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

[Rocket Man]

The Beast passed emissions for the first time today since the blower, headers and cam were installed. I was kinda nervous since the downstream O2 sensors are not installed but Justin's tune fooled them. Relief.

 

[tgui]

Creeping on you. Did you ever do the 4l80e? I did that swap on my NBS. It was fantastic.

 

[Rocket Man]

Creeping on you. Did you ever do the 4l80e? I did that swap on my NBS. It was fantastic.

I can't with the NVG249 transfer case. There was a guy on pt.net that was machining adapters but he ran out, and the thread where they're getting together interested parties and making deposits for another run was way short of the minimum after 6 months. So I bought a Level 3 "Invincible" 4l60e from Performabuilt with a billet triple disc FTI 2800 stall. It is an amazing trans and the 1-2 shift under WOT is so hard that it makes the whole truck shake. they specialize in high-hp trans applications; it's rated for 800 but I realize it's the weight of The Beast that will kill it if anything does. It sure does make it fun to drive. They got ahold of BlackBear so my tune could optimize the trans.

 

[Rocket Man]

Today I changed the oil at 159,920 miles and sent a sample to Blackstone labs. This will be my first time having oil analyzed and I'm curious as to what they find. It's running strong with no ticks and I add about a quart per OCI at the most.

 

[tgui]

Blackstone is great. I used it on my 500hp STi. I need to do my Yukon. Who knows how the prev owner treated it.

Post your results!

Regarding your 4l60, sounds stout. Still too bad you can't find a 4l80e adapter. I had a blast swapping in and driving my 4l80.

 

[Tonyrodz]

How are those Taylor wires working out?

 

[Rocket Man]

How are those Taylor wires working out?

Great so far. I hope they last for a long time but they should with the size they are.

 

[Tonyrodz]

Great so far. I hope they last for a long time but they should with the size they are.

Mine are still holding up like a champ.

 

[Rocket Man]

I just remembered to check and I'm 72 away from the first on the forum to hit 10,000 likes!!

 

[SirReal63]

Add one more.

 

[Tonyrodz]

Add one more.

2 more. You're just plain likeable.

 

[Rocket Man]

Well it's official...no more Dubs. I decided it was time to move on. I didn't run them for 18 months and figured I'd sell them. If I decide to get 26's again they'll be reps but prolly just run the 22's. I think they look good enough. I'd rather have a set of 26's in the same wheel to run in the summer but with me spending over $6k on new intros for the CC I'll wait. The guys who bought the Dubs are interested in my old intros for $5k so if I sell them I'll get a new set of 26's for The Beast.

 

[Rocket Man]

Today was a bad day for The Beast. I launched hard from a stop light and something blew. I’m afraid it’s the trans but it’s possible it’s the transfer case although the fluid on the road sure looked like pink trans fluid. Bad time of the year to work on it in the driveway so it might have to wait until spring. I don’t want to drive The Machine in winter but I don’t have much choice. I’ll know more when I start working on it. It was hard enough today just getting it off the tow truck. It’s weird- it would roll forward but not backward. So although the dude winched it onto the bed, getting it back off was a ***** being it’s awd. Once again plastic skids were used but still a *****. We used my floor jack and stands too. I’m so bummed. Really wish I could do a swap to s different trans but I’d have to eliminate AWD. Dammit.

 

[DDenali]

Today was a bad day for The Beast. I launched hard from a stop light and something blew. I’m afraid it’s the trans but it’s possible it’s the transfer case although the fluid on the road sure looked like pink trans fluid. Bad time of the year to work on it in the driveway so it might have to wait until spring. I don’t want to drive The Machine in winter but I don’t have much choice. I’ll know more when I start working on it. It was hard enough today just getting it off the tow truck. It’s weird- it would roll forward but not backward. So although the dude winched it onto the bed, getting it back off was a ***** being it’s awd. Once again plastic skids were used but still a *****. We used my floor jack and stands too. I’m so bummed. Really wish I could do a swap to s different trans but I’d have to eliminate AWD. Dammit.

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Sorry to hear that bud. My let go 200 miles from home early this year.

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[Rocket Man]

Sorry to hear that bud. My let go 200 miles from home early this year.

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Damn. At least I had AAA Plus but I think my towing limit is 150 miles.

 

[Rocket Man]

My trans is still under warranty too unless they find a reason to not cover it. Either way I have to pull it, remove the bell housing and ship it to Performabuilt. I kept the box just in case this happened.

 

[DDenali]

My trans is still under warranty too unless they find a reason to not cover it. Either way I have to pull it, remove the bell housing and ship it to Performabuilt. I kept the box just in case this happened.

That was a good choice I hope all goes well bud
Such a gorgeous beast

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[iamdub]

Glad to hear there's a chance of warranty!

I'm no trans expert, but I recall hearing a few times that a busted sun shell causes you to lose reverse, 2nd and 4th.

 

[Rocket Man]

Glad to hear there's a chance of warranty!

I'm no trans expert, but I recall hearing a few times that a busted sun shell causes you to lose reverse, 2nd and 4th.

It has the Sonnax Smart Shell which is supposedly better than The Beast sun shell. But it won’t even roll in reverse. When it happened it sounded like something snapped though, then it drove fine for a few blocks before it felt like it locked up and kinda killed the engine even though I put it in neutral. I couldn’t start it until it sat for awhile, then it fired up in neutral and would move forward but now it won’t move at all under its own power but it will roll forward in neutral. But no moving it backward at all still. I’m no expert either, transmissions always elude me.

 

[iamdub]

Ugh. Sounds like serious carnage with steel bits jammed somewhere.