[dDUBb]

Not sure where to post this, figured here was as good start. I don't frequent these forums often, but I will need to spend some time searching for more information here ..

So, the wife crashed the 07 TBSS last month. Its her primary vehicle but she has a spare in the meantime. I've gone back and forth with insurance since then and now I am ready to start the repairs myself. Additionally, while the truck is down, I am going to attempt some other issues that have come up over the years.

I've already ordered a bunch of replacement OEM parts for the front end; what's actually available, and some of the discontinued parts seem to still be available at various sources.

Here's what else I'm looking to fix while I'm at it ..

Body work - collecting parts currently, fenders, headlights and things ..

Tires - Need a new set of tires, and one of the TPMS sensors has been intermittent for a while. Reprogram or buy relearn tool, I'm not sure.

Suspension - drivers side CV shaft boot is torn and flung the grease all over the wheel components. Some of the bushings on the control arms are completely destroyed or worn out. End links look pretty beat up. Also, rear airbags deflate overnight but they work fine otherwise. Probably good to replace soon due to age and not to overwork the compressor.

Exhaust - I've noticed a ticking sound, looks like a few of the manifold to head bolts have broken ( more missing on the passenger side ), looks like a pain to repair in vehicle.

Stereo - half of the speakers stopped working, she would prefer to keep the head unit, I'm thinking about aftermarket speakers here.

HVAC - seems to blow hot even when you don't want it to. Won't blow cold from what I am told. Not sure which actuator or blend door is causing this, I'll need to do some searching and trouble shooting on this issue ..

Brakes - seem worn, need replacement but the OEM seem to not work all that good to begin with. Looking to upgrade, the Bear kit is the only big brake kit I can find at the moment.

Thats a lot and that probably doesnt cover everything now that i look it over ... if anybody has any good information or can point me in any direction that would help a lot. Thanks for reading


- Dan

 

[BlkGS]

A few thoughts...

It sounds like it's in rough shape..why bother?you're likely better off taking the insurance money and buying a replacement one with all the issues yours has.

I redid my front brakes with the powerstop z36 kit. It stops really well. Big brake kits don't improve stopping distances in many cases, they improve stopping repeat performance. You'll get a little extra leverage from a larger rotor and caliper, but mainly you're gaining the ability to stop hard over and over again without thermal fade.


Rear airbags... I fought to keep .one for a long time, but after going through the motions with repeatedly breaking height sensors I but the bullet and bought coil springs. It was a great choice, and rides better, corners better, and just is better than the air springs were.
Everything else is just general maintenance.

 

[Ilovemybucket]

I have a pair of rear airbags with about 20k on them. $50 plus shipping from California

 

[Az07TbSS]

Two thoughts…
I also switched to coil springs and never regretted it. You will lose some towing capacity though.

I installed power stop drilled and slotted rotors on original calipers with new pads and I’m very happy for the cost. be sure to follow their break in procedure.

 

[Mitch808]

...

Big brake kits don't improve stopping distances in many cases, they improve stopping repeat performance. You'll get a little extra leverage from a larger rotor and caliper, but mainly you're gaining the ability to stop hard over and over again without thermal fade..

OMG swoon. You had me at hello.

Finally someone f’ing gets it!!

I always cringe when someone brags “I just installed a bbk and I can do endo’s and lift my rear end, omg brakes are so awesome…”. Blah blah blah.

that’s not how it works.

 

[FlomaxSS]

Baer brakes on the awd shortened my stopping distance from 60-0 in 95ft. Original brake set-up from 60-0 took over 130ft. I find there is more of a fade difference in the pads and rotors than anything to do with the calipers. Stock pads have decent initial bite but poor fade, whereas the racing pads give up some initial bite for increased fade resistance. And then bigger rotors, of course, can dissipate more heat.

 

[dDUBb]

Those are some excellent points.

As for the TBSS .. it's her vehicle and she wants to keep it and fix it up a bit. Doesn't seem too bad, it's just a lot of little things. It was a clean truck, completely stock, engine runs good, it just turned over 100k miles not too long ago.

I did make the suggestion about using the insurance money as a down-payment on a dark horse mustang or a c8 .. 🤔 she did not find that amusing.

Good idea on the rear coil springs; we have never towed anything so that wouldn't make much difference. Something to consider; as well as the offer to buy used airbags; I'm not too far away in the South Bay area ..

Maybe big brake kit is the wrong wording. I'm looking for improved braking performance. Sounds like the Baer kit might be a worthwhile upgrade.

 

[BlkGS]

You're not gonna stop any faster with a baer kit than you will with fresh calipers and a performance pad. I've got powerstop z36 pads and it drops anchor. Never measured it, but it's massively better.

