The Hoe

[Real4WD]

Back in May of 2024 I rescued a 2003 Chevrolet Tahoe that was collecting dust in a forgotten corner of Fort Riley, Kansas for a little under $1,000 that had a little over 300,000 miles. It did not run and had a multitude of issues. I thought it would be a fun project to work on as a daily driver as the H3 and H3T are nearly complete. Here is a picture of The Hoe when I first bought it.

 

[Real4WD]

The first order of business was a deep clean. The interior was horrendous. I stripped the entire interior down to the sheet metal (dash, carpets, headliner, etc) and gave it a compound polish on the exterior to knock off a lot of hard water spots, carbon build up, scratches and clear coat oxidation. There are some spots on the hood that are beyond saving with a good detail but I did the best I could.

 

[Real4WD]

Next up was getting the truck running. I replaced the throttle body and the truck sputtered to life. I found out in short order (in true GM fashion), every system that could leak was leaking. Here's a list of mechanical and small cosmetic repairs I made over the following months.

-Replaced engine throttle body (defective)
-Replaced Front/rear wipers (worn)
-Replaced all exterior light bulbs (burnt out/dying).
-Replaced rear bumper license plate lamp housing (both)
-Replaced driver door master switch (water damaged)
-Replaced left rear door window regulator/motor assembly (broken)
-Replaced all four shocks (worn)
-Replaced all four jounce bumpers (worn)
-Replaced both front hub assemblies (bad bearings on both)
-Replaced rear differential pinion seal (leaking)
-Replaced rear differential cover gasket (leaking)
-Changed rear differential oil (old)
-Replaced transmission tail shaft seal (leaking)
-Replaced dashboard (broken/cracked)
-Replaced rear main engine cover (leaking)
-Replaced engine oil pan gasket (leaking)
-Replaced engine valve covers (both, leaking)
-Replaced transmission oil dipstick tube grommet (leaking)
-Changed engine oil/filter (dirty)
-Replaced engine air filter (dirty)
-Replaced liftgate struts (broken)
-Replaced liftgate glass struts (broken)
-Replaced (all 3 firewall) plastic heater core coolant hose connectors (leaking)
-Replaced water pump to heater core hoses (dry rotted)
-Replaced rear differential pinion seal (both inner and outer) and yolk (leaking...again)
-Replaced parking brake shoes and hardware (worn)
-Replaced front/rear pads/rotors (worn)
-Replaced both catalytic converters and all 4 O2 sensors IOT remove CEL (code P0420)
-Replaced left rear door reflector / courtesy lamp
-Replaced center console cigarette lighter (broken/corroded)
-Replaced center console 12v outlet (broken)
-Replaced both outlet covers / retainers (missing / broken)
-Replaced damaged front chrome bumper (dented / bent)
-Replaced rear seat (60 split, outer cable) release cable (broken)
-

 

[Real4WD]

Continued:

-Replaced panhard bar (worn)
-Replaced both rear upper control arms (worn)
-Replaced both rear lower control arms (worn)
-Replaced both coil springs [Used Dorman Springs With 35% Springover Rate Above Stock)
-Replaced all four coil spring insulators (worn)
-Replaced both rear sway bar bushings (worn)
-Replaced both rear sway bar end links (worn)
-Flushed old brake fluid and replaced with Prestone DOT3
-Replaced front windshield (cracked) and wipers (worn)
-Repaired broken section of rear wiper fluid line, and cleared clogged rear wiper fluid nozzle
-Restored and installed OEM tow recovery hooks on the front end of the frame [Left (GM#15709129) and right (GM#15709128)].
-Changed engine / oil filter (maint)
-Replaced engine oil drain plug (washer worn)
-Changed rear differential oil (replaced wih RP 75w90)
-Replaced high mounted center stop lamp (broken)
-Replaced front bumper fog lights (broken)

.....phew that was a lot!

 

[Real4WD]

I also upgraded the rear bumper to a RanchHand steel pipe bumper, and installed a matching RanchHand brush guard. This brand of bumper has been battle tested on my 1999 Silverado. Money well spent!

 

[Real4WD]

This weekend I color corrected, compound polished and waxed the Tahoe. She's looking a little more respectable now.

Lots of swirls in the clear coat.

Post color correction

 

[Real4WD]

20250502

Replaced:
-Water pump
-Thermostat
-Upper radiator hose
-Lower radiator hose
-Throttle body to head hose
-Radiator to throttle body hose.
-Refilled and purged cooling system with Dex-Cool 50/50 mix.
-Cleaned the front face of the engine (front cover, cylinder heads, power steering bracket).

Also found a nifty smiley face etched into the body of the water pump!

 

[Real4WD]

20250503

Replaced:
-Intake manifold gaskets
-Engine valley plate gaskets
-Knock sensors
-Cleaned the top end of the engine (air intake manifold, heads, valley plate cover, around the oil pressure sensor).

 

[alrock]

Is that all??? Wow, that Tahoe has kept you busy! How's it running now with all the repairs and the 300K miles? Looks great.

 

[H3Hummer]

Wow, tons of work done, nice job

 

[Real4WD]

Is that all??? Wow, that Tahoe has kept you busy! How's it running now with all the repairs and the 300K miles? Looks great.

Runs great! I drive the Tahoe to work every day. Recently drove it from KS to SC and back. Did just fine. I'm going to rebuild the front suspension and steering this weekend. It will be helping me move from KS to GA here soon by either towing a vehicle or trailer lol.

 

[Real4WD]

Current mileage: 325,411

This weekend I replaced the.......

