After I saw the rear tank strap bracket completely disintegrate, I did look into options. I can probably use a third gen Ram repair plate. I'll put this in the other thread if I do the repair. But all I do on this truck is chase rust. I've had it for 9 years and put maybe 12k on it. The cost per mile isn't too great but that's not really the truck's fault. It's the cost of infrequent use. This is foreshadowing but I really need to consider this if I replace it.
So what would I replace it with?
Well I'm kind of obsessed with the GM Quadrasteer trucks. They offered it on the 1500 and 1500HD (I think) Silverados and Sierras and Suburban/Yukon XL 2500s from approximately 02-05, depending on model.
Lots of info on just the Sierra Denali:
https://gmtcentral.com/gmt800-gmc-sierra-denali/
I would be considering the pickup version and of course the idea of a fully loaded Sierra Denali with Quadrasteer would seem to scratch my itch. So I found one to test drive yesterday.
https://www.facebook.com/share/1YNtamJBf5/
The ad will be gone at some point but it is a 2004 Sierra Denali with Quadrasteer. All 2004 Sierra Denalis had it. They pretty much all come fully loaded. 246k which is high but not really for a GMT-800, and since I only put 12k on my truck in 9 years, mileage doesn't matter but condition does. It seemed to present well (aside from some funny business with the right front fender and hood). Some carefully curated frame shots through the rear wheel well also looked promising. There was also a walkaround video. It seemed to present well.
I have a 2004 Sierra Denali Quadrasteer. Extended cab 6ft bed 6.0 AWD truck for sale. If you don't know what a Quadrasteer is Google will be able to give you all the information you will need. Quadrasteer works as it should. I'm the second owner. It has 246K but it runs like new. It's in very good shape for it's age. I have a bunch of spare parts from another Quadrasteer truck that goes with it. New exhaust new radiator and lots more. Will not negotiate thru messenger. If it's listed it's still available, will take it down as soon as it sells. $6,500 obo.
I did end up ordering a Carfax after Bob ran a plate to VIN for me and it revealed 100% Mass ownership. This should have been the first clue but I was optimistic. He was asking $6500 which I felt was high. I messaged the guy and arranged to see it yesterday afternoon. I also withdrew $5500 cash to bring with me. It was in Taunton so I didn't want to make more trips than totally necessary. KBB suggested a number starting with a 5 would probably be fair.
I got there around 2:45pm. Fair warning: I took ZERO photos of anything while I was there. I don't fully know why. But he and the truck were in his driveway when I arrived so I introduced myself and got to looking at it.
In some ways, the closer I looked at it, the worse it got. I had built it up to be in better condition than it was in person and this seems like a rookie mistake but maybe I thought the $6500 price for a 21 year old truck with 246k suggested above average condition to me.
Body wise, meaning painted sections, was mostly ok. However as he told me his story for how this truck came to be, things got more clear. Despite Carfax claiming one owner, he is the second owner. I thought that meant he bought it this year, did a few things, and was trying to flip it. Not so. If you look closely at the Carfax, you can clearly see that he bought it May 2016 with 200k on it, which is what he told me. He said he intended to use this truck as a parts truck to fix a lower mileage Quadrasteer he bought. However, after driving it, he realized the higher mileage one was actually the driver and he used the lower mileage one for parts.
Over the years, he used the lower mileage truck for some noteworthy items such as: transmission, transfer case, steering box (I think), doors. Wait, doors? I asked about this. He said the doors on the one I was looking at were all rusted at the bottom (you know, like my Ram). Uh oh. Now I was getting nervous. You could see how the pass door where it meets the extended cab didn't align right. Didn't seem to effect anything but that kind of stuff always screams "accident" even if there was no accident. Worse than that, the right front fender paint didn't quite match. I asked and he said he replaced that, too, due to rust. Only problem was this one was rust bubbling. Oh no. And maybe the ugliest body part: the hood gap on the pass side where it meets the A pillar and fender. This was an aftermarket cowl induction type hood which is kinda dumb to begin with. But he opened it to show me the issue. Looks like it was a manufacturing defect where the outer and inner skin were not properly welded or whatever, and the skins were pulling away from each other at the corner, which was made worse by closing the hood. The hood hinge seemed to put strain on it. Tires were all matching but worn. I would say the first impression wasn't going that well. It would get much worse.
