Welcome to the CarDomain for my 1997 Chevrolet Tahoe LT!!! 

Thank you for visiting.  In this page I will share the details as well a small selection of my favorite photographs of this vehicle in various stages of its transformation.

This is my first vehicle that was purchased for me all the way back in August 2000 when I was 15 years old.

It was an off-lease vehicle at Stevenson Chevrolet in Denver, Colorado and I am the second and final owner of the vehicle.

 Since I have owned the vehicle I have taken GREAT care to ensure that it remains in excellent condition. The vehicle never leaves the pavement (with the rare exception of a couple of photoshoots on light dirt trails) and has always been garaged, serviced, and detailed meticulously. 

I intend to be the final owner of this vehicle. I'm never going to sell this one, it's worth far more to me than it is to anyone else. I hope that the care that I show for this vehicle shows on this page.

There were a few things that I felt the vehicle was lacking or needed improvement on, and therefore I have upgraded a few aspects of the vehicle in order to make it better without taking away from the factory appearance of the Tahoe.

I have only had a few tasteful modifications installed;

1.  I replaced the original sixteen inch wheels with seventeen inch dealership takeoffs from a 2004 Chevrolet Tahoe LT. I like the simple five spoke design of the new wheels much better (Cost: $700.00 USD, local Chevrolet Dealership).

2.  I had a xenon HID headlamp conversion and ballasts installed. But please don't confuse this upgrade with those cheap bulb replacements that simply changes the color of a halogen bulb and looks tacky. This is a true xenon conversion (Cost: $800.00 USD, Car-Toys).

3.  I replaced the factory air dam with a PIAA custom air dam that retains the factory look while making room for fog lights as well. This was a difficult part to come across, but I finally found it (Cost: $250.00 USD, direct from PIAA).

4.  I installed PIAA 90 Pro XT dual driving and fog light lamps. This is a top of the line driving lamp that houses two lights, a powerful white halogen driving light as well as an amber colored halogen fog light (Cost: $500.00 USD, direct from PIAA).

5.  I purchased custom embroidered carpet floor mats to replace the factory mats (Cost: $200.00 USD, Autoupgrade.net).

6.  I replaced the original center console with a center console from a 2000 GMC Yukon Denali. The upgraded center console fills in the available space near the floor much better than the old one. Additionally the Denali console is finished with leather on the upper portion and a touch of woodgrain as well instead of simply plastic like the original console (Cost $375.00 USD, Ebay.com).

7.  I had painted and installed a set of Stillen fender flares for the vehicle, similar to those on the first generation Chevrolet Tahoe Z71. They were a nice upgrade for the Tahoe while still maintaining a factory appearance (Cost $375.00 USD [excluding painting], Stillen.com).

8.  I once again replaced the wheels. This time I replaced the seventeen inch 2004 Chevrolet Tahoe LT wheels with seventeen inch 2006 GMC Yukon Denali dealership takeoffs. I like the way both sets of wheels look, so I switch them up often just to keep it interesting (Cost: $700.00 USD, local GMC dealership).

9.  I replaced the original chrome rear bumper with a painted bumper from a 2000 Chevrolet Tahoe Z71 and had it painted silver to match the underbody of the vehicle (Cost: $250.00 USD [excluding painting], local Craigslist.org).

10.  I replaced the chrome front bumper with a painted bumper from a 2000 Chevrolet Tahoe Z71 and had it painted silver to match the vehicle. I also installed the GM factory fog lamps that install within the front bumper on the Chevrolet Tahoe Z71 / Chevrolet Tahoe Limited. This bumper was incredibly difficult to find and I finally found one in great condition that I had to ship from a salvage yard in California. I found it thanks to a great website that essentially catalogs the inventory of thousands of salvage yards across the nation (Cost $650.00 USD [excluding painting], Car-Part.com).

11.  I had the chrome grille painted green to match the body of the vehicle. This improvement finalized the dichromatic look of green and silver on the exterior of the vehicle.

12.  I also purchased the GM factory brush guard from a 2000 Chevrolet Tahoe Z71.  In my opinion, this is the best looking brush guard available for the GMT 400 Chevrolet Tahoe.  It is an OEM accessory and is also a relatively difficult part to find (Cost: $200.00 USD, local Craigslist.org).

13.  I purchased and installed a set of GM factory side assist step bars from a 1999 Chevrolet Tahoe Z71. These were a great purchase, but were particularly difficult to install because I also had to purchase GM factory mounting brackets that weld to the inner rocker panel of the vehicle in order to properly mount the step bars (Cost: $200.00 USD, Car-Part.com [step bars], $95.00 USD, GMPartsDirect.com [mounting brackets]).

14.  I purchased and installed a set of Z71 emblems to re-badge the vehicle as a Chevrolet Tahoe Z71. I replaced the LT emblems on the C pillar of the vehicle with the Z71 emblems. Additionally, I placed the third emblem on the left cargo door of the vehicle in the same position as the Chevrolet Tahoe Z71. This is just a small modification, but completes the Tahoe Z71 appearance package for my vehicle (Cost: $45.00 USD, Latemodelrestoration.com).

15.  I purchased and installed the cat-back exhaust system from a 2000 GMC Yukon Denali (Cost: $75.00 USD, local private purchase).

16.  I purchased and installed the woodgrain interior window switch controls and trim from a 1999 GMC Yukon Denali. These interior trim components replace the simple grey plastic that was there previously with a nice woodgrain that also matches the trim on the GMC Yukon Denali console I have installed (Cost: $70.00 USD, Ebay.com).

17.  I purchased all of the interior seats from a 2000 GMC Yukon Denali.  The upgraded seats are a noticable improvement over the original seats by providing two tone grey leather interior, a power adjusting passenger seat rather than manual adjustment, both front and rear seats are now heated, the headreasts are an improved design and articulate forward in the front seats as well, and the map pockets behind the front seats are leather now rather than a fabric mesh net.  This upgrade substantially improved the interior of the vehicle (Cost $500.00 USD, private transaction via FullSizeChevy.com).

18.  I purchased the gauge cluster from a 1999 Cadillac Escalade.  The improved gauge cluster has white needles instead of orange and illuminates an aqua hue rather than white.  In addition, the speed printed on the gauges is listed up to 120mph instead of 100mph.  Although I never drive that fast and the governor on the vehicle still would restrict its speed to 100mph, it just looks a little nicer (Cost: $80.00 USD, local Craigslist.org).

19.  Thanks to a fellow CarDomain member, I received the OEM taillamp covers from a 2000 Chevrolet Tahoe Z71.  I had been looking for these for years but have been unable to find any of these for sale.  The member did not have them installed on his Chevrolet Tahoe and shipped them to me free of cost!  Thank you Chevy_AK907 (Cost: $0.00 USD, private transaction via CarDomain.com)!

*Total modification cost to date; $6,070.00 USD.

I hope you enjoyed my brief vehicle CarDomain page.  Please rate my vehicle well and leave a comment good or bad letting me know what you think of this CarDomain page.  If you have time be sure to follow the links below to my other vehicle.  Thank you and take care!

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