95 Chev Tahoe build

[RussellZ]

Hi folks! I wanted to take some time to re-post my build thread from a couple other forums to showcase my wheeling rig which I am currently considering turning into an overlanding rig.

I started with a bone stock 6.5L / 4L80e / NP241 equipped 2 door Tahoe that I found on my local auto classifieds site just by happen-chance. I'd kinda been eyeballing these trucks for a little while as my old 85 K5 Jimmy was starting to get pretty tired after a few seasons of abuse on the trail and parts were becoming harder and harder to come by. I wasn't really seriously looking to buy as most of the 2 door trucks were going for 5 - 6k and that kind of money would have gone a long way on freshening up my K5.



Regardless, I spotted the truck shortly after it was posted online for a meer $3500. I thought that was pretty dang cheap, and when I opened the ad and saw it was a diesel truck, I knew I had to have it. I had only seen one other diesel Tahoe before, it was a 4 door which had been swapped from a 5.7L gas and was listed for 12K.

I went to go look at the truck that same day and the previous owner told me that he had been driving down the road with it when suddenly it started making bad sounds and lost all power. He killed the truck and rolled to the side of the road fearing he'd blown the engine. He had the truck towed to the storage lot where it was still sitting and had tried to get it started again to confirm his fears but wasn't able to. First thing that went through my mind was "PMD!". I offered him 2500 and we settled on 2800 for a truck that was very clean inside and out, never been smoked in and obviously had been well maintained / cared for, even with 302 000km on the odometer.





I got the truck home and tried to start it, the starter made a sound, but obviously had little to no load on it. I took the inspection plate cover off and hit the starter again, the flywheel turned but the engine did not. My next thought was that perhaps the crank had broken but then thought that would have been most unusual as usually the engine would still turn over due to friction between the two broken halves. So, I pulled the transmission and found this:



I had a good laugh, went to Napa and picked up a new flexplate for $60 bucks, bolted it up and the engine fired up immediately I did wind up having some issues with the PMD later on down the road, but the engine ran great! Unfortunately, I did find a more serious break when I was taking the transmission out. The transmission case was cracked at some point (the inside of the crack was dirty, so it was old) and that just wasn't acceptable to me. I'd put a 700r4 into a previous truck I owned at one point with a small crack in the bellhousing, and it wound up coming out of the truck without un-doing the bellhousing from the engine after I twisted it up too much on the trail a solid 3hrs from home. It was quite embarrassing to be hauled home on the tow bar behind a Jeep JK!



I had the housing replaced with a 4L85E casing and had it fully rebuilt for $1000. Even with that expense, still an amazing deal for a now running / driving 2 door diesel Tahoe!

 

[RussellZ]

So, now that I had my toy up and running, I got it registered / insured so I could run around town with it a little bit before I started my build. I needed some time to save up for parts, order them and get them shipped across the border.

It was during this time that I discovered that my Tahoe was having some PMD issues. It was hard starting and smoked a bit but didn't seem to have any issues with dying like most people experience. Nope, mine was kind of a fun one in that it would just open the injection pump up wide and the 6.5L would go all hopped up Cummins on me :Wow1: It would cloud 6 lanes of traffic with black smoke and make some pretty impressive power doing it, haha! It was literally all the stock brakes could do to hold the truck back when it did that. Of course, it would always wait until I was sitting at a cross walk waiting for a little old lady with a walker to get directly infront of me, or when I was stopped beside an interceptor, or in a school zone with small children playing on the road :smiley_drive:

So, needless to say, a new PMD was very high on the priority list and I got one on order right away. I ordered a relocation kit with a heat sink to go along with the newer style grey PMD. I routed the wiring through into the cabin of the truck and mounted the PMD to my driver's side seat frame. That took care of my Cummins smoke problem, and the hard starting.

