2004 Tahoe LS - Street Touring Style

[jeffg]

Before we get too deep into what this project includes, I want to talk a little bit about why I am doing it. I have been into "sporty" things my whole life. I built and raced cars, motorcycles, UTVs, mountain bikes, skateboards... you name it. As I have gotten older and the aches and pains of racing are catching up with me, I realized that I still crave my younger life. Building, Racing, Driving will always be a part of me, and I might be running out of time. Some people would probably call this a "midlife crisis" and they might not be wrong. I just look at it like I better do it now before it’s too late.

I started looking at my vehicle-based "bucket list" and one item keep popping up. The Hot Rod Power Tour. I have wanted to do this series of events since the first time I read about it in Car Craft or Motor Trend magazine back in the late 90s. I always thought I would do it in a GTO... something born in the 60's. When I started to think about the logistics of doing the event, I realized that I am close to 2000 miles from the starting point and even farther from the finish. Doing all of that driving in a classic could be challenging. 60's reliability isn’t cheap. Most of the veterans I talked to told me to just ship the car and fly to the starting event. That’s seems like cheating and would likely rob me of a lot of interesting places and adventures along the way.

The Jeep Cherokee SRT8 seemed like a good compromise, at least on paper. It would allow me to haul the stuff I need, have a bit more room, and provide a reasonable amount of "fun" along the way. I found a super clean Cherokee TrackHawk for sale and flew over to test drive it. The power and traction combination are amazing. It handled pretty good for an SUV, but it still wasn’t perfect. The Cherokee is a LOT smaller than I imagined it would be. Narrow might be the right word. I doubt that more than 2 adults would ever fit in the back seat, let alone comfortably.

Flashback to 2007. I bought my 2004 Tahoe LS based on its ability to easily hold 2 car seats. The third-row seats allowed me to haul extended family all over the west coast for vacations. It was a crucial part of my life for about a decade. In 2014, I bought an acreage and started training horses and my wife started providing “farm-like” experiences to troubled youth in our area. The Tahoe got pushed to the wayside in favor of bigger, more towing capable rigs.

I started making a list of the things that I liked about the Cherokee and a few other things I test drove trying to come up with something that would work. It was obvious that it would have to have some power, but it would also have to provide enough creature comforts for a several thousand-mile road trip. Things like AC, Cruise Control, comfortable seats become a priority after a few hundred miles. All the things in my list easily fit within the confines of the “old Tahoe” parked about back, but we would need to do a lot of sorting. Handling has never been that great. Body roll was enormous, suspension was soft and way too high. The lighting, both interior and exterior was lacking. I have started this project log to help document all the things I am going to try to fix these areas. I am going to try to keep is simple at first and progress further only where necessary.

If you made it this far and are still reading, congratulations. Without further ado.. on to the build.

Platform:
2004 Chevrolet Tahoe LS 5.3L FlexFuel
Project Areas:
Interior – I am going to focus on comfort in preparation for the long drive. No race buckets or complicated harnesses. Lots of cup holders.
Handling – I am going to focus on getting the Tahoe stop handling like a Tahoe. I will be lowering the truck with an emphasis on handling. Other mods will come along as needed.
Powertrain – This is where I have the most progress in my planning. The truck will be getting a build LQ9 with internal parts to support 6-8 psi from a Magnusson TVS2300. The truck will be getting a mildly built 4l80e. The rear end will get an LSD. I expect to find the next weak link in the chain.
Appearance – The truck shows its age. The clear coat has failed, the plastic is dull. I will be refreshing and modifying the truck to try to make it more aggressive. Improved lighting is a must.

Updates will likely not be as fast as everyone would like, but I promise to do my best. I will try to document both the successes and failures and give you some idea of what goes into a build like this. Thank you for sticking with me so far. Looking forward to the feedback and questions.

 

[SirReal63]

Nice plan. I would say if you do not already have the LQ9 then skip it and go for the LQ4, it is cheaper and the biggest difference is the LQ9 has higher compression via pistons and command a higher price than an LQ4, and you will need to drop compression anyway to play nice with boost. No sense in paying more than you have to.

