** '07 Tahoe Update (Civilian Version) **

[CAMZCOM]

My company recently started '07 Tahoe for local Fire Chief. Some of the forums stated that the entire bumper cover had to be removed to get behind the grille access. I found this not true. We started and finished the front of the vehicle today and here is what I found...

1) Positive switched high-beam. (Uses standard flasher)

2) Headlights are very big and are held in by (2) 10 mm bolts on the topside and (1) 10 mm bolt inside the fender liner. Easy to access by removing a couple of plastic push tabs and (1) 7 mm screw on the front-side of plastic fender liner. Finding that bolt the first time was not easy...

3) The front grille can be removed by taking out the (6) 10mm bolts across the top of the grille, the (2) 7 mm bolts/screws on the top of the grille, the (2) 7mm bolts/screws on the bottom of the grille (inside the bottom grille slot) and carefully (with a panel popper) opening the (2) plastic clips on the passenger-side, the (2) clips on the drivers-side and the (4) clips along to bottom of the grille. The clips must be accessed from the back-side of the grill. It can be done by prying the top of the grille out once all the bolts are removed. The grille popped right out and right back in. The whole removal takes about 10 minutes. Plenty of room for grille strobes/LEDs.

4) Stock console area has black plastic tray that can be removed. Custom fabricated aluminum panel was fabricated and powder-coated allowing (1) radio, (2) drink holders and one light/siren contol to be mounted looking as close to factory as I think possible. Only problem was depth issue. Radio had to be mounted farthest from the front because that was deepest spot.

I will try and update more tommorow when vehicle is finished. Thanks...

[firefighter2000]

Dont forget some pics. Would like to see the install.
Craig

[JustaBuff]

Well we started the first 2 07' Tahoes .. heres a link to some pics of some work in process. The Techs should have them completed by the middle of next week. I will update the pics next week as well with the final product.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/slfd111/a ... r=/b58bre2

[SafetyLighting]

Looks good, I'm a little disappointed with the console though. I don't like the way the climate controls are blocked. Other than that it is a great install so far.

Keep the pics coming.

[JustaBuff]

I agree about the console. its a high unit - it does block the controls but after talking with Jotto I understand why its built as it is. On a nationwide sales plan taking into account the depth of alot of the radios, and alot of brands used. they felt this was the best universal height. We are going to modify one of these units and see if we can drop it down about 4 inches. we dont require the depth since we are using the cencom and dual head remote mount CDMS. the controls can still be accessed in front of the console, but it is a bit tight. the console has 9inches of face available so we mounted the cencom on a clam shell then onto a 3inch blank. we could have just had a plate made, but we run into a labor rate issue for making something like that due to the cost of doing business in our area compared to some, especially on a full buildout with a volly dept on a budget.
By the way . the mirror Beams are Whelen 500 series with the Deep Surface Mount flange 5TSMAB - A little grinding on the sander on one side and we made the light level off and project perfectly forward. It was a real easy solve and it was it no trouble at all. The standard flange 5Flangeb does a great job of letting the helicoptor know your comming down the road so avoid that one. Nothing built by whelen yet.

[SafetyLighting]

I meant to ask about the mirror lights. Nice fix on that. I was wondering why you had used that deep console when you were using all remote mount heads. I understand now. Is there A/C ducting run under the factory console or something else blocking the available room?

[JustaBuff]

Added some pics of the finished truck
any questions or comments let me know.

[thebigphish]

those series 700 (?) leds and that whelen siren don't block up too much of the airflow to the radiator? That is a fair amount of real estate that you covered up...any problems with that?

[JustaBuff]

I spoke with a friend whos a service manager at chevy. He states as long as you dont block more than 30% of the air flow then it shouldnt cause any issues. Good point though. One we will keep our eye on. Personally I wanted to mount them on the center cross member next to the bowtie but the cust wanted them mounted in the lower position.

[tvsjr]

Can you elaborate on how you constructed the mirror mounts? I'd like to put a set of LEDs on my mirrors (F350 Super Duty, trailer-tow "dumbo ears") but, of course, no one builds a refit kit for them. My preference would be 500-series Linears, if at all possible.

