What did you do to your NNBS GMT900 Tahoe/Yukon Today?

[wjburken]

Agree 100% with not having a spare if it’s not the same size as the rest. As you said, that’s a great way to shell out your drive train. That’s not what I was commenting on.

I won’t replace just one tire on my Denali if I can’t find one with the same amount of wear on it as the rest. I’d rather buy a full set and not risk damage.

I looked at a 2011 Escalade ESV last month that a dealer in Palatine, IL had for sale and noticed that the rear tires had about 5/32 left on them and brand new tires on the front. Told them they are setting up the next buyer for some issues if they leave it that way.

 

[R3cord303]

The fact that its 100 pounds out of the vehicle doesnt matter as much as its 100 pounds out of what part of the vehicle. Taking 100 pounds off the top of the vehicle is going to make a bigger difference than 100 pounds off the bottom. Weight added or removed from outside of the axles vs in between the axles will also impact how the vehicle feels.

 

[wjburken]

Can’t say for the suburbans but the tahoes are ~5400 pounds for the 4wd models. That said on more suburban streets I can see people not being able to notice, and not everybody drives like I do. I’ve never been one to be afraid of a corner because sense the day I got my licence I’ve been back and fourth from the coast to the valley going over the pass and thru the twisties- so i’ll pretty much set the cruise at 62 and go for it.

Fair enough, however you haven’t driven with my wife. I had to get rid of our ‘09 Suburban LTZ because she thought the 5.3 was a gutless wonder. I bought it to get us by while I rebuilt the motor in our ‘07 XL Denali so when it was back up and running instead of keeping the ‘09 Suburban with 125K, we kept the ‘07 XL Denali with 272K on it simply for her need for speed and power.

 

[wjburken]

Point of clarification: I did not do a complete rebuild. I tore it apart enough to replace the camshaft after it was scrubbed by a failed lifter. In hindsight, I should have completely pulled the motor and did a full rebuild since all that I didn’t take out was the block, pistons and crank.

 

[R3cord303]

Fair enough, however you haven’t driven with my wife. I had to get rid of our ‘09 Suburban LTZ because she thought the 5.3 was a gutless wonder. I bought it to get us by while I rebuilt the motor in our ‘07 XL Denali so when it was back up and running instead of keeping the ‘09 Suburban with 125K, we kept the ‘07 XL Denali with 272K on it simply for her need for speed and power.

I would very much like to get to 400 horse in mine but I also want to do it on 87 or 89 octane. Will see what happens with an afm delete. I’m probably delusional.

When the time comes its gonna be the delete kit, new rings, decked and mild ported heads, port the intake and exhaust manifolds, and tune it. I know that wont get it to 400. But hopefully closer.

 

[mikeyss]

My grandad however who is the previous owner of my tahoe says he has taken them at 65 and that stabilitrack is ‘the shit’

Stabilitrack has saved my ass twice, and I like having it. The more interesting time it saved me was when a guy on a smaller motorcycle decided to play chase with me and my over 400hp Tahoe... There was a straight away followed my a sharp corner. I dusted him at first, then hit the corner at 65, got halfway through the corner and smashed the pedal to the floor. It must have been a second or 2 too quick for me to do that, and all power went away and the right side shocks energized and got itself unafraid of what I was doing, it returned all power and off I went. Hadn't I had stabilitrack, I may have rolled it on its side. I pay attention, but it's easy to forget the hoe weighs 5500 lbs or so, and even though it goes fast, doesn't mean it's gonna corner fast.

 

[R3cord303]

Stabilitrack has saved my ass twice, and I like having it. The more interesting time it saved me was when a guy on a smaller motorcycle decided to play chase with me and my over 400hp Tahoe... There was a straight away followed my a sharp corner. I dusted him at first, then hit the corner at 65, got halfway through the corner and smashed the pedal to the floor. It must have been a second or 2 too quick for me to do that, and all power went away and the right side shocks energized and got itself unafraid of what I was doing, it returned all power and off I went. Hadn't I had stabilitrack, I may have rolled it on its side. I pay attention, but it's easy to forget the hoe weighs 5500 lbs or so, and even though it goes fast, doesn't mean it's gonna corner fast.

It hasnt saved me yet but it does feel like it nannys the power thats for sure. I turned it off in the rain because i wanted to see if the limited slip in the rear diff worked in an empty parking lot. I turned the wheel to the side and gave it a little throttle. Long story short this being the first time I’ve had a vehicle with an LSD- yes it works and its a super weird feeling.

 

[mikeyss]

It hasnt saved me yet but it does feel like it nannys the power thats for sure. I turned it off in the rain because i wanted to see if the limited slip in the rear diff worked in an empty parking lot. I turned the wheel to the side and gave it a little throttle. Long story short this being the first time I’ve had a vehicle with an LSD- yes it works and its a super weird feeling.

I think it's the traction control that nannies the power away more than the stabilitrack. My 06 Vmax Sierra has AWD but no traction control or stabilitrack and the pedal is MUCH more responsive than my tuned L9H Tahoe that has traction control and stabili.. However, the Vmax has SOOO much torque management built in, that it doesn't need those systems, haha

 

[Doubeleive]

I can't tell any difference at all unless I am fully loaded with passengers, when I have all 6 of us in the truck the difference is very subtle, but I also have hellwig sway bars front & rear, metal skid plates, and around 100lbs in subwoofers/enclosure in the back. Then filled with 26+ gallons of fuel, it just feels slightly heavier I guess, still handles like a sports car unless it's very windy then I get pushed around a little. The type of tires you run and being rwd or awd make a ton of difference, when I had my nbs yukon xl and crappy tires the ass end could slip out on me when it was wet out, easily correctable but dis-concerning, just using good tires eliminated 99% of that, now switching to awd on the current truck (with good tires) the best I have got was all 4 tires burning out on a fast hard turn which was sort of on purpose, I accidentally pulled out in front of someone and needed to scoot fast, lol I still had complete control and moved into a straight line perfectly.

 

[swathdiver]

No pics yet but I took the spare tire, jack, and lug wrench off/out of the Tahoe todat as a weight reduction measure this afternoon. Its not really faster or any more race-car than it was before- but going over the pass on the way back to the coast I threw it around some corners and the tail end for sure follows the front end better. Thats the best way I can describe it.

Next task is to remove the bracket that held the jack, the winch that held the spare tire, and the heat shield between the spare tire slot and the exhaust- and then the spare tire delete will be complete.

I’m going to keep looking for ways to eliminate weight like this

When my original hoist died we drove around without the spare for a month or so and the ride was much more harsh without it. My truck's suspension is ZW7 only.

As for weight reduction, the XFE models were slightly lowered and had aluminum control arms, the LC9 aluminum engine, aluminum wheel on spare, etc. This gave them 1 MPG more city and highway and asking around they may be a little better than that. You could also beach the third row.

Stick with the stock plugs. In my racing days, we used the then new NGK split-fires and picked up about 8 horsepower but lost 2-3 mpg.

Since my last oil change, the truck's fuel economy average has increased. Switched off of Mobil 1 to the AC Delco spec oil for the aluminum engines. Very pleased with it. Last 4 tanks of 93 octane gasoline have averaged 16.37 MPG. Not bad for a 5,900 pound Yukon XL 4x4 truck without AFM running KO2s, I think!