Building the SS(V) TrailHoe
- Thread starter Bill 1960
- Start date
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Thanks for the link, but that’s not in the cards. Yes, SFA is great off road, but the penalty in ride quality and road manners is not a trade off I’d make. The main point of this build was to have comfort on the trails and on the interstate.
I have other vehicles with SFA including newer ones than this, and they’re sitting at home.
If I feel an upgrade is needed for my use I’ll probably try to custom fit a 2500 IFS front diff.
I have other vehicles with SFA including newer ones than this, and they’re sitting at home.
If I feel an upgrade is needed for my use I’ll probably try to custom fit a 2500 IFS front diff.
RooTBeeRthe1st
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I would love to see what all that takes. Thought about doing it myself, but definitely not feasible at the moment since I would need a lot of downtime on the vehicle.
Nothing going on build wise, just maintenance lately. Brake booster in WY and fuel pump in MT.
Performance on and off road has been everything I hoped for. Yesterday we were out in the National forest and picked up a hiker caught out in a rainstorm without adequate gear and took her back to her camp. She commented on how smooth the ride was on the rough track. I’ve put in so much seat time now I’ve forgotten how bad factory vehicles ride off pavement.
Today took a ride along the continental divide trail in MT. Parts of it were nothing more than a SxS trail but the Hoe didn’t break a sweat through mud, rocks, and roots.
Here’s a pic along the top of the divide.
Performance on and off road has been everything I hoped for. Yesterday we were out in the National forest and picked up a hiker caught out in a rainstorm without adequate gear and took her back to her camp. She commented on how smooth the ride was on the rough track. I’ve put in so much seat time now I’ve forgotten how bad factory vehicles ride off pavement.
Today took a ride along the continental divide trail in MT. Parts of it were nothing more than a SxS trail but the Hoe didn’t break a sweat through mud, rocks, and roots.
Here’s a pic along the top of the divide.
RooTBeeRthe1st
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Making Tahoes great...again? Haha
swathdiver
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Living my dreams Bill! Awesome!
Time for a review of mods to date, after several thousand miles of roads and trails.
The lift:
Ride quality is excellent. With the combination of lift and tires it’s comfortable on pavement and rough terrain.
Handling is decent, as long as you respect the higher COG.
Steering is precise, one of the reasons I like IFS. It is slightly sensitive due to the higher COG. The maximum cut angle on the front wheels is less than stock, so the turning circle is larger; that’s a noticeable downside in maneuvering.
Track width increases at the front using lift spindles, by about 4”. Add in the effect of big tires and the required different wheel offset to clear the spindles and it’s overall close to 8” wider at the front tires. That’s the one big downside to IFS lifted GM in my opinion. It’s noticeable on the trails as the front tires tend to snag objects at the outside edges of ruts and pull at the steering.
Wheels:
I’m about 90% satisfied with these for my purposes. Not perfect because they’re not hub centric which makes me think they might be behind a slight high speed imbalance.
Tires:
BFG FTW is all I can say. I’ve been driving around on all sorts of nasty terrain including volcanic rock, and that’s nasty sharp stuff. Quiet like highway tread on the road, grip well in the rain. Not a mud tire, if I was doing much of that I’d get the MT.
The cabinetry:
No rattles or squeaks and keeps all my gear in place through a lot of rugged trails. One of the dogs did complain that carpeting on plywood was not as soft as the rear seat cushions had been, so I had to buy her a memory foam dog bed for the rear; now she’s happy.
The stereo head unit:
This is an aggravating POS don’t buy it. Glitchy. Hard to use screen controls while driving. The sound is good, that the only good thing I can say about it.
Hopefully this long dissertation will help some future readers decide what they will or will not spend their hard earned money on.
The lift:
Ride quality is excellent. With the combination of lift and tires it’s comfortable on pavement and rough terrain.
Handling is decent, as long as you respect the higher COG.
Steering is precise, one of the reasons I like IFS. It is slightly sensitive due to the higher COG. The maximum cut angle on the front wheels is less than stock, so the turning circle is larger; that’s a noticeable downside in maneuvering.
Track width increases at the front using lift spindles, by about 4”. Add in the effect of big tires and the required different wheel offset to clear the spindles and it’s overall close to 8” wider at the front tires. That’s the one big downside to IFS lifted GM in my opinion. It’s noticeable on the trails as the front tires tend to snag objects at the outside edges of ruts and pull at the steering.
Wheels:
I’m about 90% satisfied with these for my purposes. Not perfect because they’re not hub centric which makes me think they might be behind a slight high speed imbalance.
Tires:
BFG FTW is all I can say. I’ve been driving around on all sorts of nasty terrain including volcanic rock, and that’s nasty sharp stuff. Quiet like highway tread on the road, grip well in the rain. Not a mud tire, if I was doing much of that I’d get the MT.
The cabinetry:
No rattles or squeaks and keeps all my gear in place through a lot of rugged trails. One of the dogs did complain that carpeting on plywood was not as soft as the rear seat cushions had been, so I had to buy her a memory foam dog bed for the rear; now she’s happy.The stereo head unit:
This is an aggravating POS don’t buy it. Glitchy. Hard to use screen controls while driving. The sound is good, that the only good thing I can say about it.
Hopefully this long dissertation will help some future readers decide what they will or will not spend their hard earned money on.
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