I would have notched the plate too. Hard to see the bump in the straight on pics. I was able to see the dimension in the pic of the control arm.

 

You got gypped. Whoever sold you that Tahoe kept all of the rust. I have plenty that I can send you if you want to make it an authentic 2002.

 

Thanks! But I'll let you keep that <3

 

I finally heard back from Wheel Every Weekend, which is a great company- but a sloooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooow company. lol

My coilovers should be built this week, and the coils/bumps will ship this week

I have parts to order from basically #everyone- RuffStuff, Ballistic, TMR, Barnes and McMaster..... Once I have my new round of parts, I have some things to get waterjet and I'll be ready to take another week off work to head back to my buddy's shop to finish her up!

 

Lots of parts have been arriving, but this is probably the most exciting: custom valved and piston swapped 10" travel Bilstein 8125's and 2" bump stops. I worked a lot with Ian at Wheel Every Weekend to get these built up, and I think he did a phenomenal job! I just need to plan better in the future and know that he is not going to be fast about these things. He is pretty affordable however! So he still gets 5 stars at the end of the day lol. I owe Ian some money for the pistons and the labor, but the dampers and bumps came in at $1760, for those who might be curious

New Round of Parts-
Gears/bearings: ordered ($1100)
McMaster hardware (2 separate orders, because who remembers everything the first time anyway?? Probably still forgot things to be honest): delivered ($313)
Barnes4wd tabs/mounts/crossmember kit/etc etc: delivered ($192)
FOA Bump Stop Cans: Ordered (~$100)
Viper Springs 10" 400lb over 12" 450lb: Delivered ($365)
RockAuto brakes/hubs/ujoints: Delivered ($605)
Mevotech TTX Ball Joints: Delivered ($218)

Current plan is to head down to my buddy's shop during President's Day weekend and try to jam out some stuff on the truck. Then get her home and get back to working on the trans and why its being a POS

 

Those do look like nice pieces

 

Now with 50% more Bilstein, paint and brakes!

rebuilt and regeared the front axle, regeared the rear axle, did final welding on a number of components, and discovered that steering is STILL a PITA. I genuinely think moving the box forward and running a bigger drop pitman is going to be the only way to get it perfect. At this stage in the game, I absolutely want it perfect

She is back home with me, but without access to a lift, I don't know how much meaningful work I can get done

Track bar needs adjusting, steering is a pain, front ride height is too tall, rear shocks are too short, front spring rate is a little stiff, blower is leaking oil and the reservoirs need some structure built so I can mount them

You know, just small stuff 🤣

Going to take a break on the truck for a bit, work on the C5 and let my savings recover from this project. Need a mental break too

peep the google link for additional photos:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/6HmbPuLRrzyjCUaH7

 

What steering gearbox are you using?

I upgraded mine to a China knockoff of the PSC heavy duty box, so far it's been pretty nice. Super tight steering and good leverage. My poor power steering pump is whining even worse I think because of it haha.

 

I am using a stock box, in the stock location- with a modified Jeep drop pitman arm. Our boxes are "traditional" Saginaw box with 32 spline, 4 reliefs. Pretty much any recirculating ball American car/truck for the last 5 decades has this box

The issue for me isn't strength or lack of assist, it's geometry. I pushed the axle as far forward as I wanted, and now the pitman arm limits uptravel. The arm will crash the diff cover if it weren't for bump stops. The drag link is out of plane with tie rod and to match the track bar angle I need to bring the "T" joint of my T steering up 3". That is a huge amount of leverage on the balljoint jam nuts- which would be the only feature keeping the tie rod from rotating when steering forces are applied

So to eliminate that conundrum, I think moving the box forward 4-5" and running another +2" of drop pitman arm will make geometry MUCH better and will reduce the rotational leverage the drag link has on the tie rod

At this point in the game, whats a few more hrs of frame mods?

 

Agreed. If I had those skills there are some vehicles in my past that I would have fixed rather than sold for peanuts.