Multipurpose Tahoe Build

[adventr]

Got the front axle welded out. Hit the WMS measurement spot on. Going to cut the rear axle tubes down now and start getting it assembled.

Front axle C's use standard H1 ball joints. Easy to source and should be plenty strong.

 

[adventr]

What's everyones experience/thoughts on air ride suspension? Am working with a guy now to develop my CTIS controller, and will already have everything in place to control air bags IF i were to run them.

 

[wvracer821]

I almost asked you last night about the CTIS and I'm glad your keeping it. I always thought it would be cool to use it. I follow a couple of people on the old site that have air bag builds. The most recent I remember is here 96 1500 SAS crawler
also dirthead_dave on Instagram has a hand full of airbag builds under his belt. his most recent went to UA this year. I would like to try it in the future but I am under the interpretation that shock tuning becomes complicated because of the exponential increase in spring rate as the bag compresses.

 

[adventr]

I almost asked you last night about the CTIS and I'm glad your keeping it. I always thought it would be cool to use it. I follow a couple of people on the old site that have air bag builds. The most recent I remember is here 96 1500 SAS crawler
also dirthead_dave on Instagram has a hand full of airbag builds under his belt. his most recent went to UA this year. I would like to try it in the future but I am under the interpretation that shock tuning becomes complicated because of the exponential increase in spring rate as the bag compresses.

Thanks for the references, I'll check them out this weekend and do some research.

The CTIS was actually one of the main reasons I'm doing this build. Had it on my old H1 and loved it. Always wanted to build something with CTIS so here we are.
I'll be using a 4 channel valve block made for air ride vehicles. One channel per tire. Each channel has it's own pressure sending unit.
Controller will monitor each channel and add/subtract air to achieve target pressure using a PID algorithm. Pretty simple setup that will allow me to have different buttons on the touch screen for different terrain types. Will be using an engine driven compressor for the air source.

As for the air ride, here are my thoughts and why it has crossed my mind:

Pros:

• Already setup for it with the control system and compressor
• Ability to self level no matter the load
• Ability to lower the vehicle for entry/exit

Cons:

• Potentially more prone to failure
• Shock tuning
• Might be a challenge to come up with ideal air bags for this application?

It's definitely something that I'm going to research and consider.

 

[Midget]

I'm so glad to hear you aren't trying to use some type of military CTIS controller, they suck to say the least. CTIS is awesome, but the army system in the old 5 Tons was complete garbage for reliability.

 

[adventr]

I'm so glad to hear you aren't trying to use some type of military CTIS controller, they suck to say the least. CTIS is awesome, but the army system in the old 5 Tons was complete garbage for reliability.

For sure. Developing the hardware/software side is half the fun.

 

[Cowboy63b]

For sure. Developing the hardware/software side is half the fun.

I'm glad you made it over here man! The facespace pages suck for tech.

 

[350TacoZilla]

Just throwing this out there but what about the liquid spring system where height and ride comfort are adjustable on the fly?

 

[Ghetto Fab.]

We've had good luck with the synergy DDB bushings. The only negative I can say about them is that they are somewhat soft and when coming to a stop you can feel the play in the bushings. Other than that they are great, quite, and offer a lot of flex potential.

Love to know where you got the H1 boxes from?

 

[adventr]

Just throwing this out there but what about the liquid spring system where height and ride comfort are adjustable on the fly?

Not sure that I'm familiar with that system. I'll do some research though

 

[adventr]

We've had good luck with the synergy DDB bushings. The only negative I can say about them is that they are somewhat soft and when coming to a stop you can feel the play in the bushings. Other than that they are great, quite, and offer a lot of flex potential.

Love to know where you got the H1 boxes from?

Good info on the DDB's! Thanks


As for the portal boxes, I got them from here:


Ebay Link


Came complete with cv shafts and whatnot. Were obviously used and pretty dirty, but they cleaned up quickly in the blast booth.

 

[adventr]

Gave the black tahoe to a buddy. He's gonna tear the front clip apart for an LS swap so I'll be able to take my measurements at that point and not have to mess with it at the house.
About got him talked into the ORD SAS kit for it.

Put the shop truck to work hauling it away. 6.5 turbo diesel still going strong after 200k miles.

 

[adventr]

Started work on the rear axle and got it cut and ready to weld up. Ordered inner seals for both axles too.

 

[ArTi54N]

Speaking of intended usage..... Here is the type of terrain that I am building it for:









Lots of cool vids on that channel.

that video was awesome.. I think I can get ideas from it..

??at least 3 of them had some different looking rims.. are those just for that country? I dont remember seeing some like that before.. ??
??an example would be at the 7 min mark??

and I am glad the OP mentioned turd-birds.. forgot about that.. dont ask me how I forgot..

 

[adventr]

that video was awesome.. I think I can get ideas from it..

