PavementPounder
Registered Member
I drive this truck daily. It has recently had a variety of repairs and work performed to it, some of which are detailed below. This truck is not a visual gem, but it has a good frame with good body mounts and and I have found it to be an excellent work vehicle due to it being extremely roomy, its ability to carry a lot of cargo, tow, and still handle passengers.
The 1987:
In general, it looks like a 20+ year-old truck, but is still far from being a rust bucket. Plenty of mechanical things need to be addressed, but they are non-critical and mostly bolt-in/on parts. Barring the trans component that failed (still drove home that day), this truck as gone everywhere I have pointed it, including North Carolina & back. It has been great for long-distance trips with multiple people due to the interior space, legroom, and more than adequate cargo capacity. Fits complete full-size axles in the cargo area with the rear seats in place. Wired for both 4-pin and 7-pin trailers.
Spare parts:
Complete inventory still in process. Partial list:
$2500. All spare parts listed above are included. Available immediately. Pick-up only for the listed price. Cash, or USPS Money Order only. No other money orders. First come, first served based on payment.
No longer for sale. Just depend on it too much and the only thing I could replace it with is another one, anyway.
The 1987:
- TBI 350. Tired, but has never failed to start and get me where I need to go. Unknown miles. Odometer has been swapped out, motor has been in & out thorugh its life, etc. Just assume it has 100-150k on it. A bunch of the accessories were robbed off the truck at some point, such as the A/C and cruise parts. I have since acquired a number of them by buying a second 1987 TBI 350 from a K-10, but they have not yet been reinstalled. Truck had the wrong radiator in it and the shroud was destroyed - swapped in a correct and very clean used radiator in 1/2010 and saw an immediate improvement. Also have a correct 2nd shroud assembly not yet installed. I thought I heard a knock at one point, got worried, and began running 20w-50 + a quart of Lucas at every oil change. That was about 1.5 years ago. Nothing ever ended up happening to the motor, but you can sometimes hear the knock briefly at start-up when it has been sitting overnight with the temperature below freezing. Still run that oil w/Lucas and Mobil MI-302 filters.
- 700r4. The Sun Shell broke in late November. Truck now has a rebuilt trans with a new torque convertor and Beast sun shell (to the tune of $1450) with a limited mileage warranty, courtesy of Cottman Transmission in Grand Blanc Twp. Truck is now back in service as of 1/2/10 and being daily-driven.
- NP-208C. Works great, shifts smoothly, has a small leak.
- 10b front, 8-lug, 4.10 gears, open, Warn lockouts. New Spicer 760x's, calipers, pads, rotors turned, and Spicer pinion u-joint 3/9/10.
- 14bSF rear, 8-lug, 4.10 gears, open, new brakes 2/15/10.
- 4" spring lift. Front leaf packs, rear blocks. Had the front spring bushings replaced in the past year. New rear spring center pins, BDS lift blocks, and u-bolts 2/2010. Rear axle very solidly mounted now.
- 315/70r17 BFG AT's on chrome H2 rims (8x6.5"). Down around 40% in front and 20% in the rear. A new pair with full tread are included, possibly getting swapped on soon. This tire size would probably be perfect for the truck if the motor was freshened up, or the 454 was swapped in. You can still cruise at 70 on the e-way, but headwinds and long hills will make it unlock the convertor in 4th due to the motor being tired. If you were to do something with the motor, drop to 285's, or bump to 4.56 gears it would cruise more comfortably and stay locked in 4th. (I drove it with a set of 4.56'd axles and these tires for years and it was great due to not having to work as hard.)
- Two-tone blue with a blue interior. Vehicle is originally from New Mexico and has held up well considering. Frame and body mounts in great shape thanks to driveline leaks over the years. Rockers have rust and need to be replaced, as do the rear barn doors. Both of these are very common areas to go bad on these vehicles. Replacement rockers are widely available, but I didn't get around to looking for barn doors. It has spots of surface rust here and there which are repairable. Driver's door mirror is cracked and half is missing. Driver's rear cargo window is spider-cracked, but a spare pair is included with the truck Bumpers still look okay, but have spots of corrosion. I have a nice-looking chrome rear step bumper that is included with the truck. Some of the plastic grill trim is cracked. Seats are all in good shape and I have a 2nd set of correct, matching front seats. Have not tracked down a matching 3rd row seat yet. Power windows work, but are slow (typical for the age of the vehicle). Rear power door locks did work (barn doors, too), but stopped. Haven't gotten around to chasing down the grounds/cleaning the contacts. OEM head unit is still present, but it now has a AM/FM/CD player with a detachable face neatly installed inside the center console, completely out of sight. It isn't anything special, but its nice enough and has a credit card-style remote. I think its a 4x40w, but I'm assuming the speakers are stock due to the lack of bass.
- H4 conversion low-beams installed 1/2010.
In general, it looks like a 20+ year-old truck, but is still far from being a rust bucket. Plenty of mechanical things need to be addressed, but they are non-critical and mostly bolt-in/on parts. Barring the trans component that failed (still drove home that day), this truck as gone everywhere I have pointed it, including North Carolina & back. It has been great for long-distance trips with multiple people due to the interior space, legroom, and more than adequate cargo capacity. Fits complete full-size axles in the cargo area with the rear seats in place. Wired for both 4-pin and 7-pin trailers.
Spare parts:
Complete inventory still in process. Partial list:
- 2nd TBI 350 of unknown condition with accessories.
- 1987 TBI 454 from a 2wd Suburban, complete minus exhaust manifolds. From a running/driving vehicle, generally in good shape, and still had an A/C charge.
- Full set of complete front and middle passenger doors.
- Set of tinted side cargo glass.
- Nice chrome rear step bumper (not yet installed).
- Set of new long-tube headers for the 1987's 350.
- Correct, undamaged fan shroud assembly for the 350.
- Complete 2nd core support (solid) from the 1987 GMC Suburban that the 454 came from, to include 4-core radiator, all trim, lights, condenser, grille, etc. (This may get blasted and swapped on in the next couple weeks.)
- Pair of 315/70r17 BFG AT's, full tread. (Unused spares I found seperately on Craigslist.)
$2500. All spare parts listed above are included. Available immediately. Pick-up only for the listed price. Cash, or USPS Money Order only. No other money orders. First come, first served based on payment.
No longer for sale. Just depend on it too much and the only thing I could replace it with is another one, anyway.
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