The next upgrade I did was the cluster upgrade. I upgraded to the 2002 Escalade cluster - which in my humble opinion is the nicest GMT800 Cluster. I went with Ice Blue LEDS!
Mileage had to be swapped so inevitably the stock cluster went with the cluster guy but I prefer the escalade cluster all day (my 98 has an escalade cluster, they are good upgrades)
I REALLY like the look of the cluster with the ice blues in there.
I did Timbrens for the rear end right around this time as well for a simple towing upgrade. I did NOT want to have to deal with air bags or an air compressor.
GMRSB4S was the part number, says its good for 3600 lbs. The driver’s side was NOT Fun to get in there. The factory brake lines are very close to where you need to remove the old bump stop and put the new Timbren in. Once that was done, I hooked it onto a trailer to test it out and they did great!
I was having issues with the tailgate falling down while driving (latch issues!!) so I then rebuilt the tailgate. More on that in the video below.
I grabbed an EDGE CTS3 for insights - and realtime monitoring. I found the Edge mount locally, but if you’d like to check the complete kit out here is a link. I got it dialled in pretty good to the Ice Blue color using a custom hex color code. I painted the Edge dash mount using SEM Paint.
I added the DNA Motoring Double Din Bezel, and swapped to a Kenwood DMX709S Double Din as well. If you want to see how that happened, head over to the 99-02 Double Din Installation Guide.
Stereo FINALLY happened this spring. I realistically just said enough was enough. I had thought about hiring that out last year, but after being quoted close to 7K for a stereo I decided I would just pick away at it and do it myself. I still have to clean up the wiring a touch and change the speakers out, but I used the wiring from the previous owner and put in an JL 400/4 amp for the speakers.
If you have an Avalanche or Escalade EXT and want to add subs you can be limited for choices of boxes. I had thought about cutting the midgate, but didn’t want to ruin the integrity of my midgate. After some research I went with the Audison Powered subwooder with a built in amp. It was basically 4.7” tall and it was between it or the JL version. I am actually really happy with my choice, as the midgate is still functional and the sub does put out a good amount of bass! It was simple to hook up as well, power and remote, and saved me needing to buy another amp.
I did the Boost Auto Wireless charger as well, which I found to be very helpful for roadtrips. It matches pretty good too!
One of the last items I did to the 8.1L recently was the installation of a ram air hood.
It took a bit to find honestly, but surprisingly found it in a junkyard on a wrecked Avy.
I believe this to be the old model Keystone GHG-120 as it has the functional ram air. The scoops are functional, the underside is sealed, and the air goes directly into the scoops and is then channeled to the airbox). I was worried about water intrusion - and had thought about using the same hood fitting that the L5P uses. I had a L5P but had terrible luck with it staying out of the dealership for service (I had one before but got rid of it during Covid). Luckily it has weep holes already to drain off any moisture.
I definitely am really happy with how the front end turned out!
Future plans for this rig will likely include seat reclamation and some interior paint touchups. The driver’s seat is needing some repair- and I have some small paint chips on the dash. Nothing too crazy, but figure I might as well do those next.