Beater Truck Project - 2000 Silverado

After owning this truck for several months I figured it was past time to finally make some posts about it. First, a quick bit of back story. Back in the fall I came very close to buying three firebirds, all of which required a ton of work. After much back and forth over a few weeks, and much excitement on my part, I was prepared to take possession of them, but first I wanted to make sure that all of the paperwork was in order. It turned out that it was not, and that the person who it was still registered to had recently dies, leaving it in probate. At this point I had got some sketchy vibes from the whole deal and decided to call it off. I had been quite excited for my first project, and the whole experience left me feeling a bit bummed.

Days later, and with the money I had set aside ready to go, the auto teacher at my work decided to sell his truck. I had seen it around before and knew that it was in reasonably good condition. Numerous times in the past year I'd found myself wishing I had a truck for moving furniture or other large items. I also wanted to try out an LS motor and figured that I might as well get something common and easy to fix. I also figured that if I didn't like it, I could always sell it for what I'd paid for it. So $1800 Canadian dollars later I had a 2000 Silverado LS Extended Cab Regular Bed 2WD with a 5.3/4L60E. 

The truck is in pretty good condition for its age and mileage. It is sitting over 450K, most of which I was told was on Vancouver Island doing highway miles as a flag truck for large loads. I don't know if flag truck is the right term, whatever you call the truck that drives in front of wide loads. This is the reason for mileage, but also why it is relatively rust free.  The previous owner drilled holes in the intake box and put on the complete exhaust system from a Diesel truck, which seems to be a combo of 3.5 and 4" pieces. It is fairly loud, but not obnoxiously so. There is a pretty annoying level of drone from 1600-2000 rpm that I hope to deal with at some point, whether it be a resonator pipe or different muffler. 

The interior is a bit gross. Radio works, CD player does not. Driver's door locks, passenger's does not. 

Limited slip rear and disc brakes, plus large exhaust. The first thing I did do was install a generic 2" rear drop shackle. It leveled the truck out nicely and got rid of the stinkbug stance it had before. It's nice to be able to reach into the truck bed, which seems impossible on newer trucks. Note questionable tread on tires.

There is a little rust on the rockers. This has since been cut out but not fixed yet. Hopefuly some time this week, before it gets rustier. Again, not bad for a 20 year old truck. 

The truck sat for most of the winter, as my DD is great in the snow (G35x with good snow tires) and the truck is not. I ran a few errands with it in the fall, then parked it at the school for the snowiest part of the year. The power steering pump was howling like a demon and clearly needed to be replaced. This was eventually dealt with in the spring by replacing the pump and one of the hoses. I also had to replace the battery, which was a reman that was expired.

Plans for the truck include:

Replace wheels and tires, hopefully with 17" or above (Done in April, will post later)

Replace miscelaneous broken handles (hood release, rear door latch, truck bed bezel, etc)

Remove random wires that are under the hood and dash

Wheel cover and tighten shift lever 

Tonneau or canopy/topper. Undecided on which to get. Canopy seems more expensive, but would be nice for camping.

Glue weatherstripping in cab (super loud on highway)

Possibly upgrade stereo to add USB and bluetooth. Currently running FM adapter, which sucks as GM decided that 12V should be always on instead of switched

Install backup cam and monitor/rear view mirror combo, which I have purchased already.

At some point down the line maybe a cam swap. I don't tow anything and it's not a daily, so a more lopey cam might be fun. 

One of the first things I decided to fix was the ratty steering wheel. I decided to go with a stitch-on one from amazon that had good reviews. 

This is what it looked like when I got it. Pretty gross, and I hated how the misisng chunk on the right side felt.

Here is the beginning of trying to fit this thing on. It was not a fun process. I struggled with it for a while, cursed it for a similar period, then tried again. I read that I should try heating it with a heat gun, which I don't have, or a hair dryer, which I do have. That didn't do much, so I tried 15 min in the dryer. That was better, but still not loose enough. In the end I had ot use a combination of clamps and a long flat head screwdriver to get it on. That took about 30 minutes. Then I spent the next 30 sewing it on, which was pretty easy and only awkward in a few spots. 

