2002 Tahoe Expeditionary Vehicle "Under Construction"

[toyrunner95]

that thing has tons of interior space, whats the roof rack for?

[02TahoeMD]

The roof rack is for:

Place to mount off road / work lights. I hope to have lights all the way around it before fall is out.
Place to mount a 6' awning. ( I like the F35 )
Place to carry my kayaks when I go boating around here.
Place to store an extra spare tire, or, ( still debating ) a place to mount a RTT.
Place to store assorted odds and ends, like a pull pal, or shovel and axe.

Plus, it looks cool!

[Maximus Ram]

that thing has tons of interior space, whats the roof rack for?

because their koooool

and one can always use an observation deck

[toyrunner95]

well i dont mean to harp, but you dont need a rack for all that. and that rack will make a tent stick up a good 6" if you put it ontop.

all those things you can mount to roof bars such as tule or yakima. now im not a pro nor am i telling you how to do things. im just curious becasue i had the same thought with my old 4runner. i figured it was a temporary thing until i got my RTT then i could swap out the rack.

im just wonderin.

[02TahoeMD]

I had a set of Yakima bars when I first got the truck. Then came the other ideas about overlanding, and modding the Tahoe to her current state. So, it seemed a natural to switch to a complete roof rack. Places to mount the lights were a plus - I never saw anything in the Yakima catalog that would allow for mounting off road lights, and I did not like any of the light "bars" that are available. The roof rack rails on the LT version of the Tahoe really do not allow anything of substance to be mounted to the sides, and the utility of the Defender rack was hard to beat. Throw in the fact that I found a company that would ship one for free ( saving me big $$ ) and the fact that I got to see another Tahoe with a roof rack on it, and really liked it, I decided to do the conversion.

And, if I ever do put a RTT up there, there will be space under it for more storage....or I can modify the rack some so the tent would fit inside of it. But that is way down the road.

My brother in law liked the Defender rack so much that he went and got one for the roof of his work F350, mounted to the cap. He didnt really NEED it, but he WANTED it. Guess it all boils down to what one likes in their vehicle. To each their own!

[toyrunner95]

HAHAHA you had the exact same chain of thought and problems i did. my rack worked great. you truck looks good. the only problem i had was that the lights were so far back that when i turned them on and i had the sun roof open, it lit up the dash. so i had to make my own lightbar that was farther forward. it sat low and much farther forward. almost like a wrangler. anyway, i like your truck keep the good work.

[Trogdor]

That is looking awesome , I wanted to do the red light on my dodge to all red, did you just replace bulbs or was it a special kit that you had to get?

[02TahoeMD]

Thanks for the compliments, much appreciated!

The red dash lights I did myself. For the light behind the dash gauges I used a sheet of theater gel material. Disassembled the dash, lifted off the needles and gauge face, put the gel down, and then reassembled. The rest of the dash I simply took the stuff out, popped it apart one assembly at a time ( no mixed up buttons that way ) and painted the backsides of the switches with Tamiya translucent red model paint, Tamiya Part #X-27, and also touched up the corresponding bulbs (if they were accessible) with a coat of the Tamiya red as well. Then just reassembled after all dried and put it back together. The factory stereo was the hardest thing to take apart, probably took about 30 min or so to disassemble because it was not intended to pop apart easily like the rest of the stuff. Not to mention I was scared to death of cracking the thing. But once I had it apart, same procedure as the rest of the dash assemblies.

All told, the project probably took about 6 hours of time. Anyone with a bit of mechanical know how could do it. Just gotta have some patience.....

[jayshapiro]

Your build is looking fantastic. You should have a great time with it once you start taking longer (and longer) trips.

What's your current plan for sleeping? You mentioned the possibility of a RTT someday - you've got a massive roof and rack so you should be able to have a nice set up, and still have some storage room.

I know that Napier has a Tahoe specific version of their SUV tent. They're pretty good, we used to have one on the back of our Land Cruiser. Once you start thinking about the rear of your truck that way, it might inspire you for a whole new set of projects such as a tailgate kitchen, cargo drawers, etc...

Well done, great truck!
Jay.

[02TahoeMD]

Thanks much Jay. To get compliments on my build & ideas from so many people with vastly more experience Overlanding than I (esp you Jay!) really means a lot. Very grateful.

To answer your questions...I am single and travel alone so for the time being I have just been sleeping in the back of the truck. I keep the cargo area folded down most of the time anyway, the Tahoe is kind of my shortbed pickup truck. The dogs sure like it that way! I just shift my gear all to one side when it comes time for sleeping. Definitely makes it convenient for getting a good nap in at a truck or rest stop while hauling down the road.

BUT.....

I still have all my camping and backpacking gear so I can throw up a small tent should the urge hit. And the thought of a RTT is very appealing, I had never seriously thought of one until joining this site. Or even getting an SUV tent as well, thanks for the information on the Napier products. I would like to take my dogs with me sometime on my journeys so getting a bigger tent of some kind is clearly in-order. Just a matter of making my mind up....all the ideas present here on the site really give me things to ponder.

Thanks again for the compliments and I will continue to post up here as things progress.