My '03 'Hoe.

[Tom Joad]

Snowflakes keep fallin' on my head ...
But that doesn't mean my eyes will soon be turnin' red
Cryin's not for me
'Cause I'm never gonna stop the snow by complainin'
Because I'm free
Nothin's worryin' me ....

 

[Kman]

Regarding the LED tail lights, watch this video I made. Should answer a lot of questions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sK5sFCzNaLw

I got them from X3 Racing on eBay.

 

[Tom Joad]

Thank you.

 

[ATL]

Regarding the LED tail lights, watch this video I made. Should answer a lot of questions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sK5sFCzNaLw

I got them from X3 Racing on eBay.

how bright are the reverse lights?

 

[JochenWoern]

how bright are the reverse lights?

Reverse uses the original bulb, not bright at all.

 

[Tom Joad]

The front bowtie emblem is really weirdly made : it is a golden sheet clamped between 2 pieces of plastic. The front one is clear and the rear one is grey.
You have to clip it into the original grille.

easy to say.
My BowTie Emblem did fade over the years.

Since I'm a show-oof when I drive this little B'stard, I needed a new one.

the idear is to push the clips toward the inside to release the BTE from the grille.
I removed the upper plastic part that is between the grill and the metal frame:

It's hold tight with F... pushpins. I pop 'em out with the screwdriver blade of my Swiss Army Knife:

One PP:

Part removed :

THen I realized its almost impossible to reach them without removing the grill:

I did not want to remove the grille so I tried another way :
First step : removing the clear part:

As you can see there's three adhesive pads behind it. If the pad goes loose and the moiture gets in, it's over the golden sheet will be ruined.

Then by introducing a blade inside the plastic hole i was able to remmove the grey part.

The old and the new:

JUst push-in the new one put the plastic cover back and enjoy.

 

[Tom Joad]

Bonjour !

Today the postal service delivered me my three parcels. The smallest avoid the customs but the thwo biggers have been taxed up to €81 and €83 .I thought it would be more than that.
that makes it delivevered yup to €871 ($1127 @ today's rate of 1.2944).



It's Xmas !

The small packet contains the compressor (heavy! not a china PITA) :

All inclusive : screw bold nuts, wires, plugs...

Front shocks :

Back shocks :

You'll have to wait until the 28th of may for the swap.
I'd rather read that than made in China :

 

[CEN2MENTAL95]

nice...arnott bilsteins FTW...got the same setup in my hoe!

 

[Tom Joad]

nice...arnott bilsteins FTW...got the same setup in my hoe!

FTW ? I guess you're happy with them so....

 

[CEN2MENTAL95]

FTW ? I guess you're happy with them so....

For the win....meaning yeah I love em lol

 

[Tom Joad]

I was using my horn on the highway When it stops horning...
Now I can push however I want the central steering wheel button, nothing horning anymore.
I tried to remove the horn fuse but i have no clamps to remove it.
Where can I find a fuse extractor?
Is this sold in Auto store?

 

[Rivieraracing]

I was using my horn on the highway When it stops horning...
Now I can push however I want the central steering wheel button, nothing horning anymore.
I tried to remove the horn fuse but i have no clamps to remove it.
Where can I find a fuse extractor?
Is this sold in Auto store?

Yeah, you should be able to find one at a auto parts store Tom, but also if you have a pair of needle nose pliers then those will work as well!!

 

[1Agerry]

looks really good!

 

[Tom Joad]

Thanks for the answers.
My trip along the route 66 will be too short to do everything I need/want to do, Tahoe related.

 

[Tom Joad]

I realized I did not show any pics of my Panavise InDash mount for my TomTom XXL GPS.


My Dash before with a ugly support

If you let it sticked on the windshield, someone may broke your glass to stole your GPS. I wanted something more stealthy.

The Beast:

Unclip the dash:

Use a 7mm socket to unscew:

Then the upper screw:

Rise it:

And put the part UNDER the plastic of the dash :

Done:

Pay attention, the dash is not molded in tan but only spray painted.

Put the Dash part in place:

Et voilà !

Then you bought on Ebay or Amazon a part like this one :
http://www.amazon.com/APTTEP-ME-AMP-Adapter-Compatible-Panavise/dp/B005ODXI8Y/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1338285269&sr=8-9

Mine is on its way. I hop to get it before I leave for my trip on the Route 66.
I'll post some pics.

 

[1Agerry]

welcome,looks good.

 

[Tom Joad]

The Horn is ok again by just changing the fuse.
Why did the fuse fused is still to find out.

This morning I changed the oil :

There is many plugs under this truck. Do not remove the wrong one !

This one is for the engine oil:

There it goes!

This is what will remplace the plug:

Kind of valve. available at http://www.qwikvalve.com/

For my 'Hoe, part# is F107 or F107N if you want the nipple like I did.
I needed to use a M/F adapter otherwise it would have been impossible to open/close:

It's rock solid, and well tightened.
And for thoses who are not confident, You can use the metal clip to avoid any unwanted opening.

I find it useless as the control lever is hard enough not to maneuver by itself. But now at least my mind is at peace.

Now the oil filter. I loosen it with a filter wrench and ended by hand:

I saw some minor metal parts on the magnetic end of the plug. I don't like that. I also noticed some traces when I wiped clean my can for used oil :

Once filled, put the ignition key on "run", press 3 times the gaz pedal and read:

(which is "Oil Engine Time" in French).
Done for this morning.
Now I'm going to swap my front shocks.

 

[Tom Joad]

I tried to swap my front shocks this afternoon. Half job is done.
Le upper nut of the driver shock is rusty and did not want to move.

It is indeed so easy (when bold and nuts are not rusty) that I'm ashamed of interrogating myself.

I removed the center wheel part:

Then the wheel :

You should disconnect the sensor from the shock before raising it. It's so recessed that you would need big arms to reach it:

(upper view)
BTW, my shock from Arnotts does not have the connector for the sensor.
What was it for?

Raise the arm with another jack and remove the nuts and screw :

Unscrew the lower one, then the upper one:

Comparison:

The first one used a 16mm wrench, the driver one was 17mm. Don't ask why.

It doesn't seems to need to be replaced. I'll do more pics when I'll do the driver one.

 

[Tom Joad]

Hi,

Nothing went well this afternoon on my Tahoe.
If I could "easily" change the passenger front shock, The upper bolt of the driver shock was too rusty to move.
My idear was to break it with this kind of tool :

I am so naive !
I tried three times befoe giving up.
If I find a good job in september I'll see that then.
A picture of the upper bolt now:

Break pads are also near end of life:

Right now I don't want to hear anything Tahoe related. I'm fed up.

 

[Rivieraracing]

I'd get yourself a grinder with a cut off wheel and just cut that nut and stud off at the base since you are replacing the shock anyways!! Might have to do that to the other front one as well if that one is that bad anyways!!