JB's Better than Stock 08 Denali

[WindyCityDenali]

Was tired of making car payments and wanted to save up to get back into racing. Used to have a 392, then an all out hell cat that I put twin turbos on. Life changed, had a kid, moved to a more expensive house. Bought the truck for around $5,000 put about $5,000 in it so far, and will keep chasing down some problems to make it better than stock, but she is well on her way.

Overall, pretty clean truck, had normal maintenance but not "keep it nice" maintenance or upgrades.

As soon as I bought it I drove it for a couple days, really try to see what all i needed to do. Really it wasn't bad, but i didn't want not bad and given the 20 years of playing with cars in my past, I just started tackling things.

At 184,000, a couple weeks after I bought it i went ahead and did the following:

-New GM OEM rear main seal, o ring, pick up tube, oil pan gasket and accessories.
-New GM OEM motor mounts
-New Stoptech geomet rear pads and discs-TTX Upper control arms, ball joints and outer tie rods
-AC Clean and Recharge
-New AC Delco Water Pump
-Alignment
-Professional interior and exterior detail
-Ceramic window tint
-Head lights
-Tail lights
-13.1” provision Tesla style screen
-Full LED inside and out
-New GM OEM Driver side door handles
-GM OEM Crank position sensor
-GM OEM Cam position sensor
-New plugs, wires, transmission flush and new filter, rear diff fluid changed
-New battery
-New OEM O2 sensors and knock sensors.
-New charcoal canister
-Complete GM OEM fuel pump basket assembly
-Transmission cooler lines
-New rear door speakers
-Husky laser fit front and second row floor mats


How I bought it:

Stole the wheels of my 90 RCSB temporarily to get going and did a full interior exterior detail, headlights, painted the mirror caps, and some of the mechanical work above:

Control Arms and Brakes were needed:

 

[WindyCityDenali]

After I got mostly everything working as it should I started trying to clean it up. It does have rust on the passenger front fender (new one body worked sprayed PPG black, just waiting for my bumper to be done in paint to swap over the new parts. Rear hatch same thing, has rust in the corner, have my new one in paint to swap this summer. I also wasn't thrilled with the stopping, so I threw on some 2025 escalade 4 piston fronts. Tried my hand at my first real cut and buff and it turned out great. Removed the moldings and got the ol girl some wheels that she deserved. Threw on an airaid tube and tuned it using HPTuners! Trans tune did wonders, she gets better gas mileage and even feels a bit peppier now.

Now at 190-191k i decided to get it really in line, and were almost there.

190,000
Compustar T11 2 way alarm and remote start
A/ C tensioner and belt
Battery ground cable r&r
Oil change
Driver ride height sensor r&r
Front pad/rotor/caliper 2025 OEM Escalade 4 Piston front upgrade
Inner tie rod ends r&r
AC Delco Starter r&r
MOOG Front differential mounts R&R
Oil pressure sensor and screen R&R with GM OEM
Transmission mount R&R with GM OEM
Airaid intake tube and life time K&N filter
Custom HPtuners engine and transmission tune.
New front door weather seals

Extra Parts
Front bumper new Ppg black and clear finishing in paint
Passenger Front fender new Ppg black and clear ready for when bumper is done
Rear hatch new Ppg black and clear in paint
LED fog light assembles ready for new bumper
Catch can need to install this weekend

 

[RST Dana]

Looks sweet!

 

[WindyCityDenali]

I have done a ton of little things along the way, replaced both battery cables, new OEM handles, new lock actuators, new rear wiper, replaced the cup holder with the tahoe one cause the yukon one is ugly and has terrible storage, new back up camera, hatch glass button replaced, new speakers in the back, getting ready to do sound deadening and speakers in the front doors. I am currently fighting with an RCDLR issue that is the last big thing left that I cant figure out, may have just gotten the wrong module even tho it said it was the newer version of what I had. Bought another OEM one and well see if it will take a program. Its getting fluid film undercarriage in a couple weeks and I'm really fighting with if i want to do headers or if they will ruin it by being too loud. I think the headers and no cats just is too obnoxious for this point in life.... Saw a bunch of videos on the FB groups and i leave for work at 4:45 and dont want to be that guy in the neighborhood. I did see some valvetronic muffler ones that might give the best of both worlds but then im in for an easy $1000 at least. We will see!

 

[swathdiver]

Don't forget to get after those crumbling wire looms! Those exposed wires will soon get tore up and electrical gremlins will hound you.

You can install the 54 pound injectors (and rail) from the L9Hs to basically turn yours into a FlexFuel and get another 20+ horses or so when tuned for them. You'll also be able to add more power adders without running out of injector until about 450 RWHP. Well, you'd want their bigger fuel pump too to max it out.

