Dylan06SS

Um... pretty much a day and a half.... partly due to my lack of proper tools... partly due to a fight with the driverside coilover which did not want to come out. The install itself shouldn't have been that bad... we just got our asses kicked at a couple of points with things not cooperating.

Teaser pic for now since I was running out of light... let me just say that this thing is now LOW AS HELL!! No rub, a little tapping on heavier bumps... but all in all it rides really nice and the new brakes kick ass. Huge thank you to Chase for all the help... I owe you man... details for the next few months are free for either of your cars hommie as many times as you need it.

You're right about crawling and mudding... but what you have to understand is that it comes more from the Cali inspired off road trucks. Being where you're at I wouldn't expect you to understand, but trucks MUCH less capable than this tear the dunes up at pismo almost every weekend. To say this would break mobbing dunes is just incorrect zip... sorry. I've seen trucks with much less stoute setups than this take weekly beatings at Pismo and still drive home. Of course its not gonna rock crawl, trail ride, or bog..... its simply too big for those activities. It wouldn't fit down half the trails, but thats not what it was designed for. It is primarily a show vehicle, but its also very capable in desert or beach sand offroading.

Chase will be venturing over to my pad tomorrow AM for some install fun!! We'll be working on the brake swap and new drop for the TBSS (still not low enough!!)... and I'll be putting some time in cleaning up the Camaro for him. Anybody is welcome to come join in on the fun, beers in the fridge are nice and cold, lunch is on me for anyone who wants to lend a hand. Thinking we'll probably start around 8am since Chase has got to be somewhere in the afternoon. Drop me an email if you're interested in meeting up (Don't send a PM as I probably won't be back on the site until tomorrow afternoon) [email protected] I'm in Rancho Cucamonga BTW, in case anyone was wondering.

Then you'll love this thing... possible the best build up of a fullsize bagged truck I've ever seen, especially considering its an individual and not a shop. I drool over this thing a couple times a week... and even more sickening... he says its not "done" yet. http://www.streetsourcemag.com/forum/topic...;topic_id=98912

Damn you old farts and you're hatred for bagged vehicles!!

Nitrogen does solve that problem, but then again who wants to deal with filling nitro tanks all the time?? What a PITA!! S10 looks good man... when do you think you'll have it finished?

What the hell... it was at least 80* here yesterday... how in the hell did it snow??

Eh... the same could be said about any of us who spend a ton of money on our trucks... I personally don't spend my time contemplating what other men are packing in relation to their vehicle size/cost... but thats just me.

I'm going to choose to take that rolleyes smilie as something other than a callout or insult, even though it seems like it is. Sorry if this in long, but it seems I need to qualify my understanding of how a bag system works to you for some reason. Have I owned a bagged ride? No... can't say that I have. Have I driven them, dozens actually and add to that the EXTENSIVE research I did on this subject with my SSS (AWD) in attempt to bag it in a way that would maintain drive-ability. Not to mention I'm a mod, founding member, and contributing photographer/writer/blogger to ShowTruckScene.com which is populated by 99% bagged vehicles. You mentioned 2wd... which to be honest is completely irrelevant b/c there is no issues to be seen bagging a 2wd other than uneven tire wear and alignment... the front doesn't have to contend with any angles or neg camber problems associated with the setup and the subsequent strain on a front drive train. Why you even bother to mention that in a discussion about bagged AWD vehicles is strange. As for ambient temps not having a large impact I beg to differ. On fullsize trucks I've seen a variance as much as 1.5" from morning to afternoon temps... Cali will see temps at 65* in the AM along the coast and temps in the mid to high 80's that same day in the afternoon in the same area. The PSI which would be safe to drive at at 6am wouldn't be the same PSI at noon on that day... so unless you have a memorized index as to what PSI corresponds with with what temp you're not gonna get a consistent height. Add to that the heat generated by the expansion and contraction of parts during driving, the heat of the asphault, and surrounding vehicles and you have a drastic temp variance. Now this becomes an issue as we know w/ AWD b/c there is very little room for changing the suspension height while driving to not encounter binding. Going much below the 2" range on the front (w/ something like the mcgaughy's kit) is right around the safe level... much farther than that and you run the potential risk of binding (IMO) now if you have a PSI temp variance of 1" arguably this could put you in the range of binding issues. Short term you'd be fine, but for a vehicle that sees daily driver mileage IMO you wouldn't be OK. I don't dispute you could bag an SSS thats only for show and doesn't see regular use (this one probably is) but for regular use or DD activities its just not reliable. This is the same issue that has been discussed when the subject of lifting an SSS is brought up... the AWD system can't be taken too far in either direction, up or down, without putting excessive stress on the AWD. As for the auto ride systems they are automatic to a PSI not to a ride height. The digital systems put out by companies like ART have no bearing on actual ride height, just a set PSI level. Before buying the TBSS I was about a heartbeat away from buying a 2005 2500HD Duramax CC that was laying frame... professionally built for Tony Pendragon... it had a complete ART digital control system... it was no more accurate than any of the standard gauges I've seen. At what was supposedly a level ride height by the systems indication had a variance of approx 1" from left to right, and about approx 3/4" front to back... so just b/c it has a digital display doesn't make it more accurate. IMO the only way to acheive ACTUAL true ride height perfection would involve using the optical system on this truck: http://www.streetsourcemag.com/forum/topic...;topic_id=98912 which to be honest is the first one I've ever seen implement it. It relies on frame location in relation to the ground/suspension parts than it does a PSI with no true bearing on either. Now in all reality, researching my SSS bag desire was an eye opener... in theory yes, you could bag an AWD SSS and drive it... my point is simply for any excessive use theres just not any long term durability. My point is not whether or not you CAN bag and AWD SS... my point is simply that its not feasible to do so and maintain driveability/durability. This is gonna be pretty widely accepted from anyone whos bagged any of the AWD GM vehicles like the SSS, Denali, or Escalade. BTW: I checked out the S10 linked in your sig... nice little truck... any pics of it with the wheels on fully put together?? Pentia's are by far my favorite intro rim.

