2003 z71 tahoe

ncalvo · Sunday at 2:05 PM

Here's some pics.

Very helpful tip to anyone, you need to make room to drop the front carrier but you do not need to remove the steering link like some people say.
I turned the wheel all the way to lock on the left side and wrestled it for a while, then after I disconnected the idler arm bracket to the frame and that gave me just enough room to drop it down easily

Fless · Sunday at 4:11 PM

ncalvo said:
Put in the new reman front diff carrier, did the oil pan gasket, oil level sensor, billet cooler blockoff plate, pickup tube o ring, i went to install aftermarket pickup tube brace but my pickup tube had a support piece already manufactured into it so it wouldnt fit, i buttoned it back up as is.

put the truck up on jacks and sadly my 4wd still does not spin the front wheels, F me lol.
In 4wd on jacks while in park i can rotate the front drive shaft by hand and it spins the front wheels, but in drive with idle speed spinning rear tires only.
so now I just threw big parts at this truck and it most likely is the tcase encoder motor i am thinking. I cannot get the 4wd control panel to put the transfer case in the neutral position either which i am thinking thats a clue the encoder motor failed or too weak.
I had my tcase rebuilt a few years back.
I have NP8 RPO code now i am trying to locate an encoder motor... I think I am going with WAI GLOBAL TC1001 as I can't seem to find a Gm/Acdelco part

Fun fun fun

Usually it's just the range position sensor that goes bad inside the encoder motor. If you have time and a little effort, there are several YouTube videos on replacing them. Or buy a new encoder motor, and fix the old one, for a spare.

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ncalvo · Sunday at 5:19 PM

Awesome I will give that a try first thanks

ncalvo · 2026-06-17T09:02:19-0400

hopefully next week i got some time to crawl under there and replace the position sensor in the tcase encoder motor, if that doesn't work i'll replace the entire encoder motor, and i am really hoping that does it. I also might replace output shaft seals on the tcase as I see some drips forming.

after all that work I am really considering doing atomic fab coilovers and hellwig swaybars

OR VietVet · 2026-06-17T09:29:21-0400

Coilovers. no. Hellwig bars, YES.

ncalvo · 2026-06-17T11:22:06-0400

OR VietVet said:
Coilovers. no. Hellwig bars, YES.

main reason i am considering them is my driver side torsion bar is cranked and suspension sagging on that side. my truck is perfectly level but the difference in torsion bars has the driver side riding on the bump stop. my truck is leveled on keys, was possibly considering dropping the truck down 1" all around

Fless · 2026-06-17T14:30:17-0400

ncalvo said:
main reason i am considering them is my driver side torsion bar is cranked and suspension sagging on that side. my truck is perfectly level but the difference in torsion bars has the driver side riding on the bump stop. my truck is leveled on keys, was possibly considering dropping the truck down 1" all around

The front jounce stops should contact the lower control arms at ride height. It's not technically a bump stop, it's a fulcrum point for the front suspension.

2003 z71 tahoe

ncalvo

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Fless

2003 CHEVROLET TAHOE 5.3L V8 Transfer Case Range Position Sensor | Shop Now at RockAuto

ncalvo

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ncalvo

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OR VietVet

GMT800 2005 Tahoe Z71

ncalvo

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