Sooooooo, I bought a PPV ...

[RichardCranium]

Darren, I just replaced my DRL what a pain in the ass, who is the moron that designed that, he must of graduated at the bottom of his class, or he is taking kickbacks from flat rate technicians. Damm near had to remove the front bumper to get enough room to get my hand in there. I couldn't find a youtube video that covers that. My Caddy CTS isn't any better, must be the same dumbass engineer.

Whenever i have to change a bulb on mine i pull the bumper, ive had it off a few dozen times when I mounted my plow so its pretty fast for me. Yes Roger, i agree... id like to strangle that moron...

Since replacing my headlights with new assemblies, I left out the screw that is accessed under the front fenderwells. When I need to replace a bulb or just pull the assembly out for easier access I pull the 2 small screws and plastic rivets from the lower front inner fenders, the 7-8 bolts along the topside of the grill, and the two front bolts that hold the assembly in on each side. I can easily pull the headlight out without fully removing the bump, its just pulled out enough to get the headlight assembly out with ease.

Needless to say that method has come in handy for bulb replacement and putting these LED's in. Never had a problem with those 3rd bolts not being installed.

 

[RichardCranium]

Got the grill in. Watched a couple of videos and learned from other people's mistakes on how to get it out the easiest. In about 10 minutes I had the top and bottom grill out.

I read some mixed feedback on this grill set. One thing I saw in one of the videos where a kid installed this same grill, he had to trim some tabs that comes on the new upper grill. I had to do the same, but fitment was great. The bottom snaps right in, the top fits right in the slot and bolts right up.

My only complaint, the bowtie mount the grill comes with is chrome??? I didn't read that in the description, worst case I'll just sand/prime/paint. I'll post up more pics when the bowtie is up and the truck is clean.

 

[RichardCranium]

 

[RichardCranium]

Ol' girl looking cleaner, might be next week before I get the bowtie mounted. I'm leaving out Thursday morning for Bristol TN and the NHRA race.

 

[PPV-Monster]

I wouldn’t sand/prime/paint (lots of work), either use vinyl overlay or plastidip, same thing can be done with the original chrome grill.
There are some cool overlays for the bowtie, such as usa or states flags!

View attachment 224712

 

[PG01]

I left the chrome part off an bolted bowtie right to bumper... 2 years going strong

 

[RichardCranium]

I wouldn’t sand/prime/paint (lots of work), either use vinyl overlay or plastidip, same thing can be done with the original chrome grill.
There are some cool overlays for the bowtie, such as usa or states flags!
View attachment 224712

I could have PlastiDip'd the grill too, but wanted something that would last and be worry-free with cleaning bugs and road debris. Plus this grill said it was matte black, but its gloss. No biggie, and sanding/priming/painting the small bowtie mount wouldn't take that long either. Take my word, I've been a PlastiDip user for about 9 years now.......before the craze.

I left the chrome part off an bolted bowtie right to bumper... 2 years going strongView attachment 224714

That looks good! I think I'll toss mine on in the morning and see how I like it.

 

[RichardCranium]

Thanks @Galante , I never even considered putting the bowtie on without the trim underneath. Tossed it on this morning and think I'll be happy with it, unless I grab a black billet one like it appears you have.

 

[PG01]

Thanks @Galante , I never even considered putting the bowtie on without the trim underneath. Tossed it on this morning and think I'll be happy with it, unless I grab a black billet one like it appears you have.
View attachment 224748

No problem, i like how it sits proud of the grill/bumper... only thing is drying it after washing, towels tend to get caught but other than that i like.
Looks good on silver, mine blends too much i feel but meh whatever....
Yes billet front rear off of ebay.

 

[iamdub]

Grille looks to fit very nicely. Thanks for posting the great comparison shots! That really sells it.

 

[The_Burban]

Your headlights new? Probably next for me.. but considering the updated look ones also...

eBay has OEM types for $100.

