BlueCollar89
OBS Enthusiast
DISCLAIMER: I'm a man of few words, but many thoughts. 
I dig the whole sharing pictures thing; but I like the story behind the truck just as much as I enjoy the truck itself (including your trucks story). So if you're just here to see some pictures, just scroll on down and pay no mind to my yap.
This truck's story is pretty cool. It's full of trailer park romance; you know, the love hate thing it got goin on. As well as action and suspense! (I'm kidding, this thread isn't going to all be like this lol).
Truth is I basically had an interview on a Monday(2018), and rode over on my Harley (only mode of transportation at the time). Got the job, and had to have something I wouldn't develop hypothermia of the ******* by riding my damn bike another year in below zero temperatures. I had 6 days to find an alternate mode of transportation; and I knew the purchase had to be meaningful, capable, and useful.
As luck would have it, the 97 Chevy Silverado I wanted was sold out from under me en-route with cash in hand; sum *****....
So instead, come Saturday, I still hadn't found anything. So I made a last ditch effort and went to a local dealership here in town; dealer literally known in these parts to be a legitimate and convicted fraud.
Yea; it gets interesting.
I took this 1994 Chevy Silverado K1500 Standard Transmission pickup for a test drive with my wife. 1st through 3rd gear was catching a little, but after about 2 blocks I'd figured it out. The mirrors blew in at the pressure of the wind and there was a crack the full width of the windshield. The tires were very low on tread and the drivers seat had a big tear in the side.
Odometer wasn't working, which quit at 214,000 miles.
The only decent looking thing on the truck was the new alternator and belts; that was it.
Meet my $5,800, $1,800 down FINANCED at 24% interest rate ***** of a truck in all her glory; on that glorious day we met. Ain't she purdy....
But, I had to have it. Needed the job, to buy the house, to prepare for the baby. Oh yea boys, my life's that straight up oldschool sally sob story country song we all know.... and I grew up listening to f**kin Jennings man.....
Anyway; life goes on.
And because it doesn't take a genius to know that something's wrong with your truck, I took it to the shop to see what they could tell me.
A $3,500 quote later, I thanked them for their time, apologized for wasting it, and walked out the door.
I'd been informed that the ball joints, inner and outer tie rod on both sides, the idler arm and the pitman arm all needed to be replaced. Absolutely everything on the truck, excluding the alternator and belts mentioned previously, was pretty much completely worn out. ****.
Now get this; the clutch literally goes out on my way home from the shop 0_o. I had to make a post on a local community Facebook page that I'd been running; to see if anyone had a spot I could drop the transfer case and transmission for a day or two. I met a cool couple that let my truck chill in an empty bay they weren't using over night. It took me the weekend but we got it replaced.
I'd never done a clutch before, and only knew how to do a basic tune up and an oil change; I started studying how to fix these parts. I'd learned about Rock Auto from an old co-worker back when I worked at Freightliner as a Detal Specialist; and decided to do my shopping there becaues the parts were usually considerably cheaper than my local store (which I still go to religiously for immediate needs).
I priced out the MOOG parts and paid $321.75 for all the parts they told me to replace. BUT, here's the kicker, I was living in an apartment complex, with no friends, because I'm a ******. So I had to wait until I could find a garage to work out of.
I bought the truck in Febuary 2018, and we bought our house in June 2018; and refinancing the truck once to pay it off and stack the debt over to my motorcycle, and AGAIN to make the down payment on our house. Oh yea, my $5,800, $300 pickup truck, now ran me roughly $10,000. Smh.
By the time it's actually paid off, I'll have paid nearly 10x blue book value lol; talk about f**ked man.
So now that we've established that there's literally no more shame in owning this truck, than if I were to actually sell it; so I figure I might as well restore it.
My dad thinks I'm crazy; but I don't mind. This is MY truck mannnnnnn, and if I'm going to pay a fortune for her, I'm going to make damn sure she's working for me and hopefully looking good too. Plus, at least she's old enough I can work on most of it myself (the only reason I was willing to purchase it in the first place); I knew I'd have to.
I work from home now, so I don't have to travel much. This saves me a lot on fuel expenses. So once the family's taken care of each paycheck, I dump a little into the truck to ensure she's reliable.
So far my truck has had these upgrades/cosmetics.
Windshield
MOOG Ball Joints
MOOG Inner & Outer Tie Rods on both sides.
