02TahoeMD
Explorer
My sincerest apologies if I have caused you to stumble. :sombrero: Though, I do think it is cool that your wife wants the kind of mods I have done to my rig.
Husker, by all means show us what you make. I admire people who can create in steel.
Time for some updates! First, I realize that I had not mentioned a couple maintenance items I had done over the past 2 years. First, I found out that the 5.3L is notorious for breaking the bolts off the exhaust manifolds. After reading about this problem, I got under the hood to take a look. Sure enough, I found a broken bolt head located on the back driver's side bolt next to the firewall. I got a set of new stainless steel bolts along with gaskets and spent a weekend crouched inside of my wheel wells replacing the darn things. (I had to take breaks to stretch my back....as well as my patience) Thankfully only the one bolt was broken and it was just the head at that, and after a good bit of uncomfortable work the bolts were all replaced.
Also, last fall my second Flowmaster exhaust rusted through completely and lost the back half of one pipe and most of the other. So I decided to go with a stainless system from Gibson, single pipe, and be done with the replacement cycle. Driving down at Outer Banks as well as East Coast winters just is not good for steel. I am delighted with the sound of the Gibson. There is absolutely NO drone at any speed - unlike the Flowmaster which at about 45 MPH the drone was obnoxious at times - and when you open it up the sound is super. It is also pretty quiet at idle which is a bit improvement for me over the Flowmaster. When I would warm the truck up in the morning items inside of my house next to the carport would start to buzz from vibrations given off, now, that is gone. The kit came with a polished stainless tip which I then converted to black with a bit of sanding and painting work. The photo below shows the system with a couple thousand miles on it now. The paint does have some wear but still looks decent.
Next up was a dual USB charging port that I added to the inside of the center console. It is tied in directly to the LED cupholder lights and works great. It is a nice way to power up items and keep them out of sight from prying eyes.
Lastly, I took the rig out to western Maryland for some camping at Greenridge State Forest. I can not recommend it enough as a place to go visit and explore. It is a great testing ground for any equipment and setups you may try to use on an extended trip. Since my 2009 trip out West, I have consolidated the gear a good bit and after this most recent trip, trimmed things down yet again. Like usual, I took my dogs with me for this short trip and they loved it - as far as I could tell. Greenridge Forest has many miles of trails that vary from simple gravel road to deeply rutted roads that require a good eye to drive without hurting your vehicle. If you live within a few hours of Flintstone, MD, give the place a try.
On to some photos from the trip.
15 Mile Creek Crossing ...................................................................................................Greenridge Road headed southbound
Campsite at night....................................................................................... Lunch break with happy dogs
Early morning campsite view
My ever faithful traveling companions.
As ever, I do sincerely appreciate the kind words and compliments given to me over the years. Hard to believe I have had this thing for 11 years now. No intentions of getting rid of it.
Diagnosed with failing bearings, I was quoted over $1100 to get the axle rebuilt back up to "new" condition. After doing some research I decided to swap out the notoriously weak 10 bolt axle and put in a 14 bolt " hybrid" axle out of a 2006 Escalade. This axle is called a hybrid since it has a 14 bolt diff but runs 6 lug axle shafts. If you would like to read more, please follow 
