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Buying a K5 - How much frame rust is too much? (pics)

J

jonm76

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Please excuse my skipping over a formal intro, I guess the feedback I receive on this post will let me know if I need to post one yet. I've been hunting for a full size Blazer/Jimmy or Bronco (oops, can I say that here?) for the past couple months. Basically, I want a full-size classic american truck that can go topless when the weather is nice. I'm shopping cheap since that's my budget, but want something that I can put a little money and time into and make it nice.

I found what I thought was the K5 of my dreams, a beautiful loaded '91 Silverado. Runs/shifts great, clean interior, some rust and messy filler by the wells and rockers, but the body is dent/scratch free and paint is really nice! It's already lifted w/33's and good rubber. Brakes are good, AC works, the carpet is even nice. It seemed like a turn-key truck that I could enjoy from day one, and worry more about upgrades than repairs.

Then I got under the truck. It actually didn't look too bad until I got to the very back. Not sure what the technical terms are, but the part of the frame that runs parallel to the bumper, as well as the rear 2-3 feet of the frame where the hitch would attach, seem to be totally disintegrating. I mean, really bad. I actually went back and took pictures, hoping someone might tell me it's not as bad as it looks. When I went back, I pulled up the carpet and the pad was slightly wet everywhere, and there are lots of small holes straight through to daylight. I was shocked at how bad it was considering the condition of the body:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25518871@N04/

Is this a lost cause? I don't mind patching the heck out of the floor or eventually replacing it. But the frame looks scary. This is going to be a daily driver (only 6 miles per day) and the price is right, but I don't want to drive it and dump it. I wanted something I could fix up and keep for a while, maybe pass on to my 13 year old in a few years.

If a few of you could take a look at the pictures of the frame and floor and let me know what you think, I would truly appreciate it. When I left looking at it the other day, I was 100% sure this was not the one for me, but I can't get the truck off my mind.

Someone look at the pics and talk some sense into me, please!

Jon
 
To me it looks liek what you are refering to as the frame is really just body supports and mounts, the frame looks alright to me, although I can only see a small portion of it on picture 2170. The truck overall definatley looks clean and pretty good, you're gonna find rust on almost all of these trucks.... I dont' think what you are looking at rust wise is actually the frame. Any other pics that might show the undercarrage more broadly so we could see the frame?
 
Thats a relitive question. Since Im in California I would RUN from that thing, But I can find rust free K5's all day long. My cage is tied into the body structure so to me its too much rust. Even though I will be still going to the the frame.
 
I don't have any more pics of the frame, but that might be a good thing. I didn't see anything more than surface rust under the rest of the truck, so I didn't take any more. It's not far from me, so I'll try to get a few more pics to post.

I added a few more pics at the link in my first post, it is in really nice condition overall. The tilt steering is a little loose but not bad, both seat reclines are broken, drivers power window moans but won't move, and it looks (from the one picture I uploaded) that the temp and oil pressure gauges might not work? Steering is pretty loose as well, but I've read up on this site about common causes and fixes for that, and it drives straight as-is. Have not had a chance to check out the rear window yet.

Overall, I REALLY like it, which is why I was so sad when I saw (what I thought was) the rusted frame.
 
If I'm seeing correctly on the sticker of the truck it looks like its priced at $1500, If it were me, I'd probably jump at that deal as long as its mechanically sound. The frame could be an issue but like I said, from the pictures it looks like the frame is fine, just the surrounding body supports. Someone else might have a different idea, but more pics would definately help.
 
So the portion in the very lower right corner of pic 2170 (under the body support, attached to bumper, and has the holes for the frame-mounted hitch...) That is not part of the actual frame? I thought those were the end of the frame rails, and that I would not be able to add a hitch since they were literally falling apart at the mounting holes.

Window says $2495 ($1500 down is what you see in the pic) but obviously there is room to move there.

How major a problem is the rusted-out body supports/mounts? Is that something I can use for negotiation?
 
