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dean1484
dean1484 GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
7/19/16 7:25 p.m.

Well here is the new beast!!!

<img src="WP_20160719_001" />

Turns out it is a GMC Denali not a Chevrolet. Yes it has the 6.0 and it even has the rear steer and it is working perfectly.

So it has not been run in 6 months and I wanted to start it and I asked my friend if I could start it he said that it will be out of oil as it was poring oil out of it when they parked it. So I check the oil thinking I am going to have to run down and get some to start it up. And it is way Way WAY!!!!! over filled. Guess what. . . Turns out that they took it to the local service station and had an oil change and very shortly after is when it started leaking they brought it back to the same place and they diagnosed it as a rear main seal so it was just parked (no one checked the oil). The oil was more then half way up the dipstick!!!

So my first step is going to be draining the oil and putting back what it should have in it and I am betting that it will solve the problem. Even if this does not solve the problem the leak that I observed was very small It is not a must fix issue I can still use the truck and fix it when it fits my scheduled especially since this will be a 3rd vehicle for me.

Other things:

Needs a rear bumper. The one on there is rusted completely.

The interior needs an enema it is very dirty but nothing a couple hours and a wet vac and some rags and some elbow grease can not fix.

The drivers seat has a rip in the side of the seat pad. Needs repair or if I can find a matching one in the junk yard I will just swap out the seat. The cheap fix is to get a good seat cover. Otherwise everything works and no other damage that I could see.

The exterior has a couple small dings and one small rust spot on the passenger side door (easy fix). The bed interior has some dents from normal use but again no rust of any kind or damage. It is missing a side marker light. The rear door on the drivers side only opens by reaching into the back and getting at that handle the plastic handle in the door jamb has disconnected from the rod. The lift gate latch is broken you have to open it by pulling the rods. It needs a set of tires.

The truck had not been started for 6 months so the battery was dead so I hooked my Toyota corolla to it with cables and let it sit for a couple minutes and it fired right up. The motor sounded fantastic. Ran extremely smooth and is very strong with zero noises. Really sounds like it just had a tune up. I let it warm up and it had 40PSI of oil pressure idling with it up to temp.

Ran it through the gears and yard drove it and all seemed to be perfect.

I am stoked. This may turn out to be a much better deal than I thought.

Oh and before you ask Yes I did tell my friend about the overfill on the oil and offered $$$ and even told him that he should keep this spend $150 on a professional detail. He said that he had already replaced it and it needed to go.

You win some and you loose some when getting a free vehicle. I think I won this one. I think if I put about 1K in to this it will be a very nice third vehicle to have around.

EDIT: I forgot to mention. I went under it and looked for rust and the entire underside is clean. The frame looks like is is only a couple years old. It really is virtually a rust free truck. Rockers, bottoms of the doors cab corners fenders the bed are all rust free. And I really mean rust free not "New England Rust Free" I have not seen a GM product from the mid 2000's that looks this good up here in the rust belt. the only area of rust is at the leading edge of the passenger door just in front of the Denali sticker (you can see it in the photo).

This really is one that should "buff up" very well.

Woody
Woody GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
7/19/16 7:29 p.m.

^Well bought.

Knurled
Knurled GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
7/19/16 7:49 p.m.

Get me some peanut butter, 'cause I'm jelly.

novaderrik
novaderrik UltimaDork
7/19/16 8:10 p.m.

The 1500HD is a 3/4 ton truck that was sold as a half ton for some reason.

Sonic
Sonic SuperDork
7/19/16 8:16 p.m.

Wow, such a steal! I completely love the Quadrasteer on my Suburban, it is fantastic.

untchabl
untchabl New Reader
7/19/16 8:37 p.m.

Wow, super jealous of this deal. Should be an awesome vehicle.

bmw88rider
bmw88rider GRM+ Memberand Dork
7/19/16 10:33 p.m.

Awesome. Sounds like you got a winner. It's amazing what you will get when you have the knowledge to be able to fix a few things. Good luck getting it up to snuff and sorting out the small stuff.

EvanR
EvanR SuperDork
7/19/16 11:06 p.m.

Riddle me this, Batman... how does a heavy, chromed, steel bumper rust out to nothingness when the rest of the truck is reasonably rust-free?

mndsm
mndsm MegaDork
7/19/16 11:09 p.m.
EvanR wrote: Riddle me this, Batman... how does a heavy, chromed, steel bumper rust out to nothingness when the rest of the truck is reasonably rust-free?