 

[Sam Harris]

Great start! Appreciate the details, and explanation for why you're doing what you're doing. Regarding the boat-like handling, I would highly recommend some Hellwig front and rear sway bars. I know you'll be lowering, and there are a number of things you can do to accomplish much better handling, but I was absolutely shocked at the difference these made with my ride. The body roll is extremely diminished.

Looking forward you updates, and subscribed!

 

[Rocket Man]

Following

 

[jeffg]

Great start! Appreciate the details, and explanation for why you're doing what you're doing. Regarding the boat-like handling, I would highly recommend some Hellwig front and rear sway bars. I know you'll be lowering, and there are a number of things you can do to accomplish much better handling, but I was absolutely shocked at the difference these made with my ride. The body roll is extremely diminished.

Looking forward you updates, and subscribed!

Thank you for the suggestion. I actually got my hands on a full Eibach lowering kit (keys, rear springs, sway bars) so I am going to try that and see how it does. I am going to pair it with DJM relocation brackets and shock extensions in the rear. Once the hardware gets installed I will measure what I need for shocks. I have had good luck in the past with Bilstein 5100 series shocks, especially for heavier vehicles. I havent ruled out a coilover conversion kit for the front if I need it.

 

[jeffg]

Nice plan. I would say if you do not already have the LQ9 then skip it and go for the LQ4, it is cheaper and the biggest difference is the LQ9 has higher compression via pistons and command a higher price than an LQ4, and you will need to drop compression anyway to play nice with boost. No sense in paying more than you have to.

I had the LQ9 from a previous project that didnt happen so it was kind of a no brainer to use that for this project. I agree though if I had to buy new I would just look for the least expensive 6.0 block and build from there. The LQ9 is build with forged pistons and rods sitting at 10:1 CR. We smoothed all of the internal block casting to get rid of any potential hot spots and polished up the oil galleys in a few places. The heads were stock 317 castings that I sent out for a CNC port and polish. Stainless valves were added along with high lift valve springs. I am only running .560 lift, so nothing super exciting there. Likely going to use a BTR cam in this one. I ordered a couple of different ones so we can see what works.

 

[Rocket Man]

Thank you for the suggestion. I actually got my hands on a full Eibach lowering kit (keys, rear springs, sway bars) so I am going to try that and see how it does. I am going to pair it with DJM relocation brackets and shock extensions in the rear. Once the hardware gets installed I will measure what I need for shocks. I have had good luck in the past with Bilstein 5100 series shocks, especially for heavier vehicles. I havent ruled out a coilover conversion kit for the front if I need it.

I would ditch the keys and go with 2” drop spindles unless you go with the coil over conversion, in which case you can lower it with that on stock spindles. Anything other than adjusting the stock keys an inch or so will make the ride suffer. Bilstein 4600’s are best for lowered or stock height, 5100’s if you lift it. I’m running 4600’s with 2” drop spindles on my 02 Denali and it rides nice. I’d like to do the coil over conversion but can’t justify the expense. If I was to do it over, I’d skip the spindles and go with that instead though.

 

[m1949]

Before we get too deep into what this project includes, I want to talk a little bit about why I am doing it. I have been into "sporty" things my whole life. I built and raced cars, motorcycles, UTVs, mountain bikes, skateboards... you name it. As I have gotten older and the aches and pains of racing are catching up with me, I realized that I still crave my younger life. Building, Racing, Driving will always be a part of me, and I might be running out of time. Some people would probably call this a "midlife crisis" and they might not be wrong. I just look at it like I better do it now before it’s too late.

I started looking at my vehicle-based "bucket list" and one item keep popping up. The Hot Rod Power Tour. I have wanted to do this series of events since the first time I read about it in Car Craft or Motor Trend magazine back in the late 90s. I always thought I would do it in a GTO... something born in the 60's. When I started to think about the logistics of doing the event, I realized that I am close to 2000 miles from the starting point and even farther from the finish. Doing all of that driving in a classic could be challenging. 60's reliability isn’t cheap. Most of the veterans I talked to told me to just ship the car and fly to the starting event. That’s seems like cheating and would likely rob me of a lot of interesting places and adventures along the way.

