What did you do to your GMT today?

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xavierny25

Member
Mar 16, 2014
6,323
Staten Island, N.Y
20180907_101354.jpg
Oil change.... missing quart is was in the trunk. lol20180907_113021.jpg
Had to make a repair to cv half shaft because the strap slipped of. I cut it off and slapped in a worm gear strap. I hope it holds.

I also swapped in new front sway bar bushings but forgot to snap a pic. I'll get a pic of the old ones when I get back home.
 

Capote

Supporting Donor
Member
Jul 14, 2014
24,227
Atlanta, GA
Washed it and changed oil. Lifters sound terrible..... I'll be doing spark plugs tomorrow.
 

Blckshdw

Moderator
Nov 20, 2011
10,665
Tampa Bay Area, FL
Welp, so this was the condition of the tires i got rid of... I know, it's too far gone. (bows head in shame)

20180909_093529.jpg

Found a good deal on some Yokohamas at the tire place right next to the neighborhood, so made an appointment last night. But when I get there, the guy says they are all out of stock for that size. :confused: But that he could give me some 265/70/17s at the same price. :undecided: Couldn't remember exactly, but I felt pretty sure that size was gonna require the steering knuckle to get touched up, or run spacers.

Decided to pull the trigger and let the mod bug loose if needed. Rolled the windows down as I came home (about a mile), and at low speeds, could hear the rubbing. When the front end came down after a speed bump, I could REALLY hear it. Startled me pretty good on the first one since I'm used to taking the neighborhood bumps at 20 mph with no problem. Had to drop down to almost 10 to keep things quiet.

Got the truck into the garage, and took a peek, it's only rubbing a little bit, but a little bit is too much. :no:

20180909_114251.jpg20180909_114624.jpg

20180909_114710.jpg

So fired up the compressor, and got my grind on. Put the wheel back on, spin test, rinse and repeat until it spun freely. Didn't want to grind too much, so got them to the point some light would shine through, and called it good for now.20180909_120944.jpg

Another unexpected surprise from the upsize, is that my roof rack now scrapes on the garage door when backing in. :eek: That scared the :lipsrsealed: out of me, I thought I tore the 3rd brake light piece off or something. Turns out the lowest rib on the garage door was just barely clearing it on the passenger side. Haven't decided yet, but I may cut a notch for clearance :undecided:

20180909_123346.jpg

As I type this up, I've convinced myself to get a set of spacers. I liked how @xavierny25 setup looked with them on his ride, and I think mine will look a lot better with them and the taller tires. From the threads I've read so far, looks like 1.5" thick hubcentric is the way to go, so time to do some more shopping. My mod bug is enjoying this way too much! :hopeless:
 

Adamc0909

Member
Dec 14, 2017
93
Monticello ga
Welp, so this was the condition of the tires i got rid of... I know, it's too far gone. (bows head in shame)

View attachment 85921

Found a good deal on some Yokohamas at the tire place right next to the neighborhood, so made an appointment last night. But when I get there, the guy says they are all out of stock for that size. :confused: But that he could give me some 265/70/17s at the same price. :undecided: Couldn't remember exactly, but I felt pretty sure that size was gonna require the steering knuckle to get touched up, or run spacers.

Decided to pull the trigger and let the mod bug loose if needed. Rolled the windows down as I came home (about a mile), and at low speeds, could hear the rubbing. When the front end came down after a speed bump, I could REALLY hear it. Startled me pretty good on the first one since I'm used to taking the neighborhood bumps at 20 mph with no problem. Had to drop down to almost 10 to keep things quiet.

