96 Tahoe build

DoMiNiC1

Adventurer
Sold my xj after getting an offer I just could not say no to, paid some bills and picked up a Tahoe, there had been a ton of maintenance done and the gentleman had 6500 worth of receipts from the last 4 years he owned it, he said he had fun restoring it but he was 70 and could not get in and out of it anymore. He wanted 4 and I gave 3800. Took it out for a three day camping trip in northern AZ and it did VERY well. Was much better on gas then I thought. Looking for the 20,000 foot fly by on what I should know about this platform. 5.7 vortech

Truck has;
40k on motor and tranny
??? 6in lift
rancho 9000xl shocks-new
33x12.5 goodyears-new-old ones on truck were 11 years old.
super stock under hood
0 rust AZ truck
worst headlight EVER! Drove through the woods holding my spot light out the window.:elkgrin:

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The old XJ

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DoMiNiC1

Adventurer
I wish they were removable, unfortuntly they are POS HID's that are covered with VHT nightshade. So on the lookout for a stock stock set of head lights. down the road I will prob grab some offroad light too.
 

xpndbl3

Adventurer
wetsand with 600 grit, then 800 grit, then 1000, then polish with mothers buff ball and some rubbing compound, it'll take all the scratches and the tint right off. ;)
 

bftank

Explorer
ipcw makes a set of diamond cut headlight lenses for $150.

i have used these on my explorer and f350 and like the quality. combine these with good quality light bulb like silverstars should do the trick.
 

DoMiNiC1

Adventurer
Looks like the trip up north cooked the starter, so the next step is starter and headlights. Starter swap looks straight forward; with the lift I can roll right under this thing. lol. Any advise on a starter, is there an upgrade? I see several options, the AC/delco is around 300 and all the rest are around 200... Feedback. Advises?:coffee:
 

bftank

Explorer
take your starter apart and see what is wrong with it. the solenoids are common problems and easily replaced. they get over heated easily, you might look into a heat shield.

upgrades
mean green makes a mini starter that gets a lot of good comments. i am sure there are others as well.
 

DoMiNiC1

Adventurer
take your starter apart and see what is wrong with it. the solenoids are common problems and easily replaced. they get over heated easily, you might look into a heat shield.

upgrades
mean green makes a mini starter that gets a lot of good comments. i am sure there are others as well.

Thanks for the feedback, It does have the heat shield, I was thinking when I have it off I am going to spray it with VHT heat shield and bake it... I will check out the solenoid, but thinking it should be a good upgrade as the one on their looks to have some miles on it. I think I am going to look into a mini starter and dream up a couple ideas for heat dissipation. May be some exhaust wrap...:coffee:
 

the blue bus

New member
headlights look good.. idk call me weird lol. white hoes look good with tinted tails and lights. but the dark lights suck for actualyy seeing at night. i have tycs on mine and 4500k hids. real nice at night. also got some blazer fog lights to swap into my bumper. love the cowl hood too! plan to get one for mine one day. also how you like those tires? buddy just got a set for his ford i need some new tires these old 33 bfg all ts dont do good at all in the mud and theyare really small for a 33 measure 31
 

DoMiNiC1

Adventurer
Tires are AWEOSME very quiet and about as aggressive as you can get in an A/T.

I got the starter replaced and she fired right up, next item to attend to are the plugs and wires. Any suggestions on the wires and plugs?

also still on the look out for some used cheap stock headlight...
 

wrench-head

Observer
Going back to the stock headlights will be your best bet. All of the projectors like you have are horrible for light output. In an OEM setup they are great, but the cheap aftermarket "fast and furious" setups don't put out anything. A set of stock ones from a local yard and some time with a headlight polish kit should improve the situation. You can run sylvania silverstars or switch to the HIR bulbs on the low beams from a john deere dealer. You will have to spend 10 minutes with a file to make the indexing tabs smaller, but they are in the correct locations and the bulbs will positively lock into the composite housings. I have them in mine and they are as bright as a silverstar, but don't have the blueish tint. Also once you swap in stock housings, spend some time to aim them properly to put the light where you need and and a courtesy to others. Just aiming them properly will help as most lifted vehicles are never adjusted and just send the light out into the distance vs a comprimise of distance and immediate area.

-Alex
 

Tahoe Diesel

Observer
Going back to the stock headlights will be your best bet. All of the projectors like you have are horrible for light output. In an OEM setup they are great, but the cheap aftermarket "fast and furious" setups don't put out anything.

A friend of mine who is an auto body shop owner/operator, told me the exact same thing. Replacing crash damaged headlights is routine for him, so he's had the opportunity to test them all.

However, I wasn't clear from either him or your post, if the "stock" aftermarket headlights, which are claimed to be constructed to OEM specs, if they are also substandard output?
 

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