Custom roof rack (by my good Vegas friend and Cath Lab co-worker, Zach Carden of Racks by Zach) from $50 parts off Amazon and welding 4" wide straight bars to support a RTT. All accessories for over-landing added to rack: BearCat CB weather radio ($100), Yakima cargo box ($500), shovel ($35), axe ($30), HiLift Jack ($100), recovery boards ($120), dbl Jerry gas cans ($100), SiriusXM satellite radio ($35), commercial grade backup camera with dual real-time rear facing cameras ($300) ported to a 12" Android tablet as rear monitor ($225). Tablet has HDMI input for custom gaming system (Xbox or PS4) underneath 2nd row bench seat, powered by a 1500W inverter running off my 2nd battery. Kenwood eXcelon DMX 1057XR "floating radio" ($1300), replaced all speakers (JBL $500) with dual 12" subs ($700). 1500W inverter ($225) under bench seat connected to 2nd Yellow Optima battery ($100) that is isolated from primary Yellow Optima battery ($100) Made my own battery cables. All new grounds taps ($100) throughout engine bay to minimize electrical interference. Array of white LEDs ($50) along underside of hood for night lighting of engine work. All lighting with switches inside truck.
Custom welded dbl hitch/tire carrier (tire carrier ($125), easily supporting my spare 35 with no sway, bend or rattle...rock solid. Custom tire license plate with Feniex Fusion Surface Mount Light ($200) from Ultra Bright Lightz, and a Jeep 3rd circular brake light ($25) behind tire. All wiring hand-soldered.
Mamba M25 18s on Arturo Trailblades 35s (I like the snake center caps). 4.5" BDS lift by 4 The Trucks in Henderson, NV added to my 3" body lift CHANGED the look of my Denali from street to off-road! Terry went above and beyond to make sure my truck was built right and safe for off-roading!! Full front coilover conversion (QA1 DS701 shocks, Hyper Co 14" 2.5ID 750# coils), 8 clicks to the right makes the ride very smooth. 10K-pound Smittybilt winch up front for reassurance. 5-gal Horn Blasters train horn (Nightmare Edition) welded into the OEM spare tire area with a ported air hose routed up and through to where the OEM jack was located, powered by dual Viair 444C Air Compressors.
Went from this...
to this...
July 2020: The latest addition to my build was to find a way to strengthen the rear end somewhat in order to tow a trailer and carry that full-size spare tire and NOT have the back end of my truck have that "saggy" look to it after being lifted. I noticed that most lifted trucks with 6" to 10" lifts, the rear end of the vehicle has that uneven look, back end lower than the front end. Keeping in mind of my budget, I opted to swap out the original rear coil springs with heavy-duty ones having a strong compression rate and supplement the swap by replacing the original rear shocks with Bilstein 5160 "piggyback" shocks. With this setup, I didn't need to install "airbags" inside the coils to help with increasing load weight such as towing, etc. The new stiffer springs give extra support, reacting to the weight of any load and resisting that natural crushing downward action on the coils. The coils and shocks were installed by my new friends at Skip's Spring Service (skipsspringservicelv.com) of Las Vegas. Father-son owners Randy and Vance were very helpful and kind, the type of people who still look you in the eye and give that strong hearty-handshake I fondly remember growing up in Wisconsin when you would greet someone and say hi, despite with all that's going on with COVID-19 these days... They priced my job fairly, explained the process of what they were going to do and completed the work within 1 day after the parts arrived.
After completion of the job, I couldn't have been more satisfied with how my idea transformed into reality. The truck's stance gave it a more raked appearance, with the back end about 2" taller than the front, similar to how the late model, newer Yukons and Suburbans look now. I was very happy! Prior to these new springs, I would stand on the rear bumper and the truck would sag under my weight and have this bouncy feel to it. You can notice the stance in the above earlier side-view pics of the truck; it had the saggy back end look after the suspension lift. Now, when I stand on the bumper PLUS the full size off road tire mounted, there is NO sag or bounce. It is rock solid...
The flat 5-foot metal sticks in front of the jerry cans is the base support for a roof top tent. I'm thinking that the new 2021 Thule-Tepui Foothill RTT will be perfect!
November 2022: SUV is relatively the same except I changed out all 5 tires from 35s to BFG MT 37s. I had to remove the front and rear step board end caps for the tires to clear when turning, so NO rubbing:) The look and stance of the SUV was remarkable and probably added another 2" to the height. Absolutely love it!
Also, I've been learning how to build custom LED headlights and bumper lights for my Denali. Took inspiration from the master Chris Darafeev of FlyRyde. Watching his YouTube channel gave me the encouragement to learn and build this stuff. I think I did a pretty good job, looks SLICK!
Click here: https://youtu.be/jsULqyqT1cA https://www.youtube.com/shorts/2iI0ydodWDo https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ztf0BUXJv8c https://www.youtube.com/shorts/9HGfz6RMXCA
Added this really cool hood DRL LED from SilverHolder. It seems to brighten up the night for sure!
Replaced my old stereo deck with a floating Kenwood and replaced my navi with a Garmin I saw at the 2020 CES in Vegas: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ZhxHzbma_cE
My next project is to replace the windshield washer system. That went all orange-peely and dry-rotted here in the desert. Good thing parts are cheap to buy!
Cam I get more info on your roof rack, like dimensions and more closeups of what you bring with you??
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Hey, sorry this is so late. I haven't checked my blog in awhile. I'll take more pics of the rack and upload them soon!
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