Got the truck into the garage, and took a peek, it's only rubbing a little bit, but a little bit is too much. :no:

View attachment 85923View attachment 85924

View attachment 85925

So fired up the compressor, and got my grind on. Put the wheel back on, spin test, rinse and repeat until it spun freely. Didn't want to grind too much, so got them to the point some light would shine through, and called it good for now.View attachment 85926

Another unexpected surprise from the upsize, is that my roof rack now scrapes on the garage door when backing in. :eek: That scared the :lipsrsealed: out of me, I thought I tore the 3rd brake light piece off or something. Turns out the lowest rib on the garage door was just barely clearing it on the passenger side. Haven't decided yet, but I may cut a notch for clearance :undecided:

View attachment 85928

As I type this up, I've convinced myself to get a set of spacers. I liked how @xavierny25 setup looked with them on his ride, and I think mine will look a lot better with them and the taller tires. From the threads I've read so far, looks like 1.5" thick hubcentric is the way to go, so time to do some more shopping. My mod bug is enjoying this way too much! :hopeless:
I got spacers in mine and they work just fine.
 

djthumper

Administrator
Nov 20, 2011
14,950
North Las Vegas
Welp, so this was the condition of the tires i got rid of... I know, it's too far gone. (bows head in shame)

View attachment 85921

Found a good deal on some Yokohamas at the tire place right next to the neighborhood, so made an appointment last night. But when I get there, the guy says they are all out of stock for that size. :confused: But that he could give me some 265/70/17s at the same price. :undecided: Couldn't remember exactly, but I felt pretty sure that size was gonna require the steering knuckle to get touched up, or run spacers.

Decided to pull the trigger and let the mod bug loose if needed. Rolled the windows down as I came home (about a mile), and at low speeds, could hear the rubbing. When the front end came down after a speed bump, I could REALLY hear it. Startled me pretty good on the first one since I'm used to taking the neighborhood bumps at 20 mph with no problem. Had to drop down to almost 10 to keep things quiet.

Got the truck into the garage, and took a peek, it's only rubbing a little bit, but a little bit is too much. :no:

View attachment 85923View attachment 85924

View attachment 85925

So fired up the compressor, and got my grind on. Put the wheel back on, spin test, rinse and repeat until it spun freely. Didn't want to grind too much, so got them to the point some light would shine through, and called it good for now.View attachment 85926

Another unexpected surprise from the upsize, is that my roof rack now scrapes on the garage door when backing in. :eek: That scared the :lipsrsealed: out of me, I thought I tore the 3rd brake light piece off or something. Turns out the lowest rib on the garage door was just barely clearing it on the passenger side. Haven't decided yet, but I may cut a notch for clearance :undecided:

View attachment 85928

As I type this up, I've convinced myself to get a set of spacers. I liked how @xavierny25 setup looked with them on his ride, and I think mine will look a lot better with them and the taller tires. From the threads I've read so far, looks like 1.5" thick hubcentric is the way to go, so time to do some more shopping. My mod bug is enjoying this way too much! :hopeless:
Just get the spacers from MarkMC. You know they work.
 

Capote

Supporting Donor
Member
Jul 14, 2014
24,227
Atlanta, GA
Replaced all spark plugs (managed to do #6 with no wobble socket :cool:), cleaned throttle body. Ditched my catch-can setup since it was literally catching nothing.... Probably had a hand in burning my oil due to it just clogging up any crankcase venting.
 
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xavierny25

Member
Mar 16, 2014
6,323
Staten Island, N.Y
Welp, so this was the condition of the tires i got rid of... I know, it's too far gone. (bows head in shame)

View attachment 85921

Found a good deal on some Yokohamas at the tire place right next to the neighborhood, so made an appointment last night. But when I get there, the guy says they are all out of stock for that size. :confused: But that he could give me some 265/70/17s at the same price. :undecided: Couldn't remember exactly, but I felt pretty sure that size was gonna require the steering knuckle to get touched up, or run spacers.

Decided to pull the trigger and let the mod bug loose if needed. Rolled the windows down as I came home (about a mile), and at low speeds, could hear the rubbing. When the front end came down after a speed bump, I could REALLY hear it. Startled me pretty good on the first one since I'm used to taking the neighborhood bumps at 20 mph with no problem. Had to drop down to almost 10 to keep things quiet.

