The previous owner of my vehicle drove it very little in the past 2 or 3 years, storing it outside. I don't know how much that contributed to these problems. I also live in NJ so salt corrosion from winter roads and outdoor storage need to be considered.
1) Your mass-airflow sensor, 10 years and 80k miles is a little soon.. what necessitated replacement?
CEL light came on first around 79,900 miles for the PO, he took it to an indy shop they cleaned it and reset the CEL. No CEL when I bought it at 80,000, but the CEL came back around 80,100 while I was driving it home. Took it to Chevy because I wanted an official diagnosis, in case it was something worse (I also suspected odometer rollback but thats another story). They bench tested the MAF and it was no good. I got way overcharged for the replacement, could have done this much cheaper myself.
2) 80k seems like a little soon to need a new steering linkage..
When I did the standard steering linkage test, that is car lifted, hands at 3 and 9 on the tire, shake back and forth, there was tons of play in the wheel. Also the steering felt like it was floating left to right and back as you drove it. Upon inspection the outer tie rod ends and pitman arm all had bad ball joints. I just decided to replace everything since the labor isn't much more once you pull tie rods & pitman plus the required alignment. The upgraded intermediate steering shaft is nice upgrade too boot. It tracks perfect now after finding the right person to align it.
The suspension ball joints on the UCA and LCA were actually in good shape and did not need any service. Wheel bearings where also fine. Vehicle was kept completely stock w/ OEM 17" chrome wheels and standard tire sizes. All the rear ball joints where also OK.
3) I guess you wouldn't know how the ride used to be with good reliable air shocks on the front, if you just replaced them.. but how do you like the ride w/ conventional shocks?
The front shocks are electrically dampened gas pressure shocks. The rear shocks are both electrically dampened and air leveled. At 80K the front shocks where blown from the bottom cylinder welds and the rear air bladders had completely ruptured, air compressor was also shot.
My solution eliminated the front electrical dampening but kept the rear system features. I like the way it rides so much, I wish I would have just converted all 4 corners and saved the considerable expense of the OEM air compressor and now very expensive sensors. I have owned a 03 Yukon Denali with a functional factory system, so I have some basis for comparison. There is, no question, more body roll w/o the front electrical dampening. Also the vehicle stability does not improve at higher speeds (it doesn't lower at 55), it simply stays the same. But overall it's a little stiffer and still very comfortable. (I like to say it rides like a Tahoe now)
4) What kind of seat covers are you looking at? The ones from TheSeatShop.com seem to be a favorite around here, but I'm not sure how closely they match OEM in color/feel/etc.
For the past few projects I have used Katzkin seat cover products and have been very satisfied with the results. You can check out their website for options, they are near limitless, but even the most basic option is high end and fits well. I also like that you can choose a non-factory color. Every once in a while these pop up on ebay for very reasonable prices.
