Big Red - 2000 Tahoe Build

[ArcticYukon]

I noticed a while back when I was following behind my wife when she was driving Big Red, that the high mount brake light wasn't working.... that, coupled with the puny little aftermarket tail lights didn't give for much attention-getting brake lights. Just a rear-end collision waiting to happen, in my opinion. I didn't like that at all.

So I finally got around to replacing the OEM light. OE style one wasn't working at all anymore. I'm assuming either all the diodes burnt out or the board itself did. I found a couple different replacements on amazon, but I really like the blacked out look because it blends in with the back glass better.

Found one on amazon for about 25 bucks shipped.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B073K3S4B3/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Before:





Comparison:



The new one doesn't not include the rubber gasket, so you'll have to re-use your original one or get a new one. My truck has over 200k miles on it and spent most of its life in the Georgia and Florida sun and the gasket was still in good shape, so I would think deterioration isn't much of an issue.

Install is pretty straight-forward. Open up your hatch, loosen the 2 phillips screws, wiggle the old one loose - it's a little difficult getting it out past the hatch, but worth the struggle - then unplug the harness, swap over the rubber gasket and reverse the process...

Voila!

After:





Next is those stupid tail lights... hopefully in favor of these....





https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07CMKYYCS/?coliid=I2FEQSBMWAR0AX&colid=2BGXZ3KQSDFYI&psc=0

Or similar, anyway.

I'll pull 'em apart when I get 'em and seal 'em with some marine-grade silicone to keep out the moisture. Seems like that's the biggest complaint with aftermarket setups.

 

[Tonyrodz]

I noticed a while back when I was following behind my wife when she was driving Big Red, that the high mount brake light wasn't working.... that, coupled with the puny little aftermarket tail lights didn't give for much attention-getting brake lights. Just a rear-end collision waiting to happen, in my opinion. I didn't like that at all.

So I finally got around to replacing the OEM light. OE style one wasn't working at all anymore. I'm assuming either all the diodes burnt out or the board itself did. I found a couple different replacements on amazon, but I really like the blacked out look because it blends in with the back glass better.

Found one on amazon for about 25 bucks shipped.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B073K3S4B3/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Before:

View attachment 212497

View attachment 212498

Comparison:

View attachment 212499

The new one doesn't not include the rubber gasket, so you'll have to re-use your original one or get a new one. My truck has over 200k miles on it and spent most of its life in the Georgia and Florida sun and the gasket was still in good shape, so I would think deterioration isn't much of an issue.

Install is pretty straight-forward. Open up your hatch, loosen the 2 phillips screws, wiggle the old one loose - it's a little difficult getting it out past the hatch, but worth the struggle - then unplug the harness, swap over the rubber gasket and reverse the process...

Voila!

After:

View attachment 212500

View attachment 212501

Next is those stupid tail lights... hopefully in favor of these....





https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07CMKYYCS/?coliid=I2FEQSBMWAR0AX&colid=2BGXZ3KQSDFYI&psc=0

Or similar, anyway.

I'll pull 'em apart when I get 'em and seal 'em with some marine-grade silicone to keep out the moisture. Seems like that's the biggest complaint with aftermarket setups.

Gotta be careful with the aftermarket led tail lights. A lot of times they'll burn out within 1 yr. I know @Bigbeardenali1992 had an issue with his setup.

 

[adventurenali92]

Gotta be careful with the aftermarket led tail lights. A lot of times they'll burn out within 1 yr. I know @Bigbeardenali1992 had an issue with his setup.

I had issues with a different brand tail that was supposed to have resistors built in and didn’t have them so they didn’t work correctly. Currently I have those exact tails he pictured. Had them on for about a year and so far no issues with them. The seal is a little bit forther in from the border of the lense. It looks like water is going into the lense but it actually isn’t. No leaks.

 

[Tonyrodz]

I had issues with a different brand tail that was supposed to have resistors built in and didn’t have them so they didn’t work correctly. Currently I have those exact tails he pictured. Had them on for about a year and so far no issues with them. The seal is a little bit forther in from the border of the lense. It looks like water is going into the lense but it actually isn’t. No leaks.

They are a nice looking light. Those leds scare me tho. I'd hate to buy them, just to have them burn out or go dim a few months later.

 

[ArcticYukon]

I had issues with a different brand tail that was supposed to have resistors built in and didn’t have them so they didn’t work correctly. Currently I have those exact tails he pictured. Had them on for about a year and so far no issues with them. The seal is a little bit forther in from the border of the lense. It looks like water is going into the lense but it actually isn’t. No leaks.

Great to hear! Thanks!

They are a nice looking light. Those leds scare me tho. I'd hate to buy them, just to have them burn out or go dim a few months later.