Got the truck into the garage, and took a peek, it's only rubbing a little bit, but a little bit is too much. :no:

View attachment 85923View attachment 85924

View attachment 85925

So fired up the compressor, and got my grind on. Put the wheel back on, spin test, rinse and repeat until it spun freely. Didn't want to grind too much, so got them to the point some light would shine through, and called it good for now.View attachment 85926

Another unexpected surprise from the upsize, is that my roof rack now scrapes on the garage door when backing in. :eek: That scared the :lipsrsealed: out of me, I thought I tore the 3rd brake light piece off or something. Turns out the lowest rib on the garage door was just barely clearing it on the passenger side. Haven't decided yet, but I may cut a notch for clearance :undecided:

View attachment 85928

As I type this up, I've convinced myself to get a set of spacers. I liked how @xavierny25 setup looked with them on his ride, and I think mine will look a lot better with them and the taller tires. From the threads I've read so far, looks like 1.5" thick hubcentric is the way to go, so time to do some more shopping. My mod bug is enjoying this way too much! :hopeless:

:yes: Wheel spacers and Envoy XL denali running boards FTW.:woohoo:

EDIT: @Blckshdw did you get an alignment after swapping those tires in?
 
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Capote

Supporting Donor
Member
Jul 14, 2014
24,227
Atlanta, GA
Got.my engine bay cleaned up, got a turn down welded in after the muffler because I refuse to replace that entire section and finished up polishing my repos
Great job, I detail mine monthly. Can't stand a dirty engine bay.
 

dna59

Member
Nov 20, 2015
327
Belize
@Capote I really been slacking lately since I've been working more on my ATV project, but I've put that to the side for now and focusing back on the ENVOY.
 

brianlibby791

Member
Feb 25, 2017
239
New Jersey
5EF4436B-24D2-4EE5-9815-736BC8A11E07.jpeg
Started to paint the frame on the duramax last night. Found out the hard way that POR15 does not like coming off skin.

Since i had a little left in the cup I decided to hit the leaf springs so they look decent now.
 

Blckshdw

Moderator
Nov 20, 2011
10,665
Tampa Bay Area, FL
Got up nice and early to get those wheel spacers installed. Turned out to be a little more of an adventure than anticipated. Got the the first one bolted on just fine, but of course when I tried to torque the lugs down, it spun...

20180915_095656.jpg


Since my sister was at work, decided to use a spare length of PVC, slide the driver's seat up and wedge it between the brake pedal and headrest, as my assistant. :cool:

20180915_095711.jpg

Thought that would be the worst of it, but I was mistaken. When I tried to mount the rim to it, the hubcentric ring had a little too much material, so the rim wouldn't seat properly/fully. :confused:

20180915_100124.jpg

With the first wheel, I tried to force it on, thinking it would give, and slide the rest of the way on, but it didn't budge. Then I had a helluva time getting it back off! :laugh: Broke out the Dremel and went through 5 sanding drums total for all 4 spacers, but eventually got enough material shaved down around the ring, and also cleaned up the inner ring on the rims, for them to seat properly and flush.

Still had good clearance from lock to lock, so went for a quick drive around the neighborhood. Everything still good, so I'm a happy camper. Here's a before and after shot. :thumbsup:

20180915_092417.jpg20180915_122015.jpg20180915_135805.jpg
 

xavierny25

Member
Mar 16, 2014
6,323
Staten Island, N.Y
Rear passenger side upper control arm on the tbss. This may of happened when he slammed it into the boulder last winter.20180915_125750.jpg
Luckily I still had my old set from when I upgraded to the spohn rear upper and lower.20180915_133400.jpg
Had to use a ratchet strap to pull it together and get the bolt through. Holes just didn't want to line up.20180915_133403.jpg
 

Redbeard

Member
Jan 26, 2013
3,466
X to the twenty fifth - good thing that jack stand remained standing! And it's the only thing in the photo not attached to the trailblazer.
 

xavierny25

Member
Mar 16, 2014
6,323
Staten Island, N.Y
X to the twenty fifth - good thing that jack stand remained standing! And it's the only thing in the photo not attached to the trailblazer.
Good thing I had another stand under the shock and the rim/wheel under the car. That jack wasn't holding any weight it was just wedged in there so I had something to strap and ratchet against at a decent angle. I'm a little smarter then I let on. Lol.
 