I am quite pleased with the finished results. It feels good in the hands and looks a lot better. Despite what the photos may suggest I did not change my pants twice during the process. 

Being not particularly experienced in fixing things, I decided to to tackle something easy as the next quick job. Judging by the rest of the interior I figured that a cabin filter was in order. This required removing several bolts to get the under-dash cover off. Most were ok, except for the middle bolt, which is has almost no clearance to get a socket on it. This one definitely did not go back on after I was done. After some awkward wrenching I got it off, and the filters themselves were easy to change. 

As expected, the originals were gross. The tack cloth was already in the bucket, not jammed in the filter area.  

New ones are much better. Air blows strong, but AC is definitely not working right. I live in one of the hotter parts of Canada, so that will need to be fixed. 

One of the main things I wanted to change was the wheels and tires. The truck came with 16" wheels and a mismatched set of balding tires. I don't plan to drive this in the winter, but they had awful traction just moving it from the front of the house to the back. I wanted better tires and I also wanted to go up to at least 17's. 

Not confidence inspiring. 

I spent a while searching on facebook marketplace for tires and wheels. Most of what I could find was either stock and small, or large and cost the better part of what I paid for the truck. After some searching I came across a set of Escalade wheels with fiarly new tires for 250. I snapped them up and soon had them swapped over.

They could use some cleanup, but overall not bad. I think they would look decent without the center piece as well. 

Overall I am quite pleased with the difference. It has a lot more grip and rides well.  The guy I bought the truck from cut out some of the rocker rust, which has yet to be repaired. Hopefully I can get that dealt with in the next week or so. The truck spent a few weeks at work getting the power steering pump and one of the hoses replaced. Frustrating to wait so long to get it done, but the labour was free. There is still a minor leak to be addressed. 

One of the reasons I wanted to go up a size is that 17 is the minumum to fit 2019 and newer front brakes. From what I have found online you can swap in newer rotors and calipers fairly easily. Apparently it requires caliper brackets and two washers as spacers for the calipers. If anyone here has experience with such a swap I'd love to hear how it went for you. 

These are the shackles I picked up for about 80 bucks on Amazon. They are a 2 inch drop, which puts the truck about level, which is where I want it. I'm a pretty short guy and I can easily reach into the bed without any issues. I don't know how people get stuff in and out of the their giant lifted trucks. 

In the next few weeks I plan to get the truck inspected by a friend who is a mechanic for some triage to see what things need to be fixed soon and what I can wait and do myself. Besides the small power steering leak there is a squeaking noise while driving that is likely either the carrier bearing or u-joints. I'm also going to check with the local truck recycler to see if I can get the hood from a 01 or 02 2500HD at a reasonable price, as it looks cooler and my hood is dented. I could also use a new front bumper, mine has a dent and is zip-tied together. 

I ordered a new handle for the rear door, but I was an idiot and ordered the wrong side. The one on the truck has one part snapped off and the spring is missing a piece. I re-ordered the correct part, as well as a tailgate handle bezel. I am hoping to trade the handle to a friend of a friend for some cedar. 

Been a bit since I've updated. Since I bough the truck the power steering has been leaking. I got the shop class at work to replace the pump and high pressure hose. They did so, but just left in the plastic plugs in the back instead of replacing them with the proper bolts. This led to a ton of leaking, and frustration on my part, as it took forever to get sorted out. Lesson learned, I will be doing the rest of the work or taking it to a friend who is an experienced mechanic. I had him do an inspection on the truck, to see what all needs to be done. There was a fairly extensive list. He gave me suggestions of what I should do myself and what I should get him to do. While he was at it he installed the bolts on the power steering pump, which seems to have stopped the leaking.

Things to fix myself:

Replace pretty much all fluids (coolant, oil, etc)

Replace passenger side marker light and assorted brake lights.

