Dustin Jacksons 2008 Chevy Tahoe Build Thread

[Dustin Jackson]

Turned over 200,000 miles 7/27/2024

 

[Dustin Jackson]

At about 200,080 miles I replaced the lower control arms after I found one of my Moog balljoint was loose. I went with Mevotech TTX for the lower control arms.

Leading up to this the ride on the Tahoe was pretty hard and loose feeling, going over old pavement roads was kind of scary because of how much the Tahoe would jerk around.

With the new balljoints in it's a night and day different. The steering feels heavier and more confident and uneven roads don't influent the ride anymore. Very happy about the ride quality of the suspension.

2 things to note about the mevotech TTX parts.
1.) the upper balljoint boot is coming apart already
2.) the lower balljoint zerk fittings are facing the front and not the rear but they do include zerk fitting caps.

 

[Dustin Jackson]

Another development is I've been chasing down bad shaking on the freeway above 70mph. I jacked up the tahoe and when I spin the wheels they end up contacting the ground so it seems the tires are out of round. I made an appointment with the tire shop I bought them at and will update on the result here. The tires are 3 years old KO2 tires with about 30k miles on them, they are in good shape still but they ride so bad right now.

 

[Dustin Jackson]

Ended up warrantying the upper control arm through Rock Auto. I had to buy a new control arm and ship the bad one back in the same box and they will supposedly give me a refund here in a couple day.

Just checked the ball joints and everything looks good still had to take the original mevotech off and put the new one on a couple weeks ago.

 

[Dustin Jackson]

I finally got around to removing the broken sway bar bracket bolts thanks to some broken bolt extractors from Amazon.

Finally have the sway bar on after having it off for 2 years.




I am really impressed with these Sway bar end links from Ac Delco, the entire set of hardware is like grade 8 and the bushings seem really stout and say made in USA. The last time i ran the sway bar i used a "premium" set of end links from Moog and they had these marshmallow bushings and they were trashed after 6 months.

I tightened them just enough to where the thread started coming out the top of the end link nut.


Here is the part number of the sway bar end links

 

[Dustin Jackson]

Since my last update I have discovered a problem on the driver side, there is a click in the wheel when moving it in the 12 and 6 positions. After much inspection I determined it was the wheel bearing and warrantied the timken unit and still had the problem. I thought it was the upper control arm so I warrantied that as well but the problem is still present.

I don't understand, I have replaced everything except for the tie rods and I am still having a strange click coming from the hub area when trying to wiggle the wheel. I removed the caliper and tested and the problem persists.

 

[swathdiver]

I finally got around to removing the broken sway bar bracket bolts thanks to some broken bolt extractors from Amazon.

Finally have the sway bar on after having it off for 2 years.

View attachment 435568


I am really impressed with these Sway bar end links from Ac Delco, the entire set of hardware is like grade 8 and the bushings seem really stout and say made in USA. The last time i ran the sway bar i used a "premium" set of end links from Moog and they had these marshmallow bushings and they were trashed after 6 months.

I tightened them just enough to where the thread started coming out the top of the end link nut.
View attachment 435569

Here is the part number of the sway bar end links
View attachment 435570

Since my last update I have discovered a problem on the driver side, there is a click in the wheel when moving it in the 12 and 6 positions. After much inspection I determined it was the wheel bearing and warrantied the timken unit and still had the problem. I thought it was the upper control arm so I warrantied that as well but the problem is still present.

17 foot pounds

I don't understand, I have replaced everything except for the tie rods and I am still having a strange click coming from the hub area when trying to wiggle the wheel. I removed the caliper and tested and the problem persists.

Hub? Have you measured tie rod play on both the inner and outer tie rods? Any movement over 1 millimeter is out of spec.

 

[Dustin Jackson]

@swathdiver I think I covered that in my inspection but I’ll double check by disconnecting the tie rod from the knuckle and seeing if the symptom persists.

The Tahoe rides great expect above 70mph it starts to get micro death wobble and it feels terrible. Not sure if it’s the tires or if this click is the culprit

 

[Dustin Jackson]

@swathdiver How do you know it's time to replace the steering rack itself? I haven't tested the tie rod ends yet but I'm at 200k miles so I am thinking of replacing the steering rack as well.

 

[swathdiver]

@swathdiver How do you know it's time to replace the steering rack itself? I haven't tested the tie rod ends yet but I'm at 200k miles so I am thinking of replacing the steering rack as well.

Leaking, once the seals start to leak, it's time to rebuild or replace. The bushings that insulate it from the chassis usually go first and are now replaceable too.