After looking at a bunch of trucks, including new ones, the executive committee of the house both agreed to get a stop gap truck. So, I bought the best one I could find, but the best one I could find that wasn't priced in an extortionary manner still needs work. It's a rust free Southern truck that runs and drives and has all of it's parts. It has about 195k miles on it.
Current needs:
All fluids changed
trans filter/gasket
Find the leaks!
Serpentine belt
Air filter
Near future:
New tires
New shocks. It's a bit bouncy after hitting a good bump at speed, but not critical, yet.
Fix paint chips
I like that in white. Nice optioned truck. 31s fit pretty easy but 33s require some work without a lift kit. I love my Yokohama Geolander ATS as a good all around even pretty decent mudding tire.
Leaks? Probably valce covers and oil pan gasket. Almost every early series high mile ls ive seen has both of them leaking.
I have no faith in the trans surviving a fluid and filter change. Anecdotal evidence only to back me up. And probably a bit of confirmation bias.
Otherwise, nice truck!! Not too familiar with the gmt800 platform, but i run across them pretty frequently in the yards i hit if you need anything odd.
Oh, and if the rear shocks interchange with a gmt400 4x4, i have good bilstein here. I paid 20 for them....
FMB42
New Reader
3/2/21 5:54 p.m.
I think most of those had the notorious GM plastic body distributor. If that's the case, then I strongly suggest that you upgrade the dist with, at the very least, a inexpensive bay alloy body dist. You can set the bay dist ign module aside and install the original IM (or a new genuine GM IG mod). Had a used 2000 GM Silv standard cab long bed that never ran just right until I ditched the plastic body dist. Also consider ditching the 'fixed' dist hold down bracket in favor for an old school adjustable HD bracket. There's a bunch of info on this online (changing the dist out can be pretty tricky).
Anyway, those are really nice trucks.
Dusterbd13-michael (Forum Supporter) said:
Leaks? Probably valce covers and oil pan gasket. Almost every early series high mile ls ive seen has both of them leaking.
I have no faith in the trans surviving a fluid and filter change. Anecdotal evidence only to back me up. And probably a bit of confirmation bias.
Otherwise, nice truck!! Not too familiar with the gmt800 platform, but i run across them pretty frequently in the yards i hit if you need anything odd.
The leaks were a bargaining tool. The back of the trans case has oil, and there's a few other spots on the subframe that are oily. None of them seem catastrophic at this time.
Trans: I can't NOT change the fluids. The fluid in it isn't brown, but it isn't fresh, either. I'll keep me up at night. If it dies, it dies.
I'll get together a list of parts before too long. The yards around here get them, too, but they get picked over quickly.
I may also try to convince you that it's a fantastically good idea to help get the bed off and paint the frame.
I'll research interchange on the shocks. I also think this truck may have a very mild lift on it- probably just body spacers.
Stampie (FS) said:
I like that in white. Nice optioned truck. 31s fit pretty easy but 33s require some work without a lift kit. I love my Yokohama Geolander ATS as a good all around even pretty decent mudding tire.
I'm going to see if Keke's has some llantas usadas first. I am also a fan of the Geolander ATS- I have them on the Subaru. The truck probably won't see too much mud, but it will see sand and too aggressive a tread is counter-productive in that.
Dusterbd13-michael (Forum Supporter) said:
Oh, and if the rear shocks interchange with a gmt400 4x4, i have good bilstein here. I paid 20 for them....
Shocks and struts seem to be different between the 400 and 800 chassis. The 800 uses a 24-029056, the 400 uses a 24-104050. Thanks anyhow!
In reply to Brett_Murphy (Ex-Patrón) :
This is GRM. Anything can be made to fit you know.
I agree with Stampie. White is a favorite color for me, partly because I live in Florida, and white absorbs the least solar radiation.
I can't really tell much more about the truck.
Forum still needs some adjustment.
Edit: the image on my phone was already compressed, but loading a screenshot really added to the effect.
I wonder what would happen if...
Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) said:
I agree with Stampie. White is a favorite color for me, partly because I live in Florida, and white absorbs the least solar radiation.
North Carolina here. I have no idea why people even buy black cars.
Stampie (FS) said:
In reply to Brett_Murphy (Ex-Patrón) :
This is GRM. Anything can be made to fit you know.
I agree. Unfortunately, my wife has already become excited about, and I quote: "How much Girl Scout E36 M3 she'll be able to fit into the truck" so keeping it out of the realm of hooptie hack job ride is one of the goals, here.