-gear selector boot (torn)
-hood insulator (trashed)
-coolant reservoir (plastic was starting to crumble)
-passenger side PCV hose (dry rotted)
-pitman arm (worn)
-idler arm (worn)
-inner tie rods (worn)
-outer tie rods (worn)
-sway bar end links (worn)
-sway bar bushings (worn)
-driver side UCA
-driver side lower ball joint

-Next weekend I'll hit the passenger side UCA and ball joint. Throw in a torsion key crank and alignment for funsies.

 

[Real4WD]

Current Mileage: 325,800

Currently prepping for a cross country move. Repaired the A/C this weekend after discovering a massive evaporator core leak while diagnosing the system faults. Also addressed a few other A/C system issues and some needed maintenance. This weekend I replaced:

-Jounce bumpers
-Blower motor
-Blower motor resistor chip
-A/C Airflow Direction Actuator
-Heater core
-Evaporator core
-Condenser
-Missing dashboard mounting bolts
-Washer fluid tank (plus both sprayer motors and level sensor)
-Washer fluid line
-Missing radiator fan shroud retainer clip
-Repaired misc. dashboard wire harness insulation
-Interlock shift solenoid
-Serpentine belt
-Serpentine belt tensioner pulley
-Serpentine belt idler pulley
-A/C belt
-A/C belt tensioner pulley
-Air dryer
-Air dryer seal kit
-A/C pressure switch
-A/C compressor
-A/C seal kit
-Orifice tube
-Low pressure schrader valve
-High pressure valve
-Climate Control Module
-Daytime running light pigtails

 

[Real4WD]

Needless to say the A/C works "like new" again and should be good to go for many years to come.

 

[rascole]

Wow, that's a teardown.

 

[Real4WD]

Wow, that's a teardown.

It was a PITA. I'd rather do mechanical repairs all day long than play "route the wire harness" or "don't break this 20 year old plastic panel".

 

[Schwarttzy]

Lovin this!

 

[Real4WD]

Current Mileage: 326, 253

Had a local shop rebuild the rear axle. In May of 2024, I replaced the pinion seal IOT solve a leak. Few months later the leak came back, this time with noise so I replaced the seal again and tightened up the yolk nut in an attempt to quiet a noisy bearing (growling at low speed) but over another 17,000 miles the noise just got worse. Decided it was time to have the differential gone through. I would have done it myself, but I am in the middle of packing the house to move. From the factory, this vehicle is equipped with a 3.42 rear end and a G80 LSD. When the shop opened up the differential, they found that someone at some point had installed a 3.73 pinion gear, which could explain the failure. Weird right?

The shop replaced the following:
-Pinion bearing and seal
-Pinion gear
-Ring gear
-G80 LSD Carrier
-Axle bearings / seals
-Differential cover gasket.

 

[Real4WD]

Current Mileage: 326,253

After getting the Tahoe back from the shop I overhauled the instrument cluster. The cluster had several burned out bulbs and a couple stepper motors that were on the fritz. Bonus post-torsion key crank picture at the end.

 

[Real4WD]

Current Mileage: 326,409

-Installed two black factory roof rails (GM#15748100)
-Installed window tint. Top picture is with no-tint, bottom is with tint. Ignore the crummy headliner....fixing one thing at a time folks.

 

[Real4WD]

Current Mileage: 328,183

-On it's trip from Kansas to Georgia the Tahoe decided it would be a convenient time for it's hood release cable to break as well as a (worn out from old age?) liftgate glass mount. Both were replaced this weekend.

-Hood Latch Release Cable (GM#15142953)
-Hood Latch (GM#15756432)
-Liftgate Glass (GM#15063614)

 

[Iwillnc]

Did an absolutely fantastic job with this, I had a 2003 Tahoe with almost all the options that was my first car at 16 many many years ago. I realized GMT800s were going to be a classic as soon as the 900s came out and then the K2XX solidified it. The current generation is just embarrassing in my opinion.

I want to get a 03-06 suburban and do the same… just need space for a 7th vehicle…

 

[Real4WD]

Current Mileage: 330,000

Replaced the following:

-Both front door speakers (GM#15236987-BOSE-) [driver door was dead, passenger sound quality wasn't great]. You can see the old speaker on the bottom has a little spot where it got too hot.
-Repaired left rear door panel armrest mounting bracket [broken]
-Restored all four door panel speaker grilles [rusted/stained]
-Replaced both front door arm rests (GM#15703701-L-/15703702-R-) [hard as a rock/mushroomed out]. The arm rest on the left is the original.
-Replaced all four door courtesy lamp bezels (GM#15021517-L-/15021518-R-) [bezels were in misc. state of crusty sadness]

When I find a suitable donor I'll go back in and replace the front door panel pockets. The door panel carpet strips will be replaced at the same time as the carpet, hopefully before fall.

 

[Real4WD]

Current Mileage: 330, 200

Replaced:
-driver seat power switch [incorrect color] bezel (GM#88941672)
-front door panel pockets [damaged] (GM#45971-L- / GM#5970-R-)
-driver seat lower cushion [clapped out] (GM#12473404)
-driver seat lower cushion support [worn] (GM#12476891) and spring [broken] (GM#NLA)
-driver seat lower cushion cover [torn] (GM#88936884)

Installed Missing:
-cargo bay storage lid (GM#NLA)
-cargo bay storage lid bumpers (x2) (GM#NLA)
-cargo bay storage box insulator mat (GM#NLA)
-sun visor retainer mounts (L/R) (GM#NLA)
-rear seat mounting bracket covers (GM#310945006-L-/GM#328810006-R-)
-battery brace (GM#15159505)

 

[Schwarttzy]

This is so enjoyable