2002 LT Music Daily - One Story Ends and Another Begins...

[Galandorian]

I just found these forums, while looking for info on a CAI, exhaust, tune and some other things.

I've been into car audio for about 5 years, and bought this vehicle initially to compete with, but I'm finding that it's turning more into a daily driver now.

 

[Galandorian]

On the way back from Illinois, I noticed that the shocks were initially pretty weak. $62 and a couple hours later and we had all 4 replaced.

 

[Galandorian]

I really hated the OEM 16" rims, and the tires that were on there. Too much gap in the wheel well, plus they just looked weird.

My intent was to get 20s or 22s, but I couldn't find any with aggressive enough tread in my budget. Since this is a daily driver in Michigan and I travel a lot during the winter, reliability was more important than looks.

After I sold the set that came with the Tahoe, my dad generously sold me his OEM Silverado 18s + tires

 

[Galandorian]

At this point the vehicle started looking a little more presentable, but still need a few more touches.

Grabbed 2 cans of Plasti-Dip and took to the rims. Also purchased some smoked tail lights and black covers for the back of the mirrors.

 

[swathdiver]

Nice lookin' ride.

 

[Galandorian]

The vehicle came with a DVD player, which I knew would just rattle loose, so I pulled it out preemptively.

 

[Galandorian]

yep

 

[Galandorian]

I purchased some A-Pillars from a good friend, but cracked my windshield while installing them...

Custom built fiberglass pillars from Jecar Audio in Texas, with Discovery Scanspeak 10F/8424G, 4" 8 ohm midranges

These little guys really surprised me with how loud, clean, and crisp they could get, just off head unit power!

 

[Galandorian]

For the 8 runs of wire that I needed in the front (2 runs for the 6.5s, 1 for the a-pillars, 1 for voltmeter, 1 for remote wire, and 3 RCAs), I was able to fit them all under the trim pieces on the right side of the vehicle.

 

[Galandorian]

Since I don't personally know how to fiberglass, I took the easy way out and grabbed some dual 6.5" pods from MyCustomSpeakerPod (Brandon), for $138 shipped.

For 1/8" ABS plastic, they're really flimsy, so I added some deadener to sturdy them up.

 

[Galandorian]

All finished up, they look pretty good, and seem to be solid as far as hanging on in a 150dB + vehicle.

 

[Galandorian]

I grabbed a $20 craigslist box for two 18s, threw some paint on it, and started hooking everything up last minute in order to make it to Slamology in Indianapolis.

 

[Galandorian]

And here's what I ran with to Slamology for the day.

 

[Galandorian]

For one night, I tried dual alternators, (CES 370A + OEM 140A), but didn't feel that it yielded enough of a gain to be worth it, so I ended up pulling the OEM one out the next day.
View attachment 179415

I went out and bought a different box from a friend, reconfigured everything, and added another extra battery, expecting to see a 151+, but it didn't happen.

retired the Tahoe to more of a daily driver.

 

[Galandorian]

I finally got around to installing new headlights which were recommended by this forum's own Reedal!

 

[Galandorian]

At this point, I'd been driving with that cracked windshield for about 2 months, and decided enough was enough.

It really improves the aesthetic in my opinion, and makes driving much more pleasant in both nighttime scenarios (reduces glare from oncoming headlights) and bright days (reduces glare from the sun).

 

[Galandorian]

In an attempt to gain back some of my trunk space, I built another center console, this time doing around 139 dB.

After about a month though, I decided I missed my real OEM center console. So soon I'll be reinstalling that.

 

[Fosscore]

Welcome. Clean looking truck and skills on the audio front. Tune will definitely wake up the truck and the other performance bits and pieces within the budget will give you some change, but unless you go full on, touch to match that 6.0/6.2L engine.

 

[Galandorian]

Welcome. Clean looking truck and skills on the audio front. Tune will definitely wake up the truck and the other performance bits and pieces within the budget will give you some change, but unless you go full on, touch to match that 6.0/6.2L engine.

Yep. From the little research I've done it seems like matching a 6L isn't possible in my budget, but I can do some little things to make it at least more enjoyable to drive.

Right now I'm trying to focus on researching exhausts, to find one I like and figure out if any of them actually do anything for performance, and then I'm eyeballing the Spectre 9900 CAI, and a BlackBear tune.

I've thought about headers or swapping to 4.11 rear ends, but am not sold on those ideas yet.

 

[Fosscore]

Corsa Sport catback always gets good marks, but close to $1k it is pricey plus BB tune will eat up budget. But one and done with exhaust without getting too crazy plus CAI.

Just options having seen what others have done.

The tune without getting too crazy under the hood will give you the best bang for the buck and a change in performance. I love having mine.