E36 M3ty materials. Happens when you farm your stamping to the lowest bidder. Ive even seen em rotten in florida.

pointofdeparture
pointofdeparture GRM+ Memberand PowerDork
7/19/16 11:31 p.m.
EvanR wrote: Riddle me this, Batman... how does a heavy, chromed, steel bumper rust out to nothingness when the rest of the truck is reasonably rust-free?

Lots of trucks are used to launch boats, making the bumper one of very few parts repeatedly submerged in water. Especially if used to launch in saltwater (like in Florida as noted above) a brand new bumper can look like hell in a very short amount of time.

doc_speeder
doc_speeder HalfDork
7/20/16 12:12 a.m.

Wow, a Quadrasteer Denali? That's a scarce truck up here. Well done man! If I'm not mistaken, that is the LQ9 code motor. Same as LQ4 but with factory flat tops and higher compression. 345hp. Again, great score!

collinskl1
collinskl1 GRM+ Memberand New Reader
7/20/16 6:27 a.m.

Rare truck indeed, but you couldn't get quadrasteer without Denali or LTZ. GM bundled it as an option with the highest trim levels and basically killed the project with poor marketing. If it was sold as a standalone option, it may still be around today.

dj06482
dj06482 GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
7/20/16 7:58 a.m.

That is a great score!!!

cdowd
cdowd HalfDork
7/20/16 9:04 a.m.

That is going to be a great truck from the looks of it.

SilverFleet
SilverFleet UberDork
7/20/16 9:46 a.m.

Wow, you scored big time! A Quadrasteer Sierra Denali has to be one of the rarest (and best) trucks of that generation. I've never seen one optioned that way, like, ever.

dean1484
dean1484 GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
7/20/16 11:08 p.m.

The more I am reading about this truck I am sure it was a special order truck. I am seriously considering a proper restoration. I was thinking that if I put say 3 or 4 k in to it I could make it in to something really nice.

patgizz
patgizz GRM+ Memberand UltimaDork
7/21/16 6:58 a.m.
EvanR wrote: Riddle me this, Batman... how does a heavy, chromed, steel bumper rust out to nothingness when the rest of the truck is reasonably rust-free?

they're nowhere near as heavy as they used to be, and they rust from the backside out because they really only chrome the outside. my southern avalanche had rust showing on the bumper and zero anywhere else. my suburban's bumper rotted to the point that it fell off and the back of the frame had holes but everything else was good, i assume it was a boat launcher.

cdowd
cdowd HalfDork
7/21/16 8:29 a.m.

In reply to dean1484: I think that truck is probably worthy of being made very nice. I would drive it for a while and make sure it is sorted first though. nothing worse than beating it up fixing something after you made it nice.

dean1484
dean1484 GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
7/21/16 6:37 p.m.

I am going to have to sort the rear bumper. I can get OE replacements for about $150. I was thinking of sending it to the local galvanizing plant and having it color galvanized black.

glueguy
glueguy GRM+ Memberand HalfDork
7/21/16 6:39 p.m.

Is it unique to the Quadrasteers? If it's standard issue, there will be eleventy million in the pull-a-part yards.

dean1484
dean1484 GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
7/21/16 6:42 p.m.
EvanR wrote: Riddle me this, Batman... how does a heavy, chromed, steel bumper rust out to nothingness when the rest of the truck is reasonably rust-free?

I think they are just Junk steel and the chrome is so thin that it really does not offer any protection. My friend that is giving me this truck has a couple others and all the bumpers are trashed.

dean1484
dean1484 GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
7/21/16 6:43 p.m.
glueguy wrote: Is it unique to the Quadrasteers? If it's standard issue, there will be eleventy million in the pull-a-part yards.

The bumper? You never find them in the yards up here they area all rusted out.

Woody
Woody GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
7/21/16 6:49 p.m.

I thought I was buying a genuine Toyota bumper for my Tacoma, but it turned out to be a Chinese knockoff. It started rusting through the chrome within six months.

Woody
Woody GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
7/23/16 7:14 p.m.

Weekend update?

dean1484
dean1484 GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
7/23/16 7:38 p.m.

Lets just say I have a whole new respect for dirt.

Drained the oil and refilled it to the proper level. Leaks seem to be cured. With it being close to 100 out that is as far as I have got.

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