Click to see my Dale Earnhardt tribute page.
 |
 |
Click for more pics.
This is my 91 GMC 1500 sportside purchased on May 5, 1996. Here is a list of mods:
The story of my truck:
Yes, it's taken a while to get the truck to look the way it does right now. I got the truck in May of '96. Of course, when I bought the truck, I had no plans of ending up where I am now. Give me some decent 15" wheels, window tint, a stereo and a tonneau, and I'm happy. I had friends telling me I needed to lower it and do this and that. I thought they were all crazy. "It's a truck!"
Almost 2 years after buying the truck, I had my first billet grille and a rollpan and I bought a 2/4 drop kit from a friend consisting of 2" Eibach coils and 4" BellTech leafs and put it on. I had been officially bitten by the bug.
Soon after was my first visit to the bodyshop to shave the steps, mold the roll pan, shave the tailgate, and smooth out the rest of the truck. I also ended up with a '96 GMC grille then too. I had it repainted the factory medium blue with some pearls in the clear to make it look different. Within a couple of months, I had my 17" rims installed and was really tired of the 2/4 drop. So, less than 4 months after doing the 2/4, I had a 5/6. With my tire combo that wasn't quite right, so I added another 2" to the rear for a 5/8. I drove it for about a year like that, but I was really never satisfied with the color.
The next summer, one weekend after Texas Heat Wave, I was sitting at a red light minding my own business when a kid in a Jeep Cherokee decides that it's more important to play with his radio than to stop, so he slammed into the back of my truck at about 20 mph. With the help of that guy's $3,000 insurance check, I went back to the bodyshop. Along with fixing the damage from the wreck, this time I shaved the taillights, stake pockets, and bed rail seam and had the Precision Rodware LEDs mounted in the tailgate. It's also when I decided to go with a new color. I saw this color on a Toyota Tacoma at a show and fell in love with it. I didn't know what it was at first until I saw a Mazda Miata rolling around town and recognized it. That's what I picked. So, 2 months later and I had my brand new color.
After about 18 months, I went back to the bodyshop to have some small things taken care of. This is also when I had my dash and other plastic interior pieces smoothed and painted. I was pretty much satisfied, aside from some smaller things I wanted to do.
About 3 months later the big one happened. I tried to avoid hitting a truck that pulled out in front of me and ended up ramming into the back of an Audi at about 30 mph. I nearly cried. Everything in front of the doors was destroyed as far as the body was concerned. Luckily there was no damage to the engine. I got screwed by my insurance company, though. I'm insured with State Farm and had added about $10,000 in extra coverage to my truck. They decided to total my truck at $5800. They didn't even figure in anything for all of my extra stuff. After bringing this to their attention, they ended up totalling it at $7800. After my deductible and buy-back, I got a check for $5500. Every dark cloud has to have a silver lining, and after my trusty bodyman worked me an awesome deal, I paid him a relatively small sum of money and ended up with the Cadillac Escalade clip I have now.
The day after coming out of the bodyshop, my wife told me that if I was going to bag the truck it was now or never. Well, who am I to argue with her? 2 months later my truck was riding on air and feeling better than ever!
That last accident was also my truck's final day as a daily driver. It was driving me nuts worrying about it everytime I drove it, so, after the accident I retired it and bought me a beater to drive. The truck now sits safe and sound in the garage unless it's a perfect day and I feel like a drive.
A proud member of:
Hey, we can always dream can't we? Well, it used to be a dream. Now it's a reality.
I'd like to thank my friend Derek for being bored and using his time constructively.
View My Guestbook
Sign My Guestbook
Last updated: 04/17/2002
