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partcheck

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Hey guys and gals. Love the site and the friendliness and helpfulness of the members.

A buddy of mine had a 2005 Tahoe Z71 he absolutely babied. His father (now retired) was a head mechanic at GM and did most of the work on the truck including brand new headers several years ago.

About 3 years ago he decided he wanted a new Silverado so he was looking to sell his ** so I bought it off him for a few K. Easily a bargain and the best purchase I've ever made. It has 210,000 miles, the new headers only have about 60K on them, and in the past 3 years I've only put ~12,000 miles on it. I fully expect this truck to outlive me.

I was never a car/truck guy but since getting the **, I've done my own shocks, brake replacements, installed a radio (wanted BT and all the bells and whistles, plus I wanted one that worked with the DVD player and the steering wheel controls). Also troubleshooted hot air in the back and took apart the rear AC unit and replaced several blend door actuators and such. I'm having so much fun tinkering with the truck!

I've quickly learned that it's never enough and I'm always looking at what to do next. After 15 years of life, the front and rear bumper started rusting so I bought new bumpers and had them painted. So far I've replaced the rear. I'll be doing the front soon enough. I have a CAI unit coming next week, I have new Depo projector lights that I'll be putting in next week, and new tail lights.

Things I'm contemplating:

-Taking off those crappy grey plastic moldings around the wheel wells.
-Debadging the truck.
-I definitely want to lift the truck and put on some...I don't know...33's? I've seen some incredible looking trucks on this forum and need to do research into lifts and wheels. I literally know nothing.
-Would love a cowled hood. Not high on my list of priorities though.

My likely next job is going to be new exhaust. I want to add something to make the 5.3 growl but not so much as to create drone while driving. While I'm practically deaf from a life of concerts, drumming, summer construction without ear protection, and believing that good music must be played loud, I have 2 relatively young kids and a wife that can hear a mouse fart who's constantly telling me to "turn it down". So I'll likely go with a cat-back system I think.

Anywho, thanks for all the amazing posts that have helped me troubleshoot and fix any issues I've had.
 

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OR VietVet

Multnomah Falls
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Welcome to the forum from Oregon.

I have the exact same rig but a different color. If you want any ideas, for "tinkering", feel free to check out my build thread, in the "Under Construction" section near the bottom of the home page where all the forums are listed. I think you will really be interested in the Hellwig sway bar kits that I did. When I was looking and bought mine, it was either black for me or silver like what I got.

More pics when you can and have a great time here.
 

gunninks

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Great looking Truck!

Curious, as to what radio you put in it. I am still contemplating the PheonixAudio 12.1 PX6.
 
OP
OP
partcheck

partcheck

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This is the one I put in. Lots of back and forth with the Crutchfield rep.

Things I like about it:
-steering wheel controls are all functional.
-DVD player audio is output to the speakers (while it's on DVD audio, the radio screen is bright blue. I just turn the display off while the audio is playing)
-Has a direct USB hookup for an ipod. I routed the wire through the dash and into the glove box so that I can connect my ipod nano to it in the glove box so it's out of sight)
-bluetooth hookup for my phone. also has a wired microphone so i can take calls through the radio.

I don't know if a better radio with the same requirements is out now. The Crutchfield reps are pretty knowledgable.

I also bought this stuff for the radio:

dash kit: https://www.crutchfield.com/p_120952001/Metra-95-2001-Dash-Kit.html

wiring interface (for steering controls, factory Bose amp, Onstar, etc.) https://www.crutchfield.com/product/item/default.aspx?i=541RP5GM11

remote control: https://www.crutchfield.com/product/item/default.aspx?i=113RCDV331
 

Miami-Dade

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Welcome from Miami Beach!

Nice looking 2005 Z71! IMHO looks perfect just the way it is.
 

Tonyrodz

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Welcome from NJ. These rigs aren't very complicated to work on. If you can turn a wrench, you can fix almost anything on them. You will learn alot if you stick around. Where state are you from?
 
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