Rocket Man’s 2008 Tahoe Build Thread

[Rocket Man]

Damn. I am watching this. I have the same leak. It's a ***** to figure out.

If the rubber backed padding wasn’t completely covering the firewall and going behind everything a person could at least see where it’s coming from. I finally was able to get access to the bottom portion. I have a prybar jammed up there and then propped up on top of the brake pedal to force the pad up as much as possible . I could stick my hand up further and it felt dry all the way across except in that lower left area and I could see above there as it was leaking. It wasn’t coming from above, I’m almost 100% positive. I really believe I got it. I hate waiting to find out but the last thing I want to do is get the new sealant wet before it cures. Tomorrow I’ll find out.

 

[Rocket Man]

Looks like that last fix finished fixing the leak. The work I did under the cowl did seem to slow it down but when I was finally able to pry up that rubber pad by the hood release cable grommet I could see where it was coming in at. At first, I could see water coming in fast as soon as I applied any at all inside the cowl, even just spraying a little close to the fender in there. After sealing that seam it would take a little longer before I could see water coming inside. I might have just diverted how it runs down that area, there’s no way to see the route the water takes once it goes through that flap area. But once I sealed up those seams in that interior inside

corner, I couldn’t get any water at all inside and I flooded the inside of the cowl for several minutes, more than it will ever see. I declare victory! Time will tell I guess.

 

[89Suburban]

Looks like that last fix finished fixing the leak. The work I did under the cowl did seem to slow it down but when I was finally able to pry up that rubber pad by the hood release cable grommet I could see where it was coming in at. At first, I could see water coming in fast as soon as I applied any at all inside the cowl, even just spraying a little close to the fender in there. After sealing that seam it would take a little longer before I could see water coming inside. I might have just diverted how it runs down that area, there’s no way to see the route the water takes once it goes through that flap area. But once I sealed up those seams in that interior inside View attachment 472471View attachment 472472View attachment 472473corner, I couldn’t get any water at all inside and I flooded the inside of the cowl for several minutes, more than it will ever see. I declare victory! Time will tell I guess.

Thanks for taking the time to share this with us Mark

 

[Rocket Man]

We have just been through an atmospheric river here and I’m happy to say that the leak is fixed. It rained for 4 straight days and the carpet is still dry as a bone. I declare victory on that.

 

[Rocket Man]

Yesterday I did a second row seat swap from my buckets go a 60/40 bench seat for my 115 lb dog Kinjo. He was used to that in The Beast so when I started driving this one he managed but he was not comfortable. I kept looking for a used set but finally found a guy to trade. It’s difficult at this age of truck to find decent seats that are not only in great shape but are black leather, heated and power fold and the other person is happy with yours and willing to meet up and swap them out. It finally worked out. It’s Kinjo’s Christmas present and he is super happy. Today he was riding with his whole body laying on it and his front feet on the carpet, with a big smile. Win win.

 

[89Suburban]

I had decided to spend some money on it by now so I ordered some of Spyders best head and tail lights. I swapped in LED bulbs into the low beam projectors with great results, see the cutoff lines in the bench test. Those are H7. The high beams are H1 and use reflectors and ship with halogens. I tried several LED bulbs and all end up orienting the bolt at a 45 degree angle and you can see the bench test. The white light is the LED and the yellow is the halogen. The LED at the 45 degrees throws a scattered beam, so I left the halogens in the high beams. There are H1 LED bulbs with adjustable collars for about $125-up. No thanks.View attachment 461675View attachment 461676View attachment 461677View attachment 461678View attachment 461679View attachment 461680View attachment 461681View attachment 461682View attachment 461683

Got a link for those H7 LED's?

 

[Rocket Man]

Got a link for those H7 LED's?

I looked and they’re not available anymore. they were on Amazon.

 

[Rocket Man]

So everything is great with the Tahoe, nothing has gone south. The “service 4WD” message has been almost nonexistent. I think there’s an update for it but I’m not worried. The truck drives really straight, corners and stops awesome, and is performing great. I plan on buying some credits and doing a slight tune with my HPT some day, maybe make the trans shift a bit better etc. but I haven’t gotten around to it. I’m just going to enjoy it for now.

 

[Tonyrodz]

How's the beast doing? Get it straightened out?

 

[Rocket Man]

How's the beast doing? Get it straightened out?

It’s still sitting under cover, waiting. I think I’m going to have it towed to a shop to diagnose it. A lift is needed in order to figure it out. I have to jack it up, do one thing like remove the front prop shaft, lower it, try to drive it, see what’s it does, jack it back up,etc etc and I can’t do that anymore than I’ve already done. And all it did was confuse me more. I must have tried 4 different combinations and sometimes it would drive a little ways and then slowly bind up until it wouldn’t move. I still don’t know if it’s the transfer case or the front or rear diff. 95% sure it’s not the transmission. The other thing I’m considering is buying a used transfer case and swapping it in, which will have to wait until spring because no shop. Either way I’m not in a hurry. I did start it up the other day, and yesterday I put a new car cover on it; the one from Amazon got tore from our wind event here (30-40 mph gusts for a week ) and they sent a new one since it had a 12 month replacement warranty. I tie my carport to the house in these events lol.

 

[Tonyrodz]

It’s still sitting under cover, waiting. I think I’m going to have it towed to a shop to diagnose it. A lift is needed in order to figure it out. I have to jack it up, do one thing like remove the front prop shaft, lower it, try to drive it, see what’s it does, jack it back up,etc etc and I can’t do that anymore than I’ve already done. And all it did was confuse me more. I must have tried 4 different combinations and sometimes it would drive a little ways and then slowly bind up until it wouldn’t move. I still don’t know if it’s the transfer case or the front or rear diff. 95% sure it’s not the transmission. The other thing I’m considering is buying a used transfer case and swapping it in, which will have to wait until spring because no shop. Either way I’m not in a hurry. I did start it up the other day, and yesterday I put a new car cover on it; the one from Amazon got tore from our wind event here (30-40 mph gusts for a week ) and they sent a new one since it had a 12 month replacement warranty. I tie my carport to the house in these events lol. View attachment 477000

I'm sure you'll get it all sorted out. You're definitely not a quitter. We ALL know that! I can't wait to see it back on the road. Whatever it is I hope it won't be very expensive.

 

[S33k3r]

It’s still sitting under cover, waiting. I think I’m going to have it towed to a shop to diagnose it. A lift is needed in order to figure it out. I have to jack it up, do one thing like remove the front prop shaft, lower it, try to drive it, see what’s it does, jack it back up,etc etc and I can’t do that anymore than I’ve already done. And all it did was confuse me more. I must have tried 4 different combinations and sometimes it would drive a little ways and then slowly bind up until it wouldn’t move. I still don’t know if it’s the transfer case or the front or rear diff. 95% sure it’s not the transmission. The other thing I’m considering is buying a used transfer case and swapping it in, which will have to wait until spring because no shop. Either way I’m not in a hurry. I did start it up the other day, and yesterday I put a new car cover on it; the one from Amazon got tore from our wind event here (30-40 mph gusts for a week ) and they sent a new one since it had a 12 month replacement warranty. I tie my carport to the house in these events lol. View attachment 477000

Did you get it figured out?