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adventurenali92
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Has been for sure!
RENAMED!! The adventures of Chase and his 2006 Yukon XL Denali!! Follow along on my travels!
- Thread starter adventurenali92
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adventurenali92
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deleted double post.
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adventurenali92
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adventurenali92
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adventurenali92
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Been a busy couple of months. After my mammoth trip late April, had to head out to Vermont for a funeral for my grandpa. Gramps passed in February, after nearly 10 years of living with late stage Parkinson’s disease and some mild dementia issues affecting his short term memory. I miss him a lot but I know that he knew the good Lord, and he shone in heaven with my Grammy and no longer in pain. I’m taking a lot of solace in that fact. Funeral trip was rough. Fast paced. I was only there for 6 days and every day was drama filled and exhausting with my family. But I love em and that’s just how these things go.
The return trip flying was an absolute nightmare. Tons of delays because of all the tornadoes that were hitting the Midwest that second week of may. Left the Nali at my aunt and uncle’s house in Anaheim hills which saved me on parking costs. But southwest had to delay my second connecting flight home way late. Ended up being an absolute sheet show with the airline getting home and my checked suitcase landing nearly 5 hours behind me. I HATE LAX…. But it felt good to get home and be back in my Nali to roll back up the mountain and get back to work. After sitting in Anaheim for 6 days he started right up like he always does to get that work done.
The return trip flying was an absolute nightmare. Tons of delays because of all the tornadoes that were hitting the Midwest that second week of may. Left the Nali at my aunt and uncle’s house in Anaheim hills which saved me on parking costs. But southwest had to delay my second connecting flight home way late. Ended up being an absolute sheet show with the airline getting home and my checked suitcase landing nearly 5 hours behind me. I HATE LAX…. But it felt good to get home and be back in my Nali to roll back up the mountain and get back to work. After sitting in Anaheim for 6 days he started right up like he always does to get that work done.
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adventurenali92
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Been detailing non stop since I got home. Trucks got 198k on him now.
Boat haul day was finally here at the beginning of the week for our long time family friend. So I rolled down at the crack of dawn to right near Anaheim hills where my family is, to pick the boat up. Grabbed a before the haul shot at the station i stopped into to air up the trailer tires and fill the boat with fuel before the mountain. Hate having to put so much wear and tear on my poor beast but he just handles it so well and looks good doing it. He just pulls and pulls and pulls….. amazes me how strong the LQ4 6.0 engine really is and I don’t regret buying it one bit.
Boat haul day was finally here at the beginning of the week for our long time family friend. So I rolled down at the crack of dawn to right near Anaheim hills where my family is, to pick the boat up. Grabbed a before the haul shot at the station i stopped into to air up the trailer tires and fill the boat with fuel before the mountain. Hate having to put so much wear and tear on my poor beast but he just handles it so well and looks good doing it. He just pulls and pulls and pulls….. amazes me how strong the LQ4 6.0 engine really is and I don’t regret buying it one bit.
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adventurenali92
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Absolutely hate the socal freeways now….. but I managed to survive with the boat. lol. This is the 91 freeway going at just about the edge of Orange County, and riverside county. When i was born we lived in the riverside area before moving up to the mountains, and drove this freeway all the time going back and forth to visit my aunt and uncle in Anaheim hills so I know this whole area and stretches of freeways like the back of my hand.
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adventurenali92
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Little view of the mountain highways for you guys. I love highway 38, it’s Ana dbislitet gorgeous drive scenery wise, there’s a couple little areas where it’s tight corners that are windy, but over all it’s got big long, properly banked corners that when unloaded, I cruise through pretty quick and the Denali takes the highway like a champ. He did pretty well with the grades. No overheating issues with the engine or the trans. Made sure all my fluids were topped off before the drive and I cleaned up my air filter Sunday night to give the engine good fresh clean air. The airlift bags I bought a few years back, off of @ivin74 have proved the be absolutely priceless and one of the best mods I’ve done to the truck now that I gotta tow the sea ray and and down the mountain. Oh and the nearly new Z55 shocks he sold me as well not too long after the airlift bags, have held up flawlessly. Between the good working Z55 rear air setup and the airframe bags the truck is just so dang comfy and stable.
