2019 Yukon Build

Walkerfever said:

After that, came the Denali cluster swap:
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The problem (in my opinion) with the Denali cluster is that you lose the ability to check the transmission temperature, and oil pressure.

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Looks like you are making quick progress on a fun project.

If you change your display to the 4 mini gauges then press the trailer/tow button it replaces the voltage gauge with trans temp so you can see both oil pressure & trans temp. Pics are from my 2018 Yukon Denali.

I installed a BellTech 2/3 drop & Hellwig swaybars on my 2018 and the improvement in handle was incredible. Changing to 305/40/22 General UHP tires improved it even more. Both my son & I had AFM lifter failures. I did the AFM delete via a cam swap 25K miles ago so now I have peace of mind that I won't be stranded far from home with a lifter failure.

My next upgrade is 16.25" rotors in front with 6 piston Brembos & 4 piston Brembos in the rear. Just received all my parts this week.

MrMonte said:

Looks like you are making quick progress on a fun project.

If you change your display to the 4 mini gauges then press the trailer/tow button it replaces the voltage gauge with trans temp so you can see both oil pressure & trans temp. Pics are from my 2018 Yukon Denali.

I installed a BellTech 2/3 drop & Hellwig swaybars on my 2018 and the improvement in handle was incredible. Changing to 305/40/22 General UHP tires improved it even more. Both my son & I had AFM lifter failures. I did the AFM delete via a cam swap 25K miles ago so now I have peace of mind that I won't be stranded far from home with a lifter failure.

My next upgrade is 16.25" rotors in front with 6 piston Brembos & 4 piston Brembos in the rear. Just received all my parts this week.


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I saw the 4 smaller gauges, but I like the technology theme better...or it could be that I don't want it to look like the stock cluster at all, haha. AFM delete (as opposed to disable, like I have now) will be in the future, for sure. It'll most likely be next summer...and knowing me it'll be a head upgrade and cam swap. I'd hate to do all that work twice (is how I justify the heads to the wife). Over the winter my son and I will be building out a 4R70W I have for my 1989 F150 that is an ongoing project (86k original miles, built 351w, all that fun stuff). Once that is installed and running good, I'll feel comfortable taking the Yukon down for the DOD delete.

You mentioned 4 piston rear brakes...Do those come on the 21+ PPV Tahoes, too?

Walkerfever said:

You mentioned 4 piston rear brakes...Do those come on the 21+ PPV Tahoes, too?

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I'm going to use Gen 6 Camaro rear Brembo Calipers on my Yukon.

I did the cam/lifter swap last year and was able to walk off then back on the timing chain with very little effort so didn't have to drop the oil pan. 1st swap I did took 20hrs, 2nd time I did it in 15hrs. Time consuming but not hard.

My son and I went for a bit of a road trip to buy a GPI ported 6.2L intake and TB today, just over 400 miles round trip. Turns out the guy works at GPI, and was telling me about their ported heads, tuning, etc. I might go their route whenever I end up swapping the cam, I'll need to look into them a bit more. I'm very impressed with the gas mileage I got, the 400 mile average is 21.1 MPG. The roads are very hilly and curvy between AR and MO, and it was foggy\raining the entire time so road conditions were far from ideal. Either way, it was a great trip, and the Yukon did great. Intake install might be tomorrow, might be next weekend. Pics will be taken, but here's the intake as we bought it:

My son and I installed the intake today. We were not the first people in there, the harness was already disconnected from the back of the plenum cover, and the foam is not placed under the plenum cover correctly. The install went very smooth, and the Yukon adapted to the larger TB and intake nicely. The biggest difference I've noticed is the sound, but there is a power difference, as well. Before, the CAI's throaty sound was abruptly ramped up around 1,800-2K RPM whereas now, it's a more gradual change starting around 1,300RPM. There was a power gain, mainly in the low and mid-range...about on par with what the CAI did. Intake runners were a bit on the dirty side, but we were limited on daylight so that'll be another day's project. The catch can should prevent them from getting any worse. Here's some install and comparison pics:

Noticed a little clattering sound from the engine when it's under load\going up hill. Basically when the intake starts growling the noise happens, just to make it easier to listen to. I ran some Seafoam through the crankcase for about 30 miles, then changed the oil last night. There was no forbidden glitter, so that is a good sign and the catchcan caught about 1.8 ounces of fluid. Catchcan has been installed for 2915 miles, so that's ab out 1 ounce per 1600 miles, not too bad. I haven't measured the amount of oil that was in the pan, but that'll happen at some point. Not sure if the clatter is gone or not, I haven't driven it since the change. Here's hoping it's gone! Pics!
No forbidden glitter, 3,253 miles on the oil:

Catchcan's catchings:

Also, I used a Mobil 1 M1-212A oil filter last time, and opt'd for the Fram Synthetic Endurance this time. I didn't compared them side by side, but the Fram is much larger than the Mobil 1:


In other news, HUD stuff got here today. Harness is scheduled to be here Saturday, Sunday is the last "nice" day and my only day off this week, so I'm hoping the install will happen then. Once it's all installed and working properly, I'll get the ball rolling on a new windshield.


You guessed it, still no sway bars.

Your clattering under load is probably a small amount of detonation. You've changed the way the engine breathes relative to the calibration. Maybe run the next level fuel, or blend some E85 into the mix for higher octane.

B-train said:

Your clattering under load is probably a small amount of detonation. You've changed the way the engine breathes relative to the calibration. Maybe run the next level fuel, or blend some E85 into the mix for higher octane.

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Originally I was running a 91 Octane tune. When I began chasing this noise, I started out by dropping it back to an 87 Octane tune. The tank is still full of 91.

Heads Up Display is installed! Everything went smoothly, a little trimming on the defrost cover, but nothing major. The doubled vision from the improper windshield is highly annoying, but that will be replaced at some point. Also, the eBay seller sent the wrong color dash vent. They sent a bronze\champagne cover instead of the silver. I went to return it and they just refunded me. I ordered the proper part from GM parts today (84506946), should be here sometime next week.
Here's the doubled vision:

And the not silver trim piece:


You guessed it, still no sway bars, either.

Another project down. My son and I walnut blasted the intake valves. I had never done this before, but it was fun. Picked up a 50 pound media blaster, 25 pounds of walnut shells, towels, picks, and redesigned\3D printed a vacuum adapter for the L83's intake ports to minimize mess:
Here's how the adapter worked:


It went rather well. I would recommend something different than that silicon tube, something more rigid would work better. I followed up with brake cleaner, soaked that up with rags, then walnut blasted it again. Here's some before and after pics:


I have plenty of progress pics, but I think that is the only after. Here's everything ready for reassembly:

I have only idled it for a bit, but it seems quite a bit smoother. Hoping to hear about sway bars soon!