2002 Tahoe "Expedition" build

[JamesDowning]

In reading up on Mark D. Stephen's awesome Nissan Frontier build, I saw where he put a gas piston on his KMA spare tire carrier. I did this mod, but mounted it to the top of the bumper instead. Just used a Strong Arm gas piston with one of their mounting kits, attaching it to a plate I fabbed up and the top of the bumper near the back edge. Works GREAT! No more swinging spare to worry about....

Hey John, do you know what force that gas piston is specified for? I'm looking to do this on mine, but am having trouble deciding on the force to get. Any insight? Where did you get your piston?

 

[02TahoeMD]

Hey John, do you know what force that gas piston is specified for? I'm looking to do this on mine, but am having trouble deciding on the force to get. Any insight? Where did you get your piston?

I actually took a blind guess at the piston - I went into Salvo Auto Parts and browsed through their selection of gas pistons and picked one that I thought looked heavy duty enough to work. The actual body of the piston is 16" long, and I got the threaded ball joint set to mount the piston to the bumper from the same section in the store. As far as where the mount points go, I played with the swingout and the piston until I found the placement that looked like it worked best.

So far, so good.

 

[KMV77]

What exactly were your symptoms of the fuel pump going bad? I have noticed a slight reoccurring surging under wot, but not regular acceleration. It kinda comes and goes. I don't have any funky sounds from the fp either. BTW the Tahoe looks great!
Kevin

 

[02TahoeMD]

What exactly were your symptoms of the fuel pump going bad? I have noticed a slight reoccurring surging under wot, but not regular acceleration. It kinda comes and goes. I don't have any funky sounds from the fp either. BTW the Tahoe looks great!
Kevin

Thanks for the compliment. I noticed the surging while driving at slow speeds on the two lane roads near my house - typical speeds between 30 and 45 MPH. As you drive, the engine will be loping or surging a few hundred RPMs up and down, while holding the gas pedal steady. It got worse and worse through all speeds, to include highway speeds. The Z71T-S I belong to suggested it was the fuel pump....seems to be a good diagnosis.

 

[saveitforsunrise]

beautiful, so, now im sure weve all thought about this befor, how much would you sell it for? its not just your aveage mall cruiser tahoe anymore, when people ask about mine i just tell them an outragesly high price because i love it so much, but if they want to give me the cash ill give them the keys and go buy me a nbs hoe

 

[flamewerks]

Awesome looking truck! I saw it on the TahoeYukon forum a while back but never commented on it.

 

[taz223]

Do you have a source for the SS brake lines and also pads and rotors? Wasn't sure if you bought them online or somewhere local. Thanks in advance!

Matt

 

[Rev]

This is a really nice rig. Well done.

 

[02TahoeMD]

Do you have a source for the SS brake lines and also pads and rotors? Wasn't sure if you bought them online or somewhere local. Thanks in advance!
Matt

Matt
I do not have the invoices online anymore of where I got the supplies for my brakes, they were all online stores though. Just trying to remember, I may have gotten the EBC brake pads and rotors from buybrakes.com and the Goodridge brake lines from Autoanything.com.
Hope this helps you with your searching.

This is a really nice rig. Well done.

Thank you Rev, I sincerely appreciate the kind comments.

 

[chilliwak]

I was wondering 02Tahoe, is that a Tibet flag you have on your front bumper?:ylsmoke:

 

[2 E L O]

02TahoeMD, how do you arrange your cargo inside with your dog(s)? I've been having a hard time figuring out the best way to organize gear in my Tahoe with the dog. I have the second row seats folded down and the third row removed. The floors in these dang NNBS Tahoe's are just uneven and a major pain when trying to safely organize and tie down gear...

 

[02TahoeMD]

I was wondering 02Tahoe, is that a Tibet flag you have on your front bumper?:ylsmoke:

Actually that is the flag of the great State of Arizona. It does bear resemblance to the flag of Tibet, which I didnt know until I looked it up.

02TahoeMD, how do you arrange your cargo inside with your dog(s)? I've been having a hard time figuring out the best way to organize gear in my Tahoe with the dog. I have the second row seats folded down and the third row removed. The floors in these dang NNBS Tahoe's are just uneven and a major pain when trying to safely organize and tie down gear...

I keep most of my gear packed tight into the cargo area so it forms a wall of sorts. I use a Stor-It-All Trunk from The Container Store to keep the majority of small items together, wedge that in with a few pieces of luggage, my fridge, and my tool bags and it locks in pretty solid. That said, I have plans also to buy a Raingler net to help secure the load and prevent shifting in the event of collision, hard braking, etc.

To keep the dogs happy, I just take along a couple of small memory foam style dog beds I got from PetCo, they lay across the cargo area and fill the gaps that are left in the floor when seats are folded. The have traveled quite well there, though I have only taken them on one big trip (Outer Banks NC) the setup seemed to work fine.

 

[etech]

very nice work, gives me some ideas for my Blazer.

 

[gmcpimpin]

I just bought a 2002 Silverado, and installed the KYB steering stabilizer after I saw it here. Really seamed to help going over train tracks and firm up the steering a bit. Question, does your tahoe have hydroboost brakes or vacuum assist? My 05 Yukon has hydro but my 02 Silverado has vacuum.

 

[AA1PR]

nice looking, job well done

I have to keep an eye on this thread as I have a Yukon & have been wondering what to do other than the 2" leveling kit

I operate an Icom 706MKIIG in the suv & have it remotely mounted

I like the read LED lights