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adventurenali92
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Got the boat up to my house to get her detailed about 1:30 Monday afternoon. About two ish hours behind schedule. I like being able to work from home on occasion now that I have a garage to keep all the gear in when it can’t be in the back of the Denali. It’s a great spot to work out of.
The drain plug was not the correct one, a non brass plug, so it rusted into the drain slot threads. Couldn’t start the pressure washing and detailing of the boat with the drain plug still in. I couldn’t get it out on my own and had to take it into town for help getting it out, which put me behind by another hour. Monday ended up being a nearly 16 hour day by the time I finished the detail work and dropped her at our friends house to await the launch day.
Not too shabby for a truck with 198k on the odometer!
The drain plug was not the correct one, a non brass plug, so it rusted into the drain slot threads. Couldn’t start the pressure washing and detailing of the boat with the drain plug still in. I couldn’t get it out on my own and had to take it into town for help getting it out, which put me behind by another hour. Monday ended up being a nearly 16 hour day by the time I finished the detail work and dropped her at our friends house to await the launch day.
Not too shabby for a truck with 198k on the odometer!
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adventurenali92
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Interesting thing about our lake is that the majority of people who have a boat slip to keep their boats in the water all summer are rented docks via one of the 4 marinas on the lake. Some of the big lake side homes have their own docks as part of the property but compared to how many docks are on the water that’s a small percentage. However at the Marina that this boat goes to people can actually buy a slip and it’s owned as real estate. They call them dockaminiums. That’s how our friend is setup. She had the opportunity to buy the slip I believe back in 2018 through a friend who’s a real estate agent that offered to sell the dock for its owner. So our friend owns the slip and now after the big storms we had two winters ago, the lake is full enough to have all the docks back inside the jetty that creates their little harbor. It’s pretty nice and since the docks are all back inside the jetty they all have power going to them so we no longer have to keep a generator in the dock box to power the lift that the boat sits on up out of the water when we’re not using her.
However the thing I absolutely hate about this morning is that using their launch ramp to launch and recover the boats means a Marina employee HAS to back the tow vehicle and trailer on the ramp as their insurance doesn’t allow for Marina customers to do it. A handful of the guys that have been there a long time know what they’re doing, have good experience with boats and trailers and are generally pretty good with me as I’ve gotten to know them. So launching and recovering is usually pretty simple. Last summer I went to the public ramp on the east end since it was finally back open with the full lake. I launched it entirely on my own with no help and no issues. But the hard part about that is that once the boat is in I then have to find someone to give me a ride back across town from the marina to the public ramp to pick my Denali back up with the trailer. Not a big deal last summer as a close friend was in town that I hadn’t seen in person for quite sometime, and hung out with me while I did the boat stuff and then ferried me back to the truck. And she got a boat ride out of it which is never a bad thing haha.
Today that plan was a no go because I didn’t have time to find someone to help with a ride back to the public ramp. The Marina knew I was coming and I was the only one launching at that time so there was no waiting which was nice. But a new employee who i had never met before today was put on the launch. And it was pretty clear he was very inexperienced with maneuvering trucks and trailers. It took him like three tries to get the boat lined up with the ramp properly. Which I don’t have an issue with. I get it. I’ve been there. But on try number two, he damn near backed the trailer off the ramp, into a gangway that leads over to the fuel dock that floats beside the ramp….. I had to give him the “hey you need to be more careful with my truck and the trailer…. Hitting things is not cool….” Speech. I was very polite about it though and he was incredibly apologetic and then took his time on the third attempt and we got her into the water. It’s a somewhat weird area where the launch ramp is at this particular marina. But I know my skills and could have had it down and off loaded in one shot….. lol. Ok ok I know I’m bragging a bit…… but I’ve spent a crap ton of time perfecting my trailering skills and I’m kinda proud of it haha.
