[DeanH1290]

Hey guys, I'm still fairly new here, but I figured I'd post up a build thread to show some of the phases my truck has been through in the past 3 years and my future plans to round out the build. On to the truck.....

Picked her up in Dec 2013, completely stock short of rhino-liner in the bed.

First setup was leveled and debadge/demold

Then it went down some. Removed the level and pulled the rear blocks. Also added the billet grille insert.

Next setup was a bit of a fluke. We had a bad hail storm come through and did quite a bit of damage to the truck. Insurance covered pdr for the whole truck and agreed to pay for a new hood. I was able to do the HD Hood and Grille for the agreed cost of the factory hood. Also got the Bowtie color matched at the same time.

Next came clearing the headlights, going back up to the leveling kit, Tahoe 20's, and 2" wheel spacers.

Got tired of the height, put on a 2/3 drop and pulled the steps.

Next I picked up some 22 Tahoe reps, chrome handles, and lowered it down to 4/7

After ride issues and a full set of bent wheels, I moved to my current setup.

The current suspension setup is a 2.5" upper strut spacer, Bilstein 5100 struts set to 1.18", Rough country UCA's, and FFR Heim Tie rods with 3" blocks and Bilstein 5100 shocks in the rear. I also moved over to some GMC Sierra 17s with 285/70/17 Nitto Terra Grapplers.

Here are the rest of my plans to finally round off the suspension.

Lower the struts one or two notches.
Differential drop and skid plate
1.25" rough country body lift

I already have the body lift in my garage, so I just have to find the time to put that on and adjust the front some.

 

[DeanH1290]

I can't figure out how to edit, but some mods I forgot to list are 1.5" wheel spacers, airaid MIT, and tint (20% sides and 50% shield).

 

[ferraiolo1]

I bet your CVs are as steep as Everest. But cool looking truck. I liked it with the 4/7 drop

 

[DeanH1290]

Here's a shot of the angles, partly why I'm going to bring the front back down and add differential drops. With the RC arms, I still have about 2" of down travel.

 

[DeanH1290]

I had been thinking about getting some led headlights for a while but just hadn't pulled the trigger yet. Well a bulb burn out on me Monday, so I promptly ordered these.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/141626728210

I opted to go with these since they have great reviews and they come with reverse polarity adapters and load capacitors in case you need them. I did end up needing the reverse polarity adapters. Here's some pics from install.

I got the adjustment tweaked in last night and I'm pleased with the outcome. I'll get some pics on the road tonight showing the true output.

When changing the headlights, I discovered an air leak in the airbox. One of the screws had stripped out and was keeping the lid from closing all the way. I snagged a bolt and nut from work to temporarily fix it. I'll run it like this until I get a new airbox.

I also decided to clean the throttle body and mass airflow sensor since I had been getting a bit of a rough idle. The maf wasn't bad at all, but the TB was pretty bad on the backside. Probably from the pcv return before I installed the catch can. I didn't get any before pics, but here it is all clean. It's not perfect, but not bad for my first go at it.

I picked up a used Range AFM Disabler around the same time as the LEDs, so that is in as well. So far I think it's well worth what I paid since I don't think I'll have the funds for an actual tune for quite some time.

The body lift is still sitting in the garage. I haven't really had the time to mess with it, so it will probably have to wait until spring rolls around.

 

[ferraiolo1]

Oh wow I just saw your CVs. I would for sure set the 5100s back to the stock setting. And still add the diff drop since you will get more down travel with those UCAs, to keep you from blowing out your CVs.

 

[cptmcdowell]

Your truck is sweet man, love the way it sits. Did you clear the headlights yourself?

 

[DeanH1290]

Oh wow I just saw your CVs. I would for sure set the 5100s back to the stock setting. And still add the diff drop since you will get more down travel with those UCAs, to keep you from blowing out your CVs.

That's the plan once I get the time to wrench on the truck. Im hoping to have enough time to try to knock all of it out in one day.

Your truck is sweet man, love the way it sits. Did you clear the headlights yourself?

Thanks man! Yea, I did the headlines myself. I was nervous at first, but can't believe it took me over a year to decide to do them.

 

[ferraiolo1]

Im doing my diff drop next week. from what I have read you can cut off the fins with a long hacksaw blade rather than drop your whole diff to the ground which is a bit PITA.

 

[AutoAnything]

The current suspension setup is a 2.5" upper strut spacer, Bilstein 5100 struts set to 1.18", Rough country UCA's, and FFR Heim Tie rods with 3" blocks and Bilstein 5100 shocks in the rear. I also moved over to some GMC Sierra 17s with 285/70/17 Nitto Terra Grapplers.

That is a damn good looking truck, great shot of it there.

Looking forward to seeing where the build goes!

 

[DeanH1290]

The current suspension setup is a 2.5" upper strut spacer, Bilstein 5100 struts set to 1.18", Rough country UCA's, and FFR Heim Tie rods with 3" blocks and Bilstein 5100 shocks in the rear. I also moved over to some GMC Sierra 17s with 285/70/17 Nitto Terra Grapplers.

That is a damn good looking truck, great shot of it there.

Looking forward to seeing where the build goes!

Thanks, I appreciate it. It probably won't change much visually, but I have some additions to the suspension I want to do.

 

[MUDCVRD]

Nice truck you got there. For a second there I thought you'd started sanding the door and had removed the side moldings and the glue remained... but I guess that's just the darned shadow. haha

 

[DeanH1290]

Want to give this a little bump. I finally got my finances back on track to where I can actually save money for some wheels. Work has picked up quite a bit, making for more OT and I convinced my lady to keep all the extra money set aside for new wheels and tires. I got quoted $950 installed with road hazard for some 285/70R17 Toyo AT2, so I'll probably stick with those. Still bouncing between two different wheels (AR901 in PVD or Machined Method Standards), but leaning more towards the methods. I'm hoping to have something purchased within the next month or two. Here's a quick shop of both wheels.

AR901 17x8.5 0mm

Method Standard 17x9 -12mm

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[ferraiolo1]

methods 100%. Also try the AT2 extremes.

 

[DeanH1290]

Annnnd done!

Couldn't resist them at the price!

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[ferraiolo1]

Not bad at all!

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[DeanH1290]

Wheels came in last night. Still waiting for the lugs to come in to test fit them. I may go on and mount these tires on them so I can run them a while longer while I build up more funds for new tires.

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[Mr.Joshua]

Nice, those are going to look great...bet you're excited!

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[DeanH1290]

Nice, those are going to look great...bet you're excited!

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Sure am! Getting them swapped over after work tomorrow

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[ferraiolo1]

I have a set of silver nv's sitting in my garage. I keep putting them beside my truck debating on switching my setup

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