My 2011 Tahoe LT. build, a work in progress.

[Charles M]

So I decided to add an igniter to my Coleman grill. We got tired of looking for matches or fussing with a flint to get it going... I was wishing I had spent the extra money for one with and igniter... I couldn't imagine it is to hard to install one...

First step pick up an igniter with the proper number of electrodes for your grill.

Remove the two small screws from the bottom to release the burner top. On my stove the holes are already drilled for the igniter but, I did have to enlarged them.



I used a star washer to lock the nut in place since they did not come with my repair kit.



After installing the electrode I routed the wires to the back and held them in place with zip ties.



Then put everything back together making sure the tubes lined up with the gas ports.

 

[Charles M]

Adjusted the electrode and tested the spark. Be very careful bending them they will break very easily. The spark has to be hitting right in the center.



Then tested it out once more with gas...

 

[Charles M]

Ok I get bored on weekends and have to piddle around with stuff to make my overlanding easier...

My latest addition is for hauling extra fuel or water without sticking it on my roof. I had a receiver mounted carrying rack it was laying around doing nothing so I took it apart and cut part of it away. Welded up some mounting brackets and reinforced it as needed. I wanted a rack that would hold a 7 gallon Aquatainer or Jumbotainer by Reliance or a jerry can so I measured them all and came up with a rack size to hold two of almost any combination of those containers. This rack is mounted behind my flip down cooking table and it will be handy to have water there.

This photo is a mock up to see how it looks. I have since finished it but, I am letting paint dry over the weekend before mounting it to the Wilco swing out tire carrier.



To make life even easier I decided to mount a submersible water pump in my water aquatainer that dispenses over table. It has a plug in behind the tire to will supply power for the pump and a light for cooking. I think the cost of pump and related parts is under $40.00 and may have taken 20 minutes to make. As you can see it puts out 2 gallons a minute I may need to add some restriction to slow the flow down...

 

[Charles M]

Here is the completed unit. I ran all the wiring for the tag light through the tubing and will be running the wires through the swing out for other electrical needs later.

 

[RoarinRow]

Here is the completed unit.View attachment 118898View attachment 118899

Looks like it was made to be there.

 

[Charles M]

On our last trip we traveled on some very dusty terrain and the dust got in the table sliders and caused a mess. So my wife made a cover for the slide out table it is made of heavy duty nylon and has hook and loop fasteners to seal it up. The camo matches our inside curtains.

out

 

[tjZ06]

Very cool build, nice to see somebody using a Tahoe. I have a question for you though, it appears you sleep IN the Tahoe on top of the platform, right? How are you managing temps? I suppose on cold nights you're going to stay warmer in a vehicle (once you've been in there a while to warm it up with your own body heat) but on warm nights I imagine it being sort of miserable with no airflow. Related, how are you dealing with insects being drawn to the light when you get in/out of the rig at night? The last time I was camping with my pickup I opened the doors at night to load in our food, garbage and other smelly-stuff and by the time I had moved the bags in the dome light had attracted an unimaginable number of little gnats. How are you getting in/out without a million unwanted visitors?

Thanks,
TJ

 

[Charles M]

Very cool build, nice to see somebody using a Tahoe. I have a question for you though, it appears you sleep IN the Tahoe on top of the platform, right? How are you managing temps? I suppose on cold nights you're going to stay warmer in a vehicle (once you've been in there a while to warm it up with your own body heat) but on warm nights I imagine it being sort of miserable with no airflow. Related, how are you dealing with insects being drawn to the light when you get in/out of the rig at night? The last time I was camping with my pickup I opened the doors at night to load in our food, garbage and other smelly-stuff and by the time I had moved the bags in the dome light had attracted an unimaginable number of little gnats. How are you getting in/out without a million unwanted visitors?

Thanks,
TJ

We have camped in the summer with no problems since the temps tend to drop down much lower by the time we go to sleep and windows are open. I camped in the mountains of Colorado last year in 25 degrees and it did get down to mid 30 inside but, with all the insulation I have it isn't too bad it certainly is better than a tent. I have even more insulation in it now. I am working on putting in a small heater to help maintain a little higher temp. inside for winter / hunting trips I am not sure if I will use gas or maybe elect.