Keep looking. Rust is a huuuge pain on the as$ to deal with. What I saw in those pics is NOT acceptable, even for a fixer-upper...regardless of the price. Find a rig that has other issues besides rust and work on solving those if you want something to spend time restoring. There are enough K5's on the road that you can afford to be picky, 'specially in regards to rust. :wink1:
 
All of the pieces are available from LMC.com. Ask the dealer if you can drive it over to a body shop and get a quote on what it would cost to do just the work. My thought is that is $700 worth of work plus $250 or so in parts. Will the dealer take an extra $1000 off?
 
Will the dealer take an extra $1000 off?
Click to expand...
Yes, I think there is a good chance he will cut the price down. We've already done some negotiating and I don't think it will be too hard to get the price down a little more if I point out the repairs needed. I know the rust is bad, but if I can get it cheap enough, I figure worst-case I can use it as as really nice donor vehicle in a year or two after I have found a cleaner chassis. As long as I can get a couple years out of it before it falls apart, that might be a plan.
 
That truck isn't in that bad of shape, that rear cross member can be replaced fairly easily, and the frame seems to be fine from the pics. those southern guys have never seen a truly rotted vehicle. Trucks that finally get scrapped around here would have to have holes rotted right threw solid sections of the frames, or have buckled in the middle from a load. Otherwise they're still on the road. That truck is in no danger of breaking. Even my own truck had rust much worse that that on the frame, I just chipped off all the scale and sandblasted it, then painted it that truck is still fine 7 years later even after getting airborne almost every time out. I'd try to haggle him down, and use the extra money to repair the cross member and bed, and then drive it, it looks like a pretty clean vehicle otherwise.
 
Definitly try and get that price down, 1500 would be a good price, 2500 is too much unless it has real low miles. Like you said that would be a good donor vehicle if you had to go that route later down the road
 
I just added 2 new pics of the underside/frame:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25518871@N04/

These were straight from the dealer ad, but I'm going back down today to get more pics if I have enough time. These look ok to me, but again, the dealer took them so that's not saying much.

Thank you to everyone that has posted! I'll wait till I get more pics of the frame, but it sounds like I should grab this if I can get a low enough price. Shopping in my price range, it can be hard just to find something roadworthy (and here in PA, inspected) and most of you seem to think it is, for the near future at least.
 
Get a screwdriver and poke and prod the holes. If it doesn't go through anywhere you are good. Sandblast the rust, then POR 15 (or something similar) and you will be fine. If the screwdriver goes through, you will have to ask yourself if you want to deal with it. To me it looks saveable with minimal work. You should see the one I have. I am in the process of debating whether to part it out, put a truck cab (Trazer :saweet:) on it or buy some steel for the crossmembers and panels from LMC and give it a go. It has 58k original miles so I'd like to save it. I need to practice welding anyways. Good luck with your decision.
 
haggle down the price however much you can. That isnt much rust at all. Yes, is it there? Sure. But a 91 has galvanizing so, the spread is slow. If most of us NE guys showed you their trucks, you'd have a heart attack. Most of the rust from the rear is from salt. THe mud flaps were non existant, and salt consistantly found its way up there, and rotted things out.

Im still in the process of fixing up my rust.. cut out a whole lot too..
 
How can you say that this truck desn't have much rust when you can see daylight through the floor? :eek1:
 
That's not that bad. That truck would go for 1500-1700 around my area on a regular basis. All of these guys from Cali have no clue (sorry but you don't). I wish I had pics of my buddies truck. I was over at his place today helping him and his is 5 times worse than that. Salt sucks period....what else is there to say?
 
Yes I DO have a clue. I replaced the entire cab floor, from the firewall to the back seat in my '76 K5 because of the rust. I could put my foot through the floor. And it was a California truck from the day it was purchased new. Where I'm from has no bearing on having a clue or not...I know from experience. After dealing with fixing that rust, I will never do it again. I don't care how nice the rest of the truck is, or how good the price is. There are way to many of these trucks on the road to just "settle" for the first one that comes along.
 
Simmer down dude ..... that statement wasn't just for you :rolleyes:

I guess your right though, he could wait for the miracle "barn" find or pay an extra $1500 shipping charge, just to get a southern truck. My point is this, that truck IS NOT that bad. Fixing rust is not impossible, and finding your version of a rust free truck in his area is gonna be a real challenge (unless money isn't a factor).
 
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