RGA’s 2001 Tahoe LT Build Thread

[RGA1215]

Oh damn yea that's a 50/50 chance if they painted around or under the molding. Well since you know the original owners find out where they purchased it. Talk to a old timer who's still working in the service department since 01 and he/she will have a definate answer.

Good idea! I’ve actually got some business cards and the window sticker from the dealership so I already know where it’s from. The dealer is about 6 hours away from where I live, but they are always just a phone call/email away! I’ll have to get in touch with them or dig some more on the internet to see if there’s anyone else who has had a two tone and took off their moldings. I actually saw an all black Tahoe LT in the parking lot the other day, and it had black textured moldings, which mine are smooth and pewter. I don’t know if all black Tahoe’s had those textured moldings, but if mine did then maybe they put entirely new painted ones on and painted under beforehand. Love the two tone, but it’s making things confusing!

 

[05Single]

Funny we were talking about this. Just yesterday i took the molding off my dad's truck. Give you some light at the end of the tunnel. I think you're good to go.

 

[RGA1215]

Funny we were talking about this. Just yesterday i took the molding off my dad's truck. Give you some light at the end of the tunnel. I think you're good to go.View attachment 190429 View attachment 190430

Thanks so much! That really makes me feel a lot more confident! And I’m jealous of your Dad, I love the color combination of his truck. How did you go about removing the moldings? I know many people recommend using an eraser wheel, but how did you actually pry the molding up?

 

[Rocket Man]

You can use a heat gun to pry an edge of the molding up so you can see underneath and if it's not painted under there you should be able to re-stick while it's still warm. It would seem like there might be a difference between a factory painted 2-tone and a dealer-painted one like you said yours was. @05Single do you know if your dad's truck came painted 2-tone from the factory?

 

[05Single]

You can use a heat gun to pry an edge of the molding up so you can see underneath and if it's not painted under there you should be able to re-stick while it's still warm. It would seem like there might be a difference between a factory painted 2-tone and a dealer-painted one like you said yours was. @05Single do you know if your dad's truck came painted 2-tone from the factory?

His is factory.
But let's take a step back first. More i think about it would cost more money and take more time to tape and paint around the molding than to tear it off and replace it since these molding are so cheap anyway.
That's my opinion.

Btw pry molding up with fingers and muscles popping out of shirt.

 

[RGA1215]

You can use a heat gun to pry an edge of the molding up so you can see underneath and if it's not painted under there you should be able to re-stick while it's still warm. It would seem like there might be a difference between a factory painted 2-tone and a dealer-painted one like you said yours was. @05Single do you know if your dad's truck came painted 2-tone from the factory?

His is factory.
But let's take a step back first. More i think about it would cost more money and take more time to tape and paint around the molding than to tear it off and replace it since these molding are so cheap anyway.
That's my opinion.

Btw pry molding up with fingers and muscles popping out of shirt.

Lol. I’m going to order an eraser wheel tonight and Sunday/Monday it’s supposed to be warmest in my area so I think I will try removing them then. If I start prying and I see it’s not painted under there, I’ll just stick it back quickly like @Rocket Man said. I think @05Single is right though, it probably would have been too much trouble for them to repaint the moldings and such with how cheap they are. I’m thinking my moldings would have been textured black originally as well, because my bumper cap is textured black, so maybe mine didn’t have the smooth ones? The moldings are smooth now so if they werent originally they would have had to sand them down and everything to make them pewter like they are now.

 

[HiHoeSilver]

His is factory.
But let's take a step back first. More i think about it would cost more money and take more time to tape and paint around the molding than to tear it off and replace it since these molding are so cheap anyway.
That's my opinion.

Btw pry molding up with fingers and muscles popping out of shirt.

YOU can pull them off!

 

[RGA1215]

Well I had to replace my driver side fog light because it got water in it for whatever reason during this last round of rain. Luckily it was easy to install.



I also installed new struts for the trunk and the glass about a week ago because the trunk would slowly fall and the glass wouldnt stay up at all. I just got the struts from Amazon for like $60 for all 4. They work great!



I’m also going to attempt to remove my body side moldings this weekend, just waiting for the eraser wheel to come in. Hopefully it will all go well!

 

[05Single]

Nice work, i know its little things but the feeling of accomplishment is still real. I remember when my gate struts went out and took my lazy ass a month to fix lol. But once i did it was nice not having to hold the gate open by hand anymore.

Fyi :Liftgate not trunk, just for future reference

And fog light looks good. These things are so easy to work on lol. Suprised you didn't just buy a pair and replace them both. How's the passenger side ?
Also its always good idea to throw a bead of silicone around the lens edge on aftermarket lights to prevent condensation and water intrusion.

 

[RGA1215]

Nice work, i know its little things but the feeling of accomplishment is still real. I remember when my gate struts went out and took my lazy ass a month to fix lol. But once i did it was nice not having to hold the gate open by hand anymore.

Fyi :Liftgate not trunk, just for future reference

And fog light looks good. These things are so easy to work on lol. Suprised you didn't just buy a pair and replace them both. How's the passenger side ?
Also its always good idea to throw a bead of silicone around the lens edge on aftermarket lights to prevent condensation and water intrusion.

Lol mine have been shot since I’ve had this vehicle. I just avoided using the liftgate (thanks for reminding it’s liftgate not trunk also) and put stuff in the back seat, but stuff always flew off the leather seats because they’re so slippery . In the past week that I’ve had the new struts on the liftgate I’ve been putting stuff in the back, and now nothing moves around and it’s much nicer. Also I only got one fog light because I replaced both about a year ago because the lenses fell off the OEM ones, but the replacement passenger is still crystal clear so I just left it. But now that you mention it I am going to silicone them because I don’t want water getting in again. I siliconed my DRL/Turn Signal housings when I got those, so I better do the same with these.