Ok, Time to start a build thread on what is basically my first major build that I have actually owned.
I'm starting with a 2005 Chevy 2500 extended cab short bed. its powered by a LQ4/4l80E combo. 84k miles and no body rust (which is amazing since I live in WV.). it spent most of its life in Grand Junction CO. I picked the truck up from a coworker for $3,000 who was going through a custody battle and needed some extra cash. I was able to drive it home, but it had some electrical problems that he couldn't figure out.
After getting the truck home it was immediately clear that the electrical issues were serious. There were lots of dings and blinking lights plus a turn signal that was just always on and poor engine performance. I opened the fuse box immediately to look and found that mice had gotten under it and chewed up a ton of wires. I assume the previous owner knew this and that was part of the low price point. Anyway, a few new sections of wire and some heat shrink and every thing was functioning semi normal.
I got the truck licensed and let my dad drive it for nearly a year to work the bugs out while I gather parts and finish my current project, a stretched 1 ton JK for my buddy
I ended up having some more electrical system troubles. Most of them were typical chevy things like the ignition switch, headlight switch, blower motor resister and so on. I tinted the windows, threw on a set of tires and added some ebay chevy tow mirrors. That pretty much catches the truck up to where it sits currently as of 3/30/2018.
Here are some pics of the junk that I have gathered so far
SD60 $370 bucks at the local junk yard after some haggling
32 spline NP241C, I tripped over this one in the grass at the local yard. $75 I found another one 2 weeks later at the same yard in the back of the truck when I was pulling factory floor shifters.
The truck started its life in CO as a pilot car, naturally there was a bunch of shit wiring done by the finest truck drivers with wire nuts and lots of. Marker lights in the bed below the tailgate had the taillight wires jacked up. They had a CB mounted in the dash which left a big hole, there was switches everywhere and aftermarket security crap. I found these pretty cool switch panels from Long Horn Fab shop to cover up the hack job from the CB Spruce up the Interior of your Duramax LLY | Quick Install | Cheap
Then I snagged a JK switch panel that’s like a Chinese sPod from eBay. This seemed to be the cheapest and easiest bet for some more circuits
I hated the factory tow mirrors and the passenger side was broken. I couldn’t find a replacement for less than $250 so I got some sweet ebay knock off 2015 style mirrors for $170. Pics are above in 1st post
For not being rusty or falling apart that was a good deal on the truck for sure. If your not going to use the bed that's worth a few bux to sell. I can't believe how cheap i am seeing you guys pay for the sd60, tha'ts great..!!
I do have plans for a simple cage that will be a hybrid interior/exo. Mostly exo accept the B pillar, that will be internal and tied through the roof so I can keep functional rear doors.
I'm looking to get it down to about 5-6 inches of lift with decent up travel incase I decide to go fast lol.
I am using the factory 14b, nothing too special. 5.38s, lunchbox locker and the motobilt 13b cover.
Here are a few pics of the mini shave and welding up the AAM drain plug.
For not being rusty or falling apart that was a good deal on the truck for sure. If your not going to use the bed that's worth a few bux to sell. I can't believe how cheap i am seeing you guys pay for the sd60, tha'ts great..!!
for sure, I jumped on the truck because I could have always flipped it if I decided not to build it and I wont loose any money. I think I already have the bed sold to a guy down the road. lucky for me people love these chevy trucks and all of them are rusted out around here. I'm getting $800 for the bed, tailgate and bumper as long as the guy holds up his end of the deal.
The 05+ SD60 is a no brainer for strength per dollar. I picked up both 1550 spicer shafts for just over $300 for piece of mind and that's all I really plan to upgrade on it other than the diff cover, gears and locker, weld on steering arms and a low profile truss from Artec
I picked up the Artec steering arms for the SD60 and a low profile truss. the arms will make it easy to run a straight tie rod with 7/8x7/8 rod ends. Ill be sure to post pics when i get them glued on
I made a post over in Gen 4x4 but figured I should ask here also. I'm looking at Metalcloak Duroflex joints for this project and I was wondering if anyone has any experience with them.
It’s been a little while since I’ve messed with this. I got the PCM back from 150tunes and it runs great! My dad has been driving it a lot. I have been occupied with this Jeep project but I was finally able to drive the Jeep to its home a couple days ago. The owner has a thread started on jkowners if anyone is interested. Since the Jeep is out of the way I want to get started on the red rocket again. Here are some Jeep pics for you chevy people
I was looking back at some pics in this thread and I figured I’d update it to keep it alive. The truck has been serving daily duty for my dad until recently since it’s salt season here. I changed the oil and when I rolled under the truck I found some very rusty rockers and cab corners. Who here has done the body work to replace them? Does anyone have any tips on the job? I considered sending it to the body shop to save me the headache but that will hurt the wallet. I poked around a good bit and all the other body panels seem very solid. It was a little discouraging but I still have full plans to go through with the build. Progress is at a standstill because I purchased a house without any shop space. I plan on building a shop this spring so I can get back to work.
I was looking back at some pics in this thread and I figured I’d update it to keep it alive. The truck has been serving daily duty for my dad until recently since it’s salt season here. I changed the oil and when I rolled under the truck I found some very rusty rockers and cab corners. Who here has done the body work to replace them? Does anyone have any tips on the job? I considered sending it to the body shop to save me the headache but that will hurt the wallet. I poked around a good bit and all the other body panels seem very solid. It was a little discouraging but I still have full plans to go through with the build. Progress is at a standstill because I purchased a house without any shop space. I plan on building a shop this spring so I can get back to work.
I figured there’s no real way to stop it. Especially living in the Northeast. I might look into doing sliders integrated into the cab. It would be a nice foundation for a cage. I was going to build some anyway but I was going to land them on the frame.
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