MOOG Idler and Pitman ARM
O'reillys Clutch
Wild Trail CTX T265/78R16 Tires
Trail Ridge Manual Tow Mirrors
Duralast BetterBuilt Low Profile Toolbox
Cobra 29LTD Classic CB Radio w/ 4' Firestick Antenna.
Oh, and who can forget the sticker ofcourse, cuz we all know those are crucial to your "cool" factor these days
. The idea isn't original, but I designed the sticker in Photoshop for my sister to cut out for me. I always got more too lol!
Here's a couple current pictures I've shared in another post, but I'll share here for posterity of the post.
I've been talking in another topic about how I've had consistent issues getting my 4x4 to work. Originally I had thought it to be the thermal actuator, but after 4 actuators in less than a year I've come to the conclusion that I'm likely loosing power somewhere in the harness before it gets to the actuator.
My solution to the problem was discovered by joining this forum, and the nice folks that have provided their time and advise for my education.
Since Thermal Actuators were running me $85 a pop, I was getting pretty tired of paying for them. And I don't know jack **** about wiring (yet), so I can't even begin to start there. So instead I discovered the "On Demand" shaft replacement for the thermal (or electric if you fancy) actuators. It's essentially just a metal rod, threaded at the end, so that when you screw it in it caps it off. BOOM, on demand 4x4. Pop that girl in 4x and get to rollin. The problem is that the auto parts zone wanted $165 for this $5-10 chunk of metal.
Well, having gotten stuck 12 miles out in BLM land with my wife and daughter in the truck because my actuator decided to stop working; I destroyed my brand new (literally had bought it 2 days prior) so that I could get a chunk of plastic in front of the actuator to act as a filler in hopes to engage the actuator so I could just pull right out of there....
It worked....
Needless to say, I didn't have $165, but I did have an $85 pile of scrap, and I wondered if I could some how fabricate my own on demand shaft with just what I had in the garage.
Some of the fellas here directed me to a thread that discussed how tossing a socket into the differential would take up the space and cause on demand 4x4. I like the idea, except for the fact that as illogical as it might be in some circumstances, I don't like ANY loose parts on the inside of anything operational.
So I cut off the wires, and the tip of the spring loaded actuator, and jammed a screw driver down through the center of the actuator and made the tip concave so it would be easier to guide a bolt through the center. I slid a socket over the actuator and ran the bolt through the socket into the actuator; keep ing it snug but not tight.
This was my final McGyver; it works flawlessly (obviously). It might be a bit overdoing it for some, but it's just something I felt lead to do after hearing they wanted $165 for it lol xP. Nope.
So that all being said; I've currently got a parts list invoice here for Rotors, Brakes, and TBI repair kit. I've done up all my studies on the matter and I'm just waiting for the finances to enable me to put what I've learned to the test. While basic, I figure better to start small and fix the cheap stuff, and work my way up to rebuilding the transmission and ultimately building a 350 4 bolt using the skeleton my dad ran in his Chevelle that I hope to sweet talk him out of someday lol.
I purchased a change of Gear Oil for both differentials; as when pulling out the old thermal actuator, I noticed the oil was bad. I'll update once I get the SITREP on the condition of the spider gears and so on.
This truck will always be used like a truck; so I may not do any super fancy paint job, but I'll do something (Pssst... Detail Specialst, remember ). I'm into solid colors and for some odd reason have taken a liking to either a Sage Grey or a Camouflage Khaki color but time will tell.
Plenty of cosmetic interests, but I'll let those be the mystery of this Exclusive thread.
Hope you didn't mind my yapping, and if you did, well then you didn't make it this far anyway! The rest of you, I enjoy good company and good conversation. Hit me up, ask me questions, offer suggestions or input if you feel lead to do so; just be respectful about it.
I'm open to learning, and want to make this truck dependable before purdy. Starting with the small stuff and workin my way up.
What's the trucks purpose? Take her down some back roads, maybe climb a few rocks and washed out trails. Nothing too insane, but you won't catch the pavement princesses out there that's for sure.
I'll share photos of her outtings with the fellas here soon. Got some cool country to share with ya'll too. Hopefully by the time I'm done, this thread will be one hell of a build thread with a back story for those into that sorta thing.
I think I'ma name her Born2L8; because sometimes that's just how I feel lol. My generation's lame lol.
I dig the whole sharing pictures thing; but I like the story behind the truck just as much as I enjoy the truck itself (including your trucks story). So if you're just here to see some pictures, just scroll on down and pay no mind to my yap.
