Project 99 Yukon

[KenpoFish]

Great write up. Full of ideas for future projects.

 

[My99Yukon]

Five (5) New BFG T/A KO2 265/75 R16

Finally replaced my 5 year old, faithful LT tires (including full size spare), not because of minimal tread depth but because of years in service. I do a lot of highway miles in between mountain, mud and snow trips. I still had grip but the thought of a delamination event at highway speeds is enough to make anyone stop and consider their mortality so I put some new rubber BFG KO2's on for the winter season and the next few years. Also, I thought about trying to go bigger but I decided to forget any type of lift. It is amazing with just a small torsion crank and an extra rear leaf I put in years ago to manage heavier loads. So...



Love the look and they ride really well. No new road noise and the new tires give a great ride. I saw a great video about tire rebound and deformation and how old tires lose some of those qualities. I will post it when I find it but for now, at least one should consider that:

An old tire is a lot like an old rubber band. A rubber band that has been exposed to the elements or that has been used frequently will show visible cracks when stretched out. The rubber band concept can be used to relate to the aged tire.


As a tire is put onto a vehicle and driven, the elements and age will work against the materials of the tire to cause cracks in the rubber to form. The cracks may not be visible to the naked eye; in fact, the cracks may form only inside the tire. Eventually over time, the cracking will cause the steel treads to separate from the rubber components of the tire.

• compound that is designed to be impermeable to air so as to keep the air inside the tire where it belongs. No inner liner is completely impermeable, so some air will always leak slowly through the liner due to osmosis. The quality of the inner liner determines just how much air leaks through, and therefore how fast the inner structure of the tire is exposed to oxygen.
• Oxygen Concentration. It's pretty easy to see that oxidation rates will increase when the oxygen concentration is higher. What this means is that a tire that is mounted and filled with compressed air will age much faster than a tire that is simply being stored, because the air pressure is orders of magnitude higher in a filled tire, and more oxygen will permeate through the liner.
• Heat. Oxidation of rubber occurs much faster under high heat than low heat. In essence, heat increases both the permeability and reactivity of oxygen, making it both easier for oxygen to get through the inner liner and easier for it to react with the rubber inside the tire.
• Usage. When a tire is driven, the pressure and flexing motion circulate the internal oils through the rubber. These oils lubricate the internal rubber and keep it from drying and stiffening. So tires that are used less are often more vulnerable to aging effects.

 

[Etraeger]

Rear Bumper - Swingout - Wavian Authentic NATO Jerry Fuel Can

It seems like a small change but I am excited today to make a visual and actual change from the soccer mom mobile to a more capable off road vehicle. For all the purists out there, don't be a hater because this is a work in progress and I am happy with the improved departure angle, additional fuel and range for SHTF and having the spare tire accessible instead of stuck under the ass end.

I went from this...

View attachment 82646

and this...

View attachment 82647

to this...


View attachment 82648

and this...


View attachment 82649

Locking gas cap bars, solid DOM tubular steel rear bumper that protects the rear end and doors ( rock sliders welded to frame ) from an inadvertent bounce off a rock, extra fuel, incorporated 2" inch attached to the frame ( I have a hitch mounted D Ring for rescue pulls ) and it looks great.

I got probably an extra 7 or 8 inches on my departure angle and incorporated my backup lights into the tubes for protection. Love it!

Wow! Not only does it look great, but its very functional as well! Nice!

 

[DallasTahoe]

Rear Bumper - Swingout - Wavian Authentic NATO Jerry Fuel Can

It seems like a small change but I am excited today to make a visual and actual change from the soccer mom mobile to a more capable off road vehicle. For all the purists out there, don't be a hater because this is a work in progress and I am happy with the improved departure angle, additional fuel and range for SHTF and having the spare tire accessible instead of stuck under the ass end.

I went from this...

View attachment 82646

and this...

View attachment 82647

to this...


View attachment 82648

and this...


View attachment 82649

Locking gas cap bars, solid DOM tubular steel rear bumper that protects the rear end and doors ( rock sliders welded to frame ) from an inadvertent bounce off a rock, extra fuel, incorporated 2" inch attached to the frame ( I have a hitch mounted D Ring for rescue pulls ) and it looks great.

I got probably an extra 7 or 8 inches on my departure angle and incorporated my backup lights into the tubes for protection. Love it!

Love the rig man! By the way where did you get the rear bumper and swing out setup? I’ll be making a trip up to Colorado to camp for a couple weeks in September and I would love to put something like this on my rig you got a link or something?


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[My99Yukon]

Thanks for the kudos, Dallas,
I love the setup. Backup lights fit perfectly and I can siphon directly from the left can. 5 gallons in just a couple of minutes...swap sides and repeat. Bam. 10 gallons and on the road. So happy with it!

I went to a fab shop, told them what I wanted and he made it happen. I was expecting a slightly larger DOM but it is strong enough to do its job of tire/fuel stowage and collision protection.

I think the swingout and sliders were around $800 unfinished. I cant remember if I paid for the sliders separately but I think that was all in for the $800.

I did the sanding, cleaning and paint so there is some sweat equity and saved some cash.

