Where To Start....

[SprngfldXD45]

Project New Guy​

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Starting from scratch, what would you recommend?


Alright, just to cut to the chase I'm the new guy here with 0 post count. I posted up an intro thread http://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=25242 and instead of repeating all of that I'll just start off with a few questions about my '99 2-door 4x4 here.

Lift, wheels and tires, accessories... I'm sure it's the typical stuff you're tired of talking about by now.

As far as lifting the 'hoe goes, I don't want to go much more than 3". My girlfriend can barely get into it where it sits right now, not to mention my antenna is already smacking the orange tubes when I go to pull into a parking garage. If I was to throw some cash at a GOOD kit, what would you recommend for the manual transfer case? From what I've found online so far the kits tend to cost less for the manual T-case models. I don't know if they use different parts or not really, but which would you go with? If I want to go bigger in the future I can always sell off the old stuff and worry about that when I come to it... so for now right around 3" is the max. Oh, and no body lifts.... For me body lifts = do not want.

For wheels and tires, I'm kinda at a standstill here. I'm not sure if I want to go down to 17's or to 18's. On one hand, I love the 18" Z71 wheels, but for a comparable tire that will keep my speedo reading close I need to go with a set of 305/60/18's, and that will put me at a 32.6" overall height. If I go with 17's, I'm not sure what wheel to go with yet, but a 265/70-17 will keep the same tire diameter I have now which is 31.9". Only thing I'm wondering right now is, with this overall diameter will it look too small if I go up 3"? Overall driveability is great with this size as it is today. Oh, and I've decided that I want the BFG MT KM2's(I want to go with the BFG's because I've always run them on previous trucks and I love the brand. My G-force T/a KDWs were amazing on my Silverado. I could outhandle my girlfriends Integra with those), and the price for a set in 18's is like over $1300, and in 17's it's just a touch over $900. That's also a good factor to consider since I could probably get a set of take off 17" new style GM wheels on Craigslist for the difference in price between the two sizes (if not cheaper).

External stuff... First off bumpers. I was uh, to say the least a little put off when I saw the price of how much these aftermarket ones run. I do want to be able to run a winch and I love the look of the angular steel bumpers... I just don't have the resources to build one myself just yet. It's not that I can't, I just don't have the workspace area right now. It kinda sucks, but at the same time if anyone knows where someone makes decent ones I'd hella appreciate it... I googled for days and came up with ~$2000 pieces and pretty much nothing else. Lights, I'll handle that when I get to the bumper, but I think I already have an idea of which ones I'm going with. I'm also going to stick some up on the roofrack. That's another one. I gotta get a decent roofrack. Packing up all the stuff and bringing the dog with us, it'd be absolutely fantastic to have a good rack on top (not just the one in the passenger seat ) where I can put more stuff. For weekenders, moving the spare tire up top for more dog/other stuff room in the interior would also be amazing to be able to do. Question on those... how sturdy are the prefab kits? I've thought about how I'd build my own, but again that'll have to wait till I get workshop space. If you had stuff on top, like fuel or a spare and got in a mild accident, would it stand up or would the weight of stuff rip the rack out? I haven't messed with my factory one too much, but it looks like it it just kinda screws into the roof (obviously)... is there any way to reinforce these if needed? As far as winches and other stuff, I also think I know which way I'm going there.

I think for now that'll do it... I'm going to just post up in this thread as I work on this to avoid starting all sorts of new ones. For now, this is the research phase I suppose. If you guys could give me some input on what you think with the main things I mentioned it'd give me a real good starting point.

Before-


After-
?

 

[07Burb]

I'm liking it!!! Nice, clean and most stock looking which is actually refreshing.

You seem to have a pretty good idea of what you want to do with it so I really don't have many suggestions but I actually like how it sits currently

 

[SprngfldXD45]

Thanks! I do like the way it sits too, it just needs to sit a little higher
It's got enough clearance to go most places, I just need a tiny bit more to go those places more comfortably. I also don't want to do a whole lot to the body 'cuz it is so clean and everything... but something's gotta give and the bumpers are gonna go lol. The only other thing I'm considering right now is when I put the bumpers on they're getting Line-X'd, I may also pull the moldings and badges and bedline the flare area around the wheel wells and the side of the truck from the side molding line down. It'll help with minor chips and dings in the black (swore I'd never buy a black truck again... fml) paint, and it'll help from getting metal cancer in the rockers and lower doors. With the more aggressive tires I'm assuming I'm going to go playing more and in nastier places, so I can see the paint in the lower areas not lasting too long without help like that.


