Project Race Utility

[therealsethallen]

So on July 2nd. I became the owner of a 2005 9-7x Linear 4.2i AWD.

Here are my mods so far!


7/13/15- Intake resonator delete, reducing restrictive airflow.

7/14/15- Exhaust Resonator delete with 2.5" Stainless pipe welded in, retained factory tip.

8/5/15- Magnaflow 1126 2.5" Stainless Steel Muffler. DOES THIS THING SOUND GOOD.

9/1/15- Full brake job, new pads and rotors.

9/25/15- TPS decided to kick the bucket, New throttle pedal installed to rectify the problem.


9/30/15- LED Fogs operable by the factory switch.

Soon, new outer tie rod ends followed by tires and an alignment. The tires will be Yokohama Geolander 255/55 18s, or General Grabber UHPs. Also working on some suspension stiffening upgrades. I constantly remind myself that a corner I used to be able to take at 60, I can now only take at 40, and I need to be able to have more control.

 

[HARDTRAILZ]

Looks like some solid mods to get you started. Congrats on the truck!

 

[BlazingTrails]

Nice truck man! I have a 2005 Trailblazer and also like to go fast

My build thread is a little off right now but hopefully will be fixed soon.

 

[therealsethallen]

Looks like some solid mods to get you started. Congrats on the truck!

Thanks a ton! Many plans for the future. I'm still completely stumped on the suspension at the moment. I feel that I could tighten it up by just replacing everything with OEM. I really dunno yet. I know Spohn perfromance makes a good rear suspension kit for the SS. I'll see what I can do, and what's most cost effective

 

[Pittdawg]

Thanks a ton! Many plans for the future. I'm still completely stumped on the suspension at the moment. I feel that I could tighten it up by just replacing everything with OEM. I really dunno yet. I know Spohn perfromance makes a good rear suspension kit for the SS. I'll see what I can do, and what's most cost effective

Just replacing the spongy stock shocks did a lot for me. Later I added an aftermarket rear sway bar and am satisfied with the handling now. However, if you want to take corner at 60, you'll need to lower it.

 

[ddgm]

Thanks a ton! Many plans for the future. I'm still completely stumped on the suspension at the moment. I feel that I could tighten it up by just replacing everything with OEM. I really dunno yet. I know Spohn perfromance makes a good rear suspension kit for the SS. I'll see what I can do, and what's most cost effective

GM supposedly allowed the Saab engineers to tweak the suspension and steering ratio.

 

[Chickenhawk]

Shocks and a new rear sway bar will get you back up to taking that curve at 60.

Personally, I would replace the factory shocks the moment it came off the showroom floor. Lots of threads on shocks and a lot depends on your personal preference for stiffness versus ride.

I am a stickler for neutral handling (I spend a lot of time driving police cars on race tracks) so I would look at the rear end for upgrades. Once all your basic suspension parts in the front are checked and replaced as necessary, then it is time to look at handling balance.

Our vehicles tend to understeer because that is the safest path for grannie on her way to get groceries and she cooks it too deep into a corner, panics, takes her foot off the gas and the vehicle understeers and recovers traction (hopefully.) I, on the other hand, want far more neutral handling. To reduce oversteer, one stiffens the front end. To reduce understeer, one stiffens the rear end.

I was brought up on road tracks and watching well-set up vehicles like 911s with their outside front wheel off the ground in a tight corner and VW Sciroccos with the rear tire so far off the ground in a corner that it looked like a dog pissing.

So my advice is simple. Leave the factory front sway bar alone. It is a good one. GM gave us a very good basic handling platform with the GM360. They just undersized the rear sway bar a bit for granny handling and left us with mushy OEM shocks. So for the most cost-effective upgrades, I would do the following:
- Ensure all suspension parts front and rear are good. Replace any that are worn too much.
- Replace all four shocks.
- Replace the two front swaybar bushings with the new thermoplastic ones from Moog or NAPA. They have the stiffness of urethane but don't require lube to stop them groaning. (Don't lube them when installing.)
- Install an aftermarket rear sway bar.
- Replace the rear sway bar endlinks. (You will probably need to do this anyway to get the old ones off.)

That's about it for the most cost-effective changes you can do to a stock truck without lowering it.

With good tires, good shocks, a better rear bar and all bushings new or checked, that will handle much better.

 

[therealsethallen]

Saturday I put on new tires. Yokohama Geolander G055s, Really comfortable decent handling. Today I did a coil spring conversion with Envoy springs. I'm going to put in Monroe Sensa-Tracs, Moog Bushings and Delco Professional grade endlinks. The issue is that it now sits around an inch higher, which means I have to get the matching TB fronts so it sits properly.


New Tires

 

[Mooseman]

Mine sits about an inch higher in the rear with coils. Not sure if you will get satisfaction with TB front i6 coils because they usually have a slight rake.
The Saabs were equipped pretty good from the factory. Iirc, they got the same treatment as the TB SS. Lower, stiffer shocks, better handling. The rear bar still sucks though.

If you want to replace the shocks, I wouldn't go with Monroes. I'd go with either Bilsteins or I'd check what the SS guys are running.

 

[therealsethallen]

Mine sits about an inch higher in the rear with coils. Not sure if you will get satisfaction with TB front i6 coils because they usually have a slight rake.
The Saabs were equipped pretty good from the factory. Iirc, they got the same treatment as the TB SS. Lower, stiffer shocks, better handling. The rear bar still sucks though.

If you want to replace the shocks, I wouldn't go with Monroes. I'd go with either Bilsteins or I'd check what the SS guys are running.

I'm going to be doing TB factory fronts for the time being, college student..what I can afford at the moment. When the time comes, I'll look into what will fit the best for me. I'm just worried about having another inch or so. One rock on one road gets me every single time.

 

[therealsethallen]

November 5th LED Reverse Light Install. Part of my complete LED conversion (with the exception of the headlights and front turns).

 

[therealsethallen]

11/13/15- Quad Headlight Mod. Very simple and free too! Moved two wires and hey presto!

 

[Mooseman]

I assume you have halogens because the HIDs are already setup as quad. Please post what you did so others can benefit!

 

[therealsethallen]

I assume you have halogens because the HIDs are already setup as quad. Please post what you did so others can benefit!

Yup! They are indeed halogens. It took me a half an hour and barely any tools at all. Very simple and effective install.

 

[therealsethallen]

Did some roadside assistance today. My vehicle is equipped with amber LED's in the rear, mounted to the tailgate trim.

 

[therealsethallen]

252whp. Calculates to 323 at the crank, did 125mph. My cat is most definitely ruined.

 

[therealsethallen]

Lots of work this week. My water pump is shot, and the fan clutch is on it's way out too. May as well replace the thermostat while it's apart. Got a killer deal on some new ignition coils and probably some new plugs too. My NGKs are fairly new to me, but since I drive close to 50k miles annually I'm upgrading to 41-103s

 

[therealsethallen]

Lifty Lifty time. 2" rear, fronts to come.