My then daily driver was an 07 Chev 2500HD SCLB Duramax and I was commuting about 300 miles from work back to my hometown weekly to see friends and family. I was renting a place in the city where I moved to and had no room to work on my vehicles, and therefor had nothing to do on the weekends. Unfortunately, my Duramax suffered a vane position sensor failure which is not something I am able to repair on my own as a GM Tech 2 is required to calibrate the new sensor after it is installed. I dropped the truck off with the dealership to complete the repair and was left with a dilemma of which vehicle to take up to work with me. I hadn't taken my Tahoe on any trip nearly that long and with the PMD issues I'd been having, it still hadn't earned my trust yet. I had only one other option for vehicles to drive, which was the farm F250. I decided that I was best to take the Ford and hopped in. Not 5 minutes down the road I was turning the stupid thing around as it was missing on a bunch of cylinders with a flashing SES light, haha! Needless to say, I left the Ford at home and turned to my Tahoe.

The old girl did me proud! Drove all 300 miles up and took me back and forth to work every day that week. However, on my way home the following weekend my low coolant light came on. Knowing that the light in my old K5 was always pretty reliable, I took the alarm seriously and kept a close eye on the coolant temperature gauge. Sure enough, the temperature quickly started to rise. I shut the truck down and coasted off to the side of the road to see what was up. When I got out, I could smell coolant and had steam rolling out from under the hood of the truck. I popped the hood and checked things out. I definitely had some coolant on the front suspension, but all my hoses looked OK and I didn't see any more coolant coming out from anywhere... I just so happened to have stopped beside a very clean lake and had a bottle of washer fluid in the back. I dumped the fluid into the washer bottle and got a jug full from the lake. When I started pouring the coolant into the truck, it came right back out the front as fast as I put it in, LOL! Winds up the side tank had separated from the center core... Doh! I wound up sitting in my Tahoe for most of the day waiting for my father to come rescue me with my truck and trailer after he swung by the dealership and picked my Duramax up.

 

[RussellZ]

After replacing the radiator when I got home with a brand new one, I drove the truck around town for a few more weeks until I had enough parts collected to start my build.

I had purchased a 79 Ford Dana 60 and a semi floating 14 bolt to install out back and already had them re-geared to 5.13:1 and had installed ARB air lockers. The rear diff was also fitted with a disc brakes to help keep my wheels in place if I broke an axle shaft. I had also picked up a set of Trail Ready HD17 beadlock wheels to mount my set of 37x12.5x17" Kevlar MTRs. Offroad Design was kind enough to sell and ship up a prototype SAS bracket set they were about to market for me to try out along with a crossover steering setup, slip yolk eliminator for the NP241 with a driveline brake, extended brake lines, shackle flip kit for the rear and a pair of zero rate blocks to re-center the rear diff. I purchased a set of brand new 52" springs to put in up front with some Ford shock towers to mount the 14" travel shocks on.

With my parts pulled together, I called a buddy over and we got out the plasma cutter, blue tipped Ford wrench, sawzall and grinders and went to town on the IFS.







We then turned our attention to the rear diff. We removed the stock rear hangers and installed the ORD shackle flip hangers and installed the new rear diff.





After some assembly, I bolted the new wheels and tires on out back and set it down.

 

[RussellZ]

After a great deal of grinding, I got my front frame rails cleaned up and the new 79 Ford high pinion D60 installed. About the same time, my new ARB bull bar showed up along with my M12000 warn winch. Being that I was working on the truck alone, I made use of some heavy equipment to install my new bumper! :coffeedrink:











Finally, after many hours of messing around with the brakes (deleting ABS and trying to get the proportioning right) and adding a lift block to raise the back end up to match the front the truck was pretty much ready to go on it's maiden voyage. It's first run was out to Grande Cache just before the start of the Canadian Rockies. This picture was taken from the top of Kaw Ridge between 6 and 7000 ft of elevation after a little bit of slugging through some muskeg on the way up the side of the small mountain...

 

[RussellZ]

So! On to the part ya'll actually care about, the Duramax swap!