[JustaBuff]

Whelen Makes a deep mount flange - part number 5TSMAB. as long as you use a standard 500 series LED and not the Super model you have lots of space in there. We use a belt sander in the shop. Basically started sanding down little by little until it matched up. your bascially going to ground down the bottom of the mount to make it match the down degree you will need. You cannot do this with the 5flange because there is not enough plastic to ground down.. we have 2 more tahoes on the way in next week or the week after, so I will take some step by step pics and post them if you would like.
regards
J

[wkr518]

I heard today from Chevy Sales Mgr locally that they are redesigning the body style again for the 2007.Anyone else heard of this?
Chevy must not have seen all those older FIRE/EMS/Gov Tahoes cruising around the country in respect to the design of the 2007 model.

Anyone done corner strobes in the headlights?
Wayne

[JustaBuff]

We couldnt see a way to get a strobe in the corners ..

Also - No strobes in the reverse lights , no room, it just wont work - You can do the red parts of the lens top and bottom though for brake and tail.

By the way - front headlights, new type of material on these , we drilled for strobes, and we did our nomal amount with the vac , however, this material turned to a super fine dust , similar to fiberglass the techs said. Any ideas how to get it the hell out, its coated all over the inside of the lens. Afraid to rinse it out , water spots are the norm with that. we have tried using Jet Dry from the dishwasher to help with that but there are still some spots. Anyone else doing anything special ?

[kj7xe]

A good portion of our LE fleet here is 02-06 tahoes and Troy C06 consoles. I am hoping that the 07 tahoe can be ordered without the stock console, or it can be completely removed to make way for a floor plate & console?

[RadShop]

Drill a small hole.. just big enough to get the tip of the airgun through, and blow out the rest of the "crap" that's in there. With a little twisting and turning you can blow it out the hole for the strobe to go into.

[wkr518]

Drill a small hole.. just big enough to get the tip of the airgun through, and blow out the rest of the "crap" that's in there. With a little twisting and turning you can blow it out the hole for the strobe to go into.

We spent 5 minutes each assembly with airgun blowing that fine powder out.From now on mini vac (1.5 hose) and drilling at same time to see if that prevents dust going into HL assembly.
Labor is going up on 2007 Tahoe installs here.

Wayne

[kdean7]

Any pic's of the 07 tahoe work you've done ?
trying to decide how to do my yukon xl.

[JustaBuff]

Casey
As for the removal of the console. Yes it will be available as a public safety version soon. Its going to be on state bid here in NY in Sept but the dealer says they just moved the dates to october / november for availability . As for removing a factory console, well anything is possible but the plastic looked very contoured to the dash and there is quite a bit of factory items on the tranny hump under the factory console. I guess with a custom floor plate mount with a standard console it could be done, or a custom built console could definitly solve the issue- its all just a matter of time and money.. at $100.00+ an hour for time here in our area plus materials, I dont think alot of depts are going to foot the bill for what it would take. on a personal basis I can see it being done and turning out real nice especially with some of the work I have seen here on this site from guys.


Kdean7
Check up top for a link to my pics of the first 2 we did

[kj7xe]

Casey
As for the removal of the console. Yes it will be available as a public safety version soon. Its going to be on state bid here in NY in Sept but the dealer says they just moved the dates to october / november for availability . As for removing a factory console, well anything is possible but the plastic looked very contoured to the dash and there is quite a bit of factory items on the tranny hump under the factory console. I guess with a custom floor plate mount with a standard console it could be done, or a custom built console could definitly solve the issue- its all just a matter of time and money.. at $100.00+ an hour for time here in our area plus materials, I dont think alot of depts are going to foot the bill for what it would take. on a personal basis I can see it being done and turning out real nice especially with some of the work I have seen here on this site from guys.

Thanks for the info - we're federal so our vehicles are leased from GSA, so any 'permanent' mods (requiring cutting, etc.) are generally forbidden due to the high restoration costs. I'll have to keep in touch with Troy and see what they have to say when they get one of these vehicles into their shop...

[cfdeng3]

Are there any updates to this?? I have a 07 tahoe that I am looking to add radios and lights. Anyone have good install pics?


Thanks

[kdean7]

I've got a Yukon XL 2007 that I've had a CDM1550 and strobes installed in. I like to keep things very low key until the lights need to be on then want no mistaking them being on.