Fosscore's 2006 Tahoe Build Thread

[Fosscore]

Well I mean it's like "what else is there to do..."

Go ahead and get you some Depo's and do it yourself. Learn from it!

Depos are on there now, just haven't gone down the retrofit road yet... And the teacher once again imparts the wisdom of previous experience. Much appreciated.

 

[felixgun]

Fosscore make two sets then sell me one

 

[Fosscore]

Now that would be some pressure, trying to mod something as precise as a retrofit to go on one of your trucks. That would have to be some top notch QC.

 

[felixgun]

Lol. Challenge accepted? [emoji13]

 

[Fosscore]

Lol. Challenge accepted? [emoji13]

Haha passing on that challenge at the moment.

 

[Fosscore]

Found a few more parts at the junkyard the other day.

Changed out the rear liftgate pull handle as mine was almost cracked in half at the loop. Gave it a good clean and installed a like new part.
$7 for the handle.

Changed out both front driver and passenger kick plates as mine had the tabs broken off and they never seated perfectly over the new carpet.
Both kick plates just needed a serious Magic Eraser and Spray 9/Simple Green combo clean before a coat of 303 and installation. Condition was as good as the ones I had on there. No scuffs or scars in the plastic.
$18.50 for both.

Pulled off the rear bump stops and cut off the top 3 layers, leaving about 1.5 inches from the axle pad/base of the bump stop. Have been meaning to do this to give the rear a bit more travel, but just never carved out the time. Should ride a bit better now with some gap between the bump stop and the frame.

Bump stop installed before being cut down.

Bump stop after cutting off the top 3 layers. Amazing how tough these bump stops are. They have taken some hard hits and only a transfer of paint from the frame shows up on them. No fatigue or marring was present when I removed them.

Installed after cutting off the top 3 layers.

 

[Travieso]

I have mine that haven't been installed, I think I've had them for more then 4 years when i first dropped the truck, I gotta look underneath to see where I could put them at.. I think i have the dish type like this

 

[Fosscore]

I had this shape originally, but the shop misplaced them the first go round, so the multi-layered ones were the ones I received last summer.

Put them on the axle pad as shown in the picture above. It's a little tight getting the lock washer and nut on, but a good, secure place with the extra travel especially after the free travel mod is done.

 

[Travieso]

isn't their a hole already in there? or did you have to drill one to put the new bumpstops? Like I said it's been a while since I've crawled down there.

 

[Fosscore]

I believe there is a hole already there. I had a shop do the original installation. I removed the bump stop with the truck on the ground and it is a tight fit under there as you know. Getting the 14mm wrench and my hand in that tight spot to loosen the nut, especially on the driver's side with the gas tank took a bit longer than planned.

My setup has a lock washer and regular nut vs. a nylon nut. Good idea until I cranked down on the nut and compressed the lock washer a bit too far thus making the bolt come down closer to the axle. This would normally be a good practice to ensure a tight fit. However, I couldn't pull the wrench back out as it was stuck under the bolt from the bump stop and the axle. Literally by a thread. And you only have about 1/4 turn on the wrench to loosen or tighten the bolt and a socket will not fit.

It took a little extra channel lock work and hand turning to loosen the bump stop off of that lock washer and high enough to release the wrench. Then I just hand tightened it. At least I know the lock washer is doing its job and won't let the bump stop vibrate off. Just thought I'd share that little tidbit before you get under there and crank down on that nut and get your wrench stuck.

@Travieso

 

[NathanJax]

I thought this was getting bumped because you started working on your retro?

 

[OHSIXX]

Retro FTW!!

 

[Doverpoint]

Wanted to update my current mods list to date.

January 2016.
73700 miles.


2006 Tahoe LS 4.8L


Exterior Mods

• Cadillac Escalade Chrome Roof Luggage Rack (cross rails removed and color matched end caps)
• Cadillac Escalade Rear Vent Caps/Appliques (color matched)
• De-Badged
• De-Molded
• FM Antenna Deleted (hidden inside engine bay)
• OnStar Antenna Deleted
• Rear Wiper Deleted
• Front Lower Air Deflector Deleted
• 2001 Chevy Silverado 2500 HD Hood
• Color Matched Parts (Dark Ming Blue Metallic)
  • Grill
  • Front Bumper Cap
  • Front Bumper
  • Front Lower Valance
  • Rear Bumper
  • Rear Liftgate Applique
  • Door Handles
  • Mirrors
  • Bowtie (matches silver TBSS wheels)

• Depo Chrome Projector Headlights (not retrofitted)
• eBay Clear LED Parking Lights (non-amber)
• Spyder LED Tail lights (with LED reverse lights)
• 5% Tint on All Windows and 5% Windshield Strip
• 24x10 TBSS Wheels, Silver Machine Face w/ AC Delco TPMS
• 295/35/24 Nexen Rodian HP Tires
• Power Stop K2015 Front/Rear Ceramic Brake Pad and Cross Drilled/Slotted Combo Rotors Brake Kit (calipers painted Duplicolor Silver)

Interior Mods

• Replaced ALL Interior Lights with "Cool White" LEDs
• Replaced OEM Pewter Headliner with Dark Grey
• Replaced OEM Pewter Carpet with Dark Grey
• Custom Carpet Floor Mats w/ Black Bowtie Outline on Front Mats
• Painted Speaker Grilles Black
• Replaced Driver Seat Bottom Leather

Suspension Mods

• NORCAL SS CUSTOM 3/5-6 Tahoe Lowering Kit
• Front DJM 3 Inch A Arms
• Front Belltech Street Performance Shocks
• Rear NORCAL SS Custom 6" Springs
• Rear Belltech 1-inch spacers (removed)
• Rear DJM hardware kit
  • Trailing Arms
  • End Links
  • Shock Extenders