The LB7 is a great motor, but they have some drawbacks vs the newer engines. One is injectors. They suck to change and are quite expensive. It also sucks when a return line leaks after you swap them out and have to tear the engine down a second time to fix it. The ZF6 makes the swap. It'd be cool with the Allison, but the 6 speed stick downright blow's people's mind and is a ton of fun to drive. If I wanna be especially retarded, I can wind my truck out through 3 gears before I hit the other side of an intersection at full throttle, tends to attract a little bit of attention....

The installation was actually quite easy. I purchased the swapper's guide from thedieselplace.com simply to get the engine mount templates, and they work pretty well. The engine fits in this truck exceptionally well as it was designed for this body style but wasn't released until after the new body style was. I am still running it without an intercooler as there is no room to fit one up front with the rad and the AC condenser. I am running the stock Cab and Chassis tune (230HP), so I haven't had any EGT issues with it (even in 50C weather pulling hard up a hill I could just barely hit 1400F). Electrical is kind of my thing and wasn't hard. I integrated the engine wiring with my stock underhood fuse block using diagrams from alldatadiy.com for both the duramax and my Tahoe. The LB7 uses all the same fuses as a 6.5L diesel does so things panned out pretty well. All my stock gauges plugged straight into the LB7 sensors except for the coolant temperature sensor. I just drilled and tapped a water jacket for it and got it working as well. I did have to run a new 1/2" fuel line for the dmax as the CP3 can easily over-draw even that line, forget the stock 3/8s line.

Anyways, on to some pics... To start, the old engine had to come out... This was made more fun because the front diff had been out for new inner Cs to be welded on to correct some pinion angle and castor problems I'd been having earlier and I had the truck up on jack stands. Gotta love that good ol' skidsteer... Such a handy toy! :snorkel:

 

[RussellZ]

We then tore down the dually to rob it of it's engine and transmission... Before taking the engine off the rolling chassis, we hauled it in to hose down the engine, transmission, transfer case and the frame. Where one skidsteer is good, two makes for some fantastic redneck fun :wings:

 

[RussellZ]

While a friend of mine took the rolling chassis into his work to clean all the mud, grease and gravel off it, I finally got my front diff back and got to work installing and assembling it. Of course, I couldn't just put stock parts back in when I rebuilt the front end. I fitted it with Solid Axle Industries inner Cs, knuckles, steering arms and 35 spline 4030 Yukon Chromoly axle shaft assemblies. The 1 ton brakes were removed and I fitted the front end with 10 bolt 3/4 ton brakes instead. This meant my truck had the same size calipers front and rear (the rear 14 bolt semi floater was fitted with 3/4 ton 10 bolt disc brakes to replace the drums) and allowed me to properly proportion the brakes and provided me with a wicked brake pedal feel combined with the new 1.5" master cylinder.

 

[RussellZ]

With the front end set back down it was time to get to work test fitting the engine... With the core support in, you can see how well the Duramax fan fits with the 6.5L fan shroud. It is a common upgrade to put these fans on the old detroit diesels because they move a pretty stupid amount of air (around 10 000 CFM). Everything fits really well, no interferences anywhere. Even the exhaust fits nice!

 

[RussellZ]

With my friend's help, we fabricated the engine mounts and installed the engine + transmission. For the t-case, I took the NP261 apart and stole the 29 spline input shaft out of it to put into the NP241. The NP261 would have fit, but would have required me to have new driveshafts made as the 241 has a SYE kit on it as well as a driveline brake. So far, I have had no issues with the NP241 behind the Duramax. I had to turn a clutch hose adapter on the lathe to connect the Duramax's clutch hose up to the 95 master cylinder on the truck.

I mounted the PCM where the old ABS module used to sit. Of course, the dash got all torn out to do the wiring inside. I had to re-route the wires for the pedal (I am using the 6.5L pedal with the LB7 ECM, but the wires used to run out through the passenger side bulkhead, I re-routed them to come out the driver's side instead), and run some wires for the water in fuel / low coolant lights that used to be handled by the old 6.5L PCM mounted behind the glove box. I also wired up the AC and the cruise control to be handled by the LB7 PCM.

The original 6.5L rad was re-used in the swap along with the original overflow bottle up on the firewall. The rad has an extra port on the front which I used as a return port for the heat exchanger setup I have installed for onboard hot water (for use as a shower, dish washing etc) as I regularly camp in the truck.

