Hi there, I hope this is in the right spot. I’m new here and this is my build thread. (Gonna be a long one..) It will take me a bit to finish so please be patient.
First off, It is a 1999 GMC K2500, 454, 4L80e, 4.10 axle, 8600GVW (8lug, forged lower control arms). My dad bought it in Michigan back in Nov. ‘06. From a used car dealer, we are the 2nd owners. It had 49,000 miles on the clock. We bought it to pull our camper trailer we had at the time and it got parked when gas prices hiked.
It then was used as our second work truck for a landscaping company our family owned before going out of business.
This truck was pretty clean from the start, and I never planned to do a full restoration on it..(well at least not right away.)
I had pulled the grille off to replace my fogged headlight lenses with some reproduction lenses made out of glass! While I had the grille off I figured I would paint the radiator support after knocking some of the rust off, then noticed the whole d/s lower corner of the support was rotted through.
So, I ordered a new support and put it back together for work in the morning (with my glass lenses!)
After I received the new support, I dug into it, got it all torn down and the old support out and then noticed the frame was rotted at the mounting point for the steering gearbox. (don’t have pics of that apparently, but I do have a pic of the area)
The whole outside rail where the bolt heads are, was pulled through. No wonder I had alignment issues.
That’s when the restoration started. This has been ongoing since 2016. With life happening and stuff, me and my dad started it before he passed away. It has been on and off again like a bad relationship when you just don’t know when to quit..
Honestly, I was 18 and when I saw the frame rot I thought it was time to get rid of the truck. I told my dad expecting him to say the same thing, but he said the opposite surprisingly.. he knew how much I loved this truck I guess.
First off, It is a 1999 GMC K2500, 454, 4L80e, 4.10 axle, 8600GVW (8lug, forged lower control arms). My dad bought it in Michigan back in Nov. ‘06. From a used car dealer, we are the 2nd owners. It had 49,000 miles on the clock. We bought it to pull our camper trailer we had at the time and it got parked when gas prices hiked.
It then was used as our second work truck for a landscaping company our family owned before going out of business.
This truck was pretty clean from the start, and I never planned to do a full restoration on it..(well at least not right away.)
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I had pulled the grille off to replace my fogged headlight lenses with some reproduction lenses made out of glass! While I had the grille off I figured I would paint the radiator support after knocking some of the rust off, then noticed the whole d/s lower corner of the support was rotted through.
You must be registered for see images attach
You must be registered for see images attach
So, I ordered a new support and put it back together for work in the morning (with my glass lenses!)
You must be registered for see images attach
After I received the new support, I dug into it, got it all torn down and the old support out and then noticed the frame was rotted at the mounting point for the steering gearbox. (don’t have pics of that apparently, but I do have a pic of the area)
You must be registered for see images attach
The whole outside rail where the bolt heads are, was pulled through. No wonder I had alignment issues.
That’s when the restoration started. This has been ongoing since 2016. With life happening and stuff, me and my dad started it before he passed away. It has been on and off again like a bad relationship when you just don’t know when to quit..
Honestly, I was 18 and when I saw the frame rot I thought it was time to get rid of the truck. I told my dad expecting him to say the same thing, but he said the opposite surprisingly.. he knew how much I loved this truck I guess.
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