DAILY DRIVING A SOLID

B Y J E R RO D JO N E S
PHOTOGRAPHY: OFF-ROAD STAFF
w
E’VE BEEN BANGING
AROUND IN OUR SOLIDAXLE ’98 TAHOE FOR
ABOUT SIX MONTHS, AND
SO FAR IT’S BEEN WORKING OUT GREAT.
THE 1-TON AXLES HAVE REALLY HELPED A
LOT, AS HAVE THE 37-INCH TIRES WE WERE
ABLE TO PUT ON AFTER THE FABWORX
SOLID-AXLE SWAP WAS PERFORMED. THEY
USED A FRONT FORD DANA 60 AXLE AND
GRAFTED IT UNDER OUR HALF-TON SUV,
AND WE MATCHED IT WITH A REAR GM
14-BOLT AXLE TO GIVE 1-TON STRENGTH TO
OUR TAHOE’S AXLES.
Why a Tahoe instead of a truck? Well, for
one, it’s what we had to work with. It still gets
daily driven to and from work, and doubles
as a great weekend off-roader and miniature
RV for camping trips. On top of that, we like
the fact that using a Tahoe instead of a truck
makes our build a little unique. OR
1-ton tAhoe
updAte
DAILY DRIVING A
SOLID-AXLE SWAP
CHEVY
˚ If you refer back to our July 2010 issue, you might remember that we
originally put blocks in the rear of this truck, just to make it home to
Southern California from Northern California. Since then, we’ve gone
back to Atlas Leaf Spring and gotten a pair of leaf springs and 2-inch-tall
blocks for the rear that hold our Tahoe at a more level height.
Again, we’re amazed at how well the matching seven-leaf rear packs flex.
˘ Another addition to the Tahoe
has been a rear
disc brake kit
from Blackbird
Custom Trucks.
We have mixed
feelings about
rear disc brake
kits with built-in
emergency brakes
(depending on
what type of kit it
is) so we acquired
a non E-brake rear
disc kit. It came
with caliper brackets, calipers, rotors,
and the necessary
hardware.
Though we don’t often see large improvements when switching from drum brakes
to discs in the rear (there is a long explanation why—it has to do with the stock
master cylinder), these rear disc brakes really seemed to have improved our braking
abilities.
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¯ The six-inch-longer Atlas leaves allow
a lot of flex in the front end. At the same
time, they’re firm enough to keep the
truck steady on the road. We don’t use a
sway bar at all on this truck. Even so, the
handling improved tenfold, as did the
highway cruiseability when we swapped
from the lifted IFS to the solid axle-andleaf spring setup.
The F-O-A remote reservoir shocks have
also been working out great. We asked
for some pretty standard valving in the
12-inch-stroke shocks after giving F-O-A
the weights for the front and rear of the
vehicle. The fronts might need a little
stiffer valving if we start jumping it, but
overall ride is great with the shocks
We shod our 1-Ton Tahoe with some 37inch Goodyear MTRs that we got sent to
our doorstep from Discount Tire Direct.
They were mounted onto a set of 17x9
Liquid Metal Gatlin wheels when we got
them—a nice package to be sure.
˘ The front Fabworx Off Road solid
axle swap kit went onto the frame
with factory-like fitment, after all the
independent front suspension and IFS
hangers were removed.
The Atlas leaf springs we used to lift
the front have settled to their permanent ride height, and are softer than
we thought a seven-leaf pack could be.
They are six inches longer than a standard ’73-to-’87 leaf spring and therefore
have a less severe arch in the pack to
achieve the same amount of lift.
˚ When we did the solid axle swap and added
the larger tires, we also swapped in G2 gears and
bearings into the front Dana 60 and rear 14-Bolt.
We loaded both axles with 4.88 gears, giving our
Tahoe a little higher rpm at cruising speeds than
it originally had. But it accelerates so much faster
than it did before….
We also capped off both axles with aluminum
G2 differential covers that dissipate heat faster
and hold more fluid in the axle than the original
covers did.
We haven’t seen any tweaking on the
spring perches due to rough use and
abuse, and there is zero noise coming
from any of the bolt-on leaf spring hangers and crossmembers.
The steering was built using GM tie rod ends, DOM tubing for a draglink, and the factory Ford tie rod. A
Superlift pitman arm was used on the stock steering box to move the draglink. So far, the steering still
feels tight and nothing has worn out. Any bigger tire than a 37, and we definitely would have opted for a
hydraulic-assist steering kit.
Sharp eyes might also notice that we had some
front driveshaft troubles. The issues were unrelated
to the amount of lift or suspension flex this Tahoe
has, and will be resolved by the time you read this.
¯ Even though
we have a good
amount of flex in
both ends, the rear
tires do get into
the back of the
fenders when really
stuffed. Unfortunately, this isn’t
something we can
remedy without
doing a fair amount
of fender trimming.
And if we trim,
then we’ll have to
ditch the fender
flares, leaving us
more susceptible to
tire tickets
the source
Atlas Leaf Spring
(626) 333-7373
www.atlasleafspring.com
Blackbirds Custom Trucks
(509) 534-5219
www.blackbirdscustomtrucks.com
Discount Tire Direct
(866) 895-8031
www.discounttire.com
Fabworx Off Road
(707) 578-9679
www.fabworxoffroad.com
F-O-A Shock Absorbers
www.f-o-a.com
G2 Axle
(310) 900-2687
www.g2axle.com
Superlift
www.superlift.com
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