The Jeep Cherokee SRT8 seemed like a good compromise, at least on paper. It would allow me to haul the stuff I need, have a bit more room, and provide a reasonable amount of "fun" along the way. I found a super clean Cherokee TrackHawk for sale and flew over to test drive it. The power and traction combination are amazing. It handled pretty good for an SUV, but it still wasn’t perfect. The Cherokee is a LOT smaller than I imagined it would be. Narrow might be the right word. I doubt that more than 2 adults would ever fit in the back seat, let alone comfortably.

Flashback to 2007. I bought my 2004 Tahoe LS based on its ability to easily hold 2 car seats. The third-row seats allowed me to haul extended family all over the west coast for vacations. It was a crucial part of my life for about a decade. In 2014, I bought an acreage and started training horses and my wife started providing “farm-like” experiences to troubled youth in our area. The Tahoe got pushed to the wayside in favor of bigger, more towing capable rigs.

I started making a list of the things that I liked about the Cherokee and a few other things I test drove trying to come up with something that would work. It was obvious that it would have to have some power, but it would also have to provide enough creature comforts for a several thousand-mile road trip. Things like AC, Cruise Control, comfortable seats become a priority after a few hundred miles. All the things in my list easily fit within the confines of the “old Tahoe” parked about back, but we would need to do a lot of sorting. Handling has never been that great. Body roll was enormous, suspension was soft and way too high. The lighting, both interior and exterior was lacking. I have started this project log to help document all the things I am going to try to fix these areas. I am going to try to keep is simple at first and progress further only where necessary.

If you made it this far and are still reading, congratulations. Without further ado.. on to the build.

Platform:
2004 Chevrolet Tahoe LS 5.3L FlexFuel
Project Areas:
Interior – I am going to focus on comfort in preparation for the long drive. No race buckets or complicated harnesses. Lots of cup holders.
Handling – I am going to focus on getting the Tahoe stop handling like a Tahoe. I will be lowering the truck with an emphasis on handling. Other mods will come along as needed.
Powertrain – This is where I have the most progress in my planning. The truck will be getting a build LQ9 with internal parts to support 6-8 psi from a Magnusson TVS2300. The truck will be getting a mildly built 4l80e. The rear end will get an LSD. I expect to find the next weak link in the chain.
Appearance – The truck shows its age. The clear coat has failed, the plastic is dull. I will be refreshing and modifying the truck to try to make it more aggressive. Improved lighting is a must.

Updates will likely not be as fast as everyone would like, but I promise to do my best. I will try to document both the successes and failures and give you some idea of what goes into a build like this. Thank you for sticking with me so far. Looking forward to the feedback and questions.

I like your plan and your panoush to undertake the build and to participate in the Hot Rod Driving Tour. I’m doing something similar to produce a pro touring 2006 Escalade v-Series tribute. I have a thread of the build to date in the 02-06 Escalade forum if you care to have a look at the progress we’ve made. Good luck and happy pro touring hotrodding!

 

[jeffg]

I would ditch the keys and go with 2” drop spindles unless you go with the coil over conversion, in which case you can lower it with that on stock spindles. Anything other than adjusting the stock keys an inch or so will make the ride suffer. Bilstein 4600’s are best for lowered or stock height, 5100’s if you lift it. I’m running 4600’s with 2” drop spindles on my 02 Denali and it rides nice. I’d like to do the coil over conversion but can’t justify the expense. If I was to do it over, I’d skip the spindles and go with that instead though. View attachment 370608

I looked at the drop spindles and the only thing that made me nervous was the trimming of the upper ball joint. The install instructions basically eliminate the cotter pin and rely on staking the nut. I am not comfortable with this approach, but I havent seen it in person so maybe its not that bad.
The front suspension is definitely the challange. I like the approach that Atomic Fab took with the coilover conversion and the lower bracket. I am concerned about the extremely small coilover shock. If I go that direction I will probably do more modifications and install an extended upper perch and run a longer shock. I dont think a small shock will hold enough fluid to not overheat it driving aggressively. Maybe we need to look at bell cranks and do a cantilever front

Anyway, thanks for all the suggestions. More to come.

 

[jeffg]

I would ditch the keys and go with 2” drop spindles unless you go with the coil over conversion, in which case you can lower it with that on stock spindles. Anything other than adjusting the stock keys an inch or so will make the ride suffer. Bilstein 4600’s are best for lowered or stock height, 5100’s if you lift it. I’m running 4600’s with 2” drop spindles on my 02 Denali and it rides nice. I’d like to do the coil over conversion but can’t justify the expense. If I was to do it over, I’d skip the spindles and go with that instead though. View attachment 370608

Do you know the PN for the 4600's you are running? Are they just the stock PN for your Denali?