Yeah I've seen that on a lot of vehicles w/ aftermarket LEDs as well. Figured I'd give 'em a chance though and see what happens. Worse case scenario, I save these tails and throw 'em back on if the new ones quit.

I had a set of aftermarket LED tails on the Yukon and had no issues with them. They had clearly been on the truck for a while when we bought it too... so I figure yeah it may be a crap shoot, but sometimes you luck out.

 

[ArcticYukon]

Drove it to work last night because my truck is getting low on gas and the heat doesn't work. The blower motor resistor for the front AC quit, so only speed 5 works. I've been compensating for that by just using the rear air so I'm not riding around in a hurricane with the front blower on full blast. Went outside in the morning to warm the 'Hoe up and drive home and discovered now the rear control is out. So whereas before, I could get by with just having the rear air on, I had to drive home with the fan speed on full blast. So the list of things to replace is now:

-Alternator (at least I think.... there's a rattling noise coming from one of the pulleys and when I stethescoped it, it was either the alternator or the PS pump)
- Blower motor resistor
- Power window regulator
- Rear AC control
- Rear wiper motor
- Washer fluid res
- replacement trim pieces for the ones that keep popping off every time you shut the door
- door speakers
- dash top
- dash bezel
- shift lever (tow/haul button doesn't work)
- headliner
- front bumper
- misc switches that don't work anymore or are cracked and broken
- probably something I'm forgetting or something that's about to break

Not to mention the fact it needs a re-paint... my Jeep was lower maintenance than this

 

[Tonyrodz]

Drove it to work last night because my truck is getting low on gas and the heat doesn't work. The blower motor resistor for the front AC quit, so only speed 5 works. I've been compensating for that by just using the rear air so I'm not riding around in a hurricane with the front blower on full blast. Went outside in the morning to warm the 'Hoe up and drive home and discovered now the rear control is out. So whereas before, I could get by with just having the rear air on, I had to drive home with the fan speed on full blast. So the list of things to replace is now:

-Alternator (at least I think.... there's a rattling noise coming from one of the pulleys and when I stethescoped it, it was either the alternator or the PS pump)
- Blower motor resistor
- Power window regulator
- Rear AC control
- Rear wiper motor
- Washer fluid res
- replacement trim pieces for the ones that keep popping off every time you shut the door
- door speakers
- dash top
- dash bezel
- shift lever (tow/haul button doesn't work)
- headliner
- front bumper
- misc switches that don't work anymore or are cracked and broken
- probably something I'm forgetting or something that's about to break

Not to mention the fact it needs a re-paint... my Jeep was lower maintenance than this

I pm'd you.

 

[ArcticYukon]

I pm'd you.

Thanks buddy.

 

[ArcticYukon]

Drove it to work last night because my truck is getting low on gas and the heat doesn't work. The blower motor resistor for the front AC quit, so only speed 5 works. I've been compensating for that by just using the rear air so I'm not riding around in a hurricane with the front blower on full blast. Went outside in the morning to warm the 'Hoe up and drive home and discovered now the rear control is out. So whereas before, I could get by with just having the rear air on, I had to drive home with the fan speed on full blast. So the list of things to replace is now:

-Alternator (at least I think.... there's a rattling noise coming from one of the pulleys and when I stethescoped it, it was either the alternator or the PS pump)
- Blower motor resistor
- Power window regulator
- Rear AC control - just kidding... had a blond moment
- Rear wiper motor
- Washer fluid res
- replacement trim pieces for the ones that keep popping off every time you shut the door
- door speakers
- dash top
- dash bezel
- shift lever (tow/haul button doesn't work)
- headliner
- front bumper
- misc switches that don't work anymore or are cracked and broken
- probably something I'm forgetting or something that's about to break

Not to mention the fact it needs a re-paint... my Jeep was lower maintenance than this

Well, take rear AC control off that list.... but add hub bearing assemblies to it...

 

[ArcticYukon]

Well, I can knock "blower motor resistor" off the list. Finally got around to replacing it today. The part I pulled out was the original part. 19 years... not a bad lifespan. I doubt I'll get that many years out of the DuraTrash part that I swapped in, but it's good for now.






In other news, discovered when I was at the checkout counter that someone had hacked my AZ Rewards account and stole my $20 reward. Couldn't log in to the AZ app and it kept telling me my username and password were invalid. Luckily, I was still logged into the account in Chrome, so I was able to see that the email address was changed, but all the other information was the same. So I called up AZ Rewards and they changed everything back, changed the number for the rewards account, and credited my 20 bucks back.

And what did the little hacker ***** buy with my 20 bucks? Wiper blades for his 2009 Altima.

Well, I guess if you needed 'em that bad, enjoy your free wiperblades, ya crook!