At any rate it was kinda cool to be in the baot while the Marina guy was maneuvering back and forth and getting to listen my engine and exhaust setup from behind the truck. I’m always driving it so I never get to hear what it sounds like while it’s actually working. At the second failed attempt and pulling away from the fuel dock gangway, he had to mash the throttle to go up the ramp and realign, and I was like “dammmmnnnn….. my truck sounds good right now powering this boat around….”
I should have videos that as that would have been a great sound clip video. Only though to snap a quick photo though.
But it’s all done and the boat is in the water now ready for summer. Got to take her for a quick little spin to ensure everything was running right. Which it absolutely was. She got up and went with no issues. So that was fun to chill on the boat for a lil bit and take in the lake sights.
However the thing I absolutely hate about this morning is that using their launch ramp to launch and recover the boats means a Marina employee HAS to back the tow vehicle and trailer on the ramp as their insurance doesn’t allow for Marina customers to do it. A handful of the guys that have been there a long time know what they’re doing, have good experience with boats and trailers and are generally pretty good with me as I’ve gotten to know them. So launching and recovering is usually pretty simple. Last summer I went to the public ramp on the east end since it was finally back open with the full lake. I launched it entirely on my own with no help and no issues. But the hard part about that is that once the boat is in I then have to find someone to give me a ride back across town from the marina to the public ramp to pick my Denali back up with the trailer. Not a big deal last summer as a close friend was in town that I hadn’t seen in person for quite sometime, and hung out with me while I did the boat stuff and then ferried me back to the truck. And she got a boat ride out of it which is never a bad thing haha.
Today that plan was a no go because I didn’t have time to find someone to help with a ride back to the public ramp. The Marina knew I was coming and I was the only one launching at that time so there was no waiting which was nice. But a new employee who i had never met before today was put on the launch. And it was pretty clear he was very inexperienced with maneuvering trucks and trailers. It took him like three tries to get the boat lined up with the ramp properly. Which I don’t have an issue with. I get it. I’ve been there. But on try number two, he damn near backed the trailer off the ramp, into a gangway that leads over to the fuel dock that floats beside the ramp….. I had to give him the “hey you need to be more careful with my truck and the trailer…. Hitting things is not cool….” Speech. I was very polite about it though and he was incredibly apologetic and then took his time on the third attempt and we got her into the water. It’s a somewhat weird area where the launch ramp is at this particular marina. But I know my skills and could have had it down and off loaded in one shot….. lol. Ok ok I know I’m bragging a bit…… but I’ve spent a crap ton of time perfecting my trailering skills and I’m kinda proud of it haha.
At any rate it was kinda cool to be in the baot while the Marina guy was maneuvering back and forth and getting to listen my engine and exhaust setup from behind the truck. I’m always driving it so I never get to hear what it sounds like while it’s actually working. At the second failed attempt and pulling away from the fuel dock gangway, he had to mash the throttle to go up the ramp and realign, and I was like “dammmmnnnn….. my truck sounds good right now powering this boat around….”
I should have videos that as that would have been a great sound clip video. Only though to snap a quick photo though.But it’s all done and the boat is in the water now ready for summer. Got to take her for a quick little spin to ensure everything was running right. Which it absolutely was. She got up and went with no issues. So that was fun to chill on the boat for a lil bit and take in the lake sights.
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willinnashville
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Happen to have a write up of the install of those airbags and shocks? I've been thinking about making a change to my rear suspension setup
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adventurenali92
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Rear shocks are arnott industries Z55 replacements for these rigs. I have the passive versions with resistors built into the harness where the factory wiring plugs in. But the factory air compressor mounted to the rear frame rail still fills up the air bladders like it should. A bolt on the top of the shock and a bolt on the bottom and shock will come right out with the truck up on jack stands and the axle extended. The top is a bit tricky to get out because space is tight but it’s doable. Once they’re unbolted they’ll come out and you can put the replacement shocks in and bolt em back up.