I've got no problem fitting an LS intake to this thing and putting a lumpy cam into it, but I've got to keep the brakes, tires, steering and suspension at sane levels since my wife will be driving it.
It's now plated and street legal.
I'm going to need a new hood release lever, I forgot to add it to the list, but it's broken (and was when I bought the truck). It still pops the hood, though.
New wipers, fixed the dome light, got a new serpentine and AC belt to be put on later.
In reply to Brett_Murphy (Ex-Patrón) :
Mine was broken too on my '98 when I got it (different generation, I know). I've noticed the hood doesn't pop on the first try if the latch hasn't been lubed in a while, I suspect the PO just pulled harder when it wouldn't pop and broke the lever.
An thorough lubrication program is on the list of things to do. I already hit the door hinges.
In reply to Brett_Murphy (Ex-Patrón) :
As discussed in the previous thread, are the chrome wheels just plastic covers (wheel skins)?
If yes, how rough are the wheels under the covers?
The chrome wheels appear to be actual chrome wheels. I've not pulled them off yet to check for sure, and the RPO code from the glove box says that they weren't on it when it rolled off the line:
PF9: WHEEL, 16 X 7, CAST - ALUMINUM
We'll see soon. I want to get the transmission filter-gasket-fluid in hand before I jack it up and start taking it apart. I was hoping the spare 17" 4Runner wheels I have will fit it. While the bolt pattern is the same, the 4Runner has a larger center bore and the lug bolts are smaller. I'll probably still see if it'll work, though.
In any case, people love ditching stock wheels on their trucks and putting big ugly things on them around here, so I can probably get some OEM wheels cheap if it comes to it.
Today was a rest day from exercise, so I was able to get out and work on the truck for a scant few minutes at lunch time.
Accomplished: I got the skid-plates off of the bottom and removed the aftermarket air intake.
I forgot to mention the air intake earlier. There's a K&N cone filter, but one of the Previous Owners fell into the trap of thinking it's a good idea to use a metal intake duct from the air filter to the intake. So, it'll be heat soaking. I may have to get an entire stock unit from the junkyard.
The front end suspension components are tired. I knew that already. What I didn't notice is that about half of the bump stop is just gone.
Oil is everywhere. I knew that already, too. Getting in there during the daylight gave a bit more insight, though. The leaks are worse than I thought OR there was an oil fill catastrophe that put half a quart down the side of the engine and generally all over everything. Hell, possibly both. I'm going to need to get in there and clean things up to determine what is actually happening.
Which engine is in there?
Airaid used to sell an intake tube (part number 200-912 on their site, show out of stock tho) that fits the LQ series engines (4.8, 5.3,6.0) and it's made of the same plastic most intakes are made of.
FMB42
New Reader
3/10/21 5:47 p.m.
"I've got no problem fitting an LS intake to this thing and putting a lumpy cam into it, but I've got to keep the brakes, tires, steering and suspension at sane levels since my wife will be driving it."
Upgrading the brakes, tires, steering and suspension are what you should do first before you even think about upgrading the power.
In reply to DjGreggieP :
It's got a 5.3. Fixing the intake is like number 25 on the list at the moment.
FMB42 said:
"I've got no problem fitting an LS intake to this thing and putting a lumpy cam into it, but I've got to keep the brakes, tires, steering and suspension at sane levels since my wife will be driving it."
Upgrading the brakes, tires, steering and suspension are what you should do first before you even think about upgrading the power.
For sure. Getting it hammer reliable is the first order of business. and the LS intake was kind of a joke comment in the first place. I'd rather keep the engine's power delivery torque biased then not.
Update:
Currently at 195340k miles
I went out after work and replaced the serpentine and AC belts. I appreciate how simple GM made this process.
I also replaced the dome light, which burned out as I was watching, as if to mock me.
Speaking of lights, the under hood light isn't working; I checked the bulb (which is fine) and the contact area (which is fine) so it's probably the switch. The cargo area lights work, but they seem really dim. I'll probably replace them with LED lights when the burn out.
Current needs:
differential and transfer case fluids changed
trans filter/gasket/fluids
Antifreeze flush
Clean off all of the oil on the engine, subframes, etc.
Find the leaks!
Air filter
Check the plugs
Near future:
Figure out why the hood light isn't working
Front end work
New tires
New suspension
Fix paint chips