 

[RichardCranium]

Your headlights new? Probably next for me.. but considering the updated look ones also...

eBay has OEM types for $100.

Yup, best investment for the outside look of my Tahoe that I've made. My factory lenses were badly yellowed. I can't recall the vendor I went with, but it is surely documented in my headlight link below in my sig.

 

[RichardCranium]

Finally decided on a head unit, of course the purchase got escalated when the auxillary and radio kept toggling back and forth.

Picked up an Alpine head unit with a 7" touchscreen, and installed with with steering wheel controls with a complete installation kit from Amazon. I'll post up part numbers in the morning.

In the bottom 12v outlet tray, there is a factory harness plug for the adjustable pedals, park distance, and traction control. I'd guess no PPV has this option, mine didn't. I pulled out that hardess plug and hollowed out where it was locked in, so I could feed the USB through it. I doubt the USB would fall through, but threw a ziptie on just in case.

Everything works great, and this install kit came with a chime box.....which is actually a more pleasant tone than factory. And you can adjust the volume, which is pretty cool.

 

[iamdub]

GM has a factory USB port that replaces one of the two 12V power ("cigarette lighter") ports. I don't see why I'd ever need two power ports so I changed my passenger side power port to the USB when I installed the Pioneer.

 

[PPV12HOE]

Finally decided on a head unit, of course the purchase got escalated when the auxillary and radio kept toggling back and forth.

Picked up an Alpine head unit with a 7" touchscreen, and installed with with steering wheel controls with a complete installation kit from Amazon. I'll post up part numbers in the morning.

In the bottom 12v outlet tray, there is a factory harness plug for the adjustable pedals, park distance, and traction control. I'd guess no PPV has this option, mine didn't. I pulled out that hardess plug and hollowed out where it was locked in, so I could feed the USB through it. I doubt the USB would fall through, but threw a ziptie on just in case.

Everything works great, and this install kit came with a chime box.....which is actually a more pleasant tone than factory. And you can adjust the volume, which is pretty cool. View attachment 231968 View attachment 231969 View attachment 231971 View attachment 231972 View attachment 231968

Looking good... my hoe actually has traction control...

 

[PPV12HOE]

GM has a factory USB port that replaces one of the two 12V power ("cigarette lighter") ports. I don't see why I'd ever need two power ports so I changed my passenger side power port to the USB when I installed the Pioneer.

It looks like the usb he installed goes into the radio...

 

[iamdub]

It looks like the usb he installed goes into the radio...

Right. I mentioned that in case he didn't know about the factory panel-mounted USB option.

 

[RichardCranium]

Looking good... my hoe actually has traction control...

Interesting!

Right. I mentioned that in case he didn't know about the factory panel-mounted USB option.

I did not know that, have a part number by chance? I'll try to look it up later if not, no worries.

 

[RichardCranium]

Head unit is an Alpine iLX-W650, its a 7" screen. All I really cared about was Bluetooth and AndroidAuto. Alpine also has a small amp that easily interfaces with this head unit to get a little more power to the factory speakers, which I might end up doing when/if I upgrade those stock speakers.

Here is the installation kit I ordered. It is a nice kit, included everything I needed to do my install. Also retained steering wheel controls as well, and can easily add a backup camera. Also includes a phone mic with along cord, and comes with a customizeable chime box as well. Would definitely recommend this kit.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GP51ZF2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[iamdub]

Interesting!

I did not know that, have a part number by chance? I'll try to look it up later if not, no worries.

USB jack: 20944422
Cover: 20983937

You don't have to use the cover if you wanna save the ~$25. The only difference between it and the original one is it has the USB symbol on it. These covers are usually broken, so if you're missing one, this would be a way to fix that at the same time.

There's also a factory USB cable (22829189) that has the mini USB ends that lock into the back of the jack and back of the factory HU. I got this cable so it'd lock into the jack and I think I used an adapter to convert the mini USB to the regular USB for the back of the HU.