Let's sift through every square inch of a 2013 Tahoe PPV

[Caddylack]

Quick, cheap and easy way to lower it about 2". Rough Country sells or used to sell a "drop kit" exactly for this. It was bolts and nuts of a particular grade (12.x? 14.x?) and spacers. With the strut bolted directly to the bottom side, it's less than a 2" drop. The spacers make it a full 2". @89Suburban and I think @kbuskill have or had theirs lowered by this. Some people feel sketched out by this method but I've never heard of any failures. I doubt Rough Country would risk their business on a simple $40 drop kit. I've read discussions of hardware tensile strength, the theoretical maximum loads the front of a GMT900 SUV could put on those points, etc. Apparently, Grade 8 is "sufficient" and some have ran or are running Grade 8 hardware for this drop. The extra strength, yet not brittle hardware spec'ed and supplied by RC is probably over- over-kill as a CYA. Proper torque specs are a factor, too. I have this hardware kit on standby as a drop option for when I get back into messing with mine.

Nice. You also just gave me a top secret idea. Thanks!

 

[iamdub]

Rough country's nuts and bolts are grade 9.

Thanks. I knew it was some uncommon number.

 

[iamdub]

Nice. You also just gave me a top secret idea. Thanks!

Being a (or the?) crackpot suspension experiment teaser on this forum, I might've already thought of, if not tried it.

 

[Caddylack]

So... What the Dickens is this?

I'm pretty happy with the welding job.

Among the items that have been replaced on this car: The trans crossmember. Very interesting.

Arizona on full display here.

 

[iamdub]

So... What the Dickens is this?

View attachment 388732

Third cat. Further cleans up the exhaust beyond what the two primary cats do. Also provides more muffling, which might be why you can get away with such a tiny muffler. I think that third cat was an '09+ thing. My '08 didn't have it.

 

[iamdub]

Arizona on full display here.

View attachment 388736

 

[Caddylack]

View attachment 388778

What happened to your driveshaft?

 

[Caddylack]

@Tonyrodz why the frown? Lmao. That was supposed to be a positive post.

 

[Tonyrodz]

@Tonyrodz why the frown? Lmao. That was supposed to be a positive post.

Sorry I mis-frowned

 

[iamdub]

What happened to your driveshaft?

View attachment 388787

Y'all keep fuckín' wit me 'bout my driveshaft. Ima give y'all díckheads sumpin' to cluck about.

 

[Caddylack]

Is it normal for them to be coated like mine?

Mine may be new, since the trans crossmember is.

I still need to call the previous owner (PD) and try to get maintenance records. It would be great if the trans was new, but it's more likely the other stuff was replaced due to a cactus incident or something.

EDIT: Is that a scrape on the bottom of the 3rd cat?

 

[Caddylack]

I just wanted to bring this to attention:

Budget brake upgrades

First of all: This is not a thread to debate the adequacy of the stock brakes. I realize that the OEM setup can be maximized to perform quite well. This is a thread for discussing affordable brake upgrades, specifically those using OEM parts from other vehicles. The OEM rotors on the GMT900...

www.tahoeyukonforum.com

 

[iamdub]

Is it normal for them to be coated like mine?

Mine may be new, since the trans crossmember is.

I still need to call the previous owner (PD) and try to get maintenance records. It would be great if the trans was new, but it's more likely the other stuff was replaced due to a cactus incident or something.

EDIT: Is that a scrape on the bottom of the 3rd cat?

I was thinking y'all coated everything up there for salt corrosion protection. But, I pieed it together now- it came from AZ and you haven't done anything like that to it yet. With the cross member being new and what looks like a scrape on the cat, you raise a valid point. Maybe it hit something or was high-centered at one point, damaging the cross member and driveshaft. It could be an aftermarket or replacement shaft that was painted.

Lol- "The Arizona Cactus Incident". There's another great indie band name.

 

[Caddylack]

I was thinking y'all coated everything up there for salt corrosion protection. But, I pieed it together now- it came from AZ and you haven't done anything like that to it yet. With the cross member being new and what looks like a scrape on the cat, you raise a valid point. Maybe it hit something or was high-centered at one point, damaging the cross member and driveshaft. It could be an aftermarket or replacement shaft that was painted.

Lol- "The Arizona Cactus Incident". There's another great indie band name.

Well, I knew from the beginning that the vehicle had been involved in some sort of unreported event...

The very front of one frame rail, right where the push bar would bolt up, is tweaked slightly. The front bumper also has a crack.