I think I checked out the interior and noticed the headliner sagging down. He revealed that the driver's seat heater doesn't work. He had also replaced the HVAC control head with aftermarket, and because of this, claims that whenever you pull the battery, it has to be reinitialized or something with a scan tool. He's sent the cluster out to be repaired, which is a common issue. The in dash CD changer doesn't work. However, the Bose audio did work and sounded decent. He also said he installed an aftermarket remote start. Not good! These will always age out and plague the car with never ending issues to chase down, either because of crappy electronics failures, or bad wiring, or both. More strikes.
Underneath would sort of solidify that this was not to be. I started under the engine area. Oil leaks. Pretty significant oil leaks. Looked like the timing cover and/or oil pan type of leak. Did not really seem like a rear main issue, as the tranny pan was completely dry. He said it leaks like a quart in 3000. I am no stranger to this but my Ram leaks NOTHING. Seriously. Pulling the oil pan looks like it requires pulling the front diff and I know that would be quite a fiasco on my garage floor, but should be possible. Shocks looked original but not leaking. He said he did the idler arm, which is a weird design compared to what I am used to (so are the tie rods).
Then I inspected the frame. He said he had the cab corners and outer rockers down once upon a time. But that paint was starting to go due to rust. And that was because the inner rockers and cab corners were going. The driver's side was sort of starting to go or at least wasn't totally gone. But the pass side was really bad. Just total missing areas of metal for the inner rockers. He cheerfully informed me that there was a guy on Facebook who will do full rockers and cab corners for like $3200. Oh great, so $6500 isn't enough then? Sheesh. Certain areas of the frame also didn't look fantastic, like near one of those cross tubes.
At the rear, I noticed a pinion seal leak that was significant enough to throw some gear oil on the fuel tank. Looked to have original rear shocks. Rear brakes looked newer. Front brakes not so much.
Back in the engine bay I noted some valve cover leakage but nothing that would cause the mess underneath. He's done the thermostat and housing, radiator and condenser. He said when he did the condenser, it stopped the A/C leakage he was having. That's good. Had a K&N intake. He's done brake lines (or someone else did). He also had someone do the manifold bolts because the usual ones were broken when he got the truck. That was good to see. He upgraded to 2005+ electric fans from the mechanical that it had, and wired that all in properly to the fuse box and computer. That's something I would do.
Somewhere along the way I asked about what happened to the parts truck. He motioned to his garage. He opened the door revealing a MINT red 1970 Chevelle convertible. Holy shit. He pointed to the engine bay. Ah. I said "please let there be a turbo" as he opened the hood. No, BUT, he did reveal an LSA supercharger! Wow. Smaller pulley and everything. A bit of a cam. He said it makes 510 to the wheels. We figured high 10s @ 128 or something. 4L80E. Definitely a super cool weekend car. So that was really great.
I asked to take the truck for a drive even though I was kinda bummed about everything I had seen (aside from the Chevelle). I parked my ass in the driver's seat and realized immediately that these seats are extremely comfortable. The internet raves about it but I think they are correct. Really the overall driving position is pretty top notch. You could drive for hours with no issue. Far superior to my Ram which I thought was reasonably comfortable.
Fired it up and it ran just like an LQ4 should. It is up-rated from the HD applications with 325 hp but still on 87 octane. Here are my road test thoughts:
Engine and powertrain response/feel was great as expected. Actually he also had someone custom make a true dual exhaust with right and left tips. It sounded absolutely perfect. Enough of a tone but not too much volume. I loved it. The brake pedal was pretty soft and he said it's always been like that. My Ram actually has a firmer brake pedal. The steering was also pretty sloppy. He thought it was all in the box even though I think this was the box from the lower mileage truck. I think it was actually worse than my Ram. Not what I was hoping for. But we drove down Rt 44 and yeah the thing drives nice. It is a HEAVY truck at 5,600 lbs or something, and you can absolutely tell that this is 1,000 lbs heavier than my Ram. But it feels good going down the road, like a GMT-800 should. You can feel extra unsprung weight from the Dana 60 + Quadrasteer hardware. But that's how it goes.
