Electric 4WD on SUV DIY conversion?

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Not exactly what you want, but might give you some inspiration:
Poclain Hydraulics

Anyway, if I were going the hydraulics route in a Suburban I'd consider a medium-duty transmission with PTO to transmit input to the hydraulic drive, and would assemble the hydraulic rotors at the wheel hubs to avoid clearance issues with the oil sump and crossmembers.

[oil pan 4]

I don't know what part of that sounds cheap.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by oil pan 4

I don't know what part of that sounds cheap.

I didn't say it was cheap, it was just an attempt to provide some inspiration.

[oil pan 4]

So he is stillsearching for a lifted rock crawler, that can tow 10k and get 25mpg or more.
If it were easy to sort out, every would be building them. Including the OEMs.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by oil pan 4

So he is stillsearching for a lifted rock crawler, that can tow 10k and get 25mpg or more.
If it were easy to sort out, every would be building them. Including the OEMs.

Blame it on the current emission regulations.

[oil pan 4]

In about 45 out of 50 states emissions are not enforced or barely enforced. So that is not holding back the majority of people from building their own 25mpg+ rock crawler 10k towing package vehicle.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Indeed. But getting one from factory? No way.

[aardvarcus]

I have dreams of building a similar but slightly different project. Honestly, I would focus on getting the engine swapped and the vehicle up and running which would be a major accomplishment within itself.

If you want to add an electric drive to the Suburban, why not just get a PTO for the NV4500 Transmission and adapt that to your electric drive motor. Then use that to insert the power from the electric motor into the transmission, utilizing all the typical drive train without modification. Alternatively there are also transfer cases with PTO ports that were available for the NV4500. (I am thinking Borg Warners with PTOs came on the Chevy one ton dually's with NV4500s, but don't quote me on that.)

[oil pan 4]

Some more reasons a roughly 3 to 1 rear and a TH400 series trans would be a horrible idea.
For starters the 400 has a 2.6:1 first gear, that coupled with a 3:1 rear end would give you less than a 8 to 1 first gear ratio.
All 9000lb+ tow rated vehicles have 10 or 11 to one first gear ratio or higher.
Then on the highway you will still run out of gear. The top gear in a 400 is 1:1. With a 3 or 3.08 rear, well its not too hard to figure out what your final drive ratio is.
Did I mention it doesn't have converter lockup?
So that theoretical 3:1 top gear final drive ratio now becomes 3.2:1 once you add some converter slippage.

So doing all that work to swap in an inferior ford sterling just for the slightly lower 3 or 3.08 to 1 gears is really a waste.
Look up the GM corporate 14 bolt 10.5 inch full float, it seems to have a legendary status and a very loyal following in the truck community.
The only complaints about the GM 10.5'' corporate 14 bolt I can find is; its heavy (at 550to 680lb I agree) and it hangs low (a problem for off road guys).
The gross axle weight rating is 8,600lb, with a suburban and its sub 3,000 rear axle weight, loading one of these axles to full capacity, one would have to be legitimately insane.
The only thing you can upgrade to from a 14 bolt is a AAM 11.5, giving you 10,000 gross axle weight (seriously how much over kill do you need) and best of all, a little more ground clearance. Just eyeballing it, they clearly redesigned the pinion carrier on the AAM giving at least an extra inch, maybe 2 of ground clearance.

My setup for the 14 bolt uses 3.21 gears (that I was told I would never be able to find). With the TH700 transmissions first gear (3.1:1) I will get a 9.95:1 first gear ratio then in overdrive with torque converter lockup I get about 2.27:1

Most modern transmissions typically have that numerically higher first gear and overdrive combination needed to get decent fuel economy. You cant mismatch outdated equipment to get around the deficiencies of not having an overdrive gear and converter lockup.

Some 4cylinder diesel engine in front of a TH400 series transmission and a 3.0x:1 rear end sounds like it will really suck towing and get average fuel economy at best.