 

[WindyCityDenali]

Don't forget to get after those crumbling wire looms! Those exposed wires will soon get tore up and electrical gremlins will hound you.

You can install the 54 pound injectors (and rail) from the L9Hs to basically turn yours into a FlexFuel and get another 20+ horses or so when tuned for them. You'll also be able to add more power adders without running out of injector until about 450 RWHP. Well, you'd want their bigger fuel pump too to max it out.

It’s on my list on the loom, good to know about the injectors. I’ll start looking for some. Still a lot of grounds and such to replace but I’ll get to the smaller stuff.

 

[SpareParts]

Nice job!
Fkn money pits when a guy first gets one but after more dollars than its worth and time fixing everything that was neglected they are nice to have!

 

[WindyCityDenali]

Honestly when i was looking i think i ran carfax on 5 denali/escalade and this was the only one that didnt have miles tampered with or a wreck on it. All in all for what it can do being in at 10k i dont think is a bad investment for what it is. It is nice everytime I solve a problem on it so im enjoying it to this point.

 

[Joseph Garcia]

@WindyCityDenali

Very nice, methodical work.

Yes, one must definitely look out for the MiseWells. ==>> While I'm doing this, might as well do that. They can get out of hand real fast, expense-wise.

My only question to you is, after blacking out all of the chrome, why did you select semi-chrome wheels? Just personal choice?

 

[WindyCityDenali]

@WindyCityDenali

Very nice, methodical work.

Yes, one must definitely look out for the MiseWells. ==>> While I'm doing this, might as well do that. They can get out of hand real fast, expense-wise.

My only question to you is, after blacking out all of the chrome, why did you select semi-chrome wheels? Just personal choice?

I actually didnt really delete any chrome, i did remove the moldings because i didnt like them, but roof rack, emblems and door handles are still there. I've done fully blacked out cars for about 20 years and wanted to keep the chrome on this one. Also i bought the wheels for the tires, Michelin Defenders with 3k miles on them, but they are growing on me.

 

[WindyCityDenali]

Currently working on finishing up the front brake upgrade, going to try some heat resistant black vinyl to put DENALI on the bar.

Anyone know of rear brake direct fit upgrades for these?

 

[WindyCityDenali]

turned out nice, ill get some finished pictures once i get her washed up this week. Working on finding base c7 rears to do that upgrade as well

 

[WindyCityDenali]

Got the roof repainted with PPG and the bumper finished too. Hoping to get the new fender and bumper on in a couple weeks. New oem fender liners, oem valance, led fogs and black lower grill going on when I do the swap. Really really need an Escalade or Denali rear bumper then we’re getting close! Unfortunate that the tops of a couple doors are roasted but that’ll be a little bit until I paint the whole thing.

How it started

Parts

 

[adventurenali92]

A good looking truck to start off with but she storing out even nicer with fresh paint, and the upgrades! Nice work!!

 

[WindyCityDenali]

A good looking truck to start off with but she storing out even nicer with fresh paint, and the upgrades! Nice work!!

Thanks, to be honest i like it as much as any other car ive had. If it had keyless entry and push button id just keep it forever, but hoping to get 3-5 years out of it before i move on to something else.

 

[WindyCityDenali]

Getting the bumper back together. New oem valance on the way but I’m missing some hardware for the front bumper. Anyone know of a diagram I could look at that might lead me to some of the clips and fasteners?

 

[Fless]

A long shot: https://www.gmpartsdirect.com/v-200...6-2l-v8-gas/body--bumper-and-components-front

 

[West 1]

Nice work bringing the Denali up to a very nice ride.

I see you replaced the front Differential mounts? What difference did that make for you? Just curious as I still have a minor clunk and have not changed the differential mount yet on my 08.

 

[WindyCityDenali]

A long shot: https://www.gmpartsdirect.com/v-200...6-2l-v8-gas/body--bumper-and-components-front

Very helpful, not ordering from there but some part numbers to find some sizes and what all i was missing was exactly what i was looking for! Trying to make the swap from current bumper to new one as painless as possible.

 

[WindyCityDenali]

Nice work bringing the Denali up to a very nice ride.

I see you replaced the front Differential mounts? What difference did that make for you? Just curious as I still have a minor clunk and have not changed the differential mount yet on my 08.

I was going down the same path, can't say that the differential mounts fixed it but my old ones were shot. Certainly made her feel more solid, but as i said, mine were ready for replacement. I still have a slight clunk somewhere and have no idea what it is. Its only at an incline or decline at near full lock so ive decided to just live with it (theres a chance its just my oversized tires hitting the fender liner as the original noise was more metallic and now it is not.)