Inherited anti "Prius!" :)

[Chip18]

New to the game! I'm mostly a Canyon Carver "import guy!" Everything I own has been "Dropped" and modded for the Canyons.

But I've been a Chevy fan since high school! Forty years ago ... Corvairs and 67 Camaro RS 327. Then got into "Toyota's Mini Trucks and Tercels ... tiny freaking motor's there but 300 HP Turbos ... not unusual.

Then we added a 2001 "PT Cruiser" to the fold ... full "Eibach there" handles great ... gas mileage ... sucks ... "PT" thing 3.91 final drive with 4 speed auto so ... yeah.

And an insanely expensive and complicated Porsche 951, Turbo 944. But today we find ourselves the owners of a 2004 Denali with Autoride, AWD ... 6.0!

And I luv it! I look at the tach often and laugh! Off road on a dump run, 25... 30 mph ... I look at the tach ... 1000 rpm ... are you freaking kidding me??

Modding "suspensions" is what I do but with this beast ... I'm not sure if I want to go "Up" or "Down??"

 

[Rocket Man]

DOWN!!!

 

[puckhead]

With the Denali, down! Otherwise I would say up!

 

[NathanJax]

 

[Chip18]

DOWN!!!

View attachment 66377

Oh I like that one! Specs and what size wheels and tires?? And sigh ... this time I have to keep the "WAF" (Wife Acceptance Factor) in mind ... so how does your ride. Apparently ... wife's don't really care about "Transit Response and high Lateral G's" ... who knew???

 

[Chip18]

With the Denali, down! Otherwise I would say up!

I think I'm getting that?? AWD not 4x4 ... I can work with that. "PPV" I think I'll go in that direction but want to keep the "Auto Ride" stuff ... quirky complicated and kinda weird but ... pretty cool.

It kind of an odd vehicle for me ... usually when I see one close up ... it's got Red and Blue lights in the grill and it's license and registration time.

 

[Rocket Man]

I tow a pretty heavy trailer with mine and the Autoride let's me do that and still ride lowered on 26's. I love the fact that my rear wheel clearance doesn't change when I hook up the trailer and load it up.

 

[Chip18]

I tow a pretty heavy trailer with mine and the Autoride let's me do that and still ride lowered on 26's. I love the fact that my rear wheel clearance doesn't change when I hook up the trailer and load it up.

LOL ... 26's??? I'm still stuck in the 17 to 19 inch range.

But the "Auto Ride" clearance stays the same with a low ... that sounds cool. But if it's dropped ... what did you change?? The rear springs would have to go?? And the wheels notwithstanding ... the ride quality is still the same???

Ours is stock and kinda "Rolly Polly" still if you know how to "exploit" the "AWD" ... kinda surprising! It responds quickly to steering input so I tend to go with the roll, straighten out the steering wheel and drop the hammer! It will rocket out of a corner! Gotta be quick to keep the "TC" from kicking in ie ...hmm we are clearly outta controller here ... but wait ... I guess not ... so away we go! It snapped my head back on one left turn ... kinda cool!

And the "Denali" actually turns tighter than the Automatic Tranny PT Cruiser!! I was stunned, I had to make a U Turn and I "expected" to need the whole street and it was wide street but nope it pretty much turned on a dime?? It's an odd beast indeed ... lots of fun.

 

[Rocket Man]

I used 2" drop rear springs and shortened the ride height sensors in the back , used 2" drop front spindles so nothing changed as far as ride or geometry, then beefed up the sway bars and end links and used poly bushings on them. It now handles amazing, especially for a huge SUV. Flat on corners, flat during hard braking. You can see more in my build thread if you'd like.

 

[Chip18]

I used 2" drop rear springs and shortened the ride height sensors in the back , used 2" drop front spindles so nothing changed as far as ride or geometry, then beefed up the sway bars and end links and used poly bushings on them. It now handles amazing, especially for a huge SUV. Flat on corners, flat during hard braking. You can see more in my build thread if you'd like.

LOL already did!

I saw the reversing the bolts on the rear shocks thing and I was like what??? Then I saw the pics and saw how close to the shocks the threads were and thought "Oh ... that's why!

No question on reversing them being the way to go but curious as to how you knew they could be an issue?? That certainly looks like it would have been an "Oh Crap" back again moment!

Uh much like my work on my "parking brake issue!!!!" I watched "most" of a "Youtube" clip .... I skipped the part about "Pre Adjusting" ... new "Parking Brake Shoes" installed and still no "Parking Brake!!!!!!!!!

But the shock bolt thing, did you have to go back "again" to change it or did you "actually" look at them when installed and think ... "yeah this could be a problem???"

I kinda sorta thought I would be a "Freak" here on "expecting" a "Denali" to handle well but ... apparently not.

 

[Rocket Man]

I learned just about all I know about my rig here on this forum. I read they might rub on big wheels so I took a look and saw they had indeed rubbed a tiny bit, probably on real hard cornering.

 

[Chip18]

I learned just about all I know about my rig here on this forum. I read they might rub on big wheels so I took a look and saw they had indeed rubbed a tiny bit, probably on real hard cornering.

Well now I know ... so thanks there. The auto turn on and the headlights and the ballast for the "HID's" burning out??

What's the deal there ... is the auto headlights ... that big a deal???

 

[Rocket Man]

I thought I explained that- if you're starting the engine and the headlights are already turned on via the auto headlamps, I feel the voltage drop damages the ballasts, as they're trying to fire up when the voltage is low. I do know that once I disabled that, no more ballasts have burned out in 18 months or so. Previously, 3 ballasts in a couple months.

 

[Chip18]

I thought I explained that- if you're starting the engine and the headlights are already turned on via the auto headlamps, I feel the voltage drop damages the ballasts, as they're trying to fire up when the voltage is low. I do know that once I disabled that, no more ballasts have burned out in 18 months or so. Previously, 3 ballasts in a couple months.

Oh most likely you didn't but I did not not understand it?? But now I do.

Most likely I'll be using the Retrofitsource for my HID stuff. And I often see "Canbus Adaptors" to cancel this or that or stop that from happening etc etc.

The whole point of "learning from others" is to not have to reinvent the wheel as it were. GM crapped a whole lot of "crap" into these beast ... and I plan on keeping all of it. Thanks for the "heads up on the HID's" and the Auto Turn On!

The low beams are about the only real gripe I can level at our "new ride."

 

[Rocket Man]

I looked back at my thread and added an explanation, thanks for the heads up. Canbus adapters have no use in our vehicles. Our systems don't use a Canbus. You'll most likely encounter ballast problems if you leave auto headlights enabled unless you go with the more complicated use of a set of relays. But don't ask me about those, I have no experience with them.

 

[Chip18]

I looked back at my thread and added an explanation, thanks for the heads up. Canbus adapters have no use in our vehicles. Our systems don't use a Canbus. You'll most likely encounter ballast problems if you leave auto headlights enabled unless you go with the more complicated use of a set of relays. But don't ask me about those, I have no experience with them.

I have no idea what a Canbus is?? PT Cruiser term for the 2003 on up ... seem to be PIA's?? Ours is is 2001 so we missed all that "crap."

Aww so the "Auto On" and "HID's" can really be an issue ... stuff I did not know?? Looks like the "Retrofitsource" will get a challenge when I start buying parts from them. My better half likes the "Auto On feature.

 

[kramerica20]

welcome, love those rims