2005 Silverado Z71 Frame Rot.

RivGuy · June 9, 2019

Recently bought a 1995 Chevy Silverado, ext cab, Z71 with frame rot from a dealer. Prior to buying the truck I was allowed to put it up on a lift and inspect it. That's when I saw the right frame rail rotted in a length of about one foot as well as the the crossmember tube that the upper shocks mount to rotted.

That wasn't the end of the rot. The right rear spring shackle was rotted and need replacement and the crossmember that is above the spare tire was rotted through.

Thankfully I was able to bring the truck to a shop that does a lot of frame repair, welding and heavy duty truck repair. I got an estimate of not to exceed a certain amount and took that to the dealer trying to sell this apparently very nice truck.

I say very nice because it was obviously taken well care of by the owner before selling it off, probably due to the frame rot.

It is fully loaded with all the options, aftermarket wheels and a full stainless exhaust, etc, etc..

I liked the truck and was sure of the shops capabilities to cut the rotted part of the frame rail out and weld in a new section as well as removing all the other rusted parts and fabbing new parts to make the undercarriage of this truck like new for less than $2,000.00.

The dealer knew he couldn't sell the truck to anyone knowing of the rot and rust issues and he knew he couldn't run it down the auction line and have another dealer buy it and ruin his reputation so he agreed to sell it to me very cheap.

With 119,00 miles and the exterior body perfect and the interior with no defects I got the truck for $4500.00.

Add the max of $2,000.00 and a set of new tires $750.00, I think I got a good deal. All the brake lines and fuel lines are new as well as many other parts.

I've read on here of other peoples woes of encountering unexpected frame rot, but I walked into this deal knowing what I got and also knowing the expertise of the shop doing the work.

The shop is extremely large with many qualified welders, frame stabilizing equipment, etc. Also they will sandblast the frame rails first and then perform the work for the money I mentioned.

I can't wait to get it home next week and be able to post some pic's of the work done underneath as well the exterior and interior of the truck.

Hopefully I'll get a lot more miles out of it when it's done.

txab · June 10, 2019

Welcome. Posts some pics when you get her done.

RivGuy · July 11, 2019

I look forward to be able to post some pic's. I'm a dummy when it comes to that though. Hell, I had a flip phone until just a year ago.

On another forum I visit for older Harley's I was able to use my digital camera, take out the SD card and up load to Photophuckit until that no longer worked and all the pic's that were saved on the forum were lost due to them.

So, with my limited experience I'm not sure how to post pic's. I'd like to post pic's of the work that was done to the frame and undercarriage as well as the exterior and interior. I still think I got a great deal now that all the work is done and I'm driving it daily.

It has a FlowMaster stainless exhaust that has 2 turnouts in front of the passenger side rear wheel that sounds pretty good. Not too loud until you open throttle. I think there may have been some programming done to the Powertrain Control Module as well. For such a heavy truck, when you punch it, it has all the acceleration that my Supercharged Buick Riviera had with many mod's from intake, cam, exhaust, SC porting and polishing and PCM tuning. Sold that car after many mods and fun miles and bought this truck.

I have no way of knowing if tuning was done do it though, just know what the seat of the pants feels like and it's quite peppy. Looking forward to hooking it up to some software and have a look.

Any input on what software to use for tuning this truck. It's a 5.3L as far as the underhood sticker says but I can't match that up with the letter in the VIN#.

I'm still new to the vehicle but will be attempting to making myself smart as time goes on.

Would like to convert the rear drum brakes to disk brakes if someone has any suggestions on kits or swaps from another model year. That and stainless steel brake hoses made all the difference on the last car I owned.

I thought I read that the 8th digit in the VIN was the engine code. If so it's "B" but I can't find a reference to that letter anywhere.???

Anyhow, I look forward to learning more from the forum and I'll post some pic's as soon as I figure out how.

Rick

RivGuy · July 11, 2019

On 6/9/2019 at 9:24 PM, txab said:

Welcome. Posts some pics when you get her done.

Where in Texas are you.?

I lived in San Antonio for 5+ years and road my motorcycle all over the state as time permitted. I did have a regular job for an airline but had a lot of time off after putting in a lot of time on the road away from home for them. Worked out great for me. Had to spend 10 months on the west coast for them so I arranged renting a furnished condo with a garage that was cheaper than the hotel. So after I got approval on that I had them ship my motorcycle out there and spent all my spare time riding in Oregon, Washington State and made a vacation trip down the Pacific coast highway to San Fransisco then turned inland to ride the mountain roads back to Portland Oregon (home base).

I blabbered too much about the west coast when I was asking about your location in Texas. I loved it there and would probably still be in San Antonio if the company didn't shut down.