Rocket Man's 2008 Bagged CC Silverado Build AKA "THE MACHINE"

[89Suburban]

No, do I need to? I did pull them to install the shocks. Actually they’re still off because I was messing with the wiring to get that DTC to go away.

No my mistake, I was trying to look at those pics on my phone last night and I couldn't see they were removed. The PO of mine trimmed mine to get to those bolts. Those top bolts are fun to get to aren't they?

Here is my custom knuckle busting wrench I made to reach the inside bolt heads.

Passenger side rear upper shock bolt - HOW??!!

I spent an hour messing with that pig and there is no combination of extensions, sockets, etc that I could get on that damn bolt with the rear a/c lines and that goddamn wire harness on the frame. I give up. It will be going into the shop hopefully next week. Any chance a dealership will...

www.tahoeyukonforum.com

 

[Rocket Man]

No my mistake, I was trying to look at those pics on my phone last night and I couldn't see they were removed. The PO of mine trimmed mine to get to those bolts. Those top bolts are fun to get to aren't they?

Here is my custom knuckle busting wrench I made to reach the inside bolt heads.

Passenger side rear upper shock bolt - HOW??!!

I spent an hour messing with that pig and there is no combination of extensions, sockets, etc that I could get on that damn bolt with the rear a/c lines and that goddamn wire harness on the frame. I give up. It will be going into the shop hopefully next week. Any chance a dealership will...

www.tahoeyukonforum.com

Yes they were a bit of a challenge but here’s what I did. First soaked them in WD40 for an hour and then put my 1/2” Ridgid impact on the outside nut and broke it loose. Then I put my regular 1/2” ratchet with a deep socket and short extension on the inside bolt head and a wrench on the outside.I just rotated the wrench back and forth which rotates the ratchet, so I got the ratcheting effect without turning the ratchet if that makes sense. The ratchet, socket/ extension combo was just the right length to get past the frame rail and I could just get it onto the nut and hold it with my left hand while I operated the wrench with my right hand. And yes, remove the inner liner. It only takes a couple minutes.
Note: I edited this about 3 times due to my old mans memory.

 

[Rocket Man]

Im not sure if I should even attempt this but I think I’ll give it a try. The dash in the Tahoe….cracked once over the cluster and twice by the airbag. I plan on removing it today and using the $20 hot staple gun I bought to try and staple it together at the cracks and then reinstall it. If it’s too brittle hopefully I’ll know before I make it worse.

 

[Rocket Man]

So traumatic. And why they used red loctite on the 10mm bolts that are right next to the windshield is beyond me.

 

[Rocket Man]

Anyway it’s out and I don’t think it’s too brittle. I will hot staple it together and hope for the best. I will see if I can find my plastic epoxy and reinforce also. Better than spending $600.

 

[Geotrash]

Anyway it’s out and I don’t think it’s too brittle. I will hot staple it together and hope for the best. I will see if I can find my plastic epoxy and reinforce also. Better than spending $600.

That's a big job. I put a leather dash mat in my '07 to hide the cracks for the day-to-day. But I'll eventually replace the thing.

 

[Rocket Man]

That's a big job. I put a leather dash mat in my '07 to hide the cracks for the day-to-day. But I'll eventually replace the thing.

It actually only took me an hour to remove it. But it’s not for the faint of heart, there’s a lot of things to disconnect and remove. I got pretty good at the dash when I did the LTZ interior swap in the Silverado.

 

[Rocket Man]

So it’s stapled and epoxied, not perfect. It’s hard to do since you can’t see the top as you’re working on the bottom plus my helper lost his grip on one just as the first staple was cooling. It’s pretty good though and will look way better than it was.

 

[Rocket Man]

Hoping for the best.

 

[Geotrash]

Wow! Looks great!

 

[89Suburban]

Nice to see you tinkering again Mark.

 

[Rocket Man]

All done, I’m pretty happy with the results.
Not bad for a $20 repair. About 4 hours total for me. It is by no means perfect but it doesn’t catch my eye like it used to. Plus it won’t rattle. I'm happy.

 

[Rocket Man]

Nice to see you tinkering again Mark.

Thank you. It feels good too.

 

[Rocket Man]

That's a big job. I put a leather dash mat in my '07 to hide the cracks for the day-to-day. But I'll eventually replace the thing.

