2001 Z71 Tahoe Restoration Project

[Matthew Jeschke]

I've been rebuilding a Z71 for a little over a year now. Everybody has been very helpful on this forum. I thought maybe I'd make a post to show progress and answer questions people may have on the forum. Here's a link to my progress checklist:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1z6_Z_Qp6894l2SQfoOI5LbV4qTkhpVHWafIYMIH4ieE/edit?usp=sharing

I'd wanted a truck in better shape but sprang for this one as my girlfriend's kid really liked it. I purchased the truck with around 225,000 hard miles on it. It was the last owner's off road toy.

EVERYTHING rattled. However, I've got most of those issues fixed, amazingly. Had lots of issues with driver side door, dash was beat up, and couple chassis things (like new shocks & new rear end lol).

My checklist is missing a great deal of things that I've already done. However, you can see pictures of some of those things here:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/12se7iVcdgFgoaJdHDH04SAmVNoPeVxJk?usp=sharing

I'd kind of hoped to launch a Youtube channel showing all this stuff being rebuilt. However, work and life have had me more than busy enough.

Enjoy

PS. Partly I need to get organised because I always go to the junkyard and forget to buy half the parts I needed lol Hopefully I'll need fewer and fewer trips for parts.

Below you can see, an image of the truck right after I bought it. I immediately stripped the interior including rugs and cleaned them with a garden hose and lots of detergent. The dash was dismantled as cover was absolutely destroyed, and driver door was removed. I rebuilt all the hinges, and many of the internal pieces. That door was a mess still has issues (window frame is bent in slightly yet).

Lastly, a bit of levity. My first off road trek resulted in that shock falling off. The guy I bought it from put a leveling kit on. However, he never spec'ed shocks appropriately. They were too short. A few good bumps and the shock ripped out of the upper mount. Good excuse to install Bilstein 5100's

 

[Matthew Jeschke]

Another fun note, I rebuilt the front axle tube. It was all out of tolerance and really loose. I replaced the clutch bearing, output shaft bearing, sub shaft bearing, and shimmed it correctly.

The axle housing was the victim of somebody changing outer seal (possibly bearing too) without taking the axle tube off. You can see where they scarred the shim trying to put the axle shaft back into the assembly w/o removing the axle tube.

Quick tip: bread crumbs work like crap to remove the clutch bearing. I melted a wax candle into the bearing on the stub shaft. Then I put the axle shaft into the bearing like it's intended to go. Then I hit with a mallet (not a metal hammer). The clutch bearing came right out

 

[newburghyukon]

Holy Moley!! You are practically rebuilding the whole truck! Way to go.

Can't wait to see what you do with it.

 

[Fosscore]

Nice work. Keep us posted on the progress.

 

[Matthew Jeschke]

Holy Moley!! You are practically rebuilding the whole truck! Way to go.

Can't wait to see what you do with it.

Yeah, I probably should have bought one that was bit less of a basket case lol. I wanted a Z71 for sure, but there were virtually none of rsale. Now there are lots for sale with few miles and for less than I paid :| FYI ~ I got the truck for $3500. Probably have another $1000 into it now. It's mechanically solid as a rock but well lots of nickel and dime fixes, things that annoy me more than anything.

 

[Erickk120]

That is pretty much what I've been doing with mine, I've put around 3-4k into it total. That is including a lot of tools I've bought over the years. Lots of little things add up over time, but at least I have a lot of specialty tools that I wont need to pay for again, and I get to re use them, so its worth it to me. Only about half of that has gone to the truck, but it looks miles better than when I bought it, will post it some time. I've kept it 100% stock but I might level the front, I gathered it was used as an off road truck since when I removed the flares there was a ton of sand caked inside them and they were pretty scratched up.

For the rear end I would just keep the open one and buy a used g80 thats in good shape and slap it in there, you will only need to check for backlash and call it good.

for the bushings I haven't look into the specific part numbers but my hands and soul hurt thinking how much those thing suck to change, I did both upper controls and that made me hate the truck that day. So I can see you will have a lot of fun with those.