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Mooseman

Moderator
Dec 4, 2011
25,257
Ottawa, ON
Since my sister was at work, decided to use a spare length of PVC, slide the driver's seat up and wedge it between the brake pedal and headrest, as my assistant. :cool:

I usually just stick a screwdriver into the rotor vane. Also works when undoing/tightening axle bolt.

What am I doing? Planning to build a benchtop module update apparatus. It will have plugs so I can swap from one module type to another. Ok, I didn't do anything to either of my trucks today except drive the TB to breakfast this morning.
 

carshinebob

Member
Jun 13, 2014
153
My day was going great. just finished a restoration on a cutlass, delivered and paid today. So driving home from my shop with a smile on my face, I cross an intersection and hear my tire pick up something. I pull over right away thinking I might still pull it out before it gets too deep. too late, hissing. So I go strait home. Of course the cable is stuck on the spare. Half a can of wd40 later I got it. first time the spare has been down on this truck and first time the jack has ever been out. Oh well, at least the spare was holding air. cheers. ~BOB20180914_154334.jpg
 

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Mooseman

Moderator
Dec 4, 2011
25,257
Ottawa, ON
That Cutlass turned out really nice! :thumbsup:
 

HARDTRAILZ

Moderator
Nov 18, 2011
49,665
but of course when I tried to torque the lugs down, it spun...
Since my sister was at work, decided to use a spare length of PVC, slide the driver's seat up and wedge it between the brake pedal and headrest, as my assistant. :cool:

Thought that would be the worst of it, but I was mistaken. When I tried to mount the rim to it, the hubcentric ring had a little too much material, so the rim wouldn't seat properly/fully. :confused:

I always use a piece of treated 4x4 and let the stud hit it and press it into the ground so they dont get torn up and i can control it better.

Thats why I do not use the hubcentric spacers. Wheels can vary too much and they can be a bitch to get on n off.

This weekend was a rough one on the TB. Backed into a dumpster watching another driver and failing to pay attention at the gas station. Crunched the tailgate, but no broken glass or lights, so it could be worse. will find a hatch one day maybe. otherwise if I put the swings back on the bumper, you really wont even see it.
 

Sparky

Member
Dec 4, 2011
12,927
Checked U joints on the rear drive shaft a couple days ago, and they seemed tight. Checked the front drive shaft today and I think I can feel a teeny bit of play in one direction, but not really sure.

Then I got curious and actually measured the tire tread depth vs just eyeballing... just a little over 4/32". Well crap, that's not really going to be all that great come blustery winter snow weather. I guess they do have over 55k on them... I was hoping for more miles out of them, honestly, given I got over 60k out of my old Firestone AT on the Trailblazer. So the question is do I sink another $1200 in tires on BFG KO2 tires for the truck or do I try another brand that may cost less? These have worked well, unstoppable in the winter crap, but it just makes me wonder...

I have to get new tires on the wife's car this winter too. At least those will be a lot cheaper. Still not sure if I should get dedicated snows for it and then some good summer/all seasons on another set of wheels next spring, or just do a good all season now and run them year round. Either way, I'm looking at a lot of $$$ in rubber in the next couple of months.
 

wstuckey1

Member
Apr 11, 2018
457
Fenton MI
Cut the trash can off the back. Can’t notice any difference when I’m driving unless the windows are down, maybe it’s hidden by the sound of my tires. Looks good and sounds good from behind. :thumbsup:
 

Matt

Member
Dec 2, 2011
4,019
@Sparky Look at Coopers for your truck mate, I'm loving mine.
 

xavierny25

Member
Mar 16, 2014
6,323
Staten Island, N.Y
Cleaned off my junk in in the trunk and stored it away in the new toy chest.20180921_120910.jpg
Installed my fire extinguisher and high power Streamlight flash light in place of the onstar crapola.20180921_115730.jpgThe holding bracket for the flash light doubles as a charger for it that is 12v. So I plugged it into the rear charging port. I'll hard wire it at a later date with an inline fuse.
 

