From the Pine Tree State With '05 1500 and Lots of Questions

207Silverado · May 14, 2017

I am the new owner of a 2005 regular cab, standard bed, 4x4, 4.8L Silverado.

Despite being 12 years old, this truck had only one prior owner and has only about 66,600 miles. With the exception of rust on the rear bumper and OE steel wheels (no surprise for this climate), this truck is pretty clean.

This will not be a daily driver, but will be driven a couple of days a week. During spring/summer/fall, it will be a weekend tool and material hauler. For the winter, I plan to mount a 7.5' plow on it for personal (non-commercial) plowing. Yes, a 1/2 ton will suit my plowing needs.

Despite the above intended uses, I want this truck to look good enough to drive around town and to the office without embarrassing myself. Therefore, the rusting wheels and rear bumper need to go.

The fuel gauge does not work, the shift indicator is extremely dim, and the speedometer is erratic. My trusted independent mechanic diagnosed this over the phone as an instrument-cluster problem, said that was typical for the model and year, and quoted me $450.00 to replace it. That sounded to me like an honest price. This afternoon my wife and I dropped the truck off at his shop so he could work on it this week.

Here are some questions:

1. Is there a good source for reconditioned or OEM-style replacement steel wheels (17 x 7.5" with 8 vent holes)? Partsgeek.com has new replica wheels for $77.00/each with $15.00 shipping.

2. Are there any recommendations for a replacement rear bumper? Incidentally, this truck lacks a trailer hitch, so I plan to have a 2" receiver installed.

3. My independent mechanic quoted me $900.00 for parts and labor for replacing the rear bumper, installing a 2" trailer hitch receiver, and installing trailer light wiring (without brake controller). This sounded slightly high, considering I asked him for a quote for a quality-replacement bumper (i.e., non-OEM). I can find the parts for $400.00, so that makes the labor portion $500. What do others think?

4. The bed in this truck is in very good shape, but I plan to have it spray-lined to protect it. One local shop uses Speedliner. Another uses Scorpion Liner. I think those are the only choices in my immediate vicinity (Line-X is available an hour away, but I would prefer to have the work done locally). Does anyone have experience with these particular sprayed-in-liners?

Many thanks!