Seriously, what one of you hood rich, sleeper-lovin crazies made this thing? Stand up now! I’m going to first, ask you for a loan, and second, congratulate you on making something we wouldn’t (except on paper).
This thing is bonkers. The owner started with a pristine 1998 Chevrolet Tahoe 4wd with 33 thousand miles. Knowing that it was cool-ish but not suiting their speed demon dream, they dropped a LS9 into it! A supercharged LS with 638 screaming ponies and 604 pound feet of twisting?! That is automotive-motivation.
Buuuuuut, they couldn’t stop there. The rear end was updated to a built Dana 60 with 3.73 gears and the good ol’ Detroit locker. Apparently this can handle 1k hp. I don’t doubt it. I applaud this set up. I have always loved the Dana 60. I wonder if it had to be shortened to fit properly?
The front end has a ‘GM performance front axle’. I’m not sure what that means. Sounds like a little bit on snake oil on top of the stock axle. While the 4L80E 4-speed transmission is also upgraded to handle all those wild stallions. Thank god for that last one. If they hadn’t done anything to the trans, you’d probably get a couple (or one) fun launch before some noise and no more movement would happen.
Man o’ man is this Tahoe clean. I will admit however this build is STUPID. I mean that in the best way of things. We all do something stupid now and then. Stupid is the best way to describe those things that have very little reward and many risks. For instance, I was at one point, racing with SCCA. People would ask, “Why do you race knowing that it is dangerous?” Because, “It’s stupid”. The mental reward for putting yourself though something so ridiculous is sometimes more than the actual reward you can achieve.
I think the owner of this Tahoe had something to prove to themselves. Seeing a clean Tahoe with 30-odd-something miles on it is rare and probably moderately expensive. Buying a LS9... 21 thousand dollars. Having a shop install it all? Very, very expensive. The current bid is just over $23,000. I don’t think they will be making any money off this one. The reward was building the worlds best sleeper box headlight Tahoe.