97 Tahoe with 4/6 Belltech Drop

[LovesDunes]

Very nice find!!! LOVE IT !!!! I like the Tribal flames on it better than the old school ones. You leaving them on? That Tribal flame work looks nice on it being a newer vehicle. Or you re- spraying the entire unit? You being in Cali? the flames look like they were once done by ( Hunting Beach Bodyworks)? Years back I did a Harley tank for fun in Kandy Alsa paints and HOK paints for fun as a wall hanger tank ..

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Dude that tank looks great! Great job with that paint work.

The Tahoe was painted around 1996. They did a really good job. The flames are under many coats of clear. They continue through the door jams onto the rear quarter. The interior is tweed and the flames continue in there too. It's a retired show vehicle. Lots of billet aluminum inside as well. Definitely a rolling display of the 90s. LOL

I call it a 20/20 Tahoe. At 20 feet and 20 miles an hour it looks pretty good. But sadly the paint has taken a beating over time. It's been 27ish years. Between the road rash from being driven and the sun doing it's thing it's about time to repaint.

 

[Dirk Digler]

I haven't done much to the Tahoe lately. I did buy HP Tuners in an effort to get the speedometer, tach, A/C, electric fans and fuel gauge working correctly, but that is kicking my ass. It's still a blast to drive though.

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I agree about the motor swap. I’m down to only (2) 2dr 2wd Hoes And both are swapped. Both have built spicy motors (1 is more than the other) and I love them. I can just get in and go if I wanna drive the, anywhere. The AC update changed them a lot too. What part of CA are you from? I’m assuming south.

 

[LovesDunes]

I agree about the motor swap. I’m down to only (2) 2dr 2wd Hoes And both are swapped. Both have built spicy motors (1 is more than the other) and I love them. I can just get in and go if I wanna drive the, anywhere. The AC update changed them a lot too. What part of CA are you from? I’m assuming south.

We are down South by San Diego. We live East of San Diego up in the hills in a tiny town called Descanso.

I still don't have the A/C working. Or the gas gauge, or the tach. LOL I tried to get help locally, but all of them want to replace the harness because they think I did something wrong. I think the harness is good to go.

 

[LovesDunes]

So I was making my way back from a week at the office and in between Maricopa and Gila Bend I just happen to find a huge pot hole.

Messed up the wheel to the point it would no longer hold air.

The outside lip was not that bad.

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I could see the shop off in the distance in Gila Bend where I needed to go, so instead of limping my way there and destroying the tire I called AAA to get a tow truck on the way.

While waiting for the tow truck to arrive I decided to try and straiten the wheel just enough to hold air thinking the tow truck would have an air compressor.

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Turns out the tow truck did not have air so we loaded up the Tahoe and off to town we went.

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The tow truck driver was awesome. Had us loaded and strapped down in less than 5 minutes.

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Once the Tahoe was up on the flat bed I was able to see the inside lip on the wheel. There was no way any air was going to stay in the tire. Yikes.

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Once we got to the shop and flipped the wheel over it was easier to see how bad the damage to the inner lip was.

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They did not want the responsibility of hammering on the wheel for fear of it breaking. I get it so they handed me a huge sledge hammer and with one of them standing on the wheel I started hammering away. I kept hitting the wheel until the soapy water stopped making bubbles, and then smacked it a few more times. Made me feel a little better that I would probably make the 300 miles to the house.

While at the McDonalds drive through this guy pulled in behind me. I think I have more sidewall on my rear wheels than he does. LOL

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I waited for about 20 minutes to make sure the tire was going to hold and got back on the road with a pretty nasty vibration coming from the front.

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Made it home, took my wheel to the repair guy, and you can barely tell anything ever happened.

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Yes the wheels are filthy. Boyd would not be impressed. The plan it to get them cleaned up and replace them with something easier to maintain. These wheels look awesome when they are all polished up, but I'm not up to the task anymore.

 

[Dirk Digler]

So I was making my way back from a week at the office and in between Maricopa and Gila Bend I just happen to find a huge pot hole.

Messed up the wheel to the point it would no longer hold air.

The outside lip was not that bad.

