1995 GMC K1500 Reconditioning

[Caman96]

Thanks.

 

[Salty K1500]

Truck update. It's been warmer the last few weeks here, so I've been prepping the rear portion of the frame for paint. I've been grinding the rust with wire brushes on an angle grinder and a drill. After that's all done I have some rust converter from Mastercoat and then a primer type coating to go on after that. The primer will then be topcoated with black Rustoleum.

Unfortunately, while cleaning the spare tire crossmember, I found this.

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Thankfully Dorman sells these brand new.

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Seems as sturdy, if not more sturdy than the original.

 

[Salty K1500]

I spent a couple hours Monday night and tonight removing fasteners from the orginal crossmember. The two smaller braces for the spare tire mechanism came off surprisingly easy. The crossmember is riveted into place with 8 rivets, 4 on the top of the frame rail and 4 on the bottom. My angle grinder made short work of the top 4. The bottom 4 are a bit more challenging, as there is very limited room to work on them. I started grinding one down with a dremel, but that is a slow process. I might borrow my dad's hammer drill and a big drill bit and go to town. We shall see.

 

[Salty K1500]

Getting the 4 bottom rivets out of the frame has been a pain, but as of today 3 of 4 are out. I ended up cutting off the crossmember to gain access to rivets from inside the frame rails. Removing these from beneath the frame would be easier than the method I used. But this would require removing the trailer hitch receiver, and I don't want to risk shifting my frame so I opted to keep as many parts that hold the frame rails in place as possible, plus the receiver is really rusted on there. Once the crossmember was out of the way, I cut the rivets almost flat with a sawzall and then ground down what was left with a 40 grit flap wheel on my angle grinder. I then had to drill in a spot for my punch to sit in the rivet, and after liberal application of force from a large ball peen hammer and the punch, the rivet popped out. After the last rivet is out, I'll finish wire wheeling this area down and get it painted before installing the new crossmember.

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[Salty K1500]

Well, no major updates on this thing, working on it here and there when time is available. I've got the rear portion of the frame pretty well cleaned up, just applying a rust reformer to get the stubborn rust pits supposedly neutralized of rust. In the meantime, here's a pic I took while working my part time job this summer. A local fire department is still rocking a 2500 Suburban. My ride that day was the ambulance. The ambulance is a 2022 I think. It's an E450 with Ford's 7.3 gas engine. For being a pretty new engine, those things are LOUD. The engine shakes the whole truck quite a bit

 

[HotWheelsBurban]

Well, no major updates on this thing, working on it here and there when time is available. I've got the rear portion of the frame pretty well cleaned up, just applying a rust reformer to get the stubborn rust pits supposedly neutralized of rust. In the meantime, here's a pic I took while working my part time job this summer. A local fire department is still rocking a 2500 Suburban. My ride that day was the ambulance. The ambulance is a 2022 I think. It's an E450 with Ford's 7.3 gas engine. For being a pretty new engine, those things are LOUD. The engine shakes the whole truck quite a bit

Neat to see a civil service 400 Burb, loving that they have PY0s on it(the NBS/GMT 800 8 lug factory aluminum wheels).

 

[Salty K1500]

Neat to see a civil service 400 Burb, loving that they have PY0s on it(the NBS/GMT 800 8 lug factory aluminum

I've worked ambulance in quite a few different parts of Minnesota, and I'm happy to report many rural fire departments are still using not only 400's, but also square bodies as grass rigs and command vehicles. And I agree, PYOs look great on these trucks, although I'm partial to the stock steel rims that came on them.

 

[HotWheelsBurban]

I've worked ambulance in quite a few different parts of Minnesota, and I'm happy to report many rural fire departments are still using not only 400's, but also square bodies as grass rigs and command vehicles. And I agree, PYOs look great on these trucks, although I'm partial to the stock steel rims that came on them.

My crew cab Rawhide has the stock steelies with trim rings and chrome center caps, that it was originally ordered and delivered with. But those are heavy with the ten ply tires, so I'm looking to put a set of the aluminum wheels on it (when I can find a set when I can afford them).

 

[Salty K1500]

My crew cab Rawhide has the stock steelies with trim rings and chrome center caps, that it was originally ordered and delivered with. But those are heavy with the ten ply tires, so I'm looking to put a set of the aluminum wheels on it (when I can find a set when I can afford them).

Yes I love the rims on Rawhide, but I hear you on how heavy steel rims are. I put the stock spare on mine recently and forgot I have to use a bit of extra muscle to get one of those on versus aluminum. I look forward to seeing new rims on your truck once you get them, it will look great!

 

[99xcss4]

My crew cab Rawhide has the stock steelies with trim rings and chrome center caps

I am a fan of rally wheels with the 3 inch trim rings and center caps ours has these on it in chrome I think they are from a newer truck/van with center caps

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