Capote

Supporting Donor
Member
Jul 14, 2014
24,227
Atlanta, GA
Cleaned off my junk in in the trunk and stored it away in the new toy chest.View attachment 86057
Installed my fire extinguisher and high power Streamlight flash light in place of the onstar crapola.View attachment 86058The holding bracket for the flash light doubles as a charger for it that is 12v. So I plugged it into the rear charging port. I'll hard wire it at a later date with an inline fuse.
" Much mo' betta' "
 

Blckshdw

Moderator
Nov 20, 2011
10,665
Tampa Bay Area, FL
Welp, it finally (half) happened lol. When I met MarkMC years ago, he told me that he was gonna get me to lift my EXT. After seeing what was involved, and the Trailvoy culture at the time, I said no way...

But after trying out these new tires, and loving how they look, but not the lack of top side clearance, I gave our good friend a call to discuss some options. He recommended either going with the outside the strut spacer, or the inside the strut spacer from the 2.5" lift. Since the rear fender is 3" higher than the front, I opted for the larger spacer to install.

Took the before pic Friday after I got home...

20180921_164231.jpg

And the after pic this morning after I finished up. :biggrin::thumbsup:

20180922_113526.jpg

The rubber upper strut insulators were pretty much destroyed, so glad I replaced those.

20180921_202451.jpg

Of course, not everything went according to plan. Decided to do the tear down last night, and get the spacers installed in the struts, and then call it a night. Do the reassembly this morning. Got the first strut compressed without using the impact, thought I was good to go. But there wasn't enough compression to get the spacer on. :mad: Went to the impact and cranked it down more, got the new hardware in place, and went to loosen it.

Was using my cordless impact with the 1/2" hex adapter, and was working well until the adapter snapped off in the quick change chuck. :hissyfit:. Grabbed my air impact gun, but it was too wide to get on one of the spring compressors, and the head was too close to the lift spacer to be able to get a deep well socket on it. Tried with an open ended wrench, couldn't get the torque needed. At this point it was 9pm and everything was closed.

Had my sister take me to Autozone when it opened before she went to work, got their impact extension set. That did the trick, was able to finish the first strut and knock out the 2nd one quickly. Reassembly went fairly smoothly, until I tried to put the lower pinch bolts back in, and they were hitting something. Took me about 30 minutes to realize the struts needed to be lifted up enough so the bolt would sit in that groove at the bottom :duh:

Flipped and revered the UCAs, zip tied the wheel speed sensor cables, and buttoned everything up. Went for a quick drive down the street, and something is rattling, louder on the driver's side. I think I didn't tighten the end link nuts enough, since I hadn't looked up the torque specs there. So going to look up all the specs for everything, get the front end back up in the air to double check, then go for another test run before scheduling an alignment.
 

xavierny25

Member
Mar 16, 2014
6,323
Staten Island, N.Y
Welp, it finally (half) happened lol. When I met MarkMC years ago, he told me that he was gonna get me to lift my EXT. After seeing what was involved, and the Trailvoy culture at the time, I said no way...

But after trying out these new tires, and loving how they look, but not the lack of top side clearance, I gave our good friend a call to discuss some options. He recommended either going with the outside the strut spacer, or the inside the strut spacer from the 2.5" lift. Since the rear fender is 3" higher than the front, I opted for the larger spacer to install.

Took the before pic Friday after I got home...

View attachment 86066

And the after pic this morning after I finished up. :biggrin::thumbsup:

View attachment 86068

The rubber upper strut insulators were pretty much destroyed, so glad I replaced those.

View attachment 86067

Of course, not everything went according to plan. Decided to do the tear down last night, and get the spacers installed in the struts, and then call it a night. Do the reassembly this morning. Got the first strut compressed without using the impact, thought I was good to go. But there wasn't enough compression to get the spacer on. :mad: Went to the impact and cranked it down more, got the new hardware in place, and went to loosen it.

Was using my cordless impact with the 1/2" hex adapter, and was working well until the adapter snapped off in the quick change chuck. :hissyfit:. Grabbed my air impact gun, but it was too wide to get on one of the spring compressors, and the head was too close to the lift spacer to be able to get a deep well socket on it. Tried with an open ended wrench, couldn't get the torque needed. At this point it was 9pm and everything was closed.

