The Easter Egg...1995 Tahoe (bagged, bodied)

[jbjburbs]

well, I figured I should start a new thread for this truck. I had started a 94' suburban while in college (sold it), moved to a 96 suburban (5yrs later), and got a 95 while in the middle (96 turned into parts truck). I traded both the 96 and 95 for this 95 tahoe.

It's been named the 'easter egg' due the neon baby blue primer and because i drive another 95 tahoe daily that is also blue.

anyway, this truck is body dropped 4 1/2" (traditional), has parallel 4 link w/panhard, tubular lower control arms, air lift dominator (2500's) all around,blazer gas tank mounted in the back, steel roll pan, smooth front bumper I have dakota digital controller, accuair manifold, york comp, hydro boost w/proportion valve all to go on it yet.

I feel the truck is solid with less than 140k, no rust, and pretty straight lines. The interior, engine bay and under side need detail work. my suburbans were out of my skill set, i feel like 90% of the work needed to make this hoe both road worthy (long trips, daily style) as well show ready i can do...

blah, blah...on to the pics! here it is the day i got it.

[jbjburbs]

here are some of the process from the previous owner(s)...

[jbjburbs]

few more before i did anything...(yes, i cheated on this one by not doing the hard stuff, but pulling it all together will be just as fun)

[jbjburbs]

some more, before me again...

[jbjburbs]

ok, here's how it sits now in my garage (20's with 245/55/20 -30" combo) the hoe should look nice on some 265/35/22s in the future.

my plans are mild, i want to keep it drivable through the season (minor wiring, under carriage paint, etc). this winter, i want to really attack the inside, maybe an ls motor...

[1badgmc]

Nice project. Love the color too.

[Dobok]

Nice looking EASTER EGG-1badgmc-Do you have any other plans on upcoming vehicles that you might posses !!!

[1badgmc]

I was in a club several years ago and it seemed that the majority of the members had bright, solid color vehicles. We had a couple blues, a couple yellows, lime greens, reds, orange... People said we looked like a bag of Skittles rolling down the highway.

I have lots of other vehicles that I have plans for, but at this point, they could be considered dreams more than anything. I have too many toys and not enough time or money to do what I want with them.

[jbjburbs]

here's a better shot with my 20's on the egg.. thanks guys

[rchavez101]

Very cool. I love the picture of it next to the newer Tahoe. It looks like a toy next to the Tahoe.

[96twodoor]

looks good man

[maxxxy]

Sweet tahoe! From the pictures, it looks like that thing has worn more pairs of shoes than me! haha

[jbjburbs]

well, rolled around under the hoe tonight getting some measurements and checking over some of the stuff under the hood.

didn't learn much, but have numbers to see if some different bags/shocks will get what i want. i'm looking to get more lift in the rear, so the hoe has a more level stance at ride height. the current setup is bag over axle, so height is determined directly from the bag, not sure if that will work.

i was measuring for shocks up front, too. the truck has mounts welded in, but turning lock to lock the mounts get it the way. adding a shock would even reduce the radius more. i can understand giving a little, but i think i could do better. shorter shocks, mounts closer to the frame and a better angle from the a-arm might help

i found some other issues well looking around though...a nest of wiring on the drivers side, and plenty of bare wires coming through the harness from poor wire ties, unsecured inner fenders and an unmounted fuse box. lookin at the battery pic i should have seen it coming...just more detail work

[jbjburbs]

nothing new really, still figuring out how to get more lift in the rear. i realized with the gas tank setup a kp like cantilever wouldn't work. the tank is offest and there is square tubing off the tank already on the other site, both would interfere. i could change it i guess, but i'm looking into some other cantilever ideas now...

not sure which direction is best...either way it's more work (moving a gas tank, lines, and custom tubing OR design a compact, effective cantilever setup without losing too much floor)

[19723DR]

That thing is bad azz. If you're looking for more lift in the rear try a different bag. They make bags that will extend up to 12''. The bag over axle is a good setup. I have a friend that just fabbed a 3 link on a 93 sort bed step and a 97 dually with bags over axles. If it were me i would keep the rear set up the way it is. Good luck to you with your electrical nest (looks scary) Keep up the good work.

