RENAMED!! The adventures of Chase and his 2006 Yukon XL Denali!! Follow along on my travels!

[adventurenali92]

Geez, man, you're suppose to bed in the PADS!

Seriously, they were due, and a job well done!

Gotta like sleep a king to get up and run a business like a king…..


187k on the Nali’s odometer now…. Shoulda snapped a pic on Tuesday afternoon when I was at my church detailing a Tacoma for my favorite client, and the 187k Nali jump started a first gen Honda pilot when it wouldn’t start…… well done haha.

 

[adventurenali92]

Sunday night update: rear brake pads on for a week and all good.

While the truck was at the shop last week he noted my front sway bar end links were not happy with bushings. I ordered OEM GM replacements from rock auto and using the member discount code. They showed up yesterday morning totally unexpectedly. Watched. Couple videos online after thinking about when to schedule it with the shop. Watched a couple YouTube videos and decided I can do this…. Well it was not as easy as the video made it look. The new part is not identical to the aorta that came out. But my buddy that’s managing autozone and also goes to my church, verified I had the right parts at the store. Jacked it up, pulled the wheel, unbolted the bolts on the passenger side end link, and once the bolt was out of the slider pin it just fell out bushings were so toast….

Struggled to get the new part on because the slider bolt is longer than what I assume was the part that was on the truck when it left the Janesville, WI factory. Lol. but the bolt is shorter.

Got home, called my buddy that used to be the head mechanic at the Jeep shop, to pick his brain on how to get the new part cleared into the control arm and sway bar and get the holes to stay properly lined up and seated in each corresponding hole. Thankfully he talked me through using the floor jack to push the control arm up and take pressure of the sway bar. That gave me enough room to clear the longer slider bolts and keep the bushings lined up in their holes. Got both sides banged out. Driver side went quick once I knew the trick. Got ‘em bolted in with loctite into the threads with the upper threaded bushing that went on. First photos of old bushings and end links once out and up against the new parts.

 

[adventurenali92]

Drivers side bushings weren’t anywhere near as bad. But was already apart so out they came and new parts went in. Was a little dirtier cuz of a small power steering fluid leak from the steering gear box seal is not so good.

 

[adventurenali92]

New parts in and truck back on the ground on its wheels. So much cleaner with new end links and bushings. Truck was squeaking over bumps and such a lot lately. Knew something was up but this fixed the issue. Took it for a good test ride to feel it out. So happy and I’m not gonna lie it’s feeling pretty damn good up front ride quality wise. Solid on the road and feeling WAY less of the little small imperfections in the road. I’m a happy camper and glad it’s done and I accomplished it. I’ll take a quick video in the morning when I roll out to work but it’s ready to roll on the AM.

 

[Tonyrodz]

Drivers side bushings weren’t anywhere near as bad. But was already apart so out they came and new parts went in. Was a little dirtier cuz of a small power steering fluid leak from the steering gear box seal is not so good.

Are you sure you don't have a tear in your cv axle boot? Kind of looks like it slung a little grease out of the boot.

 

[adventurenali92]

Are you sure you don't have a tear in your cv axle boot? Kind of looks like it slung a little grease out of the boot.

Nope. No torn CV boots. Same mechanic buddy told me a couple years ago when it was up on the rack at the Jeep shop for another maintenance time that the steering gearbox was definitely leaking.

 

[Fosscore]

Nice job sorting out that annoying squeak and part change out. Good pics for reference.

 

[iamdub]

Sunday night update: rear brake pads on for a week and all good.

While the truck was at the shop last week he noted my front sway bar end links were not happy with bushings. I ordered OEM GM replacements from rock auto and using the member discount code. They showed up yesterday morning totally unexpectedly. Watched. Couple videos online after thinking about when to schedule it with the shop. Watched a couple YouTube videos and decided I can do this…. Well it was not as easy as the video made it look. The new part is not identical to the aorta that came out. But my buddy that’s managing autozone and also goes to my church, verified I had the right parts at the store. Jacked it up, pulled the wheel, unbolted the bolts on the passenger side end link, and once the bolt was out of the slider pin it just fell out bushings were so toast….

Struggled to get the new part on because the slider bolt is longer than what I assume was the part that was on the truck when it left the Janesville, WI factory. Lol. but the bolt is shorter.

Got home, called my buddy that sued to head mechanic at the Jeep shop, to pick his brain on how to get the new part cleared into the control arm and sway bar and get the holes to stay properly lined up and seated in each corresponding hole. Thankfully he talked me through using the floor jack to push the control arm up and take pressure of the sway bar. That gave me enough room to clear the longer slider bolts and keep the bushings lined up in their holes. Got both sides banged out. Driver side went quick once I knew the trick. Got ‘em bolted in with loctite into the threads with the upper threaded bushing that went on. First photos of old bushings and end links once out and up against the new parts.

Those that you replaced aren't original. They might not have been direct OE replacements, either. Someone could've just replaced them with something that were longer, but "close enough". Or maybe it had a small lift prior to your ownership and they got appropriately longer links.

Speaking of, have you checked the sway bar frame bushings? If worn, the blue Moog bushings are really cheap ($12ish?) and a great upgrade over stock.

 

[adventurenali92]

Those that you replaced aren't original. They might not have been direct OE replacements, either. Someone could've just replaced them with something that were longer, but "close enough". Or maybe it had a small lift prior to your ownership and they got appropriately longer links.

Speaking of, have you checked the sway bar frame bushings? If worn, the blue Moog bushings are really cheap ($12ish?) and a great upgrade over stock.

I bought it bone stock with no lift….. so not sure how that would have happened but beyond the service records that came with it I know nothing about the first owner that purchased it new. The only thing I know is that I bought it from the same dealer that sold it new according to the records they gave me with it and I’m only second owner of it.

As far as the sway bar bushings go I’ve already had them replaced.

 

[adventurenali92]

More stupid busy weeks. Still not getting to enjoy a lot of my life lately. Not happy about that. So I’m taking little me time wins here and there. I’m the middle of another 10 day ranch stay. It’s becoming a full time job, one that I definitely did not sign up for and they fully take advantage of me. They pay me peanuts pretty much and expect me to be there pretty much anytime I’m not working. I am not going to live like this.

Anyways little me time, this whole stay at the ranch, anytime I’m not working and it’s not horse feeding time or over night sleep time so the dogs can be in the house, I go home to my house. Eating meals here. Showering here. Getting projects around the house done in my down time. Took time last night to dust off the truck and what not but had a little paint scuff from apparently brushing the edge of the garage door jamb. No idea when it happened. But been there a bit. So I took care of that.

More truck projects to update on soon.
Still weird to me to see the shadow of my truck in a garage door with the light on knowing it’s my garage and not someone else’s to only temporarily enjoy. Lol