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

[Fleetgeo]

Next I needed more bass. I was running everything off the factory Lux amp, which is the best GM had at the time and is actually not bad. The Denali had the Bose Acoustimass enclosure in the rear driver side quarter panel. I looked into upgrading the sub itself but due to Bose's proprietary system, that was impossible. here's the stock enclosure, with the Bose 4 x 7sub. It has a port where the bass comes out of with a 7th order bypass (I believe) enclosure. The actual sub is mounted in the interior.

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Where is the Denali Bose amp located at

 

[DollyDenali]

If you have 01-02 it sits on top of the subwoofer behind the drivers cargo panel. The 03-06 is under the center console if I'm not mistaken.

My 02 sub/amp

 

[DollyDenali]

Unless you go with the mtx thunderform $$$ upgrade I'd stay with the bose sub. I did a mod with a suburban/tahoe sub box and a 1200 watt 8in sub but the bose sounds better. Now I have added 1 15 in sub and I'm happy.

 

[Rocket Man]

In my opinion, if the Tahoe sub box with an 8" sub sounded worse than your bose sub, you did something wrong. Either a mismatched sub with the wrong impedance (you need 2 ohm on the stock amp) or a cheap sub. Also, the stock LUX amp isn't strong enough to power any sub very good, you need to run a good sub off a good matched mono amp. If you put that in a Tahoe stock box in the rear compartment it will rock. But hey this is my build thread so....next!

 

[Rocket Man]

And here it is: I haven't put anything in here about what I've been planning because I'm still really struggling with this decision, and I've been struggling with it for a long time. I've wanted a blower for quite awhile but there's a few things that have been keeping me from it. One was the obvious- cost. It's over $6000 unless I piece something together. I need this as a DD so I would need to get it installed in a weekend. Another concern has been the trans. I thought I had the 4L60E and even though mine has been rebuilt just before I bought the truck, I was concerned since it's not that strong of a trans. But recently I found out mine is the 4l60E HD AKA the 4l65E which is a bit heavier duty. And I just got a big tax return. So I'm right at the point of doing this. I've been in contact with Justin at Black Bear and have narrowed down a price on a Whipple kit with intercooler. Stay tuned...

 

[Tonyrodz]

And here it is: I haven't put anything in here about what I've been planning because I'm still really struggling with this decision, and I've been struggling with it for a long time. I've wanted a blower for quite awhile but there's a few things that have been keeping me from it. One was the obvious- cost. It's over $6000 unless I piece something together. I need this as a DD so I would need to get it installed in a weekend. Another concern has been the trans. I thought I had the 4L60E and even though mine has been rebuilt just before I bought the truck, I was concerned since it's not that strong of a trans. But recently I found out mine is the 4l60E HD AKA the 4l65E which is a bit heavier duty. And I just got a big tax return. So I'm right at the point of doing this. I've been in contact with Justin at Black Bear and have narrowed down a price on a Whipple kit with intercooler. Stay tuned...

Can't wait! I'm excited for you!

 

[1992rs]

Which whipple? Front inlet 2.9l?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Rocket Man]

Its the 2.3 L .

 

[Countryboy07]

http://www.performancetrucks.net/fo...-159/tax-return-special-kit-2850-00-a-547878/

Save some money...

 

[Rocket Man]

If I'm boosting I'm going with a supercharger. I realize the turbos are way cheaper but I've never been a fan. Thanks for the thought though!

 

[DollyDenali]

In my opinion, if the Tahoe sub box with an 8" sub sounded worse than your bose sub, you did something wrong. Either a mismatched sub with the wrong impedance (you need 2 ohm on the stock amp) or a cheap sub. Also, the stock LUX amp isn't strong enough to power any sub very good, you need to run a good sub off a good matched mono amp. If you put that in a Tahoe stock box in the rear compartment it will rock. But hey this is my build thread so....next!

You were right I had a small ground on my 200w amp, I'm not using the stock amp on the 8" but the amp I am using is a old school 200w clarion that's really more like 500w I upgraded the ground and now it sounds. K/up tha good build

 

[Cattivo]

This is a great build, love the attention to detail!

 

[Rocket Man]

Thanks man.

 

[Rocket Man]

Today I made the hard decision to go with a blower. I narrowed all my choices as to which one, what injectors to use, what else to do while I have the intake off, and how to obtain the tune. After a dozen emails with Justin at Black Bear, talking to members who have blowers and 4l60/65E transmissions and starting a thread regarding blowers, I decided to go with the Whipple 2.3L in black using Delphi 50 lb/ hour injectors which are bigger than the marine 8.1L injectors that come with the Whipple kit which are 42 lb/ hour and more expensive. I had to order wiring adaptors for them but those were only $20 so the injector total was less than $150. Whipple wanted $390 for the others. I'll have room for more boost later if I want it. I also ordered knock sensors and harness, valley cover gasket and oil pressure sending unit so I can replace those while I have the manifold off. My trans is a 4L65E which is the HD version of the 4L60E. It's been rebuilt and has a shift kit and a Corvette servo. I believe it will hold up but time will tell. I emailed Justin and told him I'm ready to order so hopefully he'll call me tomorrow and we can get this going.

 

[Rocket Man]

Teaser

 

[Fosscore]

Looking forward to this install and can't wait to see/hear the videos. Living vicariously through your decision man.

 

[DollyDenali]

Here's the new carpet. I also ordered a bit extra carpet and did the bottoms of the front door panels. The carpet was not too bad, cutting it was a ***** due to the mass backing I ordered it with. I opted to just cut slits where the bolts came through so the areas around the seats looked cleaner, instead of making cutouts like the factory stuff had. I was able to get the nuts started and then tighten things down. It came out real clean. I ended up buying a matching rug that fits the rear cargo area perfect. I needed the cutouts because I use my 3rd row seats occasionally. At this time, I also removed the speaker grills from the door panels and painted them with matching SEM 17163 paint.

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Where did you order the carpet from, and how much of did it take?

 

[Rocket Man]

I bought the carpet from www.stockinteriors.com. It came as a kit for the front and rear and then I ordered an extra yard for the door panel bottoms.

 

[Rocket Man]

Ok, I just ordered the Whipple supercharger from BlackBear Performance. I was also informed by Justin that I need to do an EGR delete so I ordered block-off plates off EBay. I didn't even know I had EGR.

 

[DollyDenali]

I bought the carpet from www.stockinteriors.com. It came as a kit for the front and rear and then I ordered an extra yard for the door panel bottoms.

Thanks, great!