I have friends that own a custom Jeep shop install my airlift bags when I bought them as I was gonna be there at the shop all of that day doing detail work for the owners so it was easy to throw my truck up on the rack and put them in. From what I’ve seen in videos it’s a driveway job pretty easy. Put the truck up on the stands and when the axle and coil is all the way extended you just have to wiggle the deflated bags up into the coil springs. Once it’s in it just needs to be positioned and then they can be inflated. Once they’re in you can run airlines and put your fill valve anywhere you’d like. I didn’t opt for installing an on board compressor with a cab switch to control it and a gauge showing pressure. That makes things more complicated but I kinda wish I had gone that route as it would be pretty cool to have. Will probably do that on my next rig. I just keep a small harbor freight type 12V powered compressor in the truck and when I need to fill the bags it works perfectly. I use the 12V outlet at the tailgate, put the fill valve beside my gas cap where the factory gas cap has a hole already drilled for the little plastic line that hooks to the cap and it hangs on. So the fill valve is hidden but easy to access. The little compressor will fill up the bags quick as they only take 35PSI max. When the boat’s in tow I keep the bags full at 35 and then with detail gear in the back, I keep them around 15-20ish. And unloaded I run them about 10-12psi and it rides pretty well.
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willinnashville
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Thankya!
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adventurenali92
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Be self employed they said… it’ll be fun they said….
Be a DIY guy they said… it’ll be fun they said….
Be a “rely on yourself and fix things yourself” kinda guy… it’ll be fun they said….
Be a gearhead… it’ll be fun they said….
Ooi….. I’m exhausted lol. I have been going non stop and after having to have my tire patched from the inside last week and moving work around to get time to get it handled, I thought I was out of the woods for a bit. Not so much….
Knew I was getting close to needing to look at brakes. Picked up rear pads today as I’ve been hearing some unusual noises lately. Figured better to do it before I head up to Utah next week. But then….
Mid day pulled into the driveway for one of my long time clients that I get along great with to do a maintenance detail on her ceramic coated 2022 wagoneer, and 10 minutes into setup and starting the detail I notice a small puddle under the front of the truck. I assume it’s condensation from the AC compressor. Been running it a ton lately because it’s been pretty hot here plus all the pine tree pollen floating around been keeping the windows up. Thought it was too far forward though for water so I had gloves on already and dipped my finger in it. Coolant…. DOH… popped the hood and could see a small leak but couldn’t exactly see where it was coming from. Thankfully the surge tank still had a ton of coolant in it and the leak settled down as the truck cooled down. Pressure washed the coolant off the driveway which thankfully wasn’t a super nice driveway so they weren’t worried.
Clients only live a couple miles from where I do so thankfully I was able to drive home and park in the garage. Turned out it was the lower radiator hose on the passenger side going to the water pump that was leaking. Was able to get a ride over to our local autozone and they had a replacement hose. Picked up the hose and a couple gallons of coolant. Good god getting the hose clamp loosened up at the bottom of the radiator was an absolute BEEEEECH…… not fun. Got the hose replaced and buttoned up. Filled back up with coolant and got the air out of the system. Ran him for a solid 10 minutes or so while it got up to temp with the surge tank cap off the get the air out, then cap back on, and the whole time not a drop came out of the lower radiator hose. Gotta still test run him to make sure but it’s now 10:30om and only half my brake pads are replaced…. So much fun… not….
After a short break to have some cookies it’s back to work I go to get front brake pads replaced. Guess the metal piece on the brake pad that just fell off the second it came off the caliper bracket would definitely be making noise….. oops
Be a DIY guy they said… it’ll be fun they said….
Be a “rely on yourself and fix things yourself” kinda guy… it’ll be fun they said….
Be a gearhead… it’ll be fun they said….
Ooi….. I’m exhausted lol. I have been going non stop and after having to have my tire patched from the inside last week and moving work around to get time to get it handled, I thought I was out of the woods for a bit. Not so much….
Knew I was getting close to needing to look at brakes. Picked up rear pads today as I’ve been hearing some unusual noises lately. Figured better to do it before I head up to Utah next week. But then….