??at least 3 of them had some different looking rims.. are those just for that country? I dont remember seeing some like that before.. ??
??an example would be at the 7 min mark??

and I am glad the OP mentioned turd-birds.. forgot about that.. dont ask me how I forgot..

That channel has cool content. The guy there manufactures those portal boxes that they are using. As for the wheels, best I can tell is that they are being custom made for him. The center cap has a guard that runs across and covers the CTIS wheel hoses. I'm doing something similar with the AEV wheels that I have.

And how could you forget the thornchickens???

 

[adventr]

Need to post some updates on here. Haven't slowed down, just collecting things that I need (and a lot that I don't)


Did some black friday shopping. Bought a new headunit and installed it. Really wanted the wireless android auto capabilities that this one offered. I like all the tech stuff. Plus is has a 2nd camera input so I can add my FLIR camera up front.

And I added some big gay mirrors from boost-auto. Hated how I couldn't ever see shit out of the little stock mirrors. Wish there was a nice in-between solution (not so big). But whatever. Will be more proportionate when the tahoe grows up in a few weeks.

Oh yeah, and I snagged a set of roller tires that popped up on marketplace within 5 min after listing. Knew they wouldn't last long. They are 40x13.50R17 (same size I plan to run), and they were only $300 for the set.
Figured it was fitting to put the big trailer behind the tahoe and go get them (about 4hrs away in OKC).

 

[adventr]

Grabbed one of these air compressors from Napa on black friday. I don't plan to use it on this build, just to keep around the house. But DAMN it's fast. I can now believe all the youtube videos that are showing this thing being 3x faster than the ARB twin compressor (had that on my Jeep).
One helluva deal for only $75 that day. It does suck the power though @ 90amp draw.

 

[adventr]

Almost forgot, I bought another truck. Was trying to pull off a duramax (LB7) swap on this tahoe, but after loading the duramax cad model into my main, I quickly realized that I'd need to lift the suspension another 4" to retain any up-travel. Duramax would fit if I were using something like a dana 60 and needed around 6" of lift. But I just couldn't make it work with the low suspension height I needed. The dmax motor is MASSIVE.

So, I stumbled across another marketplace deal (I find a lot of those it seems). 1998 K3500 with the 6.5 turbo diesel. I know people hate them, but I kinda like them. Black shop truck has one. Not a power house, but they run pretty good and sound great. This truck has like 119k miles on it, was some sort of gov truck it appears, and I got it for $2,000.
Glad I got an entire donor truck so that I can use everything needed (wiring, throttle pedal, hydroboost...etc). Will be an easy straight-forward swap, and it's physically not much larger than the 5.7 so I can retain up-travel.

Went and picked it up yesterday evening (about 2hrs away in the mountains).

 

[Chkn]

Are you going to hard mount the compressor or keep it portable?

 

[adventr]

Are you going to hard mount the compressor or keep it portable?

Compressor is just for portable use around the house/shop. Tahoe is getting engine driven compressor

 

[YotaAtieToo]

You've got to be the first person ever to swap a 6.5 into something

I actually almost bought a 6.5T/5spd truck years ago, did a bunch of research on them and they don't seem as bad as everyone says.

I have to wonder why you wouldn't just go with a mild LS.



Also, whooollly fuck is this thing cool! Will be such a sleeper on the trail.

I've also always thought ctis would be pretty awesome. I do a lot of snow wheelin and am often adjusting pressure, especially when you're climbing in elevation, so you're tires are gaining pressure, but you're getting into deeper snow. Would be so awesome to hit a Nast spot and be able to drop to 1-2 lbs, then back up to 5-6 if it eases up. Also not standing in the freezing cold going from 2 lbs to 30

 

[adventr]

You've got to be the first person ever to swap a 6.5 into something

I actually almost bought a 6.5T/5spd truck years ago, did a bunch of research on them and they don't seem as bad as everyone says.

I have to wonder why you wouldn't just go with a mild LS.



Also, whooollly fuck is this thing cool! Will be such a sleeper on the trail.

I've also always thought ctis would be pretty awesome. I do a lot of snow wheelin and am often adjusting pressure, especially when you're climbing in elevation, so you're tires are gaining pressure, but you're getting into deeper snow. Would be so awesome to hit a Nast spot and be able to drop to 1-2 lbs, then back up to 5-6 if it eases up. Also not standing in the freezing cold going from 2 lbs to 30

definitely not many people swapping 6.5s into trucks. Lol

My experience with them has been, if you leave them alone and don't try to make new diesel truck power with them, then they are just fine.
I seriously debated just buying a wrecked 07-13 escalade or denali and swapping in the whole 6.2 drivetrain. But I just want something different and the 6.5 will work good for me. Plus, it has PTO modes built into the computer so I can have different idle speeds set with the flick of a switch (for running air compressor/whatnot).