You must be registered for see images attach

I could see the shop off in the distance in Gila Bend where I needed to go, so instead of limping my way there and destroying the tire I called AAA to get a tow truck on the way.

While waiting for the tow truck to arrive I decided to try and straiten the wheel just enough to hold air thinking the tow truck would have an air compressor.

You must be registered for see images attach

Turns out the tow truck did not have air so we loaded up the Tahoe and off to town we went.

You must be registered for see images attach

The tow truck driver was awesome. Had us loaded and strapped down in less than 5 minutes.

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

Once the Tahoe was up on the flat bed I was able to see the inside lip on the wheel. There was no way any air was going to stay in the tire. Yikes.

You must be registered for see images attach

Once we got to the shop and flipped the wheel over it was easier to see how bad the damage to the inner lip was.

You must be registered for see images attach

They did not want the responsibility of hammering on the wheel for fear of it breaking. I get it so they handed me a huge sledge hammer and with one of them standing on the wheel I started hammering away. I kept hitting the wheel until the soapy water stopped making bubbles, and then smacked it a few more times. Made me feel a little better that I would probably make the 300 miles to the house.

While at the McDonalds drive through this guy pulled in behind me. I think I have more sidewall on my rear wheels than he does. LOL

You must be registered for see images attach

I waited for about 20 minutes to make sure the tire was going to hold and got back on the road with a pretty nasty vibration coming from the front.

You must be registered for see images attach

Made it home, took my wheel to the repair guy, and you can barely tell anything ever happened.

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

Yes the wheels are filthy. Boyd would not be impressed. The plan it to get them cleaned up and replace them with something easier to maintain. These wheels look awesome when they are all polished up, but I'm not up to the task anymore.

Dam, that sucks. I’m from the Central Valley (Fresno). I’ve had that happen to one of my wheels and I filed a claim with city and county. They sent me money for a new a rim.When I first swapped one of mine all gauges worked no problem. Now I have Dakota Digital gauges and I love them.

 

[Dirk Digler]

I forgot. I have a mid mount billet serp kit from CVF (on both). They came with a new alternator and AC.

 

[LovesDunes]

Had some more excitement the other day. Was cruising through Yuma Arizona on the way to Mesa and decided to stop off at Taco Bell to grab a burrito. As I am handing the kid at the window $4.00 all of the sudden the drivers side front drops and there it a huge bang. Lower ball joint came apart.

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Right before that I was driving enthusiastically between 80 and 90 mph. After leaving Taco Bell it would have been more of the same. The fact I was sitting perfectly still when the ball joint decided it was done is pretty crazy to think about. If this had happened at speed I probably would not be typing this right now.


Looks almost normal at this angle.

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Isn't this how the kids these days like their lowered vehicles to look?

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Not a bad place to hang out out waiting for rescue.

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After strapping the upper and lower a-arms together the Tahoe drove up onto the trailer no problem.

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Now back to San Diego.

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Love that stance.

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Of course the trailer had to give us a hard time.

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After thinking I was going to just replace the upper and lower ball joints, turns out the joints were welded to to a-arms. I guess the hole that the ball joints press into gets worn out. I ended up replacing just about everything up front minus the spindles.

Not sure how I don't have pictures. There are actually front end kits that replace all of the moving parts up front. Nothing fancy. Just a bunch of factory looking parts. It is awesome to have all new bushing. Steering feels great.

 

[LovesDunes]

After replacing everything up front, especially the upper and lower a-arm bushings, the Tahoe sat too high in the front. The bushings most have been worn out for a while.

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Not sure what happened to the brightness on this picture. Oh well. The spacing from the top edge of the wheels to the top of the wheel well opening was almost an inch bigger up front. It was time to chop the front springs some more.

Here is the initial stance of the Tahoe after cutting half a coil off the spring.

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Looks much better, but I know after putting some miles on her it will settle and look even better.


Sure enough, after 300+ miles the front end is settled in and the stance is pretty much where I want it.

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The front springs on the Tahoe are from a 69 big block Camaro. The wire diameter on the spring is larger than the Bell Tech springs the Tahoe used to have, but the outer diameter of the spring is spot on. The front end feels so much better and leans a lot less when carving the corners on windy roads.