Good luck and post some pics when you are done.

 

[DallasTahoe]

Thanks for the kudos, Dallas,
I love the setup. Backup lights fit perfectly and I can siphon directly from the left can. 5 gallons in just a couple of minutes...swap sides and repeat. Bam. 10 gallons and on the road. So happy with it!

I went to a fab shop, told them what I wanted and he made it happen. I was expecting a slightly larger DOM but it is strong enough to do its job of tire/fuel stowage and collision protection.

I think the swingout and sliders were around $800 unfinished. I cant remember if I paid for the sliders separately but I think that was all in for the $800.

I did the sanding, cleaning and paint so there is some sweat equity and saved some cash.

Good luck and post some pics when you are done.

That’s awesome! Dammit!! Lol thought you bought one off the rack! Oh well, thought I’d ask. Ive been pretty much doing the exact thing you are, I’ve pretty much completely rebuilt my rig and I don’t regret it, I do need to get a new motor at some point, I’m pushing 270,000 right now but she runs great and is super reliable, which is what I need, so maybe next year. Just completed an enclosed carry box and I’ll be making a rigid molle panel for the passenger side rear window for more storage, and possibly something to use the space inside the barn doors. Haven’t decided on that one yet though, I’m trying to keep everything as light as possible, since I’ll be driving a few hundred miles through the mountains


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[My99Yukon]

Post some pics of your storage. That is always of interest to me. I modified my storage so I can sleep in the back. I just took out my back seats with a storage platform over my legs and it is perfect if you are under 7ft. lol.

Next step is a custom roof rack but still planning that one. No way to get around the small load capacity of (160lbs?/200lbs?)...one of those two...unless you do an exoskeleton and I dont care about that. So I will just throw light bulky gear up there when needed.

This weekend or next I am going to tackle the spiders. The beast runs great so it is really just getting dirty, killing boredom and continuing to make small improvements. At 196K, it is long overdue anyway.

 

[DallasTahoe]

Post some pics of your storage. That is always of interest to me. I modified my storage so I can sleep in the back. I just took out my back seats with a storage platform over my legs and it is perfect if you are under 7ft. lol.

Next step is a custom roof rack but still planning that one. No way to get around the small load capacity of (160lbs?/200lbs?)...one of those two...unless you do an exoskeleton and I dont care about that. So I will just throw light bulky gear up there when needed.

This weekend or next I am going to tackle the spiders. The beast runs great so it is really just getting dirty, killing boredom and continuing to make small improvements. At 196K, it is long overdue anyway.

Here’s my side storage above my sub box (gotta keep my music)


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[My99Yukon]

Very cool.

 

[4myfreedom]

Dash Console Auxiliary Switch Panel

Parts List:
BlueSea Systems 12v Monitor
BlueSea Systems Dual USB 4.8A 12V Charger
ACDelco 15-72547 GM Original Equipment Heating and Air Conditioning Control Panel with Rear Window Defogger Switch
Chevy Tahoe Radio Stereo CD Replacement Pocket

I wanted to clean up the ugly installation for the existing aux light switches and reclaim some of the space from the long broken and unused CD Player...
View attachment 85434

So I fabbed a custom platform out of some ABS and prewired a bunch of 20amp toggle switches. I realized later that I might need to use a 30amp switch at some point so rather than ordering new expensive switches, I just wired the 20amp toggles that I had with 10g wire so I can swap the toggles out when I need a higher load capacity.

The KC lights came with 30amp switches so I used these for the driving and spot lights. I ordered a third switch from KC so I could use that for my backup lights and they would all look uniform.

I kept the lower right toggle switch to turn on/off my Blue Sea 12v Battery Monitor so it would not draw any power when I am parked for extended periods.

View attachment 85435

I run 10g wires directly from the Blue Sea 12v monitor to my custom fuse block which is tied to the second battery by 4g to try to get the most accurate reading possible. I removed the three hole 12V panel and cut some ABS to size, drilled holes, wired it up and screwed the panel into the interior plastic lip. It fit perfectly and the interior lip had just enough width to allow for a solid hold.

View attachment 85436

The last part of this dash makeover and wiring project was to get rid of the old CD player and fix the fan control switch which oddly enough had just started to fail in the last few weeks.

I bought a switch to just replace this failing part for $20 but by plastic on the 18 year old panel just fell apart when I started to work on it so I ended up having to buy the $140 OEM AC Delco 15-72547 Heating and AC Control cluster. Not thrilled about that but at least I know that I will be reliable for a very long time.

I replaced the old CD with the Chevy Stereo CD Replacement holder. It fits perfectly and gives me a place to put my cell phone when driving.

It is hard to see the numbers on the 12v monitor but it is fun to see the WirthCo 20092 Battery Doctor 125 Amp/150 Amp Battery Isolator doing its job really well. I added a single 12v 4.2amp dual USB port which is on the same switch as the battery monitor so I can shut them off at the same time and reduce any parasitic draw when I am stationary.

I feel like I am back in the cockpit of a fighter jet.

I want to put USB ports where my lighter and plug ins are they hard to swap?/


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