Speaking of LS swaps. I gave that black tahoe to my buddy the other week. He's almost finished the 5.3 swap and is starting on the solid axle swap.
Better get my ass in gear!

 

[350TacoZilla]

Man that looks to be a pretty nice crew cab unless there's something wrong that the camera doesn't really pick up lol. I'm a fan of the 6.2-6.5 diesel's but always had better luck with 6.2 with mechanical IP, never lucked into a early mechanical 6.5.

 

[aczlan]

Man that looks to be a pretty nice crew cab unless there's something wrong that the camera doesn't really pick up lol. I'm a fan of the 6.2-6.5 diesel's but always had better luck with 6.2 with mechanical IP, never lucked into a early mechanical 6.5.

That's kind of what I was thinking as well, for around here it seems nice to part out but that may not be the case outside of the rust belt.

Aaron Z

 

[350TacoZilla]

Yeah being in MD I'm normally looking at rusted out POS's for donors lol. If I wasn't broke, broken and swamped with more projects than I can possibly finish I'd make an offer on the leftovers.

 

[YotaAtieToo]

My father in law bought a 2010 escalade for the 6.2/6l80e and my buddy has the same combo in his big heavy JK. They are beasts stock, over 400hp and the trans is awesome, 4:1 1st and double OD. Once you get rid of the DOD and a tune you're about 500hp

But the donor, wrecked escalade was $7k....

If I ever V8 swap something, I'm fine with a 5.3, but I definitely want the 6 spd.

 

[adventr]

Man that looks to be a pretty nice crew cab unless there's something wrong that the camera doesn't really pick up lol. I'm a fan of the 6.2-6.5 diesel's but always had better luck with 6.2 with mechanical IP, never lucked into a early mechanical 6.5.

It is a pretty decent truck. It's straight, and has no rust on it. Interior is real basic and plain, but it's all there and no tears or anything.
I almost wish it were rusted out or damaged so that I wouldn't feel so bad by robbing it's guts. Lol

The plan is to swap all of the diesel related parts over to my tahoe, and then all of the gas related parts over to the k3500. Will either just put my 5.7L engine in the 3500 or maybe 6.0 swap it...
Then I can keep the truck around as a work truck or something.

 

[adventr]

My father in law bought a 2010 escalade for the 6.2/6l80e and my buddy has the same combo in his big heavy JK. They are beasts stock, over 400hp and the trans is awesome, 4:1 1st and double OD. Once you get rid of the DOD and a tune you're about 500hp

But the donor, wrecked escalade was $7k....

If I ever V8 swap something, I'm fine with a 5.3, but I definitely want the 6 spd.

No doubt! Stout engines for sure.
The 6l80e is awesome as well. I love it. I actually 6l80e swapped my 2009 H3 alpha several years back (had the 5.3 engine) and it was fantastic. That 4:1 first gear coupled with the 4:1 low range on the h3 made it a lot of fun offroad.

I'll be using a 6l80e behind the 6.5 diesel in the tahoe. Overdrive ratio in the 6l80e will be a much better fit than the 0.75 ratio of the 4l80e.
Leaving the 4l80e/241 in the k3500.

For transfer case, I plan to run a Denali/escalade awd transfer case that comes behind the 6l80e.
My main reasoning for that is simply due to the fact that there's no option for locking hubs on the axles I've built, so may as well take advantage of that front driveline spinning all the time. 🤷‍♂️

 

[350TacoZilla]

I always wondered about AWD transfercase with a doubler in front of it to act as the normal low range your missing with the single speed case.

 

[YotaAtieToo]

No doubt! Stout engines for sure.
The 6l80e is awesome as well. I love it. I actually 6l80e swapped my 2009 H3 alpha several years back (had the 5.3 engine) and it was fantastic. That 4:1 first gear coupled with the 4:1 low range on the h3 made it a lot of fun offroad.

I'll be using a 6l80e behind the 6.5 diesel in the tahoe. Overdrive ratio in the 6l80e will be a much better fit than the 0.75 ratio of the 4l80e.
Leaving the 4l80e/241 in the k3500.

Sweet! I'll be curious to see how that works out, how do you plan to control it?

For transfer case, I plan to run a Denali/escalade awd transfer case that comes behind the 6l80e.
My main reasoning for that is simply due to the fact that there's no option for locking hubs on the axles I've built, so may as well take advantage of that front driveline spinning all the time. 🤷‍♂️

Well you lost me there

I helped pull that case, it kinda blew my mind when I popped it off the trans and it was practically wieghtless. Turns out it's a magnesium case.

As far as I saw, it had no provision for a 4x4 lock, and definitely had now low range. In fact I don't think there was anything connected to the case besides the trans and drivelines.

If you're stuck on awd, what about the 242 (I think, whatever the good one is) from a grand cherokee?

Other than that, with the diesel, low axle gears and 4:1 1st, a 205 alone would probably be great.