• Rear Belltech Street Performance Shocks
• DJM Free Travel Mod
• Spohn Adjustable Panhard Bar
• Airlift Helper Bags 60742
• Rear Urethane Bump Stops
• Front Ground to Fender Lip 32 7/8""
• Rear Ground to Fender Lip 33 1/8"

Performance Mods

• Black Bear Performance Tune, 93 Octane (in person)
• K&N 57 Series FIPK Air Intake
• Flowmaster Super 50 Series Muffler

Audio Upgrades

• JVC KW-HDR81BT Double Din Head Unit
• JL Audio XD700/5 Class D 5-Channel Amp
• JL Audio Stealthbox 10W3v3-2 Subwoofer, (under center console)
• Phoenix Gold Ti65cs 6.5 inch Components, Front
• Phoenix Gold Ti6CX 6.5 inch, Rear

How are the painted calipers holding up? Has the heat darkened the paint? I am thinking about painting mine the same color as yours.

 

[Fosscore]

@Doverpoint

Here are a couple pics of the front and rear right hand side calipers. The calipers and rotors are both looking pretty good for 1 year later. For me, they could use a touch up, but they still look great. I still need to touch up the rest of the suspension components, but all in good time.


Front right.

Front right.

Front right.

Right rear.

Right rear.

 

[Fosscore]

I ordered another $4.59 pack of blue LEDs to go with the set of front door courtesy lights that I found for $11 at the junkyard last week.

I had originally pried open the white and red courtesy light lense when I first installed the white T10/194 base LED into the plug and superglued them back together. Somewhere along the line, the passenger side red reflector went missing and the driver side LED had popped out of the socket and was just rattling around inside the sealed light. Grrr... (Online prices ranged from $10-$30 for one light, so it was worth waiting for the junkyard to find the pair for cheap.)

The light faces were not quite new looking, so I used some 3M Perfect-It Rubbing Compound, Step 1 and finished it off with some 3M Perfect-It Machine Polish, Step 2 to bring back the gloss. Still not a brand new part, but for such small piece that only I will look at, it is good enough. This time with 2 sealed units, I decided not to crack the lenses open. I used a pencil wrapped with some sticky 80 grit sandpaper and gently wallowed out the round part of the hole to accommodate the head of the LED light.

I plugged in the light, pushed it through the hole, snapped the clip in place to the light and slid it back into the door opening. Done. A small, but long awaited victory fixing those little courtesy lights. The little things.


Before wallowing out the hole. I forgot to take a pic of the slightly modified hole,
but both of the rounded parts of the cut out are just a little bigger to fit the LED light head.

Showing the LED head size relative to the opening in the courtesy light housing. Looks bigger
in this picture, but in reality there is only a little bit of sanding needed to make it fit.

The black clip slides into place and "clicks" in on either square side.

74115 miles.

 

[NathanJax]

How's the retro coming along?

 

[osiris94ej]

I ordered another $4.59 pack of blue LEDs to go with the set of front door courtesy lights that I found for $11 at the junkyard last week.

I had originally pried open the white and red courtesy light lense when I first installed the white T10/194 base LED into the plug and superglued them back together. Somewhere along the line, the passenger side red reflector went missing and the driver side LED had popped out of the socket and was just rattling around inside the sealed light. Grrr... (Online prices ranged from $10-$30 for one light, so it was worth waiting for the junkyard to find the pair for cheap.)

The light faces were not quite new looking, so I used some 3M Perfect-It Rubbing Compound, Step 1 and finished it off with some 3M Perfect-It Machine Polish, Step 2 to bring back the gloss. Still not a brand new part, but for such small piece that only I will look at, it is good enough. This time with 2 sealed units, I decided not to crack the lenses open. I used a pencil wrapped with some sticky 80 grit sandpaper and gently wallowed out the round part of the hole to accommodate the head of the LED light.

I plugged in the light, pushed it through the hole, snapped the clip in place to the light and slid it back into the door opening. Done. A small, but long awaited victory fixing those little courtesy lights. The little things.


Before wallowing out the hole. I forgot to take a pic of the slightly modified hole,
but both of the rounded parts of the cut out are just a little bigger to fit the LED light head.
View attachment 60596


Showing the LED head size relative to the opening in the courtesy light housing. Looks bigger
in this picture, but in reality there is only a little bit of sanding needed to make it fit.

The black clip slides into place and "clicks" in on either square side.
View attachment 60597


View attachment 60594



View attachment 60595

74115 miles.

You can use a Uni-bit drill bit to open up the socket of those lenses so the larger head of the led bulb will fit in. I have done this to my last 6 trucks this way and have yet to have any issues. No need to remove the lenses to put bulb in and glue back together.

 

[Fosscore]

Yessir. That would have been much easier, however wanting to get them installed and not having a large enough bit handy at the time meant manual sandpaper and pencil labor.

Task accomplished and working great. Thx man.

 

[osiris94ej]

Yessir. That would have been much easier, however wanting to get them installed and not having a large enough bit handy at the time meant manual sandpaper and pencil labor.

Task accomplished and working great. Thx man.

Not a problem just throwing that out there just in case you have a bulb go bad and need to replace it.

Also checked in this thread through searching for anyone who has retrofitted the DEPO headlights. This thread popped up in my searching. Nice Tahoe i like what you have done with it, Really want the Escalade vents and the 05+ rear hatch glass cover, my 04 doesn't have this.

 

[05Single]

Footwell light Foss !!!! Get some. 20 minute mod
Got mine from a salvage yard for free