 

[BlkGS]

Baer brakes on the awd shortened my stopping distance from 60-0 in 95ft. Original brake set-up from 60-0 took over 130ft. I find there is more of a fade difference in the pads and rotors than anything to do with the calipers. Stock pads have decent initial bite but poor fade, whereas the racing pads give up some initial bite for increased fade resistance. And then bigger rotors, of course, can dissipate more heat.

What you have noticed is totally wrong. Brake fade is a component of fluid, size, and materials. Pads will have a decent effect, but it's more of a "what temperature range to these work at" sort of deal. Race pads for example don't work well until heated to 150-250 degrees F, they suck on the street because they operate solely in friction mode vs stiction. Once you've picked your pads out appropriately for your temperature range, run a fresh and decent brake fluid, and made sure your soft lines aren't too soft.... Then up sizing the rotors and calipers to have a higher thermal capacity byaking them bigger is what you do.

The benefit of a baer kit is they look cool. That's really the big upgrade in reality.

 

[FlomaxSS]

Yes, they do look bitchin'! But, pad construction/material/quality being equal, the Baer kit is totally going to stop faster than any pad you're putting in factory calipers. When I mentioned "race pads" earlier, I meant street/racing pads. Full-on racing pads do have higher initial operating temps as you mentioned.
Maybe with 345mm width front tires I could pull endos, Or maybe after I convert to hydroboost!
The only reason to not put this kit on one's TBSS is the cost.

 

[BlkGS]

Yes, they do look bitchin'! But, pad construction/material/quality being equal, the Baer kit is totally going to stop faster than any pad you're putting in factory calipers. When I mentioned "race pads" earlier, I meant street/racing pads. Full-on racing pads do have higher initial operating temps as you mentioned.
Maybe with 345mm width front tires I could pull endos, Or maybe after I convert to hydroboost!
The only reason to not put this kit on one's TBSS is the cost.

With the same pad, yes, the baer kit will stop SLIGHTLY shorter due to increased leverage, and a stiffer caliper. But we are talking inches shorter, not feet. If you want to stop shorter, it comes down to pads and tires. Even if you added 8 piston massive calipers it wouldn't matter, you're only generating so much hydraulic force and thus so much clamping force.

But yeah, they look cool. My biggest issue with them is the rotors are still crazy thin. Unfortunately the way the TBSS offsets worked out, there simply isn't room for a decently thick rotor and a caliper with a significant piston count without spacing the wheel out. Then, because we have our silly oddball wheel bolt pattern, you need custom expensive ass rotors, or you drill out other rotors to add our bolt pattern that compromises their integrity.

My take... Clean your own calipers up, get some good performing pads, fresh fluids and hoses, it'll stop just fine, even with 7000 pounds behind it.

 

[dDUBb]

We don't track the TBSS, but we do take it to the track on occasion ( Laguna Seca above ) .. 😉

For the most part, she uses it to pick up the kids from school, and grocery shopping. The brakes were just something I wanted to address while I have some down time with the body repairs.

 

[DJLowFreq]

Sorry to hear about this. Sounds like she will come back stronger

 

[nrmerritt]

Dan,
I converted my 2006 to coils and shocks last October. Prior to that I replaced the air springs with oem GM units last June. I went coils since I had a ride height sensor break and I stupidly tossed the old one before realizing I needed to keep the little blue bar that apparently makes them TBSS specific. I was never able to get the ride height adjusted with a standard trailblazer ride height sensor. One side was always higher..

I could not find replacement parts for the ride height sensors, so just a fair warning on that issue.

So if you would like my air springs that are sitting in my basement collecting dust that have 6 months of usage they are yours to have just pay for shipping. I'm on the east coast in MD. I also now have no use for the compressor but that's still on the truck, if interested I could pull that off too but you would need to give me some time to get to it. I work full-time and I'm part time back to college so I'd have to make it fit in somewhere with all that.

Anyways sorry for the mini novel and I would like to help contribute to a fellow TBSS enthusiast if it keeps the truck in the family. 😁

My truck used to belong to my brother and he was the first owner. He is unfortunately not with us anymore. So mines sentimental and never leaving my grips!

 

[dDUBb]

Boxes of OEM GM parts are starting to roll in. I'm a little slow on progress; haven't had a day off from my full time job in the last few weeks.

@nrmerritt .. appreciate the offer. I'm still undecided on the rear spring setup at this time, but ill keep that in mind.

Still undecided on the rear spring options, need to make a decision on a few things here soon.

 

[Mitch808]

From a maintenance standpoint moving to springs in the rear makes a difference and if you tow you can add supplemental airbags and retain the compressor for that purpose. The sensors are I think discontinued from gm? So is the compressor. So it's really a matter of cutting your losses in case things break down the road.

 

[dDUBb]

Brand new OEM head lamps installed .. compared to the original 2007s. 🙄