This is what happened to my tahoe in May

[Trey Hardy]

Damn!!!!
What did the other guy look like?
Is part of the rebuild going to include a bullbar for when the daughter drives her again!

Bull bar? Seems like at this rate a iron cross bumper or ranch hand is more in order

 

[th3 shifty]

Progress update: managed to get the trans cooler lines in. Thanks to a few members who pointed me in the right direction on where to get those factory lines.
Mounted the power steering pulley, pulled the front center steering bar and the rest of the steering links, pulled the drive shafts out.

Mounted the front radiator support, had to bend back a bracket under the battery tray that attaches to the radiator support, that took a while.

Then stupid me forgot to run the front wire loom for the headlights before I mounted the radiator support, so I’ll have to take that back off… damn it.

 

[th3 shifty]

Update, small but progress; got the new AC compressor mounted, I’m misdialing one line to the condenser. Got the condenser mounted. Mounted the front radiator support bar that holds the hood latch, mounted new hood latch. Routes the wire loom for the headlights corrected through the support. Also mounted the new larger trans cooler with factory bracket

 

[th3 shifty]

I bought some 1 gauge wire to do the “Big 3 upgrade”, but the pics on that thread are gone, anyone have a link or something?

 

[pwerwgn]

I had just finished all the mechanical things and had it running perfect, just swapped to the MPFI.. things were good. Let my 17yr old take it to school for 2 weeks, the. She runs into a car in front of her.. At first look, yeah it needs a hood, fenders core support, bumper, radiator, exct.

Tore it all to pieces only to see the passenger frame horn was bent. Let it sit for a few months trying to decide to fix or trash it. Well I decided to fix it, got on to LMC and ordered everything. Just this week I finally was able to find a shop that #1 was available in a decent time frame, #2 was willing to do it. So right now it’s at the collision ago on a frame machine getting pulled. More to come… this will be my build thread

I restored a 2000 z71 and had the old one sitting there and the front clip is off. ,it has no rust ,dents or nothing would have been perfect for your repair

 

[th3 shifty]

Update, have been super busy with kids, work, the yard.

Finally got the parts I needed that were on back order. Also just picked up my front diff from the driveline shop. Was much cheaper than I thought, turns out all it needed was new seals and bearings, $250 total.

Also picked up a new alternator today, started to make wires for the Big 3 upgrade. I’ll post pics tomorrow

 

[BG1988]

I run a collision center. While our OBS are built like tanks, they don’t really stand up to today’s vehicles in a crash. Mild steel frames bend like butter compared to the ultra-high strength unibody structures of today. It takes a lot off of the felt impact, but typically does a LOT more damage to ours. Glad your daughter is safe and glad you found a shop to take that on. Luckily she squared it up which takes the diamond condition out of the equation usually. Good luck with the rest and let me know if you have any questions as this is literally all I do every day.

I have seen way worse OBS vs 94 accord wagon lets just say it was fatal to the people in the other car mid you this was at 50-55mph i'm guessing the other party was making a utrun (unprotected ) only slightly more damage compared to yours

it's one of the reasons why i got a tahoe.. i don't want to be in the other car

 

[th3 shifty]

Front diff, cleaned, rebuilt with new seals and bearings. They also painted it for me, they also installed the new 4WD electric actuator

 

[th3 shifty]

New alternator is seen in the pic.

On a side note, ordered my RC 6” lift, got here in 3 days! So that will be going on soon

 

[th3 shifty]

Update: got the AC components I needed, mounted new condensor and all lines. Got the drive belt on, alternator. Working on wiring up the battery with 0 gauge to the alt, 0 gauge to the engine ground, 0 gauge to the chassis ground. Mounted the battery, also filled the engine with full synthetic 5w-30, mounted the radiator, test fitted the lower shroud.

Lift kit came in also. I need to test fire the motor first before I start that. I also picked up new front O2 sensors.

Body work still left: need to mount the new hood, put the front bumper bracket and grill on, mount the head lights. I also have to repair a few light sockets as a few were smashed

 

[th3 shifty]

Update again. Started working k. The suspension tear down for the RC 6” lift and ran into an issue. The torsion bars are heavily seized into the control arms. The keys came out no problem. I’ve hammered the end of the bar with a 5lb sledge, soaked in PB blaster, tried heating the hex in the LCA.. doesn’t even budge.

I’ve seen a few YouTube’s where they had to use a jackhammer or get them loose. I wanted them out so I can sand blast the LCA and paint them. Might end up having to leave them in and just pressure wash them instead.

 

[YukonGTmaster]

Update again. Started working k. The suspension tear down for the RC 6” lift and ran into an issue. The torsion bars are heavily seized into the control arms. The keys came out no problem. I’ve hammered the end of the bar with a 5lb sledge, soaked in PB blaster, tried heating the hex in the LCA.. doesn’t even budge.

I’ve seen a few YouTube’s where they had to use a jackhammer or get them loose. I wanted them out so I can sand blast the LCA and paint them. Might end up having to leave them in and just pressure wash them instead.

This is the best penetrant I have found. Soak this in with alot of heat applications.

 

[th3 shifty]

Front end almost done. Bumper is powder coated satin black, front grill is from LMC, the white corners I had been saving since before my daughter crashed the truck. I bought them from a guy on gmt400 who got them from Canada. They were brand new, they are white, not clear like the cheap eBay crap. The sticker on them says they are made by TYC in Japan.

I’ll be doing the hood next, and then putting the 2000 Z71 fog lights in into the bumper holes. Lower valence is on back order from LMC but should be on its way soon.

I also started the RC 6” lift kit install.

 

[th3 shifty]

More update:
Pretty deep into the RC lift kit, most of the front is done. Started putting the stock LCA’s on, also new UCA’s wheel bearing housing kit, new upgraded front shafts, torsion keys, all new bushings and brake hoses. Will be finishing off the passenger side tomorrow and starting the rear .

 

[th3 shifty]

Update, practically finished with the front… then realized I have indexed the torsion keys once too far, need to remove them and set them back..

Tires arrived 35x12.5x15. Falken wild peaks

 

[th3 shifty]

 

[th3 shifty]

Wheels and tires back from install and balance

 

[tom3]

No weights on the front, must be pretty well made tires. That will be an amazing machine when finished I suspect.

 

[th3 shifty]

I read that wild peaks are easy to balance, the worst balancing tire are the Ko2’s

 

[mountie]

I just noticed this thread...... 2 days ago, driving on a 3-lane street..... I was in the middle lane....driving the 50mph speed limit..... I saw ahead, traffic was slowing, due to a traffic light. I slowed down a bit..... Preparing to apply more brakes.... SUDDENLY, the truck ahead of me steered quickly, to the left lane. Ahead was stopped !! i braked FIRM but no skidding ( giving the vehicle behind me time to slow / I also hand-signaled !! ) Good thing my brakes are VERY GOOD....

No collisions..... no skidding ( from me or the car behind me)......

ATTENTION.... ALWAYS...... When you are DRIVING...... Everything else, causes an accident.

( I spend many years as a 'performance driving instructor'......
Get your children to a QUALIFIED driving instructor, or it can happen again, if they don't learn more, than what they still know ( or don't know about driving).

Accident evasion is important..... Prime example is the above story.....