This truck's story is pretty cool. It's full of trailer park romance; you know, the love hate thing it got goin on. As well as action and suspense! (I'm kidding, this thread isn't going to all be like this lol).
Truth is I basically had an interview on a Monday(2018), and rode over on my Harley (only mode of transportation at the time). Got the job, and had to have something I wouldn't develop hypothermia of the ******* by riding my damn bike another year in below zero temperatures. I had 6 days to find an alternate mode of transportation; and I knew the purchase had to be meaningful, capable, and useful.
As luck would have it, the 97 Chevy Silverado I wanted was sold out from under me en-route with cash in hand; sum *****....
So instead, come Saturday, I still hadn't found anything. So I made a last ditch effort and went to a local dealership here in town; dealer literally known in these parts to be a legitimate and convicted fraud.
Yea; it gets interesting.
I took this 1994 Chevy Silverado K1500 Standard Transmission pickup for a test drive with my wife. 1st through 3rd gear was catching a little, but after about 2 blocks I'd figured it out. The mirrors blew in at the pressure of the wind and there was a crack the full width of the windshield. The tires were very low on tread and the drivers seat had a big tear in the side.
Odometer wasn't working, which quit at 214,000 miles.
The only decent looking thing on the truck was the new alternator and belts; that was it.
Meet my $5,800, $1,800 down FINANCED at 24% interest rate ***** of a truck in all her glory; on that glorious day we met. Ain't she purdy....
You must be registered for see images attach
But, I had to have it. Needed the job, to buy the house, to prepare for the baby. Oh yea boys, my life's that straight up oldschool sally sob story country song we all know.... and I grew up listening to f**kin Jennings man.....
Anyway; life goes on.
And because it doesn't take a genius to know that something's wrong with your truck, I took it to the shop to see what they could tell me.
A $3,500 quote later, I thanked them for their time, apologized for wasting it, and walked out the door.
I'd been informed that the ball joints, inner and outer tie rod on both sides, the idler arm and the pitman arm all needed to be replaced. Absolutely everything on the truck, excluding the alternator and belts mentioned previously, was pretty much completely worn out. ****.
Now get this; the clutch literally goes out on my way home from the shop 0_o. I had to make a post on a local community Facebook page that I'd been running; to see if anyone had a spot I could drop the transfer case and transmission for a day or two. I met a cool couple that let my truck chill in an empty bay they weren't using over night. It took me the weekend but we got it replaced.
I'd never done a clutch before, and only knew how to do a basic tune up and an oil change; I started studying how to fix these parts. I'd learned about Rock Auto from an old co-worker back when I worked at Freightliner as a Detal Specialist; and decided to do my shopping there becaues the parts were usually considerably cheaper than my local store (which I still go to religiously for immediate needs).
I priced out the MOOG parts and paid $321.75 for all the parts they told me to replace. BUT, here's the kicker, I was living in an apartment complex, with no friends, because I'm a ******. So I had to wait until I could find a garage to work out of.
I bought the truck in Febuary 2018, and we bought our house in June 2018; and refinancing the truck once to pay it off and stack the debt over to my motorcycle, and AGAIN to make the down payment on our house. Oh yea, my $5,800, $300 pickup truck, now ran me roughly $10,000. Smh.
By the time it's actually paid off, I'll have paid nearly 10x blue book value lol; talk about f**ked man.
So now that we've established that there's literally no more shame in owning this truck, than if I were to actually sell it; so I figure I might as well restore it.
My dad thinks I'm crazy; but I don't mind. This is MY truck mannnnnnn, and if I'm going to pay a fortune for her, I'm going to make damn sure she's working for me and hopefully looking good too. Plus, at least she's old enough I can work on most of it myself (the only reason I was willing to purchase it in the first place); I knew I'd have to.
I work from home now, so I don't have to travel much. This saves me a lot on fuel expenses. So once the family's taken care of each paycheck, I dump a little into the truck to ensure she's reliable.
So far my truck has had these upgrades/cosmetics.
Windshield
MOOG Ball Joints
MOOG Inner & Outer Tie Rods on both sides.
MOOG Idler and Pitman ARM
O'reillys Clutch
Wild Trail CTX T265/78R16 Tires
Trail Ridge Manual Tow Mirrors
Duralast BetterBuilt Low Profile Toolbox
Cobra 29LTD Classic CB Radio w/ 4' Firestick Antenna.
