Rocket Man's 02 Denali Build Thread AKA "THE BEAST"

[Rocket Man]

Wow that rear hatch looks flawless! I'm jealous now and I want to do it! I want my hatch to look like that! Lol.

Thanks. It does look so much better and I appreciate it again every time I wash it. I always hated washing around that thing.

 

[adventurenali92]

Thanks. It does look so much better and I appreciate it again every time I wash it. I always hated washing around that thing.

Yes every time I wash my,truck I hate that stupid wiper blade. I've never ever used it. It traps so much water. And I can see my paint starting to split a little a bit around the base of the arm. So that's gotta go for sure and soon! Lol. I think for now though I'm gonna have to go with plugs though. But I'm gonna be doing paint as well.

 

[a4edwin]

How many miles on the rear pads? I was thinking the rears should last way longer than the front.

I don't remember but it wasn't much I was very surprised though.

 

[DDenali]

At this point my cats got clogged up and as I was looking into replacing them, I made the decision to use high-flow ones and right about then I started moving away from making the Denali look better to making the Denali faster and better-handling. I replaced the muffler along with the cats. I went with a Flowmaster 50 series which was pretty loud but fortunately I didn't experience a drone problem. I also installed a Spectre CAI and got rid of the terrible stock air intake. The Spectre isn't the best or most expensive CAI but it works well and I get a bit of an intake growl. Forgive the dirty engine bay in these pictures.

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How did you run the muffler instead of buying a cat back

 

[Rocket Man]

How did you run the muffler instead of buying a cat back

The 02 Denali's have a pretty good exhaust to start with,; they run a larger diameter dual pipe system all the way back to the muffler, so I just had a muffler shop add a Flowmaster 2-into-1 collector at the muffler and run that into the Flowmaster 50 Series muffler, then add a new end that goes up and over the axle to the new tip. This along with the high-flow cats works really good.

 

[DDenali]

Oh ok I see thanks alot your so helpful bud. Problem is the muffler shops around here just cream cheese stuff together so I don't really trust none of them I'll probably take the section of exhaust of and get it done correctly

 

[Rocket Man]

Well I guess I shouldn't have painted the rear bumper because sure as hell soon as I did, a lamp post jumped out of the dark and smashed itself right into it. It pushed the passenger side about 1 1/2" forward, almost into the rear quarter panel. I worked on a bit a few days ago and got things close as far as the steel part goes, and today I installed a new bumper "face" which is actually the steel part behind the skin. My body shop friend said he can fix the skin. What a pain. The bolts they use to attach the bumper are like stove bolts but the square part that's supposed to key into square holes in the steel is real thin and the bolts were rusted. It took me 3 hours to remove 12 bolts, and one had to be cut off. But now everything looks right except for a small crease in the skin. I'll drop that off next week for body and paint.

 

[Da90]

Dang that sucks! At least the bumper cover was salvageable!


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[Tonyrodz]

Def could've been much worse .Glad you didn't damage the rear hatch, after everything you went through with that !

 

[05Single]

Damn lamp posts are the worst drivers , no courtesy for those around them. And they never have insurance.

Glad it was just the bumper and not the qp or hatch.

 

[Rocket Man]

I was indeed lucky. Friggin' lamp posts. Amazing to me was that bumper was only around $100 shipped. And yes I'm glad the cover was salvageable, it's more like $275 because it's a Denali. Even the top step pads on a Denali are around $125 for each side, while the regular Yukon's are about $35 each.

 

[05Single]

Yea I got lucky and found my bumper complete with cover and pads for $100 used in perfect condition. Harder to find denali bumpers used in good shape than it is to find escalade bumpers.

 

[jcevans7]

Same to be said about them lamps. Sorry to hear. I still have a crush on your truck.

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[Fosscore]

Same lamp post got me a while back in the same spot. Donor Suburban for a new bumper before the color match. Bumper pad still has a small scar. Good quick change and lucky no tailgate or quarter panel....phew. Looking sweet.

 

[#1taho]

After I had my bumper painted the wife hit a snow bank in a parking lot and scratched it. No dent but same amount of work.
Great job and quick repair

 

[Rocket Man]

I decided to change my oil today while the weather here in the Pacific NW was nice, so I won't have to do it again until late March. I used the Femco quick change valve for the first time and I have to say it worked nice. It drains a bit slow but there's no mess at all as far as draining the oil. The filter is a different story. I just removed the dust cap and screwed the coupler on with the hose attachment and it started draining. No tools needed and not a drop except in the collection pan. I just left it hooked up for 10-15 minutes and when I came back the oil was drained. But then I still had to remove the filter and of course it made a bit of a mess onto the newspaper I had down, even though I tried to make the oil land in the collection pan. Maybe I'll look for a bigger pan. Anyway at least half the job is easy now!

 

[Rocket Man]

Oh and my catchcan is doing its job- this is how much was in it since my last oil change.

 

[08grey]

Dibs on your 109 when you want to sell.


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[Rocket Man]

Dibs on your 109 when you want to sell.


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109? You mean my Nightrod?

 

[05Single]

When your bike is worth more than your denali