Bugs, to be honest in Nevada desert camping we don't have very many. My dome lights are set up so they do not automatically come on and we only turn them on if we are inside and it is closed up. Most of the time there will be a light somewhere outside at least 10 feet from the truck so bugs tend to stay near it. For mosquito areas we have cotton curtains to allow ventilation without letting bugs in. If I was in South Florida... Well you just have to wear bug spray... lol

 

[tjZ06]

We have camped in the summer with no problems since the temps tend to drop down much lower by the time we go to sleep and windows are open. I camped in the mountains of Colorado last year in 25 degrees and it did get down to mid 30 inside but, with all the insulation I have it isn't too bad it certainly is better than a tent. I have even more insulation in it now. I am working on putting in a small heater to help maintain a little higher temp. inside for winter / hunting trips I am not sure if I will use gas or maybe elect.

Bugs, to be honest in Nevada desert camping we don't have very many. My dome lights are set up so they do not automatically come on and we only turn them on if we are inside and it is closed up. Most of the time there will be a light somewhere outside at least 10 feet from the truck so bugs tend to stay near it. For mosquito areas we have cotton curtains to allow ventilation without letting bugs in. If I was in South Florida... Well you just have to wear bug spray... lol

Hey Charles, thanks for taking the time to reply! I agree, most spots get cool in the evening even in the summer. You mentioned the windows open - do you put up any netting or just the cotton curtain (if the latter, are they "loose" or actually sealed up to the window frame)? I'm not sure why I'm making such a fuss about it, the sleeping porches at the family cabin in Idaho (way, way, WAY out in the Payette National Forest) are 3.5 wall, open structures with no windows or netting and it's never bothered me. For some reason the smaller space of a SUV combined with the interior lights though it just seemed like it could be a nuisance. Did you mod your dome lights to not come on auto, or was that something you could select factory? I'm not sure I have that option in the WJ, but I'm sure I can find a way.

Cheers,
TJ

 

[Charles M]

Hey Charles, thanks for taking the time to reply! I agree, most spots get cool in the evening even in the summer. You mentioned the windows open - do you put up any netting or just the cotton curtain (if the latter, are they "loose" or actually sealed up to the window frame)? I'm not sure why I'm making such a fuss about it, the sleeping porches at the family cabin in Idaho (way, way, WAY out in the Payette National Forest) are 3.5 wall, open structures with no windows or netting and it's never bothered me. For some reason the smaller space of a SUV combined with the interior lights though it just seemed like it could be a nuisance. Did you mod your dome lights to not come on auto, or was that something you could select factory? I'm not sure I have that option in the WJ, but I'm sure I can find a way.

Cheers,
TJ

I have a few different window covers depending on the season. But, the cotton ones do not seal a 100% they are just hanging there. So far we have not had a biting bug problem but the alternative is the same in the car or in a tent.

The Tahoe has a setting from the factory you get to choose when they come on. I have mine set to never come on unless I turn them on. It allows me to get in or out of my vehicle undetected and that comes in handy sometime for work.

If there is no other way a work around could be as simple as putting a toggle switch by the dome light.

 

[Charles M]

We needed more room so, I added the table to the left and you can also see where the water jug is mounted. It has an electric pump so you can dispense water with it sitting right there. The left side table is stored inside the rig and is held in place by a threaded knob. The right side table slides back under the stove then the platform the stove is on folds up.


This is all mounted to my Wilco swing out tire rack. You can see my storage rack in the back ground in the lifted position and how I store some things under it.



This is my water jug to control the flow better I put the original spigot back on. This has a water resistant switch and the wiring goes through the cap to a submersible 2 gpm water pump in the tank. I use water proof Deutsch plugs for all my connections so it is easy to plug multiple things into the same connector..



