A. McMillan, May 2026) |
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| Passenger Side Build (photo by V.A. McMillan, May 2026) |
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| Passenger Side Build (photo by V.A. McMillan, May 2026) |
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| Passenger Side Build (photo by V.A. McMillan, May 2026) |
I also wanted to allow my build to be versatile enough to expand
from a single sleep platform to a double, if my wife was traveling
with me. To accommodate this I added rails to the side of the drawer
unit and the passenger’s side unit. Atop of the rails I would use a
¾” plywood deck and deck cushions to complete the double
sleep platform. Originally, I was going to use two pieces of ¾”
plywood, in the end, I used three-parts. Two were connected with a
set of hinges. I am still deciding whether or not to connect the
third piece with another set of hinges.
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| Second Sleep Platform (photo by V.A. McMillan, June 2026) |
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| Rails for Second Sleep Platform (photo by V.A. McMillan, May 2026) |
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Rails for Second Sleep Platform (photo by V.A. McMillan, May 2026)
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| Second Sleep Platform (photo by V.A. McMillan, May 2026) |
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| Second Sleep Platform (photo by V.A. McMillan, May 2026) |
With adaptable sleeping options solved, time to ensure we could
keep our grits and bevies cold. I already had a Pelican cooler, I
just needed a secure mounting point in the Suburban. After surveying
a couple of options I opted for the centre of the second seating row.
I made a platform from the same ¾” plywood and decided rope
tye-downs would be adequate. The platform was secured using two of
the mounting bolt locations in the floor. The two 1”x2” runners
on the underside of the platform aided in stability and strength.
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| Cooler Platform Sketch (by V.A. McMillan) |
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| Cooler on Cooler Platform (photo by V.A. McMillan, June 2026) |
The final two developments for the rear area of my truck were to
finish the driver’s side storage unit, specifically the front on
the unit. The second upgrade was to get power to the passenger’s
side unit. To create a quick access storage area, I put a hinged door
on the front of the driver’s side unit. Originally I tried using a
magnet system to hold the door closed, this did not work as planned,
so I upgraded to a plunger style RV door latch. That has worked very
well for my intended purposes.
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| Improved Driver's Side Cabinet Door (photo by V.A. McMillan, May 2026) |
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| Improved Driver's Side Cabinet Door (photo by V.A. McMillan, May 2026) |
In Part Two (Insert Link) I will get into greater detail on the purchase of
the Inergy Flex Tactical 1500 power unit, suffice to say I am
becoming more and more impressed with this compact and powerful
energy supply system. It powers my De Walt corded drill with no
issues, not to mention recharging devices like phones, MP3 players or
my Bluetooth speaker. However, I did not want power cords running all
over the back, so to contain clutter I mounted an exterior grade
extension cord (6’) with connections for 110v and USB power points.
This can have the power controlled at the Inergy source or at the
terminal end. The cord is routed under the cooler mounting board and
connects to the Inergy unit with a flat 45-degree plug.
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| Inergy Flex Tactical 1500 Unit (photo by V.A. McMillan, May 2026) |
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| Power to Passenger Side (photo by V.A. McMillan, November 2026) |
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| Cable Routing (photo by V.A. McMillan, November 2026) |
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| Cable Routing under Cooler Platform (photo by V.A. McMillan, November 2026) |
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| Connected to the Inergy Unit (photo by V.A. McMillan, November 2026) |
That brings us to the end of Part One. In Part Two (Insert Link) we will
continue with a detailed review of the purchase process, the
export/import process, and the lessons I learned. I hope you will
join us for the next chapter in this adventure.
Until next time…chase your dreams...and fine tune to meet your
needs!!!
Mountainman.
Suboverland before video of Mountainman’s Ride:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9bfa3TnBKM&t=220s
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