 

[Rocket Man]

Do you know the PN for the 4600's you are running? Are they just the stock PN for your Denali?

I don’t have the p/n’s and yes they’re just the ones called for.

 

[yukonxlv]

Before we get too deep into what this project includes, I want to talk a little bit about why I am doing it. I have been into "sporty" things my whole life. I built and raced cars, motorcycles, UTVs, mountain bikes, skateboards... you name it. As I have gotten older and the aches and pains of racing are catching up with me, I realized that I still crave my younger life. Building, Racing, Driving will always be a part of me, and I might be running out of time. Some people would probably call this a "midlife crisis" and they might not be wrong. I just look at it like I better do it now before it’s too late.

I started looking at my vehicle-based "bucket list" and one item keep popping up. The Hot Rod Power Tour. I have wanted to do this series of events since the first time I read about it in Car Craft or Motor Trend magazine back in the late 90s. I always thought I would do it in a GTO... something born in the 60's. When I started to think about the logistics of doing the event, I realized that I am close to 2000 miles from the starting point and even farther from the finish. Doing all of that driving in a classic could be challenging. 60's reliability isn’t cheap. Most of the veterans I talked to told me to just ship the car and fly to the starting event. That’s seems like cheating and would likely rob me of a lot of interesting places and adventures along the way.

Congratulations! I like your thinking on this build and the reasons for it. My "midlife crisis" was forced on me due to a transplant. During recovery, at the hospital, the Hot Rod Power Tour blew into town for the last night. The power tour became a bucket list item with intentions of driving my 70 GTO with RA IV, turbo 400, 4.33, 40 year old muscle car, or my 04 yukon xl with 8.1 and 4.10. Due to unknown future health I sold the GTO and picked up a used 04 CTSV and my wife became long haulers on the 2010 Power Tour.

My takeaway is this: safety, reliability, comfort, and attitude.

Let's take attitude first because it is free. While taking the suggested routes we encountered numerous traffic delays with plenty of bumper to bumper traffic, narrow roads with limited shoulders leading to small towns in the middle of nowhere. The towns were lined with spectators young and old wishing they were you. Many want to see burn outs etc. The desire was strong and you should have seen their jaws drop when a four door Cadillac did a smoking burn out. Imagine the reaction doing this with a forced induction 04 Tahoe!

Safety is a must for all the right reasons. I would utilize the best brake system possible and hope you don't have to use it. (more to come, have to pick up the grandkids)

 

[Ohannon7]

Any pics yet??

 

[jeffg]

So far things are moving along, albeit slowly. There isn’t a lot of progress to show, as I am really just in the planning and parts gathering phases. I keep making plans, then remaking plans as I discover parts being unavailable or discontinued. I do have a few milestones to show off, so as they say… on with the show.

Getting reasonable audio in the Tahoe, along with the ability to utilize phone apps for navigation and streaming audio is critical. This Tahoe was an LS model and did not come with either Bose or OnStar, so luckily interfacing with the factory electronics was simple. A Pioneer head unit, some old school PG amps and Alpine speakers were added to the factory locations. This gave me an opportunity to repair several broken door clips and panels. For those following along my other threads, I also added lights to the rear doors to replace the reflectors. I used the factory wiring from a suburban and added the missing pins to the connectors at each door sill.





Low end responsibilities are taken up by a Soundstream 10” sub in the factory rear panel location. I had hopes that the OEM enclosure could be used, but its too small. A run to the pick a part yielded rear panels from a sub equipped Yukon.



A bit of cardboard engineering resulted in an enclosure that should be close to .6 cu ft, which will be perfect for a small, sealed setup. The cardboard box will be cut apart to use as templates for an MDF enclosure.




Lastly, I found a set of 20” GMC Sierra wheels on marketplace for a cheap and used those to replace the 17’s and AT tires that were previously on the truck. I kind of like the aggressive tire, but I fear that would cost me during the long road trip.

Waiting in the wings are many more parts that still need to find a home on the Tahoe.

