The life and times of Debonair’s Denali

[Debonair]

2011 Yukon Denali.

Day one of owning this truck (04/26/18) i jumped in and stared fixing isusues and “fixing” annoyances. I’ll post info on them here for others to reference and maybe even enjoy. In all the years this model has been out I’m sure some of this has been covered but some may have been lost to time, especially the pictures. I don’t intend on modifying it as much as my previous cars but time will tell.

Issues at purchase in no particular order:

1. No floor mats
2. Broken cup holder and ash tray doors
3. Dirty everywhere
4. Cracked dash
5. Incandescent lights everywhere
6. Missing trim here and there

I’m sure I’m missing some. So here we go.

 

[Debonair]

Broken ash tray and cup holder doors:

They would clunk open crooked when pressed. The spring release did not work. After pulling them out i found that both doors were broken in the same way. One of the pivot pegs on each door had sheared off. I found one peg and both springs in the center console compartment below the cup holder but the other peg was missing. A longer screw and the broken peg is all that was needed to fix one door. For the other i measured the peg width (11mm i think) and headed to the hardware store to get a replacement. I found this aluminum piece and installed it with a washer. Both doors fixed @ $0.62 and working like new!

Please excuse the dirt. I cleaned it up after i fixed it. Didn’t want to put that effort in until i knew i was not replacing it.

 

[tgui]

I "fixed" my Denalis cracked dash Ebay find.

Also found on ebay:

 

[Debonair]

I already got my mats from High End Motorsports which are actually Lloyd mats. Three rows, no cargo mat... yet. I need to get some picture of them installed.

 

[tgui]

But they don't say "Denali". How are people going to know what you drive?!

 

[Debonair]

But they don't say "Denali". How are people going to know what you drive?!

I actually opted out of it. They look great at first but then start to look dingy when they get dirty (I'm carpet mat 12mo. a year guy). I am looking at for a metal DENALI or GMC plate I can add to them like this:

 

[tgui]

Wait, where did you find those? I could use em for my Lexus. lol

 

[Tonyrodz]

Those plates

I actually opted out of it. They look great at first but then start to look dingy when they get dirty (I'm carpet mat 12mo. a year guy). I am looking at for a metal DENALI or GMC plate I can add to them like this:

Those plates would get scratched to hell. They look like they'd also work on the door sills.

 

[Debonair]

Wait, where did you find those? I could use em for my Lexus. lol

HERE

Those plates would get scratched to hell. They look like they'd also work on the door sills.

As long as they are not too big they would never get stepped on on. I plan on putting them parallel to the door sill (see pic) if I ever find any. These mats look so clean now plain that I may just leave them as is.

 

[Debonair]

Taillight fix:

Left rear had some kind of chemical damage. Probobly from some kind of tape being left on there.

Compound and polish with my trusty UDM made it invisible unless you know it’s there.

 

[Rocket Man]

Good work, keep it up!

 

[Debonair]

Good work, keep it up!

Thanks!

 

[Debonair]

LED interior done. I used THIS KIT from Amazon. I did the license plat and mirror puddle/courtesy light while I was at it using THESE which I had left over from my previous cars conversion. These are the longest lasting LED 194's I have used.

Mirror light is not as bright as it looks here, I think its the shiny white paint making look excessive. Interior light looks slightly brighter in the pictures then in person. They are perfect in my opinion.

 

[Fosscore]

Nice work.

 

[Debonair]

Nice work.

Thank you.

 

[Debonair]

Subwoofer is in. Box is in the temp box from my last car which is an off the shelf ported box that I sealed up and added a 3/4in spacer to the front to fix bigger magnets. I will be building a new box for this truck at some point.

What I Recycled / Owned:
Subwoofer enclosure
Kicker Comp VX 12”Subwoofer - 2yo, previous car
Kenwood KAC-X10D 600W RMS Class D Amplifier - 12yo, 2 previous cars
4 awg ground
Fuse block - previous car
Solder, heat shrink, other install supplies

What I bought New:
PAC SNI-35 LOC
4 awg 25ft power cable
20ft RCA
RJ11 (phone cable) for bass knob 20ft
12 awg wire for amp turn-on
Copper 4 awg terminals
split wire loom

Pictures:

Wiring plan

Box (in last car, with different sub)

In the Yukon

Fuse block bracket. Made from plastic from the local shops scrap bin. Held in place by pinching between the battery trap support and the cowl.