Oh, and who can forget the sticker ofcourse, cuz we all know those are crucial to your "cool" factor these days
. The idea isn't original, but I designed the sticker in Photoshop for my sister to cut out for me. I always got more too lol!
You must be registered for see images attach
Here's a couple current pictures I've shared in another post, but I'll share here for posterity of the post.
You must be registered for see images attach
You must be registered for see images attach
You must be registered for see images attach
You must be registered for see images attach
You must be registered for see images attach
You must be registered for see images attach
You must be registered for see images attach
You must be registered for see images attach
I've been talking in another topic about how I've had consistent issues getting my 4x4 to work. Originally I had thought it to be the thermal actuator, but after 4 actuators in less than a year I've come to the conclusion that I'm likely loosing power somewhere in the harness before it gets to the actuator.
My solution to the problem was discovered by joining this forum, and the nice folks that have provided their time and advise for my education.
Since Thermal Actuators were running me $85 a pop, I was getting pretty tired of paying for them. And I don't know jack **** about wiring (yet), so I can't even begin to start there. So instead I discovered the "On Demand" shaft replacement for the thermal (or electric if you fancy) actuators. It's essentially just a metal rod, threaded at the end, so that when you screw it in it caps it off. BOOM, on demand 4x4. Pop that girl in 4x and get to rollin. The problem is that the auto parts zone wanted $165 for this $5-10 chunk of metal.
Well, having gotten stuck 12 miles out in BLM land with my wife and daughter in the truck because my actuator decided to stop working; I destroyed my brand new (literally had bought it 2 days prior) so that I could get a chunk of plastic in front of the actuator to act as a filler in hopes to engage the actuator so I could just pull right out of there....
It worked....
You must be registered for see images attach
Needless to say, I didn't have $165, but I did have an $85 pile of scrap, and I wondered if I could some how fabricate my own on demand shaft with just what I had in the garage.
Some of the fellas here directed me to a thread that discussed how tossing a socket into the differential would take up the space and cause on demand 4x4. I like the idea, except for the fact that as illogical as it might be in some circumstances, I don't like ANY loose parts on the inside of anything operational.
So I cut off the wires, and the tip of the spring loaded actuator, and jammed a screw driver down through the center of the actuator and made the tip concave so it would be easier to guide a bolt through the center. I slid a socket over the actuator and ran the bolt through the socket into the actuator; keep ing it snug but not tight.
This was my final McGyver; it works flawlessly (obviously). It might be a bit overdoing it for some, but it's just something I felt lead to do after hearing they wanted $165 for it lol xP. Nope.
You must be registered for see images attach
So that all being said; I've currently got a parts list invoice here for Rotors, Brakes, and TBI repair kit. I've done up all my studies on the matter and I'm just waiting for the finances to enable me to put what I've learned to the test. While basic, I figure better to start small and fix the cheap stuff, and work my way up to rebuilding the transmission and ultimately building a 350 4 bolt using the skeleton my dad ran in his Chevelle that I hope to sweet talk him out of someday
lol.I purchased a change of Gear Oil for both differentials; as when pulling out the old thermal actuator, I noticed the oil was bad. I'll update once I get the SITREP on the condition of the spider gears and so on.
This truck will always be used like a truck; so I may not do any super fancy paint job, but I'll do something (Pssst... Detail Specialst, remember
). I'm into solid colors and for some odd reason have taken a liking to either a Sage Grey or a Camouflage Khaki color but time will tell.Plenty of cosmetic interests, but I'll let those be the mystery of this Exclusive thread.
Hope you didn't mind my yapping, and if you did, well then you didn't make it this far anyway! The rest of you, I enjoy good company and good conversation. Hit me up, ask me questions, offer suggestions or input if you feel lead to do so; just be respectful about it.
I'm open to learning, and want to make this truck dependable before purdy. Starting with the small stuff and workin my way up.
What's the trucks purpose? Take her down some back roads, maybe climb a few rocks and washed out trails. Nothing too insane, but you won't catch the pavement princesses out there that's for sure.
I'll share photos of her outtings with the fellas here soon. Got some cool country to share with ya'll too. Hopefully by the time I'm done, this thread will be one hell of a build thread with a back story for those into that sorta thing.
I think I'ma name her Born2L8; because sometimes that's just how I feel lol. My generation's lame lol.
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. Keep on keepin on muh man.