My LQ9 will be back from the machine shop in the next couple of weeks. I am also having them do a set of square port heads. I am contemplating have both setups run on a dyno to see if we lose anything with the 799s. Using a square port head would make the supercharger install easier and remove the adapter plates needed for cathedral port heads.

I picked up an 4L80e to put behind the engine. It is going to be gone through and a shift kit will be installed. New cooler lines were ordered, and I am still waiting on word back from BTR on whether I will need a converter. My tuner feels like the cam and supercharger combination might be a bit rough and a 3000-stall converter might smooth things out. I ordered a bunch of rebuild parts for the transfer case so that I can mate everything together based on recommendations from this forum.

The suspension is almost all here, so hopefully I can work on getting that done in the next week or so. An Eibach rear sway bar, -3 rear springs, DJM relocating and shock brackets, and Bilstein 4600’s will handle the rear. The front is a bit less finalized. I am going to try lowering keys and another Eibach sway bar in the front, but I have doubts it will end up like I want it to. I had a couple of conversations with a fab shop in SoCal that has done a lot of coilover conversion on GMT800s and I will probably end up taking the truck down there to have them go over the whole thing. This will include cutting out all of the stock front suspension and welding in new brackets and upper mounts to run a full length coilover. They will also make matching rear bars to replace the factory links and panhard bar.

 

[iamdub]

So far things are moving along, albeit slowly. There isn’t a lot of progress to show, as I am really just in the planning and parts gathering phases. I keep making plans, then remaking plans as I discover parts being unavailable or discontinued. I do have a few milestones to show off, so as they say… on with the show.

Getting reasonable audio in the Tahoe, along with the ability to utilize phone apps for navigation and streaming audio is critical. This Tahoe was an LS model and did not come with either Bose or OnStar, so luckily interfacing with the factory electronics was simple. A Pioneer head unit, some old school PG amps and Alpine speakers were added to the factory locations. This gave me an opportunity to repair several broken door clips and panels. For those following along my other threads, I also added lights to the rear doors to replace the reflectors. I used the factory wiring from a suburban and added the missing pins to the connectors at each door sill.

View attachment 371342

View attachment 371340

Low end responsibilities are taken up by a Soundstream 10” sub in the factory rear panel location. I had hopes that the OEM enclosure could be used, but its too small. A run to the pick a part yielded rear panels from a sub equipped Yukon.

View attachment 371339

A bit of cardboard engineering resulted in an enclosure that should be close to .6 cu ft, which will be perfect for a small, sealed setup. The cardboard box will be cut apart to use as templates for an MDF enclosure.



View attachment 371341
Lastly, I found a set of 20” GMC Sierra wheels on marketplace for a cheap and used those to replace the 17’s and AT tires that were previously on the truck. I kind of like the aggressive tire, but I fear that would cost me during the long road trip.

Waiting in the wings are many more parts that still need to find a home on the Tahoe.

My LQ9 will be back from the machine shop in the next couple of weeks. I am also having them do a set of square port heads. I am contemplating have both setups run on a dyno to see if we lose anything with the 799s. Using a square port head would make the supercharger install easier and remove the adapter plates needed for cathedral port heads.

I picked up an 4L80e to put behind the engine. It is going to be gone through and a shift kit will be installed. New cooler lines were ordered, and I am still waiting on word back from BTR on whether I will need a converter. My tuner feels like the cam and supercharger combination might be a bit rough and a 3000-stall converter might smooth things out. I ordered a bunch of rebuild parts for the transfer case so that I can mate everything together based on recommendations from this forum.

The suspension is almost all here, so hopefully I can work on getting that done in the next week or so. An Eibach rear sway bar, -3 rear springs, DJM relocating and shock brackets, and Bilstein 4600’s will handle the rear. The front is a bit less finalized. I am going to try lowering keys and another Eibach sway bar in the front, but I have doubts it will end up like I want it to. I had a couple of conversations with a fab shop in SoCal that has done a lot of coilover conversion on GMT800s and I will probably end up taking the truck down there to have them go over the whole thing. This will include cutting out all of the stock front suspension and welding in new brackets and upper mounts to run a full length coilover. They will also make matching rear bars to replace the factory links and panhard bar.