The car was repainted sloppily before auction. Then, you have the new crossmember and an apparent scrape on the cat.

I'm not worried about it, but I think it's safe to say there was, well, an accident.

If the driveshaft was replaced, it could be coated, or it could just be new enough that the paint is still intact.

Unrelated: Any leads on performance data for OEM manifolds? Ours don't look very restrictive, and I'm wondering how far I can go with mods before the manifolds are holding me back. Mild cam?

 

[Caddylack]

On exhaust... My impression is that the diameter of the stock Y-pipe is plenty for mild engines. It's just those 3 cats that are in the way. I am thinking I will have the cats deleted, and keep the Y-pipe.

The collectors on our stock manifolds look nice, almost like shorty headers. I'm not sure how big the primaries are, though.

My plans for the Tahoe will stay minimal for now, until I get my other projects finished. Routine maintenance will be the focus.

With that said, I figure I should probably at least do the physical DOD delete at some point. I'm considering a mild low-lift cam. We will see.

This morning I was looking at flexible 4" intake tubes, and I had the realization that dryer exhaust tubes are basically the same thing. You can get them black PVC-coated, too. Don't make me do it.

 

[Caddylack]

AND... Here is a sound clip of my exhaust:

https://fullframemotorsports.proboards.com/attachment/download/10

 

[Tonyrodz]

AND... Here is a sound clip of my exhaust:

https://fullframemotorsports.proboards.com/attachment/download/10

Nada

 

[Caddylack]

Oops. My bad.

 

[iamdub]

Well, I knew from the beginning that the vehicle had been involved in some sort of unreported event...

The very front of one frame rail, right where the push bar would bolt up, is tweaked slightly. The front bumper also has a crack.

The car was repainted sloppily before auction. Then, you have the new crossmember and an apparent scrape on the cat.

I'm not worried about it, but I think it's safe to say there was, well, an accident.

If the driveshaft was replaced, it could be coated, or it could just be new enough that the paint is still intact.

Unrelated: Any leads on performance data for OEM manifolds? Ours don't look very restrictive, and I'm wondering how far I can go with mods before the manifolds are holding me back. Mild cam?

Stock shafts are bare metal, either aluminum or steel. The surface rust (like on mine) is thin and, once developed, protects it from further corrosion. I've gotten static from you salty yankees about it (probably since it's about the only thing rusty on mine), so I'll do something about it. A little sumpin' fo da h8tahz.

I don't have any actual performance data. But, yes, they actually do flow quite well and are a good overall design for all intended operating RPM on a stock engine and even with a mild truck-appropriate cam. Shorties have been shown to not be worth the cost or effort over stock manifolds. Sure, they will flow slightly better. But, the thinner metal radiating the extra heat and sound into the engine bay outweighs the gains.

 

[iamdub]

On exhaust... My impression is that the diameter of the stock Y-pipe is plenty for mild engines. It's just those 3 cats that are in the way. I am thinking I will have the cats deleted, and keep the Y-pipe.

The collectors on our stock manifolds look nice, almost like shorty headers. I'm not sure how big the primaries are, though.

My plans for the Tahoe will stay minimal for now, until I get my other projects finished. Routine maintenance will be the focus.

With that said, I figure I should probably at least do the physical DOD delete at some point. I'm considering a mild low-lift cam. We will see.

Yes, the stock exhaust is designed very well for a stock engine. It's 2.75" until after the muffler, then it's 2.5". With no cats, it'll be LOUD. It'll also flow a little better, which would support a mild cam. Keeping the stock manifolds will help to get the heat further away from the engine bay and help maintain low-end torque that might be otherwise lost from uncorking the exhaust. Depending on what your shop would charge to splice pipes into the Y-pipe where the cats were (if they'll even delete cats), you might be better off getting long tubes with a Y-pipe. I'd strongly suggest having them ceramic coated.

This morning I was looking at flexible 4" intake tubes, and I had the realization that dryer exhaust tubes are basically the same thing. You can get them black PVC-coated, too. Don't make me do it.

How about ABS plumbing pipe? It's black and can be done very cleanly. I think you'd just need a 90° (or get a 90° silicone coupler to adapt the 4" pipe to the throttle body), 45° (maybe two?) and a short length of straight. If I were doing it, I'd cut off the flared slip joints, taper the ends, butt the pipes together and glue them with ABS cement. Sand and fill as necessary and spray paint it. The problem is the MAF sensor mount.

Idea: