What should I expect vs my 2012 Tahoe handling?

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Geo's66

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guys, I have a 96 2 dr that I'm just getting to- bought it out of Tucson and it's mint in terms of no rust, 100k miles, original owner, etc... I believe it has original suspension. I love this truck as we all do- just looks damn cool vs new plastic trucks... My question is the truck is very sloppy relative to my 2012. I'm not expecting same ride quality, but how "Tight" will this be vs what it is now after I replace all the body bushings, suspension bushings and maybe add a rear sway bar? I'm wanting this to become my daily driver when not using my summer rides, and certainly be my winter/work horse vehicle. What else have you done to yours bring them up to par? I just put new BFG AT's all around- 275x70x17- white letters out because I'm 52 and they're cool:).... Thanks!
 

RichLo

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All new poly bushings everywhere, moog suspension components everywhere, a quick ratio redhead steering box and an aftermarket steering damper is what I have on stock ride height and stock size tires. I want to put a rear sway bar in but it still feels like a big version of my 2014 chevy cruze besides that with everything new and tight, the steering doesn't come back to straight as easily as the car. It feels like a race truck.
 

Geo's66

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Really? Great! What shock choice did you make? Also, opinion on lifting it? Truth is I won't be doing any off-roaring, just think they look good. I will be towing with this, it already is setup for that. Thanks
 

RichLo

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I did the adjustable Ranchero rs9000 I believe is the part number. its nice being able to turn a knob and adjust ride quality to where you like it.
 

Zach Hampton

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I've got all stock with my front bars cranked 1" higher on my tahoe. I'm running 265/75/16 BFG KM2 on sawblades and have the white letters out because I'm 30 and they are still cool to me too. Yesterday I was blazing down a bumpy back road with sweeping turns and short "hills" that really allowed my truck to stretch out its suspension. Was going about 70 and the truck felt like a trophy truck it was so smooth. These things have steering issues if they aren't kept up on. Check your steering shaft damper, your steering box, and your idler arm and tie rod ends. These things are boats. They more or less glide rather than hug turns but like I said, it feels like driving a soft suspension trophy truck.

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JTWard

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My 88 K5, as you can see was the second total restore project for me. And with this one the only thing not used from the frame down was the drive shafts and the spindles & Automatic Hubs. I bought this truck from West Texas, like yours, mine had no rust at all but it took 2.5 hours to flush out the fine Texas dust from the doors and tailgate. This truck came with the quad suspension up front and the steel fuel tank guard, but I wanted to go just that extra step while staying as close to what came from Flint MI. So I did all new springs, shocks slightly oversized stabilizer bars and while we where in there, I got one of the frame support kits from LCM and we welded it in just back of the steering box. I also left a 1" axle lift block on each side. It gives the truck a little raked look.

Above the chassis, we power washer the frame and went through a case of spray bombs of rubberize undercoating. Then I put in all new body mounts, (the front ones right behind the splash panels are a nightmare to get to, cut out and replace with a new bolt and bushings. I got the whole body kit from LCM as it was way cheaper to just buy the whole thing and use what I wanted. We also lifted the body up 2" and replaced the body/chassis webbing. And as I said I went ahead and installed the rear stabilizer kit and finished off with 4 BFG LT white letters out, I'm 65 and I don't care what anyone thinks, I like em. I got a lot of parts off Ebay, but these old square body's are getting scarce.

Then. . . we spent 3 months in the body shop, 134 hail ball hits skimmed and a new hood ( It's cheaper in man hours with a new hood) and a beautiful, beautiful 2 stage urethane paint work. It took a month of spraying and body wet sanding, and the truck came in Beige with Gold sides, but I picked the colors that was on the 1988 K5 Blazer brochure with #72 red. But. . . I did get a break as the interior came with a tough, tough set of seat cover and floor mats and the interior after a 5 hours wash and clean looks like it's still 1988.

Lots and lots of work, but I got the best reward, a killer $1800.professional sound system and best of all, The title has my name on it. Five years ago, I did the same on my 1990 Chevrolet 1500 Silverado 2WD pickup, but I put a new engine, transmission and a posi unit in the rear differential. But it too, is and rides rock solid.

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Geo's66

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Great stuff guys, thanks... I'll be on this over the winter with the suggested upgrades... I will be "fluid filming" the underneath and inside body panels for rust protection for the few times it will be driven in snow/salt this winter... I'll also take the flares off to check for rust, hope not being an AZ truck... Can't wait to see what it rides like since it now has the original shocks on it still!!, lol...

Gotta tell you what you already know, these things really look cool. I get a lot of comments driving it around... Hard to explain to those that dont get it, but what else is new.

Thanks,
 

Geo's66

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My 88 K5, as you can see was the second total restore project for me. And with this one the only thing not used from the frame down was the drive shafts and the spindles & Automatic Hubs. I bought this truck from West Texas, like yours, mine had no rust at all but it took 2.5 hours to flush out the fine Texas dust from the doors and tailgate. This truck came with the quad suspension up front and the steel fuel tank guard, but I wanted to go just that extra step while staying as close to what came from Flint MI. So I did all new springs, shocks slightly oversized stabilizer bars and while we where in there, I got one of the frame support kits from LCM and we welded it in just back of the steering box. I also left a 1" axle lift block on each side. It gives the truck a little raked look.

Above the chassis, we power washer the frame and went through a case of spray bombs of rubberize undercoating. Then I put in all new body mounts, (the front ones right behind the splash panels are a nightmare to get to, cut out and replace with a new bolt and bushings. I got the whole body kit from LCM as it was way cheaper to just buy the whole thing and use what I wanted. We also lifted the body up 2" and replaced the body/chassis webbing. And as I said I went ahead and installed the rear stabilizer kit and finished off with 4 BFG LT white letters out, I'm 65 and I don't care what anyone thinks, I like em. I got a lot of parts off Ebay, but these old square body's are getting scarce.

Then. . . we spent 3 months in the body shop, 134 hail ball hits skimmed and a new hood ( It's cheaper in man hours with a new hood) and a beautiful, beautiful 2 stage urethane paint work. It took a month of spraying and body wet sanding, and the truck came in Beige with Gold sides, but I picked the colors that was on the 1988 K5 Blazer brochure with #72 red. But. . . I did get a break as the interior came with a tough, tough set of seat cover and floor mats and the interior after a 5 hours wash and clean looks like it's still 1988.

Lots and lots of work, but I got the best reward, a killer $1800.professional sound system and best of all, The title has my name on it. Five years ago, I did the same on my 1990 Chevrolet 1500 Silverado 2WD pickup, but I put a new engine, transmission and a posi unit in the rear differential. But it too, is and rides rock solid.

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Jt, just re-read this... How did you get the dust/dirt out of the areas you did? Thanks, great rides, btw....
 

JTWard

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Jt, just re-read this... How did you get the dust/dirt out of the areas you did? Thanks, great rides, btw....

Hay , sorry getting back so slow. We located the drains, and ran water at a slow stream so the dust wasn't agitated and we just keep opening the drain holes. The drain holes are big enough for normal areas, but it's the West Texas, Arizona and New Mexico and so on. The drain holes work but after so long with the fine dust, Silt getting down there the drains just can't keep up. So it took us a long time to completely empty the doors and tailgate and wash them out with dishwashing liquid. Once we got to the point where no dust or foam from the dish washing liquid runs clean we stopped and let it dry over night after that we sprayed rubberized undercoating in all the doors and tailgate.

It still took a lot of work to get the power windows working correctly. That was another full day job.
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