Mirrors not adjusting

Passenger door doesn't lock

Clean throttle body 

Rear brake job

Rear gas tank strap needs replacing

Hood release handle broken

Things to get someone else to do, as I don't have the proper tools

Diff oil -my rear end doesn't have a drain port, so hard to do at home without taking off whole diff cover

Front driver lower ball joint - pain in the ass, and will need alignment anyway

Center support bearing - may be able to do at home with a vise, but I don't have a press

Recharge A/C -not sure if I will get around to this, depends on price

Today I put in a rockauto order. New straps, ball joint, valve cover gaskets, hood release handle and center support bearing should be here by 6th. Came to 141 Canadian, which is way less than I could get it for anywhere local. Also considering doing an upgrade to 2019 and newer front brakes, as they are larger and 4 piston. I've watched several youtube videos on the swap and it looks pretty straightforward. I am concerned about whether the calipers would clear on my wheels.

Right now it is 42 (108 F for most of you) and supposed to go up another 2-3 degrees this week. I doubt I'll do much until it drops to a sane temperature.

I'm just south of you, in the Seattle area. These temps have been unreal. Crazy hot for this area. 

Nice job on the truck. I suggest doing the diff fluid change yourself. Years ago, I changed out the fluid in both diffs in my old Jeep. It really isn't a hard job. Just messy. You can either use RTV for a gasket, or you can buy an actual gasket (look into Lube Locker). Expect a small improvement in MPG, assuming your fluid is as old and gnarly as mine was. 

It's been insanely hot here, so not much has been done. The temperature topped out at 46 here the other day, which is about 115F. I have never been so hot before, even when living in Asia. Now that it is a chilly 37 I figured I'd get a few small jobs done. 

Here is the original rear door handle. You can see the finger-thing snapped right off. The springs were also gimped as well. I had originally been an idiot and ordered the part for the wrong side. 14 bucks and two weeks later the correct one arrived. It was the second easiest item I have ever fixed. Screw old one off, screw new one on, no fiddling about or adjusting. 

Much better. Hardest part was finding my adapter for T-30.

Next up was tail gate handle bezel. This could not have been easier, it just popped right on. 

to this

It's Canada Day and my first day of summer vacation, so I think that's enough work for today. Time to celebrate with a little 40 Creek. Rock Auto order should be arriving by early next week. Still undecided on doing diff fluid myself,  I will price it out to see what they charge at local lube places. 

Rockauto order came in but no major work done yet. I did tackle the hood release handle.

It still worked, but was annoying and a pretty cheap fix. Was a bit of a pain to replace, as I had to go back and forth between truck and garage to get a few tools, but that was mostly due to me not planning very well. Bolt was hard to get a grip on, had to use a 13mm deep socket. New handle is pretty cheap (Dorman is not the best stuff) but it works.

Next up will be replacing assorted light bulbs in front and rear.

I was planning to try to fix the AC with one of those recharge kits. Does anyone have experience with those? Most of the ones I can find are 12a, while my refrigerant is r134. I am also concerned that would probably need to add compressor oil as well. Might just get it done for me if the price is reasonable.

Are you talking about those $7 cans of refrigerant? Super easy. Just spend a little extra the first time around and get a reusable filler/meter. It only fits on one side so you're good there. 

It appears that you can't buy R134 here in Canada, just 12A. I can get 12A recharge kits, but from what I have read it may not be the best idea. I will probably just price out a 134 refill when I get ball joint and alignment done. Now that the heat dome has passed I'll probably just go windows-down for the next bit. 

Today was a bulb replacement day. I had a brake light out on one side and a reverse light on the other, so I replaced all the brake and reverse lights on both sides. Turn signals were fine so I left them alone. I also had to do the passenger side marker light, and I happened to have new high and low beam lights, so I replaced those as well. It all went fairly smoothly, except that the driver side headlight assembly is broken. It all fit back in place, but it's a little loose. I may attempt to fix it with some epoxy, or just try to find a replacement at the local recycler. 

I also cleaned up some of the random wires running from under the hood to under the dash. I'm guessing these were added for some sort of aftermarket lights or brake controller. At least some of it appears to be household wire. 

The black wire that is all taped up is still connected to something under the dash, so I left it for now. 