I was having trouble with fitting a cast iron pan into my kitchen supplies so I opted to get one without a handle this way it will nest into a dutch oven also. I made this handle with some iron rod and put a silicone cover on it. To remove it just lift it up and slide it back down through the little handles then put it inside the pan for storage.

 

[Sparksalot]

Other additions are:

Airaid JR intake. I did some investigation talking with people who dyno tune for a living on Tahoe's and they seemed to agree an expensive full cold air system produced little to no gain in power over what a simple Airiad Jr does. The amount of power was so small you would not be able to actually feel the gain. So I opted to save money to be spent elsewhere. (I did dyno tuning for a living for over 4 years so I know there is a lot of tuning hype out there just to sell parts) This does not mean in any way that it is not possible to get more power from a Tahoe just that you are not likely to find it with a cold air system.

DashPaq tuner: There are a lot of tuners out there and I suggest you do your own due diligence on selecting one that will do what you want and also fit in your price range. The amount of power to be gained with any tuner on a tahoe is pretty small. If you can find a good tuner and get a very specialized tune you may see more power. In my experience as a dyno tuner any one using a dynojet dyno will not likely get peak performance for you due to the nature of how they work. Again if you are doing a lot of other engine work the type of tuner may be important.

AMP power step boards: I really like these on the street and off road they do not hang down as low as other solid mounted steps do. But, I limit my rock crawling so I wont damage them or my bodywork. There are no companies making sliders for these tahoe's at this time. I am hoping to build a retractable slider / step set up in the future as a personal project.

AVS window visors: These are great for reducing bright sun and for allowing ventilation while moving or camping without the rain and bad weather getting in. a great addition to any vehicle.

Pioneer rear camera: It works and I am looking at adding another camera to the front end the new one will have night vision too. Having a forward mounted camera will help seeing down a steep incline just in case the guy in front of me stops or if I do not want to send my wife out there to look.

Installing a dual battery set up in a tahoe is pretty simple chevy has already installed a battery box on the front driverside corner all you need to add is a battery hold down and cables to connect into the system.

I opted to install mine directly into a parallel because they are identical batteries installed at the same time. When my original battery went out I figured it was a good time to install two batteries for more power and a longer service life. I also used the highest output / highest reserve batteries I could fit in there.

I am sure there will be some people who will prefer an isolation device or some type of expensive device to control how they are charged and to this I say to each his own... I and a lot of car manufacturers have employed this method for years you will not die or blow up or have a mojor melt down at least not on this tahoe. I have used it on other camping vehicles since the 70's and have never had a problem.

Yes it is possible for one battery to go bad and drain the other one, it is also possible for two batteries to fail at once but, either case is highly unlikely. It is also possible you may foolishly run both batteries down but, it will take twice as long.. It is also possible to disconnect one from the system while camping and reconnect it to jump off the other battery too or to put a blade disconnect in. So I am not here to debate multiple ways to connect a dual system but, only to present an inexpensive way to install two batteries on your Tahoe.

The connection on the original battery remains mostly the same except I have added a battery cable on the positive side that connects to the new battery.

The connections on the new battery are; Positive post as stated a standard battery cable goes to the original battery and the winch is also connected to this battery. If I get in a really bad situation winching I could use the second battery with the main battery cable disconnected. Although it would actually be better to pull the power from both batteries at the same time. The negative cable is connected to the winch, the frame and the motor.
View attachment 110776

My 2011 PPV has factory dual batteries in parallel as well. No isolation following the KISS concept.

 

[Charles M]

I have a great wife who is very creative she made this heavy nylon camo cover for the table to help keep it clean on dusty runs.



The cover encloses the whole table and is held in place with Velcro panels. When it is in use the cover drops away and is stored inside the rig. We put the standard cap on the water jug when traveling.



I am glad the Wilco tire swingout gives me plenty of room between the tire and the back of the Tahoe I think it is a perfect fit.

