Adjusted's '04 Tahoe

Got a few minor things done to it. Installed Energy Suspension sway bar bushings all around to help with the amount of road-crowning and boatlike handling this thing has. Along with that, 2 new tires, and a bump up in tire PSI this thing handles much much better, still need some better shocks though. Dropped the ass end down to just a .5" rubber spacer and one spring isolator - sits much better now, with about a .5" lean. Could use a tad more but its better than ass-high or level. Replaced the intermediate shaft to correct the ever-present front end clunk in these things. Then just caught up on maintenance, and cleaned it up once before a few weeks of rain. Still pretty happy with the condition.

Plans soon:
Winter tire setup on 17" stockers, and polish the hell out of the Centerlines while theyre off
Front window tint to match rear darkness
Service front diff and transfer case for winter 4x4 needs
Add backup camera
This thing needs lighting upgrades all around, just not sure what to get, and if it needs to be a priority

Here are some pics from when it was clean
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Well, down to one truck. K5 is gone sadly, but Ill get something else fun some day.

Havent done much to the Tahoe except for swap a Z71 valence and fogs onto it and keep it clean during shelter-at-home. Its formed a pretty gnarly lifter tap, so I need to tear into it before one completely shreds. Planning to hop up the top end similar to the Sierra, heres what I've got in mind for later this year:

BTR Stage II cam - 212/218 112LSA
243 heads w/ beehive springs, grind and a very small shave (like .010), hardened rods and valves
LS7 lifters
Local dyno tune

Once thats all complete I'll start digging around for a 4L80E and throw larger stall converter in it, with a trans cooler. Then research who makes a set of headers that fit 4x4 decently, matched piping and long muffler, and put some 05-07 factory e-fans on it.

Could just make the Tahoe my next project...lower it, add a Whipple, full colormatch...hmm
 

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I have speed engineering 1” 7/8 on my Yukon. Mines 2wd but I installed a set on a nbc cc z71 and have to massage the trans crossmember for the y pipe. Aside from that


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dszx13 said:
I have speed engineering 1” 7/8 on my Yukon. Mines 2wd but I installed a set on a nbc cc z71 and have to massage the trans crossmember for the y pipe. Aside from that


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Yeah back in the day we used to throw CalSpeeds on 2wd no problem, wish I could see exactly how much massaging a set of 1 3/4 would take because i'd hate to have to do that. I wouldnt install until after I step up to the 4L80 so that I could maybe have the crossmember cleared for it. I thought on NBS the driveshaft was the issue?
 
Adjusted said:
Yeah back in the day we used to throw CalSpeeds on 2wd no problem, wish I could see exactly how much massaging a set of 1 3/4 would take because i'd hate to have to do that. I wouldnt install until after I step up to the 4L80 so that I could maybe have the crossmember cleared for it. I thought on NBS the driveshaft was the issue?
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No issues on driver side. Cleared just fine. I think the truck had a bad motor mount possibly. It wasn’t much. Where the 2 pipes meet on the y was where. I have all the room in the world there. The only real difference in the 2wd vs 4wd crossmember is the 4wd has a step up where the trans mount is. The 2wd is just straight across


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Started ordering some parts for some colormatching and the top end rebuild/cam. Starting to get excited for some more power in the low-mid range, this thing is such a dog compared to my old Sierra. Plus I don't feel real confident stepping into it with the failing lifter. OEM e-fan swap needs to happen soon too once funds allow, I get 11.5 - 12mpg in city only driving.

I'm missing TX bad right about now, tuners here in the PNW charge $600-750 for a damn HPTuners basic dyno tune, and a $100+ hourly rate for retunes. Pretty shocking. In TX theres a guy on every corner with a laptop that can do an hour long street tune for $250 and free retunes whenever they have time. Id go with a BB tune, but want someone local since I plan on gradually adding performance to this thing. With the 243 heads needing a resurface, helicoil, pressure check, seals, etc this project is getting spendy quick. Guess I'll just have to keep this thing for awhile :)
 
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gmc00z said:
you were in the DFW area no? Anyone you know local that does ferd's?
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Yeah I was. Not sure about Fords but the guy I used was Dirty 30 - his name is Jesse - he was around some local forums and FB pages back in the day and did a good job for me. Blome_racing from here introduced me. Not sure if he's still tuning though.
 
Get yourself a HP tuners setup and go to whoever you want to remotely. Little bit more upfront cost but it's so nice being able to log all the things.

Atomic is excellent and has top notch customer service. He did mine after my swap 3 years ago and while I haven't added anything new, every time I've contacted him about something he's right there with suggestions and his input on the log file.
 
Lifter is getting pretty bad, so its time to get the cam/heads/lifters, etc tossed in over the holiday week. Will update.4L80, higher stall converter, efans, and a huge trans cooler will be next for performance.

Also done a few small things in the last few months:
Tinted the tails and shaved the rear wiper arm assy.

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Also working on slowly putting together a Denali interior, already have gauges and bezel.

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Goodies

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Huck said:
Is that your truck? I wouldn’t feel comfortable with that engine anything short of tearing it completely down, hot tanking and building it back up. Or try to find a lower mile junkyard motor to swap in.


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Yep thats mine. I dont feel comfortable with it anymore, but damn I dont wanna get rid of the whole rig over it, nor do i have time or space to do a complete swap. Also the lady is telling me no more money on this one.

Think i may try a really hardcore flush, then run some 5w20 through it for awhile to see if i can get it to break loose. Not looking good either way though
 
Adjusted said:
Yep thats mine. I dont feel comfortable with it anymore, but damn I dont wanna get rid of the whole rig over it, nor do i have time or space to do a complete swap. Also the lady is telling me no more money on this one.

Think i may try a really hardcore flush, then run some 5w20 through it for awhile to see if i can get it to break loose. Not looking good either way though
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I guess it’s worth a shot, especially if you’re up against a wall with the wife. Could just order a 525hp crate and have a shop swap it. Have it back in less than a week lol


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Huck said:
I guess it’s worth a shot, especially if you’re up against a wall with the wife. Could just order a 525hp crate and have a shop swap it. Have it back in less than a week lol
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If I were single and had a spare vehicle id be having it pulled and stroked to a 383. Idk, so many reasons why its a bad idea right now, so many reasons why its a good idea. Just stuck
 
Adjusted said:
If I were single and had a spare vehicle id be having it pulled and stroked to a 383. Idk, so many reasons why its a bad idea right now, so many reasons why its a good idea. Just stuck
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That does suck being stuck in between like that. Maybe get like a cheapo corolla or something to drive temporarily while you do the motor?


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Welp, still insufficient oil pressure.

Let a diesel fuel and transmission fluid mixture sit in it and manually turned the engine over a few times over the weekend in hopes to knock some sludge loose. When I drained it i saw no debris in in, added new oil and filter, started it up and oil pressure jumped to 20psi idle right away (as my heart RACED), then steadily dropped back down to 4 once it warmed up a bit. Major blockage and or a bearing/tolerance failure. Sad day, but I have a local buyer for it already, and am stealing all of the fun parts off of it for another NBS project one day.

I know how cheap (by comparison) a swap would be, but I don't have the room/tooling/time to do it myself. With no spare car to drive in the meantime, and the lady fed up with it, we went out and bought a very nice used 2015 Yukon SLT. Hate to give up on this one - doesn't sit totally right with the mechanic in me - but its just how it went this time around. Best believe I'll be pulling a valve cover ASAP on the new Yukon to verify its been well cared for.

Change your oil and pay attention to what your rig is telling you, folks.
 
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