2003 Tahoe Build - Family Overland Rig

[stomperxj]

I have a good 4L60E manual on my site. Feel free to download and use. I used it when I did my first 60E:

http://sawtoothent.com/?page_id=533

 

[03tahoe]

Did some camping and a bit of the WABDR over the last month. Here’s some photos.

On the Oregon coast by Pacific City

In the background there's a 4x4 Sprinter Van that just finished getting dug out from getting stuck. Looks like they were running highway tire air pressures, but hey they were getting out an using it.

Camping in some of the first rain our area has had in months

Still need to figure out a rear bumper solution that I could do a tire carrier or at least a jerry can mount on (see red can stashed out of the way in the trees. Yes, the Suburban owners will again remind me that their gas tanks already have 5 additional gallons compared to the Tahoe. Any suggestions for rear bumpers?

 

[stomperxj]

Cool pics. I've stayed at a family friends house in PC several times. Right on the peninsula on Sunset dr. Nice area As far as rear bumpers are concerned Ive seen some GMT4/800 guys weld in a tire carrier spindle at one end of the bumper and brace it underneath. I'll see if I can find a link. *edit* here you go: https://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/home-built-rear-rack-project.95134/

 

[TroySmith80]

great thread. Some of the pics aren't working for me though. I'm particularly interested in the ones that are described as showing the attachment of the rock rails to the frame. Any chance you can get those working? Thanks for taking the time to document and share!

Also, what is the benefit of the aftermarket upper a-arms and tie rods? Do they increase durability / reliability on rougher trails?

 

[lilkia]

Same here a lot of the pics arent showing. Id like to see your wood rack and the slider attachment.

 

[03tahoe]

It's been some time since an update. I got new tires and rims! I ended up going with Falken Wildpeak AT3W in 285/75R17 on American Racing Baja 17x8 0mm offset black wheels. I had Goodyear DuraTracs in 285/75R16 on stock wheels before. I got over 50k out of the DuraTracs, so not bad. But I went away from the DuraTracs for less road noise and I could get a ~34" in the Falkens to go with the 4.10 gearing I've had for a few years now. The AT3Ws don't look as aggressive as the DuraTracs, but I hope their snow traction is the same or better. As for mud traction I expect the AT3Ws won't be ass good as the Duratracs. Sand traction should be the same or better I hope. The other tire I considered was the BFG KO2, but went with the AT3Ws after hearing some good things about them, including better snow traction. I guess I'll see how they do this winter.

I also did a bunch of much less exciting maintenance:
- New upper (Cognito) and lower ball joints (whole new AC Delco lower control arms)
- New steering gear box
- New pitman arm, idler arm, and idler arm pivot bracket (all AC Delco)
- New power steering pump from AC Delco
- New front anti-sway bar bushings and links
- New front wheel bearings from Timken
- New rear adjustable track bar from Sphon Performance (get this one, not the one from Supreme suspension, that ones bushings failed after 3 years)
- New front bump stops
- Front end alignment
Wow, it rides so much better now!! The upper ball joints went out after ~40,000 miles and probably had to do with running 1.5" wheel spacers and not greasing them as often as I should have. This time when I installed them I put a nylon washer under the grease cup to help keep it from pushing off the ball joint cup. Near as I can tell this happened last time because the longer ball joint stud on the Cognito units doesn't end up putting the rubber ball joint cup up against the top of the steering knuckle. Sorry, no photos :-(

More from first dirt on the new tires. So for they are doing great. They are for sure quieter on the highway than the DuraTracs. That may also have some thing to do with going from a tire with 52,000 miles on it to new ones

 

[rayra]

Looks good and right tire for those conditions. And yeah, swapping out all that stuff sure makes the ride like new, doesn't it. I still haven't got a proper alignment since I finished swapping out all that front suspension and steering stuff and I'm chewing up my oldest pair of tires. Need to get that taken care of.

 

[LTG515]

New Bilstein shocks for the rear. One had blown out and they both were probably too short with the additional spacers I installed last year. Old part number 24-187237. New part number 24-185783. The new ones are for a 3" rear lift. It was interesting to see the difference in the lower bushing.

Hi there! Love the build so far! Essentially exactly what I’m looking to do with my 04 Z71.

Question regarding your Bilstein’s: I see originally you went with the Z71 springs and the 0-1” 5100s in the rear, which you think may have blown due to being too short. You then went to the 3” 5100s with the same spring set up despite the rear not actually being lifted 3”. How has that been and has there been any negatives with that? Is there potential for the rear end to “bottom out” prematurely due to the longer shock at the same ride height?


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[nitro_rat]

LTG515, if you get on Rock Auto you can see the extended and compressed lengths of the different shocks. The only way to know for sure on YOUR particular truck is to cycle the suspension and measure...