Had my sister take me to Autozone when it opened before she went to work, got their impact extension set. That did the trick, was able to finish the first strut and knock out the 2nd one quickly. Reassembly went fairly smoothly, until I tried to put the lower pinch bolts back in, and they were hitting something. Took me about 30 minutes to realize the struts needed to be lifted up enough so the bolt would sit in that groove at the bottom :duh:

Flipped and revered the UCAs, zip tied the wheel speed sensor cables, and buttoned everything up. Went for a quick drive down the street, and something is rattling, louder on the driver's side. I think I didn't tighten the end link nuts enough, since I hadn't looked up the torque specs there. So going to look up all the specs for everything, get the front end back up in the air to double check, then go for another test run before scheduling an alignment.

Dont forget to adjust your headlights. That cut off line may of come up jus a lil bit. Great work and it looks damn good.

Edit: Now it may rub on that garage door some more too. lol
 
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Blckshdw

Moderator
Nov 20, 2011
10,665
Tampa Bay Area, FL
Dont forget to adjust your headlights. That cut off line may of come up jus a lil bit. Great work and it looks damn good.

Edit: Now it may rub on that garage door some more too. lol

:thankyou: Yeah, was planning on doing adjusting the headlights tonight after the sun goes down. Garage clearance is good, since I only clipped the rear before, that's why I only lifted the front. I was able to adjust the door opener to pull the door further, which gave me a tad more clearance. The bottom section was remaining in the curve of the track, rather than being level with the rest of the door.

Still trying to track down the last of the suspension noise. Driver's side was the lower nut for the end link, no luck yet on the passenger side. Re-torqued everything, but still get rattling when going over uneven road and bumps. Only thing left really is to re-compress the spring and make sure it's seated right? :confused:
 

Eric04

Member
Dec 3, 2014
392
West Michigan
I have some surface rust on the driver's side front door that I need to address before winter, and the badging was going to interfere with the job so it was a good excuse to get rid of it. I picked up two 3M erasers(one did the job fine) and got at the removal. Bonus removal of the white pinstripe while I was there too. After that was done I eyeballed the luggage rack. I didn't chuck it today but I think its days are numbered.
 

Blckshdw

Moderator
Nov 20, 2011
10,665
Tampa Bay Area, FL
Found a source of the biggest noise left. Strut retainer bolt had some slack in it, after taking on the weight of the truck. Got that torqued down, and it's much quieter. Road irregularities are silent now, but taking large speed bumps, even slowly, something is still moving somewhere and making some clunking noises. At this point, I'm over it, I'll let the shop take a look when they do my alignment in the morning.
 

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littleblazer

Member
Jul 6, 2014
9,265
Fog Lights...
 

Capote

Supporting Donor
Member
Jul 14, 2014
24,227
Atlanta, GA
An 07-12ish Sentra tried me today at a light... I had to let the BatBlazer lay down some justice.
 

Capote

Supporting Donor
Member
Jul 14, 2014
24,227
Atlanta, GA
I think we need to see a video of this batblazer doing a 0-60 run from inside the truck and road side? There is not enough batblazer footage in our lifes.
There is on YT, but that was from ages and ages ago. Truck was different then. Maybe I'll have my girlfriend take a vid or something this weekend. I really don't get on her as much. Not since my last motor crapped out, been nearly babying this one. My tune needs work though, she seems got a lot more power with this motor. My original was tired out likely.
 

I_Shoot_Back

Member
Feb 18, 2018
116
Ponoka
There is on YT, but that was from ages and ages ago. Truck was different then. Maybe I'll have my girlfriend take a vid or something this weekend. I really don't get on her as much. Not since my last motor crapped out, been nearly babying this one. My tune needs work though, she seems got a lot more power with this motor. My original was tired out likely.
Don't blow her up on my account. I'm very interested in the batblazer as that's the style I'm aiming for. I have some goodies ordered that I can't wait to show off to you guys when I got it installed as I have not seen the mod done on here yet. Then I will also take a video of her taking off as I'm pretty impressed with what the lime tune did for her!!
 

littleblazer

Member
Jul 6, 2014
9,265
Fixing the intake on the escalade. Started at 8 on the nose.
 
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