I've had a few K5s in the past, but I've never kept one around for long, usually involved in some convoluted trade I had on the go.
Anyways, I decided a couple months ago that I'd like to buy a K5 strictly for wheeling, as I've always had trouble navigating the tiny little Jeep trails I always seem to be running on (perhaps wheeling with a Jeep club has something to do with it?) I spent months shopping for a decent rig with a couple of requirements -- Had to be either diesel or fuel injected, and had to have a solid tub that wasn't about to split in half when the truck gets flexed offroad.
I looked at almost every K5 on the market both here and down in Calgary, and finally settled on this 88 GMC Jimmy I found up here in Edmonton. While the truck looks extremely rusty, it is actually a bit misleading. The tub itself is actually very solid everywhere but in the tailpan. All the body mounts (minus the rear two) are sound, floor pans and rear box floor are all solid.
The reason why I settled on a bit of a rustier truck is the fact that the Jimmy has a freshly overhauled TBI 355 with an edelbrock cam + intake and a recently overhauled 700r4 as well (less than 10 000 miles on the pair), brand new dual exhaust, a 4" lift with dual shocks up front, and brand new differentials with 4.56 gears straight from GM (I have receipts for both complete diffs and receipts from a trusted local repair shop that supplied and installed the gears). The fact that it came with a decent sound system and 5 brand new 33x12.5x15" MTs was a sweet bonus.
I took the truck out for a wheeling run this last weekend to try things out, and had a great deal of fun! These little trucks just zip around corners that I always used to have to do multiple point turns on before. The flex isn't bad either, despite ripping a rear body mount off the tub when I really flexed it out
Anyways, my plan with the truck is to replace the tailpan and two rear most body mounts first, then install a new tailgate and hinges so I can actually open it. Next up will be to install my locked 3/4 tons with 4.56 gears along with a set of 56" rear springs on a shackle flip, 52" springs up front with crossover steering and ford shock towers. Since there is no good choice of 8 lug 15" wheels up here, I will be running a set of 34x10.5x17" Interco LTBs on Hummer H2 wheels.
Eventually I plan to swap in a 6.2L diesel engine with an NV3500 / NP241 combo, but that'll be happening way down the road!
Since you guys love pics, here are a few from this last weekend's wheeling trip:
Anyways, I decided a couple months ago that I'd like to buy a K5 strictly for wheeling, as I've always had trouble navigating the tiny little Jeep trails I always seem to be running on (perhaps wheeling with a Jeep club has something to do with it?) I spent months shopping for a decent rig with a couple of requirements -- Had to be either diesel or fuel injected, and had to have a solid tub that wasn't about to split in half when the truck gets flexed offroad.
I looked at almost every K5 on the market both here and down in Calgary, and finally settled on this 88 GMC Jimmy I found up here in Edmonton. While the truck looks extremely rusty, it is actually a bit misleading. The tub itself is actually very solid everywhere but in the tailpan. All the body mounts (minus the rear two) are sound, floor pans and rear box floor are all solid.
The reason why I settled on a bit of a rustier truck is the fact that the Jimmy has a freshly overhauled TBI 355 with an edelbrock cam + intake and a recently overhauled 700r4 as well (less than 10 000 miles on the pair), brand new dual exhaust, a 4" lift with dual shocks up front, and brand new differentials with 4.56 gears straight from GM (I have receipts for both complete diffs and receipts from a trusted local repair shop that supplied and installed the gears). The fact that it came with a decent sound system and 5 brand new 33x12.5x15" MTs was a sweet bonus.
I took the truck out for a wheeling run this last weekend to try things out, and had a great deal of fun! These little trucks just zip around corners that I always used to have to do multiple point turns on before. The flex isn't bad either, despite ripping a rear body mount off the tub when I really flexed it out
Anyways, my plan with the truck is to replace the tailpan and two rear most body mounts first, then install a new tailgate and hinges so I can actually open it. Next up will be to install my locked 3/4 tons with 4.56 gears along with a set of 56" rear springs on a shackle flip, 52" springs up front with crossover steering and ford shock towers. Since there is no good choice of 8 lug 15" wheels up here, I will be running a set of 34x10.5x17" Interco LTBs on Hummer H2 wheels.
Eventually I plan to swap in a 6.2L diesel engine with an NV3500 / NP241 combo, but that'll be happening way down the road!
Since you guys love pics, here are a few from this last weekend's wheeling trip:
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