Touching the ABS wont be fun either, looks like a pain to get in and out.

The plastic trim you mean the flares and all that good riveted stuff? They do help take scratched that otherwise your fender wouldn't like, I have mine but they are pretty scratched up so I stored them to maybe repaint them in the future.

If you put a bend seat that would be a good read. I wondered what these would look like with one.

You weren't kidding when you said it was a project, you are changing a lot! of stuff. Is that plasti dip? I'm not sure if you said it was before but it looks like it.

 

[Matthew Jeschke]

The guy I bought it from plasti dipped it. It's a MESS. I like the idea in concept but in practice stinks. It is impossible to wash and he got it all over the plastic trim pieces, mirrors, glass etc. The plasti dip is almost impossible to get off plastic pieces too. I tried removing it with goo gone but risks damaging the plastic part (is okay on metal and glass).

I think if I had choice I'd paint with a much thicker or scratch resistant paint. Possibly a very thick clear coat so can be buffed more often. I have plans when I get time to redo the bottom section of the body with a rubberized truck bead liner and give it a two tone look. I've done that on cars before and it WORKS and looks AWESOME.

I found a newer truck at salvage yard with the rear end and all intact. I may rip that off along with all the control arms. Hopefully they are still good. Then slowly rebuild my G80 and put it in there.

And or I had another idea to possibly soften / restore the old bushings. I'd removed the rear control arms once already and painted on a coat of AT 205 reseal. It didn't quite do the trick. I may remove one, and this time apply heat to the AT 205 and let the bushing soak in it.Not sure if that will make a difference or not but I've seen people do that online with various other plastic and rubber bits.

 

[Matthew Jeschke]

I'm working on fixing the paint right now. Here's my post for plasti dip removal:

https://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/threads/plastidip-from-hell-removal.110916/

Curious have any of you seen a black truck like mine with bottom panel painted in rubberized truck bed paint? I'm curious what it would look like if I did that

 

[Da90]

Great progress! I’ve rebuilt a few like that myself. Look forward to more progress pics!


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[zraffz]

I'm working on fixing the paint right now. Here's my post for plasti dip removal:

https://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/threads/plastidip-from-hell-removal.110916/

Curious have any of you seen a black truck like mine with bottom panel painted in rubberized truck bed paint? I'm curious what it would look like if I did that

I am going to paint the lower body line of my black Z71 in Raptor Liner (hard coated bed liner) and add 10% factory paint to color match it once I replace the rockets in the summer.

I have issues with undercoating staying tacky so I assume rubberized bed liner would yield similar results.

 

[Matthew Jeschke]

I am going to paint the lower body line of my black Z71 in Raptor Liner (hard coated bed liner) and add 10% factory paint to color match it once I replace the rockets in the summer.

I have issues with undercoating staying tacky so I assume rubberized bed liner would yield similar results.

I had seen that raptor liner. I didnt know much about it.

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[zraffz]

I had seen that raptor liner. I didnt know much about it.

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I know a few guys who have used it and said it's fantastic. None of them have paint matched their trucks but you can Google results.

 

[Matthew Jeschke]

Anyone got a clue on this one? I just fixed the clip on the connector for my instrument cluster, now only a couple of the gauges work I cannot find any wiring diagrams or anything. I'd like to probe the connector and see if issue is in truck or in cluster itself.

https://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/threads/partial-cluster-failure.110943/

 

[Matthew Jeschke]

So I got most of the PlastiDip off. WD40 did the trick, best way hands down to get it off. I want to paint it but need a few tools.

First I want to purchase a variable speed random orbital polisher. Any suggestions on what is a good one?

I want to polish the truck I think a few of the panels maybe decent and not need a base / color coat.

