2002 Tahoe "Expedition" build

[02TahoeMD]

Time for my annual check - in I guess along with a few photos. We are still out and about when my schedule permits, no real changes to the vehicle EXCEPT I have now put in 3 different power steering pumps and also changed the steering box once, and that all happened since I went with the bigger tires. Coincidence? Maybe not? I have started to shop around here and there for a 285 size tire and may change back down to them. I also note that the Coopers in this size seem to be difficult to keep well balanced, I have had them at four different tire shops getting balanced since I bought them 6 years ago ( maybe longer? my memory ain't great).

Anyway, - pics to follow

Northern Lights in the TN Mountains, October 2024



TN / NC border near Paint Creek in Cherokee National Forest along the French Broad River


Random forest of Mountain Laurel in Cherokee NF - picked up a fair amount of trail striping on this drive. Oh well!


Hurricane Gap Rd, Cherokee National Forest, TN. A delightful drive!

Happy trails to all. Have a safe and blessed holidays!

 

[Smileyshaun]

Time for my annual check - in I guess along with a few photos. We are still out and about when my schedule permits, no real changes to the vehicle EXCEPT I have now put in 3 different power steering pumps and also changed the steering box once, and that all happened since I went with the bigger tires. Coincidence? Maybe not? I have started to shop around here and there for a 285 size tire and may change back down to them. I also note that the Coopers in this size seem to be difficult to keep well balanced, I have had them at four different tire shops getting balanced since I bought them 6 years ago ( maybe longer? my memory ain't great).

Anyway, - pics to follow
View attachment 902075
Northern Lights in the TN Mountains, October 2024

View attachment 902076

TN / NC border near Paint Creek in Cherokee National Forest along the French Broad River

View attachment 902077
Random forest of Mountain Laurel in Cherokee NF - picked up a fair amount of trail striping on this drive. Oh well!

View attachment 902078
Hurricane Gap Rd, Cherokee National Forest, TN. A delightful drive!

Happy trails to all. Have a safe and blessed holidays!

Could be the tires could be the crappy aftermarket parts floating around . I’ve had more defective new parts in the last 2 years than I have the rest of my automotive life . Quite frustrating to pull a rig apart , fix it and then have to fix it again a week later .

 

[ThundahBeagle]

Could be the tires could be the crappy aftermarket parts floating around . I’ve had more defective new parts in the last 2 years than I have the rest of my automotive life . Quite frustrating to pull a rig apart , fix it and then have to fix it again a week later .

I was running into this with power steering pumps for my 99 WJ Grand Cherokee before she was given up to Cars for Kids or something. If I lived then where I live now, I could have kept her and taken some time to get it right

 

[ThundahBeagle]

Time for my annual check - in I guess along with a few photos. We are still out and about when my schedule permits, no real changes to the vehicle EXCEPT I have now put in 3 different power steering pumps and also changed the steering box once, and that all happened since I went with the bigger tires. Coincidence? Maybe not? I have started to shop around here and there for a 285 size tire and may change back down to them. I also note that the Coopers in this size seem to be difficult to keep well balanced, I have had them at four different tire shops getting balanced since I bought them 6 years ago ( maybe longer? my memory ain't great).

Anyway, - pics to follow
View attachment 902075
Northern Lights in the TN Mountains, October 2024

View attachment 902076

TN / NC border near Paint Creek in Cherokee National Forest along the French Broad River

View attachment 902077
Random forest of Mountain Laurel in Cherokee NF - picked up a fair amount of trail striping on this drive. Oh well!

View attachment 902078
Hurricane Gap Rd, Cherokee National Forest, TN. A delightful drive!

Happy trails to all. Have a safe and blessed holidays!

Great pictures! We got some Aurora a couple weeks ago. Someday I may make it down to Cherokee and some French Broad

 

[arveetek]

Could be the tires could be the crappy aftermarket parts floating around . I’ve had more defective new parts in the last 2 years than I have the rest of my automotive life . Quite frustrating to pull a rig apart , fix it and then have to fix it again a week later .

Yes, parts quality seems to be going downhill rather fast. I always try to go for Genuine GM replacement parts, but even then I've had issues. For example, I replaced the thermostats in my Tahoe with Genuine GM thermostats, but they stuck open in less than a year and I had to replace them again this past weekend. And my Genuine GM replacement headlight switch is less than a year old and already starting to give me issues.

Casey

 

[02TahoeMD]

Great pictures! We got some Aurora a couple weeks ago. Someday I may make it down to Cherokee and some French Broad

Thanks. Both Cherokee and Pisgah Forests have almost untold miles worth of trails to roam on and camp too. I have encountered one our two trails that I honestly just turned around on because I did not want to beat up my rig that much - someone with 6 inches lift should probably be able to handle just fine but I did not want to chance it. Getting towed out of the middle of nowhere here is a true PITA.

 

[Trektor73]

View attachment 902078
Hurricane Gap Rd, Cherokee National Forest, TN. A delightful drive!

Happy trails to all. Have a safe and blessed holidays!

Man, I love this thing! I remember following this thread when you first were building it. Its the perfect all-arounder. The GMT800 is hard to beat!

 

[Overlandtowater]

Time for my annual check - in I guess along with a few photos. We are still out and about when my schedule permits, no real changes to the vehicle EXCEPT I have now put in 3 different power steering pumps and also changed the steering box once, and that all happened since I went with the bigger tires. Coincidence? Maybe not? I have started to shop around here and there for a 285 size tire and may change back down to them. I also note that the Coopers in this size seem to be difficult to keep well balanced, I have had them at four different tire shops getting balanced since I bought them 6 years ago ( maybe longer? my memory ain't great).

Anyway, - pics to follow
View attachment 902075
Northern Lights in the TN Mountains, October 2024

View attachment 902076

TN / NC border near Paint Creek in Cherokee National Forest along the French Broad River

View attachment 902077
Random forest of Mountain Laurel in Cherokee NF - picked up a fair amount of trail striping on this drive. Oh well!

View attachment 902078
Hurricane Gap Rd, Cherokee National Forest, TN. A delightful drive!

Happy trails to all. Have a safe and blessed holidays!

Thanks for the update, always great to see the rig that sparked my interest in the GMT800