No real progress over the last few days. I spent a few hours today cleaning up the garage and working on my table saw. I was getting quite frustrated trying to get 90 degree alignment between blade and miter slots, so I bought a PALS adjustable trunion stud kit. I ordered a fuel filter, rear brake kit, wipers and air filter, which should be arriving early next week. Tomorrow I plan to get my air compressor set up and table saw re-assembled and tuned. 

The big front brakes are from the 2008+ trucks aka GMT900 chassis. I believe they need to be from a truck with rear drums in order to get the big fronts. They make a nice difference. I got mine from a local truck dismantler. 

In reply to amg_rx7 (Forum Supporter) :

04-06 Actually

In reply to bobzilla :

Forgot about those 

In reply to amg_rx7 (Forum Supporter) :

I only know because I own one. 

The brake upgrade I am thinking of is '19 and newer. It gives 13.5" brakes and 4 piston calipers. I may just go with the 04-06 upgrade instead, as it seems to be less likely to rub the wheels. 

Not a whole lot of progress in the last week. It has continued to be hot and fire season is in full effect. It hasn't really rained in about three months and everything is dry as a bone. There were two fires in town over the last week and the smoke is intense.

Another order of parts came in today. I got new wipers, air filter, fuel filter and a rear brake kit. I'm tackling the small jobs first, so I started with the air filter. No issues there, and old one was surprisingly clean. Throttle body got a good cleaning, though I think it could use a little more attention, as there are still small deposits along the edges. Wiper arms are looking crap so I decided to take them off for a quick coat of paint. The nut covers were missing and the nuts themselves look like a bear chewed on them. The nuts came off ok, but the arms themselves are not budging. I applied some WD40 but they still won't come off. 

My mechanic friend is going to drop off a tool tomorrow that should help pop them off. He has also agreed to supervise my brake job next week, in return for some beer. I may try to tackle the diff as well, depending on how much time we have. 

It's been a week of aggravation. My friend brought over his battery terminal puller to try to pop the wiper arms off. It turned out that one of the previous owners had decided it was a good idea to glue the wiper arms on with jb weld or something similar. 30 minutes of picking away at it left me no better off and thoroughly unimpressed. I decided to leave the arms on and at some point I may hand paint them. New blades went on, though I managed to gash under my thumbnail while doing so. Today I decided to try changing the oil. It was my first time using my floor jack, which is rated for 3 tons. I set it under the front cross-member and began jacking. It went up about an inch, then would not go any higher. I'm not sure what I am doing wrong, but then I also know next to nothing about jacks. Air that needs bleeding? More hydraulic oil? I gave up on it for tonight and will take another crack at it tomorrow.

After about 4 hours of dicking about with the jack I was sick of it and bought a new one. It worked flawlessly and I had the truck up in no time. It was my first time sliding under a truck, which was quite nerve-wracking. Wheels were blocked, jackstands double checked, etc. I thought I could use one of those rubber strap wrenches to take off the old oil filter. I was wrong, and consequently had to head to Canadian Tire for the second time that afternoon. In the end my first oil change took forever but I am quite pleased with the results and how easy the process itself was once I had the proper tools.

Thursday my mechanic friend came over to supervise the rear brake job. I bought him some beers and he guided me through the process and did a good chunk of the work. I got to use some tools that were new to me, including air impact wrench and torque wrench. I put on new rotors and pads, which went on with zero issues. While the wheels were off I took a better look under the truck. It looks like my exhaust is an MBRP 4" that somewhat roughly installed. It works, but the drone between 1600 and 1900 drives me insane. 

Next step will likely be replacing the coolant, then diff service. Forest fires are still insane here, but at least the heat has died down.

No progress recently. Fire season here has been insane and I am currently on evacuation alert. There is a 50,000 plus hectare fire just a few kilometers from town, which has kept everyone here on their toes. After weeks of smoke yesterday started off quite nice, with smoke building up over the course of the afternoon. Here is the progress, from morning to evening.

By 5 PM, looking out the window of my house.

For a few hours it looked like hellscape, with ash blowing around.

Thankfully it rained a bit and kept the fire from spreading into town. It is supposed to rain today and tomorrow. We have our bug-out bags packed and cars fueled up in case we need to evacuate.

Good luck 

btdt :(