I re-located the second battery up to where the air box used to sit for the 6.5L, and used the original battery tray as a mount for the 6.6L's airbox. I had to cut about an inch off the bottom of the air box to allow the hood to close on top of it. This also helps provide a lot more airflow in. The battery tray and inner fender seal the air box off from the hot engine compartment, so it acts like a cold air intake of sorts. You can see the bling chrome stuff I used as an intercooler bypass.

At this point, the swap was pretty much done though I did have a hood clearance issue with the factory intake piping. I just cut the support on the bottom of the hood where it was touching and the hood was able to close.

 

[RussellZ]

I have had this truck down to the US on a number of big wheeling trips including a run to Moab, using the truck as a chase truck for a local Ultra4 desert race team (4502 baby!) as well as a run down the Rubicon Trail. I've done a lot of little updates and modifications throughout this truck's wheeling career as well that I haven't really mentioned here in the build thread (such is the nature of the beast!).

As it sits, the truck needs some changes to be re-purposed for the trip I am considering going on right now. For example, I'd like to remove the leaf spring front suspension and fit it with a coilover / 3-link suspension system for better road manners, re-gearing from 5.13 to 4.56:1 for better highway engine speeds and replacing the rear suspension with custom lift springs that will give me better cargo capacity and handling without the use of lift blocks. I'd also like to switch back to a 35" tire from the 37s I am running now and lower the truck a few inches.

The rear seat will be removed and a water tank, battery system, espar diesel fired cabin / coolant heater and an onboard fridge will be installed in the footwells. The back will have a raised platform for sleeping on that covers from the tailgate all the way up to the back of the front seats. I sleep on the seats folded down right now and have tons of room to stretch out. Under the sleeping platform I will be storing tools, spare parts / fluids and all my camping / living gear. I plan to fit the truck with a snorkle intake (mostly cause they look so incredibly cool, lol :snorkel as well as a defender roof rack with blitz can mounts for fuel / water and an awning off the side. I may still spring for a roof top tent as well, but generally speaking they are a huge detriment up here as the truck is forever pushing branches around with the roof rack as it is.

Currently the truck is sitting up on jack stands yet again for front differential repairs but is otherwise ready to go for a summer full of wheeling and outfitting for overland adventuring. Who knew that a 7000lb truck with a medium duty diesel engine would bend and break the D60 when it is taken off a 10ft jump while pretending it is a trophy truck out in the desert?! All kinds of fun breaking wheels off your truck!

 

[Humvette]

Amazing built keep the pics and details coming.

I had a 95 Yukon 2Dr. I plan to build one of these eventually

 

[4player]

Nice build. I currently own a 1994 stock K5 Blazer/Tahoe. I have owned my truck for 13 years and absolutely love it. I have things I would love to do to it but that is going to have to wait for a bit. Keep care of your interior from the B pillars back, all that plastic is VERY hard to come by when it gets broken or scratched. I have been searching for years for new B pillar covers near the floor as mine are broken.

I hope you have as much fun with yours as I do with mine.

 

[RussellZ]

Nice build. I currently own a 1994 stock K5 Blazer/Tahoe. I have owned my truck for 13 years and absolutely love it. I have things I would love to do to it but that is going to have to wait for a bit. Keep care of your interior from the B pillars back, all that plastic is VERY hard to come by when it gets broken or scratched. I have been searching for years for new B pillar covers near the floor as mine are broken.

I hope you have as much fun with yours as I do with mine.

What color is the interior on your Blazer? I have a 93 that I picked up with a blown engine a while ago. If your interior is red I may have what you need!

 

[jps4jeep]

Bav-**********-O!

solid inner and outers are pure pimp! overall great build, too bad GM can't make trucks the way we want them.

 

[arveetek]

Thanks for the update! I too have a 95 2 door with the 6.5L diesel. I've got 264K miles and she's still running great!

Casey

On edit: I just now saw your reply over at GMC4x4.com!