Ok so I've been in store to buy a k5 for awhile now, also since my 01 is my dd I don't want to break her too bad when I go wheeling. So the search began and just the other day I might have found one but I want others opinions on this, it just seems to good. On craigslist there is a 1990 k5 for 1500 obo, 6in lift, 36in tsl's mounted, 33in street tires mounted, and 4 35in bf at's. Needs a front caliper and power windows aren't working. Runs, drives, with no other probelms. Heres where I get turned off, says very rusty underneath.....opinions on if the owner is seeing surface rust or possibly a bad frame and if a bad frame, still worth it?

 

well if its lifted the trucks been abused and for a rotted frame i don't think its worth it because think about it. you need to reweld the whole frame or rebuild the whole truck onto a new frame .

 

There are a lot of common points for rust on these trucks. If they say that it is quite rusty, the body is likely in pretty bad shape. Is it worth it? That depends on what you are capable of in terms of body work. You really need to go take a look at it.

The frame likely isn't rusted too bad. One area to inspect on the frame is where the steering box bolts in. The orientation of the Pitman arm puts a lot of stress on the frame & it cracks over time.

Seems kind of like a worst case scenario... Obviously it wouldn't be worth it to rebuild the whole truck. That's just common sense.

Also, I have seen MANY more lifted K5's that were mall crawlers only than I have seen that actually went offroad. The fact that this guy has three sets of tires for it means that they probably did offroad it, but it doesn't mean that it was beaten on.

 

true true check it out see how she looks under

 

Thanks to both of you. I'm trying to find a day that I can take a ride up to where it is and take a look at her. I can do just about anything short of welding, simply because I don't have one anymore.

 

If you can't do any weld repairs, then it likely won't be the truck for you. It would be a considerable expense to have a body shop repair the body if it has extensive rust and typically, the extent of the rust isn't something that most people over-state when they do state that it is rusty.

 

I have many friends with welders and I know many of them will allow me to use it, or pay them a fraction of the price that a bodyshop will charge. Just trying to find the time would be difficult since I'll be working extra shifts for the next few weeks.

 

If you have the room to store a long term project & the money, it may be worth it depending on the condition. Problems with the motor/transmission/transfercase/axle can also be expensive, but some of that depends on the expected "final" configuration. If you are going to go with big tires, you will be upgrading the axles anyway. Things like that.

One thing that is nice about the K5 is that parts are relatively cheap and readily available.

 

I'm in the process of selling my pickup so I will have the extra room. As for money I'm not rolling in it, but I do have a steady job that pays well enough to have extra money. Now as for bigger tires, maybe in the future but for right now 36's are just fine.

 

lol i think 36's are huge but yea are you getting the k5? =P