The dash is over $600 shipped now. When I did the Silverado I bought a new one for $400 shipped.They have to ship freight due to the ginormous box they come in. Dealers don’t stock them, probably take up too much room.

 

[Rocket Man]

I know I can do a better job welding a dash back together. I should have done it different so I could watch the top as the bottom gets the first few staples in it. My helper was supposed to hold the cracks together but he failed to do a good job. He slipped twice and lost his grip. Plus I had it laying upside down so we couldn’t see the top. If I was to position it somehow so both top and bottom were accessible and I was the one holding them together and watching the top side as my helper stuck a few staples in it I think I could make it almost invisible. I was just wondering what a wrecking yard would charge me to pull one that has a couple cracks so I could try. It would just be the labor to pull it since the dash would be worthless to sell. I might try that. I’m procrastinating working on pulling the trans on The Beast because it’s so difficult and I’m having a hard time getting motivated because it’s a bit*h. I need a couple good wins first. Plus I am starting radiation soon and I just found out that will be 5 days a week for 4 weeks, with Monday consisting of one dose of chemo followed by radiation of my bladder, then just radiation Tuesday-Friday. It will be a lot of driving but the appointments are only an hour each. Some of my chemo appointments were 5 hours so maybe it won’t be too bad. Anyway just my brain spinning after a good day.

 

[Rocket Man]

Well looks like the suspension compressor only lasted a couple days after the new Arnotts were installed. I tried clearing the code for exhaust solenoid open or shorted to ground and it’s no longer turning on at startup. It looks original so I’m pretty sure it was on its way out and now that it’s been actually putting pressure into the system instead of sensing nothing and shutting off, it decided it doesn’t want to play. I ordered the Dorman one. It was $165 shipped on Amazon instead of $232 for the Arnott. RA has the Arnott for $253 shipped and the Dorman for $235 shipped. If the Amazon prices were closer between the two I would have bought the Arnott. I have heard good things about the Dorman also so I went with it for the $67 savings.

 

[Rocket Man]

Drove The Machine to the grocery store this morning. I always remote start it so it comes up to ride height and then the compressors come on and refill the tank. Came out, loaded the dog and jumped in. The readout on the AirLift system had a fault - “leak at left rear” it said. Shut the truck off, got out and had a listen. Couldn’t hear any air leaking so I hopped back in, started it up and there was no fault showing. Drove to the store and back and no issues. I guess I need to drive it more. Must have been a leaky valve in the manifold for the system, probably been sitting too much.

 

[Rocket Man]

Yesterday I installed the new Dorman suspension compressor on the Tahoe. It went good until I tried to install the air line set that comes with it. I couldn’t get the connector to go onto the left shock far enough to get the clip on so I pulled the OEM one off the old assembly and used it. That’s all working great now.

And then I decided to try to reprogram the TPMS sensors because the rears weren’t working. Mistake. There was no dash warning before but now there is. It looks like 3 of them are new from the looks of the shiny threaded portion of valve stems. And those I could program. The right rear looks old and it wouldn’t program. And so now the dash warning is there, service tire pressure monitor blah blah. I bought a new sensor. I might try installing it myself but probably will take it to a tire shop.

I just now ordered rotors and pads for all 4 corners. I ended up going with Raybestos Element 3. Their pricing for fully coated was less than Power Stop’s semi coated and the E3 pads are a hybrid ceramic/ semi metallic and there was another member here who recommended them. It was about $315 shipped for all of them. Figured I’d order them before prices go up, tariffs and all that nonsense.

 

[Rocket Man]

I got the TPMS system working after having a tire shop replace 2 sensors and when they brought the truck around and I climbed in, I saw “service battery charging system “ on the DIC. Damn. I came home and hooked up the Tech2 and looked at the electrical system. The alternator numbers looked correct afaik. I did notice the voltage on the dash gauge fluctuating on the drive home. I replaced the battery a few weeks ago. Anyway I checked the mega fuse and the battery posts, and remembered and saw there was a wing nut holding the positive cables to the terminal. I tried moving them and they were loose so I removed them, cleaned up the ends and installed with a nut so I could crank it down. Messsge gone. I hope that was it.

 

[Rocket Man]

Received the Raybestos Element 3 brake parts. The coated rotors look good; they should hold up well. I’m waiting on a change in the weather to install them, it still feels like winter here and the rain has been pretty much nonstop lately.