*ninja edit*
I'd also like to throw on some sliders/skids on the sides that could double as steps and door denters for other people that like to open their doors up into your vehicle in a parking lot

 

[skyhighsami]

You already have problems with the parking deck but you want to lift it 3" put a taller rack on the roof and a spare on top of that? Do you plan on parking on the street?

 

[SprngfldXD45]

Yeah. I was kinda demonstrating that its already tall, so I don't want a 12" or anything like that. The only garages I went into where it hit was in the casino ones around here. Even at that, there's also outside parking or I could take my daily driver there. Nowhere else does it hit, I think the lowest one around other than those ones is a little over 8 feet tall, so its just the casino ones I'd have to remember. I don't go to gamble, I just go for the concerts and I'd most likely bring my car there for concerts to have a less noticeable vehicle parked there while I'm inside.

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[07Burb]

In the garages I park in I'd be scared to lift at all! They already make me nervous and my burb is stock height

 

[SprngfldXD45]

Yeah, let me reiterate... Parking garages are the exception and not the norm lol. I only mentioned that to show why I don't want to go much bigger, only a few more inches.

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[96ProCompTahoe]

your best bet would be to go with a 6" kit and not crank it up, which would leave you at about 4" in the front, might be able to drop it to the 3" mark depending on how you crank it. rear you could go with the add a leaf from the kit and a shorter set of blocks. RCX and Procomp are both good kits that don't have to be cranked up to the 6" mark.

the responses i have seen from the 3" lift kits say the ride is really ******..

as far as bumpers go... my front bumper came from: http://www.kenmtnac.com. picked it up off a member on here. they are in the middle of changing the site around to the "tactical armor group" and the new site isn't working at the moment (was the other night) I'm happy with my front bumper and it was less than $1K IIRC.

check out Surco or Defender Roof racks, both are good racks. strength wise, if you mount the to the factory rack i would be a little iffy on the accident Question but i haven't gotten mine yet. Surco makes rails that you can mount to the roof instead of using the factory rails, Defender should have some as well i would assume.

when i have the funds to pick up a winch I'm going to try out one of the 12K# Promark winches (http://www.promarkoffroad.com/) have found all good reviews on them other than the pull is a little slower than some of the competition, but they are a fraction of the price.

i plan on going the same route on the body and bumper bedliner once i get the body rot fixed (thanks to the rock chips and liquid calcium chloride they use in indiana...)

 

[SprngfldXD45]

I got that site to finally load. They have a lot of different options for bumpers... But its all basically the same design just adding or subtracting options. Do you have more pics of your bumper from different angles that also show your truck? On their site most of the pics show just the bumper but don't show how it really looks on the tahoe. I kinda want to see how it looks overall with the rest of the body. I do like that rear bumper too, and that'll keep me from having to put the tire up on the roof, plus it opens up options for fuel or water cans on the back too, that's a big plus. Also, I'm looking at the 6 inch lifts now too. What you said about ordering the bigger lift and not cranking all the way up seems to be the consensus, my other question now is what makes different ones ride like doo-doo? I'd rather have springs instead of blocks, but is it the springs that make it ride bad? And, if I did go up all 6", would 33's look too small?

Oh, I got the weight these off an old Chevy spec sheet, but has anyone had theirs on an actual scale? I'm looking to order tires *somewhat* soon, and want to get the right load rating. I'm assuming 5500-6000 lbs after mods and loaded rolling down the road should be a safe assumption to go with, right?

Excuse any fat fingered mistakes as this was sent via repeater tower to satellite to interwebs from my Tbolt using Tapatalk

 

[SprngfldXD45]

N/m the question about what makes different suspension setups ride bad... Apparently I decided to ignore the whole thread right below this one dedicated to that question alone lol. I'll modify the question however with an entirely subjective one... Who makes the BEST kit for 6" on a 2 door 4x4?

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