Dave's 2006 Escalade AWD Build Thread

[Onebadsss]

I use the Phillips ones for my plate lights rest of the LED's I got from superbrightleds.com

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How do you like the quality of the SuperBrightLEDs compared to your Philips ones? I really like the Sylvania ZEVOs because of the plastic dome housing that makes them more closely resemble standard halogens. Plus Sylvania boasts a lifetime warranty on the ZEVO bulbs!

I got the same lights off Amazon run these for your LED fogs

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Dude those look awesome! Do you have a link?

 

[Onebadsss]

So with the foglights and taglights replaced, engine oil/oil filter and air filter changed, and wheels/tires balanced/rotated, I figured the beast was ready to pass MA state inspection so I took her down to the local inspection station. You can imagine my surprise when the inspector told me she FAILED and come to find out it's because the installed aftermarket tint on the front windows was "too dark":



Soooooooooo $80 and a week later, I had the old tint removed and replaced with MA legal limit tint and passed state inspection

 

[Onebadsss]

With the state inspection completed I turned my attention to cosmetic issues and made the steering wheel controls my first priority since the wifey was unhappy with their condition:





So I scored a complete set of OEM replacement buttons on eBay:



Installed:





They look great but I'm underwhelmed with the light output so they will get upgraded with bright white LEDs when the rest of the interior lights are upgraded!

 

[Onebadsss]

Personally I'm not a fan of most aftermarket wheels as I like the clean appearance of model correct OEM wheels so the Helo 20" wheels that came installed on Esky were next on my list to change:



I was actually able to successfully sell those wheels (to fund a clean set of OEM 20's) before I located a set to replace them with! So in the meantime I found an okay condition set of OEM 17's with decent tires for cheap to throw on the truck (I planned to acquire these eventually anyway to install winter tires on since I live on a step hill and, even with AWD, it's a ***** to get up and down the street with snow on the ground!):

 

[chevync]

Here is mine...

 

[Onebadsss]

After a month of lurking on Craig's List, the local FB Marketplace and all the truck forums I FINALLY found a good condition set of the OEM 20" wheels I'd been looking for:



The seller worked as a car detailer so the wheel faces are immaculate! The barrels are all succumbing to New England corrosion issues so I'll run them on the truck this spring/summer/fall and then send them off for PVD chroming once I switch over to winter wheels.

With the right wheels in hand I proceeded to order OEM Cadillac center caps:



As well as new OEM TPMS (since my original ones went with the aftermarket wheel set):

 

[Onebadsss]

Here is mine...View attachment 80739 View attachment 80740 View attachment 80741

Looking good man! Those wheels look pretty sweet! Are they 22's?

 

[chevync]

Looking good man! Those wheels look pretty sweet! Are they 22's?

Yes, with 305 40 22. I like the new wheels. You will like the esky in the snow.

 

[Fosscore]

Man another sweet NBS Escalade here. You guys @Onebadsss @95escahoe and @chevync have some seriously nice rides. Love this model Escalade and that big motor. Yessss!!

 

[Onebadsss]

Man another sweet NBS Escalade here. You guys @Onebadsss @95escahoe and @chevync have some seriously nice rides. Love this model Escalade and that big motor. Yessss!!

Thanks @Fosscore!! Your 2006 Tahoe build thread is the gold standard I'm trying to emulate! But I also have to give proper credit due to @tgui since his 2002 Yukon build thread is where I draw my inspiration for humor and he and I also share a similar level of mechanical experience for anything beyond oil changes and brake jobs, lol!