[jbjburbs]

thanks man. i wish i could use a bigger bag, but the hoe already has airlift 2600 bags. the only larger bag option would be SlamSpecialties SS-8 and that would only be a 1/2 taller. plus, to drive the truck at that height i would have a maxed bagged and it would ride like a log wagon.

other options i'm considering is a 2 link (bag on bar) with watts link. or convert the parallel 4 link to a triangulated 4 link with bag on bar. to set the truck down AND get it up to drive level i need more than a 1:1 lift ratio.

[19723DR]

I see what your saying. The slams ride like crap with that much psi. Before you go cutting stuff off look into the Denominater II. They are supposed to have a 8.2'' usable stroke. From the first pic in this thread it look to me like a good ride height to me.

[maxxxy]

What if you were to move your bag mounts to the frontside of the axle? I don't think you'd get too much more lift but I'd think you might get at least a tiny bit more than you're getting now.
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[jbjburbs]

19723dr - that's on a max bag again, so the ride isn't fun...

maxxxy - that's worth looking into.

I have more work to do before I move much around anyway. i'm looking at some control arms that will suck things in an inch, which would allow the front to ride lower and in turn affect the rear... i'm going to clean up the wiring, mod some minor things, and drive this summer. winter time i'll start really modifying things. keep the ideas coming tho.

[jbjburbs]

had a wedding practice an hour away last friday, but my dad's club was putting on a cruise-in up the street from my house (literaly). So i dropped the hoe of and left..got back in time to help clean up and here some about some of the comments.

got the truck back out tonight for another local cruise-in (15 minutes away). it was the 1st real trip with the hoe. she did great tooling around and getting there, but i think have a vapor lock issue (stalls ocassionally, but always fires right back up).



even helped pull some weeds..(hard to see, but i pulled some in the door)


unfortunately, on my way home (still in the town) the truck stalled, and i couldn't shift the truck to netrual to restart. here's what i found....


not how i would fix a broken trans cable sleeve. from what i can tell due to the body drop the cable is too long. it broke the plastic sleeve, someone fixed it with zip ties, and the fix give out. i never looked under the bottom dash, so i guess it's my fault for trusting another builder..

however, after tossing around the idea of bomber seats and an 'old school' theme i think the perfect solution is a tall floor shifter with a beer tap...

[jbjburbs]

got my floor shifter from the ups man today...checked out the linkage and i think maybe monday i could get it installed.

it's a mr. gasket shifter with 11" arm. it will work for now, maybe once i get the interior i'll have my dad's shop fab up something more over the top.

[maxxxy]

Holy shift! Lol That's a nice shifter man. Don't ditch the quad cavalier seats! Those are cool!
Posted via Mobile Device

[jbjburbs]

thanks maxxxy...i think the cavalier seats are too tall (imo). was bumming around the inter-webs last night (google) and i'm thinkin an interior from a 63 sub would look nice. the metal dash, low back captains, the 3rd row for the second row. customize the metal backs with some speed holes, and try to match the door panels to the ones from the old sub... of course i'll prolly change my mind in 2 weeks, but something worth looking for at the next swap meet.

[jbjburbs]

Hey guys, it's been a couple weeks and i got little done...

got the floor shifter mounted. the linking rod is a little short, so i'm awaiting on a part to complete this little project...



yesterday i pulled out the old airline and valves to start running fresh line and install my accuair vu4 and dakota digital controller.

out with the old....


in with the new....


I'm still playing around with layout of the tanks. the PO had a space for the compressor under the truck, so i'm moving them there until i get my engine mount (which won't happen until i get my new motor ) on the tanks, I'm thinking under the truck where the gas tank was...2x 3gal tanks. i do have room on the outside of the frame on the pass. side, but i'm not sure it's a good idea...

old setup...


today after clearing things up...

[bulldog2513]

lookin good man! my wife wont let me touch her 95 tahoe lmao