 

[RoarinRow]

We needed more room so, I added the table to the left and you can also see where the water jug is mounted. It has an electric pump so you can dispense water with it sitting right there. The left side table is stored inside the rig and is held in place by a threaded knob. The right side table slides back under the stove then the platform the stove is on folds up.
View attachment 120662

This is all mounted to my Wilco swing out tire rack. You can see my storage rack in the back ground in the lifted position and how I store some things under it.

View attachment 120663

This is my water jug to control the flow better I put the original spigot back on. This has a water resistant switch and the wiring goes through the cap to a submersible 2 gpm water pump in the tank. I use water proof Deutsch plugs for all my connections so it is easy to plug multiple things into the same connector..

View attachment 120664

I was having trouble with fitting a cast iron pan into my kitchen supplies so I opted to get one without a handle this way it will nest into a dutch oven also. I made this handle with some iron rod and put a silicone cover on it. To remove it just lift it up and slide it back down through the little handles then put it inside the pan for storage.

View attachment 120665

What, you made the table even better! Son of a.... j/k. Awesome!

 

[Charles M]

Went on a hunting trip with a friend in North East Nevada weather was pretty cold teens at night and maybe 50s during the days. I was hoping to camp from Thursday evening to Monday morning... But ended up coming back a couple days earlier since our hunting tag was filled before I even set up camp. Darn for the good luck... lol

The Tahoe hides real well behind the 270 awning with the side installed...



I made a makeshift side for the back of it so our fire pit wouldn't have to work as hard keeping us warm in 10 to 15 degree nights. I made a drop cover for the hood area and a skirt for between the wheels this kept a lot of cold air out. Having a fire pit inside the awning tent helped preheat inside the truck before going to bed. Inside was around 40 to 50 degrees when sleeping.



Cooking was still outside it was so cold the charcoal would not burn very well so, the gas stove assisted in cooking our pot roast. I did not test the water rack left of the stove since water was freezing pretty fast outside. The electric pump worked very well with the water jug up front on the floorboard. The new table cover worked great at keeping all the dirt out too.

 

[Danny Boy]

Man I got cold chills just thinking about. I love cold weather camping, but never camped in anything below 30.

 

[Charles M]

Man I got cold chills just thinking about. I love cold weather camping, but never camped in anything below 30.

My coldest was minus 18F chill factor during an ice storm with 60 mph wind gusts. Snow was 8 feet deep under the tent. I actually invited a few friends and they mentioned how bad the weather was going to be. My reply was "I know so, whats your point? " It was actually a very fun solo trip. I am getting too old to do another one that severe.

 

[Chevyman29]

I found a good place to put my 10 pound cylinder I used a 4 inch pvc pipe with a cap on it to support it. I keep the hose under the tray to the right.

View attachment 114937

This is my rear table with a wood extension that slides out it will be mounted to the tire swing out. It should be done in a few more days just in time for our next trip.

View attachment 114938

I mounted my new Ham radio in the headliner and I will be making or modifying the old cover to fill in the gaps. You can see where I also put insulation above the radio that covers the the entire roof area over the driver / passenger area.
View attachment 114946

First let me say I'm stealing a ton of your ideas for my own up coming Tahoe build. Your rig is amazing .

Can I ask what the 10 pound cylinder is for ?

 

[Sparksalot]

I have a great wife who is very creative she made this heavy nylon camo cover for the table to help keep it clean on dusty runs.

View attachment 120666

The cover encloses the whole table and is held in place with Velcro panels. When it is in use the cover drops away and is stored inside the rig. We put the standard cap on the water jug when traveling.

View attachment 120667

I am glad the Wilco tire swingout gives me plenty of room between the tire and the back of the Tahoe I think it is a perfect fit.

View attachment 120668

im really liking that Wilco hitchgate. Thanks fir the tip.

 

[Charles M]

First let me say I'm stealing a ton of your ideas for my own up coming Tahoe build. Your rig is amazing .

Can I ask what the 10 pound cylinder is for ?

Steal away I enjoy sharing what I know and learn. Be sure to post up your rig I want to steal your ideas too...
The 10 pounder is for airing up my tires it is a CO2 tank.