Update. Thoughts?

[Portedfrankenstien]

Also, brake master cylinder has slowly started to leak. So I think I'll do the gmt800 master cylinder swap. Going to the yard this weekend, to try and find an xj steering shaft as well.

 

[my name is alex]

Nice Tahoe. I love that beefy ass roof rack you made! Have you noticed much difference in the steering from your upgrades/replacements?

 

[Portedfrankenstien]

Nice Tahoe. I love that beefy ass roof rack you made! Have you noticed much difference in the steering from your upgrades/replacements?

Well, when I bought the truck in December, it had one bad front sway bar link, and the other wasn't even there. The idler, and pitman arms were so terrible, that I when I jacked up each side, I could move each wheel back and forth a good 4 inches each way. And that was using only one hand. It's had 20 year old factory bilstien shocks, with 200,000 miles on them. And I don't know if you've ever seen the factory shocks these Yukon's come with, but they are really wimpy. Trying to accommodate to those soccer moms, and give it that nice "floating" ride. So after replacing all those parts, and upgrading to larger shocks, the difference was night and day. It was actually a little scary to drive when I first bought it. As far as the steering stabilizer goes, I wouldn't waste the money to be honest. I used the Moog trail boss kit. Which was designed for gmt800 trucks. I had to fabricate, and weld on a custom bracket. The bracket wasn't difficult at all, but the kit cost about $85. Not one single bit of noticeable difference. It could fall off, and I wouldn't even know, because it did nothing for my steering. So all in all, that was a waste of time, and money that I could have used to do a better upgrade. My steering isn't bad at all, but it has that factory slop that all gmt400 trucks have, so that's why I think I'm going to hunt down an xj steering shaft, to see if I notice a difference at all.

 

[my name is alex]

Well, when I bought the truck in December, it had one bad front sway bar link, and the other wasn't even there. The idler, and pitman arms were so terrible, that I when I jacked up each side, I could move each wheel back and forth a good 4 inches each way. And that was using only one hand. It's had 20 year old factory bilstien shocks, with 200,000 miles on them. And I don't know if you've ever seen the factory shocks these Yukon's come with, but they are really wimpy. Trying to accommodate to those soccer moms, and give it that nice "floating" ride. So after replacing all those parts, and upgrading to larger shocks, the difference was night and day. It was actually a little scary to drive when I first bought it. As far as the steering stabilizer goes, I wouldn't waste the money to be honest. I used the Moog trail boss kit. Which was designed for gmt800 trucks. I had to fabricate, and weld on a custom bracket. The bracket wasn't difficult at all, but the kit cost about $85. Not one single bit of noticeable difference. It could fall off, and I wouldn't even know, because it did nothing for my steering. So all in all, that was a waste of time, and money that I could have used to do a better upgrade. My steering isn't bad at all, but it has that factory slop that all gmt400 trucks have, so that's why I think I'm going to hunt down an xj steering shaft, to see if I notice a difference at all.

She must have been awful to drive at first! I've read about the xj shaft too, but I can't recall why I ruled it out for my truck now...

 

[Portedfrankenstien]

She must have been awful to drive at first! I've read about the xj shaft too, but I can't recall why I ruled it out for my truck now...

It was pretty damn horrible. It was all over the road. The body roll was disgusting. The xj shaft, if I remember correctly, only works on 96 and older gmt400 trucks. There is a rag joint in the steering column on anything 97 and newer, and I guess it allows the shaft to have excessive travel with the xj shaft, and can cause some major, and unsafe binding. From what I read, it can actually snap the steering shaft in mid turn.

 

[sewlow]

'97 & up steering columns have a 3rd universal under the dash. That's what makes the XJ un-useable & unsafe.

 

[Portedfrankenstien]

^^^ yeah, what he said. Ha ha

 

[Portedfrankenstien]

Well, ended up not being able to do the body lift at this time, so I stayed with the 285/75 R16s. Went with nitro Terra grapplers. Switched from the old worn out mudders that were on it. Made a huge difference in ride quality, and drastically decreased road noise. Not to mention, the snow is going to be hitting soon, and it should do really well in the snow this year.

 

[Portedfrankenstien]

Got the Yukon stuck a couple of weeks ago after a good snowfall we had here. Was planning on just staying in for the night, but the temptation got the best of me while watching the snow dump down. Had to check out how my new skins would do in some of the deep white stuff. Swung by my buddies, and picked him up, and headed out to an old trail we know fairly well. The nittos were tearing through the snow like it didn't phase them. Got to a spot where the have recently gated it off, and had to turn around. But with the trail being narrow, the side of the mountain on one side, and and a good 15-20ft drop-off into the river on the other, I had to do a three point turn. Right by the drop-off it's always been loaded with very large rocks. But we though "hey, what the hell? We got this!". Ended up high centered on a big ass rock, planted on the t-case cross member, and the frame. Back tires no longer able to touch land under snow past my knees, and the front tires just digging deeper into the mess of snow and mud. Planted ourselves there until 3 o'clock in the morning. Had my buddies brother come out in his 91 f-250 with a 460, and try to pull me out. But after snapping three tow straps, and not even budging the fat green beast, we had to go home and get the chain. Got the Ford stuck trying to pull with the chain, and had to dig it out. Finally had no choice but to leave plenty of slack in the chain, and have my buddies brother gun it, and try to yank the Yukon off of the rocks. It too a good six or seven hard tugs to get her out, but we did it. Little bit of scraping on the frame and cross member, and one bent up tow hook with part of a broken tow strap still attached, but no harm done. Got to go to work at 7 in the morning, and tell all the boys about it, while I spent the day feeling exhausted. The sad part is, the pictures don't do it any justice, and make it look rather sad. But I'm not full of pride, and I'll throw them up anyway.

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[slowburb]

Just read from page 1. Nice looking Tahoe. What can I say, I have a thing for green GMT400's with long roofs. That rack doesn't look right, you should just let me take it off your hands, hahaha.