Mid day pulled into the driveway for one of my long time clients that I get along great with to do a maintenance detail on her ceramic coated 2022 wagoneer, and 10 minutes into setup and starting the detail I notice a small puddle under the front of the truck. I assume it’s condensation from the AC compressor. Been running it a ton lately because it’s been pretty hot here plus all the pine tree pollen floating around been keeping the windows up. Thought it was too far forward though for water so I had gloves on already and dipped my finger in it. Coolant…. DOH… popped the hood and could see a small leak but couldn’t exactly see where it was coming from. Thankfully the surge tank still had a ton of coolant in it and the leak settled down as the truck cooled down. Pressure washed the coolant off the driveway which thankfully wasn’t a super nice driveway so they weren’t worried.
Clients only live a couple miles from where I do so thankfully I was able to drive home and park in the garage. Turned out it was the lower radiator hose on the passenger side going to the water pump that was leaking. Was able to get a ride over to our local autozone and they had a replacement hose. Picked up the hose and a couple gallons of coolant. Good god getting the hose clamp loosened up at the bottom of the radiator was an absolute BEEEEECH…… not fun. Got the hose replaced and buttoned up. Filled back up with coolant and got the air out of the system. Ran him for a solid 10 minutes or so while it got up to temp with the surge tank cap off the get the air out, then cap back on, and the whole time not a drop came out of the lower radiator hose. Gotta still test run him to make sure but it’s now 10:30om and only half my brake pads are replaced…. So much fun… not….
After a short break to have some cookies it’s back to work I go to get front brake pads replaced. Guess the metal piece on the brake pad that just fell off the second it came off the caliper bracket would definitely be making noise….. oops
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adventurenali92
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I guess it’s better that the radiator hose gave out here in town and not next week in the middle of nowhere during the road trip.
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adventurenali92
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Welp….. fired the parts cannon too soon and shot myself in the foot with it…. 
Apparently my water pump, which is only a handful of years old and probably no more than 60-ishk on it maybe? I don’t know I’m tired of replacing stuff lol. But got a new water pump in today…. Leaky Mtrucker….. lol
Apparently my water pump, which is only a handful of years old and probably no more than 60-ishk on it maybe? I don’t know I’m tired of replacing stuff lol. But got a new water pump in today…. Leaky Mtrucker….. lol
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adventurenali92
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BacDoc
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Listening to your story about the marina guy launching your boat - I dunno after 1 failed attempt I would have stopped that fast. Your truck and that boat is a very easy rig to maneuver anyone with experience who works at the marina should be able to back up and launch first time.
My boat is bigger and longer trailer and my angled driveway is lined with coconut trees and street I live on is typical residential neighborhood street that is just wide enough for 2 cars. Backing into this driveway from the street is pretty tricky. This type of backing up is tricky because of the trees and neighbors yard, don’t want to touch either one. I have had trucks and vans and my Tahoe is the easiest to navigate this tricky angle.
Most trucks are pretty good for towing but the Tahoe/Denali platform is very easy for backing up from my experience.
Very nice truck!
My boat is bigger and longer trailer and my angled driveway is lined with coconut trees and street I live on is typical residential neighborhood street that is just wide enough for 2 cars. Backing into this driveway from the street is pretty tricky. This type of backing up is tricky because of the trees and neighbors yard, don’t want to touch either one. I have had trucks and vans and my Tahoe is the easiest to navigate this tricky angle.
Most trucks are pretty good for towing but the Tahoe/Denali platform is very easy for backing up from my experience.
Very nice truck!
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adventurenali92
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Thanks! Unfortunately with the Marina I didn’t have a choice since I couldn’t back it down based on their rules. And I didn’t have time to get her over to the ramp where I could, but it made it out fine so I didn’t worry about it.
BacDoc
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Totally understand, it’s their property and their rules. I wouldn’t be too ******* the employee and you probably handled it well. It’s always better to err on the side of kindness but your rig looks tight well kept. I cringe when I see stuff worse than that at my boat ramp but it’s not with my boat and truck.
Enjoy the summer boat season!
Enjoy the summer boat season!
