Austinite's 07 Escalade Blacked Out on 35s Build

[Austinite]

I wasn't really digging the aftermarket black mesh grille that I put on a while back, so I found an OEM 2103 Escalade Luxury Sport Grille.

 

[Austinite]

So I saw a sweet lifted Escalade EXT online somewhere that had an N-Fab light bar on it with an LED curved light installed and thought I'd try it out. It's the N-Fab C063LB. I didn't like the look of the curved LED bar, so I went with some round 7" black LED lights. I also installed it with a harness that has a remote control that I programmed to work with the Homelink buttons.

 

[Austinite]

I finally installed my tow mirrors on the Escalade. My stock ones were all beat up, the power fold didn't work, and I missed being able to see behind me easier...so here we are. These have the puddle lights too which are nice. I'll probably have at least the caps painted black eventually. Here's the mirrors

 

[07Burb]

What's the scoop on one side having blacked out trim and the other side being chrome? In the middle of a transition, I assume?

 

[Austinite]

Installed some PRV Audio 6MR500-NDY-4 Neodymium 6.5" midrange speakers and Massive Audio CT2 - Silk Dome tweeter in the rear doors along with a little Noico 80 mil sound deadening mat and some Road Kill RKFR6 3 Piece Foam Speaker Enhancers. Luckily I pre-ran the speaker wire to the rear doors back when I had installed the 5 channel amp under the dash so the install didn't take too long. I was a tad nervous cutting the holes for the tweeters though. And the rear door molex was a little harder to get through than the fronts.

 

[Austinite]

What's the scoop on one side having blacked out trim and the other side being chrome? In the middle of a transition, I assume?

Damn, keen eye! I started the black out on the driver side last week and then the weather got crappy for a few days after that...I'm just waiting for it to be a little nicer around hear before I finish her up. Then I'll post up some better pics.

 

[Austinite]

After tinting the windows so dark it's kinda hard to see out of the the rear hatch, so I thought I'd try out one of those rear view mirror cameras I've seen on Amazon. I didn't want one of the lame ones that strapped over the oem mirror, so I got one that replaces the oem mirror altogether. Here's the one I got. The install wasn't too bad...running the wire to the rear hatch was the hardest. It has a few quirks that I'm not real excited about, but overall it's pretty cool and it's nice to have the front and rear recording at all times.

 

[Austinite]

When I bought the truck it came with the Weathertech floor mats, which IMO don't come close to the fit of the Westin Sure-Fit floor mats, so I finally bought a pair for the front. I would buy the rear one too if they made it. The Weathertech mats slid around al the time and just looked like crap. These Westins stay put. Highly recommended if you need some new mats.

 

[Austinite]

I bought some custom speaker pods for the A-Pillars and put them in this weekend. They were a little glossy compared to the a-pillars, so I painted them with some satin black SEM Color Coat. I went with the CT Sounds 3.5 Inch midrange speakers and my Massive Audio CT2 - silk dome tweeters hooked up to a CT Sounds passive 3 way crossover. The quality was actually pretty decent for $100. I might add another screw to the top on the driver side down the road, but that's my only complaint. And the new angles really brought out the mids and highs in the system I have to say.

On a side note, I tried to fix the corners on my newer upper dashboard replacement that never laid down completely flat. Somehow I made them worse. Has anyone had that problem with one? Here's the one I bought: Upper Dashboard Replacement

 

[adventurenali92]

Nice looking esky! Interesting build thread for sure! That android headunit is pretty cool!

 

[Austinite]

Nice looking esky! Interesting build thread for sure! That android headunit is pretty cool!

Thanks! Yeah I'm diggin' the head unit. It has its quirks, but it's way better than the plain ol stock one.

 

[Austinite]

My 5 channel amp went bad on me (sub channel burned up) last week, so I decided to rip everything out and start from scratch. I decided to go with the Pioneer GM Digital series. I got the GM-DX874 (4 channel) and theGM-DX971 (mono). I also originally went with a Dayton Audio DSP-408, but it introduced all kinds of noise to the system so I pulled it out and returned it. I have a Pioneer DEQ-S1000A on the way to replace it. I mounted the new amps under the rear captain seats. I can't even tell you how much better it already sounds. I don't think I'll ever go the single 5 channel route ever again. It didn't work out in my Tahoe and it definitely didn't work out in the Escalade.

Here's the ugly part first...

 

[Austinite]

Amps under the rear captain chairs

 

[Austinite]

Bass Knob mounted next to the headlights switch

 

[Austinite]

I made a new welcome screen for the Tesla style Android head unit too while I was at it. Came out pretty good I think. If anyone wants a copy, let me know.

 

[Sam Harris]

Nice work!

 

[Austinite]

Nice work!

Thank you sir!

 

[Austinite]

I finished up my vacuum actuated exhaust cutout. I'm gonna order a turndown and install it shortly. You can't adjust the opening, it's either open or closed. And since no one really made a vacuum cutout for 3.5" exhaust, I had to kind of Frankenstein parts together. I had to weld the cutout to the flange after I cut the flange down a bit and used butt joints to tie it altogether. I mounted the vacuum pump/remote relay under the cupholders in the center console. Eventually I might weld it all up. When the cutout isn't open, the exhaust goes through a Magnaflow 12909.

Here's a list of the parts I used:

3" Vacuum Cutout
3.5" to 2.5" flange
3.5" Stainless Cutout
3.5" Butt Joint Exhaust Clamps (2)

 

[Dantheman1540]

Hell yeah! Cutouts for life!

 

[Austinite]

Here's a short video of the vacuum exhaust cutout in action