He says he installed a TransGo shift kit, the RV one, whatever that is. He also seemed to be obsessed with the Corvette servo and noted that the 1-2 shift really kicked. He wasn't kidding. It didn't just kick, it was harsh. At wide open throttle the 1-2 shift felt like something might break. Not too great. In a heavy truck with a big V8 and AWD, this is not really recommended. He said it would bark the tires on the 1-2 if it were RWD and I totally agree. Too much. The other shifts were great. And it wasn't as bad at part throttle. As I said the brakes were soft but it did seem to stop OK. The shocks despite being original seemed to be functioning well. I mean it definitely drove better overall than my Ram aside from some of the exceptions I made previously. And the steering play was significant.
I mashed on it a bunch of times and it was satisfying. It's not FAST per se but it totally gets out of its own way unlike my Ram. I could certainly live with this.
Toward the end of the drive we went into a lot so I could really try the Quadrasteer and test the transfer case for issues on tight turns. Happy to report no transfer case issues. And the Quadrasteer itself? Worked perfectly. It is completely supernatural how it turns. You just keep turning the steering wheel and it turns on a dime. It's incredible. Every bit as magical as everyone says it is.
In summary, here are the things I think he replaced along the way from 200-246k, over about 9-1/2 years:
Transmission has 100k less than the chassis as does the transfer case (which he said started leaking - this one did have a rear output seal leak but not major), custom true dual exhaust, 2005+ dual electric fans, radiator, condenser, engine/body grounds that caused an ABS issue, HVAC head, cluster repair, one side of the rear axle inner and outer tie rods (I forgot which side), idler arm, thermostat and housing, complete manifold bolt replacement, brake lines, oil cooler lines and gasket, outer rockers (which are going again). That is a lot of stuff.
But it still has a list of flaws:
Pinion seal leak, engine oil leaks, really needs inner/outer rockers and cab corners again but the right was way worse than the left, other parts of the frame were looking a little thin, driver's heated seat dead, headliner sagging, aftermarket remote start (I consider this a flaw), fairly bad steering play
When I add it all up, this is not the upgrade from my Ram that I was really looking for. I did initially offer $4500 which he turned down. Then I offered $5000 just to see and he said no. He said he turned down more than one $5000 offer on FBM. He wanted like $5800. I maybe could have closed the deal with a $5500 counter which is all I had brought anyway. But I just think I didn't want the truck, despite the upsides. He was also a good guy and seemed to be telling the truth about everything.
He offered to let me sleep on it and let me respond in the morning. I had a good conversation with Ian and then this morning I formally declined.
I also had a realization this morning. This was giving me STS PTSD. It seemed like a lot of work to keep one of these on the road and it reminded me of chasing all the bullshit on my STS. This is the reason I moved to Mercedes.
But even if I still did like it and would consider one in better shape, this was not the example to buy. They are rare but it would be better money spent to find a clean one with similar miles for maybe $8-9k. It may need some repairs but at least I'm starting with a clean platform. And that really begs the question: do I want to put $8-9k into my transfer station truck? The immediate answer is NO, I do not. However, this opens the door to a new use case: with a better truck that I actually like (and AWD/4WD), I could use it more frequently. Today, I would never use my truck for anything unless I absolutely have to, or I'm too dirty for my S550. But I would never use my truck for normal transportation because I don't really like driving it. It opens the door to a more exotic S550 replacement. It also opens the door to being an extra vehicle for Ian to use. So if I really ended up using it for more purposes, that could at least partially justify buying more truck.
That said, if I really just think of it as a transfer station truck, I should buy something a lot more simple and cheaper. And cleaner.
Also, there ARE some Quadrasteer trucks around. I could give some examples. The really nice ones go for 5 figures, which is pretty crazy money. They get more rough under $10k. So if I can't get one in acceptable condition for a price I want to pay, this just isn't going to happen. Maybe I'll post some comps just to document.