Square port heads FTW. Yes, they're not such an improvement over the cathedral port 799s when you have boost. But, they'll compliment a cam and yield power when cruising off boost.

 

[jeffg]

Not a lot for updates. With all of the rain and trying to get the ranch sorted out for the summer I havent found much time to work on things.

The only real update is I did secure a spot in line at Westside Machine Race Engines for my build. They had an 6.0 on the engine dyno while I was there and made just shy of 750hp and 650lb-ft. This was with an NA carb'd setup and a single plane manifold. With EFI we should have a lot more control over the fuel and timing and they thought they could do slightly better numbers. And this will be before we add the supercharger. The down side is they are 6-8 months out. I am hoping to have the fully built motor back by the end of the year.

They are also strongly recommending that I look at a 408ci kit. Since we are doing everything by the crank anyway, doing there is almost no reason to not just do the whole thing. I think I might just throw my existing LQ9 in the truck and get it tuned and running and then find another iron 6.0 block to use for the build. It would be much easier to just swap the motor into a running 6.0/4l80 setup I think.

Lastly I am working on getting JD Fab to handle the suspension setup. They have a lot of experience with offroad suspension for these trucks and they seemed open to the idea of using their coilover conversion setup with street stocks. I will also do tubular, adjustable arms in the rear and then match a rear spring rate. I am hoping this will allow me to dial in ride height and stiffness to get the truck handling like I want it to.

Question, is anyone running spacers or a lower wheel offset to get a wider stance? I think the weight of these trucks would benefit from a wider setup.

 

[iamdub]

Not a lot for updates. With all of the rain and trying to get the ranch sorted out for the summer I havent found much time to work on things.

The only real update is I did secure a spot in line at Westside Machine Race Engines for my build. They had an 6.0 on the engine dyno while I was there and made just shy of 750hp and 650lb-ft. This was with an NA carb'd setup and a single plane manifold. With EFI we should have a lot more control over the fuel and timing and they thought they could do slightly better numbers. And this will be before we add the supercharger. The down side is they are 6-8 months out. I am hoping to have the fully built motor back by the end of the year.

They are also strongly recommending that I look at a 408ci kit. Since we are doing everything by the crank anyway, doing there is almost no reason to not just do the whole thing. I think I might just throw my existing LQ9 in the truck and get it tuned and running and then find another iron 6.0 block to use for the build. It would be much easier to just swap the motor into a running 6.0/4l80 setup I think.

Lastly I am working on getting JD Fab to handle the suspension setup. They have a lot of experience with offroad suspension for these trucks and they seemed open to the idea of using their coilover conversion setup with street stocks. I will also do tubular, adjustable arms in the rear and then match a rear spring rate. I am hoping this will allow me to dial in ride height and stiffness to get the truck handling like I want it to.

Question, is anyone running spacers or a lower wheel offset to get a wider stance? I think the weight of these trucks would benefit from a wider setup.

I ran 1.5" hub-centric spacers for a little while when mine was lifted 2" to give it better proportions. Never a problem. They've been on my brother's Sierra 4WD for over two years now. If you get spacers, definitely get hub-centric. My personal preference is to not go more than 2".

You wouldn't be lifted with a street touring style, so clearance will be the kicker. I think the GMT800 has a little more breathing room than the GMT900. I rolled my rear fender lips and trimmed the plastic just for my drop on stock wheels.

 

[Rocket Man]

It’ll be the front you have issues with if you use spacers, depending on how much of a drop you do and what size tires you go with. I was running 205/30/26’s with a 2” front drop (spindles) and caught a fender lip when going from street to a driveway that angled uphill. That was with no spacers, stock offset. It’s best to try and keep the tires inside the fenders unless you’re lifted. My .02.

 

[jeffg]

Thanks for the feedback regarding spacers. It just seems like the Sierra wheels I have on now are set a lot more inboard than the aftermarket wheels I had previously. If I have room in the fender I would like to be as wide as possible. With that said, its going to be a small spacer if anything, probably no more than 1/2".

 

[ivin74]

Thanks for the feedback regarding spacers. It just seems like the Sierra wheels I have on now are set a lot more inboard than the aftermarket wheels I had previously. If I have room in the fender I would like to be as wide as possible. With that said, its going to be a small spacer if anything, probably no more than 1/2".

Any updates?