I'm new! 2003 Yukon Denali

[TreeChase]

Welcome to the forum from Oregon. I arrived here in Oregon 23 years ago and had a 1996 2 door 4wd Tahoe at the time. I wanted to go four wheeling. I soon found out that these rigs were ok for light stuff and just getting out on smooth trails in the forests around here. To do what I wanted to do I bought a rough old 1973 Blazer and threw money at it. I had a roll cage, 6" lift, 38" Swamper tires, Detroit locker in the rear 14 bolt full float axle and a Detroit locker in the Dana 60 front axle. I had a special power steering assist hydraulic system for maneuvering in tight places. I had an all aluminum 4 row radiator with electric fans with a Stroked small block 350 chevy engine that was a 383 with special pistons and a Holley 4 barrel carb that had special kits in it that allowed for very off kilter wheeling. I trailered to the Tillamook forest and went to Moab with it and had a great time.

The point I am trying to make is that if you want to wheel it is best to have a purpose built rig. Otherwise you will keep doing damage to your Denali. My rig was rattle can black painted and went by the name "Brutus". That rig was always the one called on to come get people out of being stuck. I had a Warn winch that I could swap and use at either end of my rig.

You want to four wheel, get the money out and go for it.

that sounds like an awesome build! and yeah your definetely right. especially like that other guy said wait the differential, ive had some scares, and i got high centered on this stupid tiny tree stump. i did look into lockers and a swap with a 4x4 system, but its so much work and money. the light stuff was fun, the medium stuff was sketchy as hell haha

 

[TreeChase]

We do probably have an infinite number of places to off-road in Oregon. I'm in Corvallis but don't get off the beaten path much. I have a 2003 Tahoe, and am curious what you did for an audio system. I have a Bose system but the radio/CD needs replaced.
Mike

i think kenwood excelon or something for the head unit, it was cheap, had all the preouts, bluetooth, hands free mic thing, and has a little cubby. my setup is probably a bit extreme, but id recommend skar audio for sure. The stock bose sub was in the center console, im sure yours is too. i added a bench seat from a 2012 1500 or something. so you could probably replace that or it would probably be easier to use the cubby in the back where the stock non bose subwoofer goes. and i had my door speakers wired to the back by a shop, im not sure what they did. im assuming they go to the factory amp, which im gonna check out soon i want to clean up my setup. theres also an oem bracket for the diesel sierras if you want to add a second battery which i sure did. also im not sure why but the door speakers were getting wet, so i got some styrofoam things and its been fine.

 

[OR VietVet]

Welcome to the forum from Oregon.

 

[TreeChase]

so funny thing is, ive still had the same issue this whole time, and decided to research it again. i found this post on this forum and this guy had the EXACT same issue. then i realized it was me XD ill turn my notifications on or something or maybe emails are auto spammed. but yeah, still love her, lots of adventures, daily driven and wont ever get rid of her. im trying to see my options in finally fixing it. gonna look into double cardan joint and 1" jounce bumper extension. no idea what those are. also its said service air ride for years but feels fine, wondering how people feel with the conversion. still floats and feels comfy to me though! also im in florida now, i wonder how clean that paint is behind the front license plate cover XD

 

[1xd5]

pshhh of course! and after the lift i dont think i was rubbing anymore, but it may be partly due to the extreme wear on the tires from whatever the issue is, that im still having to this day. i ended up going stock tires after moving to florida. it was pretty much flat on the left on the outside fronts not bad on the outside fronts and the rears had plenty of life left. its mainly the front left.View attachment 451429View attachment 451425View attachment 451426View attachment 451427View attachment 451428 ive had it looked at by multiple places it seems like they fix it then after a day or two its messed up again. curious about what you did! and yeah heres some pics sorry its a little late!

Sweet! I ended up going with Bilstein 5100's all around, Moog 81069 Springs, aftermarket torsion keys cranked a little, and Falken Wildpeak at3w P285/70r/17's.