2008 Chevy Tahoe LTZ | Upgrading The Daily Driver

Chris Hamilton . February 23, 2021 . America .

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2008 Chevy Tahoe LTZ Bring Back that New, Modern Interior in Your Old, Antiquated SUV!

If you are a loyal reader or annual subscriber to Street Trucks magazine, you remember that in the later issue we headed over to Average Joe’s garage in our newly acquired 2008 Chevy Tahoe LTZ to remove the 13-year-old worn-out suspension.

We replaced the OEM shocks, springs, and sway bars with a completely new Belltech suspension kit. This kit is specifically designed for ’07-’13 Chevrolet/GMC Tahoe/Yukon SUVs. To make it look as smooth as it will now ride, a set of 22×9.5-inch Status Titan wheels. Eye-catching carbon graphite finish were bolted up using black Gorilla Lock lug nuts.

We wanted something classy and affordable but with a name. That has been synonymous with high-quality standards for many, many years. Nailed It!

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Tire choice was an important decision for us with this 2008 Chevy Tahoe LTZ project because this SUV will be a daily driver. It will hold families, friends, and, most importantly, truck parts. So, an inexpensive show truck-only tire is not an option. The Toyo Proxes ST III is a sport-oriented tire designed for trucks and SUVs with performance-minded owners. So, four 305-40-22 tires were ordered and installed along with factory replacement performance brake pads and rotors from EBC Brakes.

So now that our Chevy Tahoe rides better than stock and looks cooler than ever. The interior creature comforts are next on the list of upgrades.

2008 Chevy Tahoe LTZ

Aside from some dirty seats and carpet, this truck was all stock and begging for some coolness. Stanley’s original GM radio entertainment technology is over a decade old. We all know how fast technology evolves in today’s modern world. So, while we’re swapping out the seat covers, we will install a new Stinger Heigh10 infotainment system.

It’ll include Bluetooth, Apple CarPlay, Android Audio and be SiriusXM and GPS Navigation. Fully customizable backgrounds and illumination colors. If that’s not enough, it’ll also have a built-in 15-band equalizer to get the most out of our music. From USB ports, multiple camera inputs for reverse- or blind-spot cameras. Lastly an HDMI port for any external video accessory.

Talk about modernizing this!

The LTZ package came with captain’s chairs and third-row seating from the factory. We could have spent some time deep cleaning and scrubbing the factory material, but we knew that Roadwire Automotive Leather Interiors made a nice seat-cover replacement kit.

So, we dropped Stan off with Shawn Brandow at Gainesville Sound Trim and Tint. To professionally install our Roadwire leather kit. Let’s follow along!

A side from some dirty seats and carpet, this truck was all stock and begging for some coolness. Stanley’s original GM radio entertainment technology is over a decade old, and we all know how fast technology evolves in today’s modern world.

seat interior of '08 chevy tahoe LTZ

For professional installation of the Roadwire leather seat cover kit, we dropped Stan off with Shawn Brandow at Gainesville Sound Trim and Tint. For more than 20 years, this team has offered superior service and craftsmanship over an array of services for all types of vehicles. Check them out at www. gainesvillesoundtrimandtint.com.

First step in the process is to carefully remove the front seats from the truck. It’s easy to scratch paint with the seat frames!

remove the seat cover from the seat

Roadwire kits are laser cut and specifically designed to be installed over the factory cushions with absolutely no modifications or sewing required.

Upper and lower seat covers swapped out, the bottom cushion is reinstalled and we repeat the process on the passenger seat.

change the seat covers without removing the seat frame from the truck — For the second-row captain’s chairs, experience has taught Shawn that he can swap the seat covers without removing the seat frame from the truck. Pretty slick!

cover the bench seats — The final third row simply slides out of the truck as a factory feature, so putting them on the bench to swap the covers is a snap. Roadwire offers kits for all three rows with or without captain’s chairs.

This Roadwire leather interior kit fits amazing and smells so nice!

For the headrests, there are plenty of ways to wrangle the new leather over the soft foam, but nothing works better than this! Air sucks the foam in, so the new cover can easily slide over.

Captin chairs in a '08 Chevy Tahoe

2008 Chevy Tahoe LTZ with Roadwire interior — Finally, the front seats are bolted back into place, the plugs are all reconnected and the headrests are inserted.

Roadwire leather kit on a '08 Chevy Tahoe

That’s a lot of scrap GM leather!

2008 Chevy Tahoe LTZ with black wheels — So, we headed over to Ocala Car Audio in Ocala, Florida, to meet with Parish and the crew at AAMP Global. This team not only monitors all the top car audio trends, but they also design and manufacture a full range of mobile entertainment products under the Stinger brand.

Stinger HEIGH10

The system we are having installed in the Chevy Tahoe is a Stinger HEIGH10. The display and main tuner box offer a modular design, bolstering installation flexibility in space-limited applications––and in some cases, even where no installation dash kit is available.