Below are a few pics... hood is stubborn, still needs most of plastidip removed. Likely will have to remove hood to get it off then paint hood while removed.

One side of truck has extensive clear coat damage as well... I am assuming was parked outside for yrs with that side more exposed to Arizona sun.

 

[Matthew Jeschke]

Still working away on the tahoe. The list of items to fix grows as I take more things appart lol but runs great. Got back from a 1500 mile roadtrip. No problems what so ever.

As i fix more squeeks and rattles I find new ones. It seems these plastuc door panel covers squeek. Anybody got a decent fix for that and or process to rebuild them?

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[z71hotness]

So awesome

 

[Matthew Jeschke]

These trucks are awesome. The old LIKE A ROCK advertising is true, at least when it comes to chassis and drive train. I feel like the more I drive this truck the better it gets.

I have different opinion on interior. My buddy has a 1999 Nissan Pathfinder (before bought out by Renault). It's got 215,000 miles on it. Off Roaded several times a week. No rattles (aside from rear hatch). Never polished on inside, parked outside last 3 years in Arizona. No problems with interior trim at all. That's impressive. Only thing he's done is change oil, service radiator, tires, and new front shocks. Original transmission fluid and gear oil in diff (is very bad to do that but darn surprised it still works).

 

[LTG515]

Hey there.

Love reading through this build and it’s looking real good! I’ve got an 04 Tahoe Z71 and am looking to refresh the suspension.

Would you mind talking a little about the bilsteins you put on? Are they the 5100 series for 2500 frames? If so, how do they feel? Are you running a heavier load? Also, do you have the part number by chance?

Anyways, looking forward to following your progress.

Best


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[Matthew Jeschke]

I will try and figure out exact part numbers. They are 5100s I do know that much. Bilsteins are stock for Z71. The 5100 has more travel though if you have leveled truck.

I LOVE the shocks. Money well spent.

I'm not sure what you mean be heavier load?
I used the part Bilstein recommended for my model truck 2001 Z71 Tahoe. I didn't use anything spec'ed for HD chassis.

Previous owner of my truck had put on Monroe shocks so I never got to test the stock Z71 Bilstein shocks. I can say the Bilsteins are WAY better than the Monroe shocks I replaced. I found out about 5100's because previous owner didn't have enough travel on shocks to support his leveling kit. I bought the car and first time off road ripped off the shock because was insufficient travel. I researched and found the 5100's.

UPPDATE: Here's the parts I have on my truck. Maybe different for 2004 Tahoe so double check for your year.

Ordered 2 of Bilstein 24-187237 HERE for rear of truck
Ordered 2 of Bilstein 24-186643 HERE for front of truck

Heads up Billstein now makes a version of 5100 with a reservoir system. You may like to consider it depending on what you use truck for. If I had it to do over again I'd probably have ordered these with the external reservoirs. Possibly overkill but I do do quite a bit of driving on minimum / no maintenance forest roads. I believe these shocks have similar dampening but reduce work load on shock / heat so they last longer. Somebody can correct me if I'm wrong.

Bilstein 25-187601 HERE for rear
Bilstein 25-176407 HERE for front

Double check with Bilstein parts catalog for Tahoe HERE (again double check for your year. I looked up 2001 for my truck) You may need a different shock if you have your truck lifted / have changed suspension geometry. The parts above will support a torsen key leveling but nothing more. I honestly don't believe in lifting our trucks much more than a leveling kit if at all because makes them less streetable. Rock crawlers don't go down the highway too well

 

[LTG515]

Hey thanks for the reply! Yea I’ve seen those remote reservoir ones. Look super cool. It will of course be a daily driver so mainly street use. The off roading it will/has seen so far is moderate speed forest service roads and real low speed 4x4 trails.

I don’t want anything crazy as far as suspension goes (well I do but don’t have that type of money haha!) so I’m confident the 5100s are the way to go. I thought I saw you mention you put HD bilsteins on all four corners so was interested about that.


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