2002 Tahoe Z71 Build

[aero]

Thanks, yeah I dont see myself buying a brand new car of any type anytime soon. The prices are just insane!

I started, and am trying to keep up with a blog of my journey. Its my first one, and I dont have too much time to mess with the fancy settings while on the road. Any suggestions/comments are appreciated. Not sure if I should do more pictures, more writing, etc... but its a start for now.

My cross country journey blog

Probably be in TN for another week then its northward to Michigan. Gave the truck a wash since it was pretty dirty!

The brakes are starting to squeak a little. If they need replacement, hopefully they make it to Colorado so I can upgrade them to the new ones that have larger calipers and rotors for a little extra stopping force. I'll also probably add a cargo net to secure some light stuff to the roof in the cargo area, but it'll take a little planning since there arent any easy fastening points.

 

[aero]

So... I found a decent trail to test the truck and my skills. I wasn't expecting such a trail, was assuming it was mostly a dirt road with a few bumps here and there. But it was nice and water logged due to the melting snow, pretty muddy in places, had many fallen branches, rocky areas, dips and twists.

This was the first water crossing, it wasnt very far in from the entrance. Naturally, it was about knee deep. I would know because there was a decent sized branch that was in the middle and I didnt want it getting stuck under the truck halfway, so I waded out to move it out of the way.

The trail tested the Tahoe out. I learned that my approach angle is fine, even on the deep descents, I never rubbed any, but I did drag the spare in the rear as well as the hitch and the trailer wiring plate which almost broke off. But, with the 1.5" spacer on the rear, my 285/70/17s rubbed quite a bit when the rear tires would tuck. Not exactly sure on what, may have been a lot of different things, but I never was able to stop and see.

But, other than lots of scrapes from the branches, I did suffer a little damage.

When it popped, I was on a decent incline in 4-lo and was worried that the pop that I heard was the transfer case chain slipping. But later on after hearing the branches following me, I looked under there to find the sway bar snapped in half due to a large branch that got between the axle and the sway bar, and snapped it when I was moving forward.

So for now, I am running it without the sway bar until I can snag one from a junkyard. But I was very pleased with the truck for all that was thrown at it, and the tires as well. There were a lot of rocks and branches and the tires took a decent beating but held up great. They were run at full street pressure since I did not have a quick and dependable way to air them back up whenever I got back to the road.

 

[aero]

I've done about 2500 miles so far on the trip, (at about 204,500 miles). A few days ago, there was a slight humming that started and got me wondering if it was the fuel pump. I realized that I never changed out the fuel filter yet. So naturally, it was a pain...I think the one on the truck was originally one you could push the connector with your fingers instead of using the tool, but the release part was broken off by the uneducated previous owner. So, the soft fuel line had to be cut, and added a new connector. But the crap that came out of the fuel filter was black, so it was very needed. It seems to idle a lot smoother.

The humming very well may have just been the bungees on the roof rack because it stopped after I removed them.

But I am planning to upgrade the brakes to the next generation larger calipers and pads since the brakes aren't that great. My wheels have also been spinning for a DIY RTT, and I had a great idea last night. I would like a hard one so I don't have to worry about it getting damaged, and I'm thinking a GREAT starting platform will be to use a hard tonneau cover from a pickup, maybe even one for the bottom and one for the top. They can be snatched up pretty cheaply used and should work well. I just need to get some measurements to see what size will work and what trucks to look out for.