 

[ejwebb]

I had Bilstein shocks in the rear and they blew out also, went to a Napa shock and I have had no more problems. You can get +1,+2 and +3 shock length's.

 

[LTG515]

You know what. I just realized I missed the part where OP said he had installed additional rear coil spacers prior to the bilsteins blowing, which makes sense why he went with 3” next.

That’s my mistake for missing that piece of info.


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[03tahoe]

Ok, so some updates since it's been a while. Mostly maintenance items during Oregon's stay at home order but here it goes:
- Changed the transmission fluid, filter, and shift solenoid valve. I went with a Wix filter, Amsoil OE Synthetic fluid, and ACDelco solenoids.
- Changed the differential gear oil front and rear. Went with Amsoil easy packs, so awesome I even kept the packets to use again in the event I need something like that.
- Changed the brake rotors and pads and flushed the brake fluid. Went with Power Stop K2015-36 Z36 Truck & Tow. I was surprised to see that my rear pads where just about gone after 40k, but the fronts still had life. I made sure to re-lubricate the caliper slide pins since that may have been an issue in the rear.
- Changed the transfer case lubricant. No I didn't do the pump wear surface fix, I'm going to keep rolling the dice on that since I don't tend to make long trips.
- Replaced the front shocks with a fresh pair of 5100s. One of the front shocks got way over heated a few years back and I figured after 50k miles on them it would be good to see if the ride got better. I think it helped some, but I probably should have just figured out remote reservoir versions that could work like all the Toyota folks have (the downsides to having a Chevy).
- Installed a double DIN stereo with backup camera - possibly the best mod yet, don't know why I didn't do this years ago (oh that's right, budget).

For the folks asking about the choice of 3" lift 5100s, the other thing that's going on is that I've got the Timbren bump stop replacements that are longer than the stock ones. This limits my up travel so I'm not bottoming out the longer shocks.

Here's some recent pictures!

Stereo and backup camera

Rear brakes

New front shocks

Out with the kids before total lock down

 

[fnjeep314]

Looks like you built something that is a great family rig!

Can I ask that you post a pic or two in this thread that is just for Tahoe's or Suburbans?

Suburban/Tahoe(and GMC) pic/build thread

Post up Suburban/Yukon XL and Tahoe/Yukon. I have been looking at Suburbans and Yukon XL's for the last 7 or so years and I want to see peoples builds and have them all in one thread instead of peppered in the Full Size pic thread. Now that I have a family of 5, we need the space to travel...

www.expeditionportal.com

 

[03tahoe]

Ok modification updates to-date:
Re-did the wooden roof-rack out of redwood with black HDPE on top of the boards. Also made a tray area for MaxTraxs that the canoe could still go over the top of. That was fun, sorry about not having progress photos.

Picked up a swing out tire carrier from Rigd Supply (the Mega Fit model) so I could carry a full size spare (285/75R17 just didn't quite fit in the stock location). Cool part is you can still put a bike rack on the swing out part. It puts the bikes way back there, but nothing has broke yet and it doesn't wobble that much more than most bike racks. It could probably be made better if the bike rack didn't need a hitch extention to clear the spare tire. It would be great if Rigd had pulled the spare tire closer to the pivot point on the swing out, but I think to do this they would need to customize to your wheel off-set and width.

Here it is with the bikes on the rack

So yeah, there goes the good departure angle, oh well.

Next up is going to be a Shutt XV-2 trailer with a CVT roof-top tent. So that kills the departure angle anyway. No the bike rack will not be on the swing out while the trailer is on. The bike rack will be on the trailer then. Anyhow, we're looking forward to hauling more stuff for longer trips and being able to base camp in style!

Oh yeah, two other recent smaller add-ons:

Jerry can and 6-lb propane mounted on the Rago Fab. Ultraplate on the Rigd swing out. Used the Power Tank propane mount and a Smitty Built jerry can mount.

Supper small but I made a shelf for the 20v chain saw bag to sit on over the tool bag and air compressor.

The 20v chain saw is a Dewalt 12-inch bar and cut all this on 1, 5 Amp Hour battery (that's two rows deep in the back of a Tahoe, plenty for one long weekend of camping). Anyone else see TFL making fun of Andre for having a electric chain saw in the F250 project truck with the Four Wheel Camper?
TFL Truck - Electric Chain Saw - Tin Cup Pass

Yes, this was just before the big fires got out of hand in Oregon. We were camped at Scott Lake Campground, where at the time fires were allowed in campground fire rings. Now that's it's rained I'm looking forward to fall and winter. P.S. that Estwing Fireside Friend splitting hatchet is great!

 

[HUMMER/Expeditions]

Beautiful vehicle,
perfect wheelbase, perfect length.