Under hood looks nice and clean.

SNI-35 LOC installed under cup holders, connected to the OEM sub. The RCA we run out under the console right in front of the driver seat to the door edge and then ran with the 12v, Acc wire, and RJ11 to the rear of the Yukon. Everything tucks in nicely under the cupholder.

All wires are setup to quickly and easily disconnect from the subwoofer box so I can take it out. RCA and RJ11 are work by design. For 12v and ground I use a winch quick disconnect designed for 2/4awg. For the remote turn-on wire I used an old HID connector.

Just like my last car the Bose ANC made the system hum like crazy until I cut a mic wire. For this truck I opted to chop off this mic. Snip and done, no more hum. I reinstalled the mic bracket and grille.

The remote base know was installed to the right of the steering column. The little shelf there is just the right size and location for me to easily reach adjust it.

I'm happy for now. Needs a new box. Bass is a little boomy. More fine tuning to come.

 

[Rocket Man]

I'm pretty sure that " mic" was your aspirator for your HVAC system which is known to hum until you clean it out or replace it. Does it look like a small fan when you closely inspect it? The aspirator is above the driver, in the headliner. Hard to tell from that picture. The factory mics are in the center forward OHC usually.

 

[Tonyrodz]

Subwoofer is in. Box is in the temp box from my last car which is an off the shelf ported box that I sealed up and added a 3/4in spacer to the front to fix bigger magnets. I will be building a new box for this truck at some point.

What I Recycled / Owned:
Subwoofer enclosure
Kicker Comp VX 12”Subwoofer - 2yo, previous car
Kenwood KAC-X10D 600W RMS Class D Amplifier - 12yo, 2 previous cars
4 awg ground
Fuse block - previous car
Solder, heat shrink, other install supplies

What I bought New:
PAC SNI-35 LOC
4 awg 25ft power cable
20ft RCA
RJ11 (phone cable) for bass knob 20ft
12 awg wire for amp turn-on
Copper 4 awg terminals
split wire loom

Pictures:

Wiring plan

Box (in last car, with different sub)

In the Yukon

Fuse block bracket. Made from plastic from the local shops scrap bin. Held in place by pinching between the battery trap support and the cowl.

Under hood looks nice and clean.

SNI-35 LOC installed under cup holders, connected to the OEM sub. The RCA we run out under the console right in front of the driver seat to the door edge and then ran with the 12v, Acc wire, and RJ11 to the rear of the Yukon. Everything tucks in nicely under the cupholder.

All wires are setup to quickly and easily disconnect from the subwoofer box so I can take it out. RCA and RJ11 are work by design. For 12v and ground I use a winch quick disconnect designed for 2/4awg. For the remote turn-on wire I used an old HID connector.

Just like my last car the Bose ANC made the system hum like crazy until I cut a mic wire. For this truck I opted to chop off this mic. Snip and done, no more hum. I reinstalled the mic bracket and grille.

The remote base know was installed to the right of the steering column. The little shelf there is just the right size and location for me to easily reach adjust it.

I'm happy for now. Needs a new box. Bass is a little boomy. More fine tuning to come.

Will a reg phone cable work for the adj bass knob? I've always wondered that.

 

[Debonair]

I'm pretty sure that " mic" was your aspirator for your HVAC system which is known to hum until you clean it out or replace it. Does it look like a small fan when you closely inspect it? The aspirator is above the driver, in the headliner. Hard to tell from that picture. The factory mics are in the center forward OHC usually.

Nope. Fan was in the other grille and yes it was filthy, but quiet.

Mic was very obviously a mic. I google the part number before cutting just to be sure. GM Part No.: 25783504 - Microphone Asm-Radio Volume Compensator Interior Noise. More pics of it HERE.

The Active Noise Cancelling (ANC) of the Bose system freaks out when you tap into it for subwoofer signal and feeds a bunch of noise into the system. There are no settings for it in the head unit software to disable it. By cutting a mic it disables itself. ANC doresnt work for crap anyways. Same exact issue and resolution as my Infiniti when I tapped into its Bose system.

 

[Debonair]

Will a reg phone cable work for the adj bass knob? I've always wondered that.

Always has for me. I had a JL Audio amp+knob and now the Kenwood that both did. I'm using phone cable (RJ11) from Hopedepot in the Yukon. They were out of black so I had to use white. I never uninstall it when changing vehicles, just buy another.