Thats the same fee my usual guy charges ($2500) only I'm not so sure hes still doing refis as the market has tanked and he mentioned he might be changing jobs before it was too late. I still have to call him... I like working with him b/c he doesn't make me jump thru the appraisal hoops or anything which is a huge time saver. If hes out of the biz I'll hit you up for a referral man.

Bose is nothing special.... and priced like it is the best thing on the market... don't waste the money. Build a system using the assistance of a pro and you'll get 10x the performance in that price range.

Not a real SS... not even a silverado... its actually a Tahoe that has the HD front end conversion done to it. It has a complete solid front axle conversion (rockwells I believe) and rolls on 52" military truck tires. It used to belong to a member of GMFS and STS (MyLevel52) and he sold it shortly after it was completed by BNC offroad. For all the critical comments you guys are making there sure are a lot of incorrect assumptions about capability and what was done. I believe the SS front bumper was added by the new owner... IMO its not a practical truck but thats not the point is it? Being that the tires are not DOT approved, I believe it has hydrolic assisted steering, and axle brakes its not even street legal. It would be very capable offroad with those rockwells... not for crawling but the thing could easily bonzai thru the dunes no problem at all. Its a show vehicle more than anything guys... so maybe hold some of the criticism unless you really know what you're talking about. At the very least concede the fact that there is some serious skill, time, and money involved in building something like it and I doubt highly most of those throwing out the negative comments possess the skill or money to do something similar.

Alex... I'd say lock in that loan soon... if not right now. The odds are it isn't gonna go much farther. We were seeing record low rates 5 years ago when I bought this place and we locked in at 5.625% it never got much better than that and I was watching closely. If the fed decides to knock off a couple more points then maybe we'd see a drop, but they've already dropped it so far I don't see them going much lower... especially with the economic bail out stuff on the horizon. If you're really worried about not getting the best rate maybe do this refi, but don't pull any equity out. That should lower your payment instead of tacking the extra $100 on... if the rate drops again to a lower level that would make it worth your effort then refi again... nothing says you can't do multiple refis. Consider also that any equity you pull out might be a wash with what the market is doing. You could actually pull equity and after the market falls farther owe more than your house is worth. Personally I'm going to try to lock in a better rate here soon just to get my payment down a little. The wife and I are looking to free up as much cash flow to help with the purchase of our 2nd house... if all works out we'll be renting this one out and moving to a bigger place before the end of the year.

Close to level isn't gonna cut it if the trucks gonna see any kind of regular driving. Also consider we're not talking visually level... I mean level so that the angles on the front part of the drivetrain are not stressed out. Without getting out of the truck, getting underneath and doing a visual inspection, and verifying its not at too harsh of an angle theres no way to really accomplish that... then consider the ambient temp thing again... if you did get the angles right at start up... components heat up from expansion and contraction of going down the road... causing the bags/air inside to heat, causing the PSI to change, thus changing the angles.

Did you keep the red plugs in under the lids? The squirt tops are not air tight so if you don't replace the red plugs after use it will dry out.

Getting a little ahead of me there man... I don't even know if hes WILLING to sell yet... and it might be out of my price range... we'll see.

where are you located... any pics?? Theres a good chance it could've belonged to someone on here... we've had a lot of members come and go.

I think Dave is just ready to retire... keep your fingers crossed hes interested in a buyout... if I can take it over for a reasonable price I'll rebrand it and take it in a new direction. I've already got a call into my bank to check on a small business loan rate.

I'm trying to play catchup on my detail appointments right now... lost so many days with all the rain... but if I'm not booked up I'll be there, probably only as a spectator.

5.3L = 315 hp 338 lb.-ft. So basically what the dealer is doing is taking a base Silverado... sticking some badges on the side and adding $10k to the pricetag in the hopes that ignorant suckers buy it.

DER is a product I've repeatedly recommended over the years... I even have a wrietup here on the site on the best practices for using it which a lot of members have used with great success. Sadly yesterday I learned that DER is closing up shop... its sad to see them go b/c I've been a fan of theirs going on 10 years now. Figured I'd just give you guys who are using it a heads up that you might want to make the most of the supply you have left. I am on a mission to find a similar product that performs as well for the average do it yourself weekend detail by hand. I do have some of their stuff in my supply cabinet still so if anyone is really hard up for a little bit I can maybe portion some of it out. I have also sent Dave (the owner) a letter expressing an interest in buying his formula and info about his raw material suppliers so that I can maybe continue producing it... we'll see how that goes. In any event those of you who followed my advice and started using DER are, I'm sure, as disappointed by this as I am b/c it really is a great product. I'll keep you posted.

Not calling you out, but the "seat of the pants" meter never does much for me... and I don't see where a dry element is going to contribute to lower IAT's.... any other number of factors could have caused a drop in IAT including humidity, ambient air temp, time of day, etc.

any real data to back that up?

Why bother replacing a washable/reusable filter guys?? Just pick up the K&N filtercharger kit at your local autoparts store and follow the instructions.