I've been planning this for months and this past weekend I finally brought my new to me ride home. The RAM isn't leaving the family and it still belongs to me until my son turns 16, assuming he doesn't f up and lose rights to it between now and then. So, I will still be around this forum and try to give back as it has been a vital tool for me as a RAM owner.

Anyway, this is my 2003 Silverado 1500HD. It belonged to my Dad, he bought it new, so I'm proud to keep it in the family. Only has 91k on the clock and is super clean.

Planned mods:

Remove hood deflector - done!
Remove old vent visors - they are coming loose
Tint front windows to state legal limit
2" blocks in rear, new keys cranked to level in front
New pro comp ES shocks all around
Michelin LTX A/T2's LT285/75R16 (black side out) on stock rims
Husky Liners on driver and passenger side
Hoping for the lift and tires within the next week or so - will post more pix when done if anyone is interested.

 

Still looks new! I had one that looked very similar but got rid of it because it was only extended cab. I certainly don't have anything against these trucks. You'll enjoy the extra room on the back seat and the slightly longer bed than your Ram. Does it have the 3.73's or 4.10? If you don't go crazy with tires, it will pull your trailer pretty well.

 

It has the 3.73 rear end. He bought it with trailering in mind and even had a hidden goose neck hitch installed in the bed as well as a brake controller installed. It has all the factory towing stuff - tranny cooler, hd towing package, etc. But he never pulled a goose neck with it that I'm aware of (he lived 200 yards from me for 7 years) and he borrowed my old RV trailer a couple of times and towed that. It has the gas guzzling 6.0 Vortec in it and should tow just fine. The tires I'm getting are E range, 80 psi tires and have about the mildest AT tread I've seen in an AT tire. I would have gone with some 17" wheels and bigger lift and tires if it weren't for my towing needs. I tow my RV to the lake every June (4 hours) and tow it home in August. That's it.

He didn't have a garage when he lived here and the sun did some light damage to the body side moulding on the passenger side and ate up some of the pinstriping on that side too, as well as frosted up the headlights. But the headlights have been restored and look brand new and I'm about to take a 3M eraser wheel to the pinstripes and the vinyl "cowbody up" decals he put on the tailgate.

This rig doesn't and probably will never ride as good as the RAM, but I'm hoping for some improvement with the new shocks and tires. Out of ignorance, he's been running these 44 psi max Sam's Club tires at 50 psi and they are pretty shot as a result. So some of the bad ride is bound to be coming from those. It's still not awful out on the highway.

 

That's a nice looking truck. I have nothing against other truck brands, like some people do.
A truck is a truck.

 

Nice looking Chevy 1500HD right there.

 

faded pinstripes and cowboy decals are gone. 3M eraser wheel is the bomb!

 

What about badges and 4x4 stickers?

 

I had a '93 silverado i awarded to my pops after i got 250k miles of continued service.. he did the cash for clunkers thing with it a few years ago- still running strong but looking haggard at 331k miles.. minimal work on that truck- like, very little.. a rebuilt trans, a few water pumps, a steering box, a brake booster... it paid for itself several times over..

flash forward to 2003- I leased two identical trucks for my job site.. silverado's.. they SUCKED hugely.. GMC/Chevy have lost any appeal to me because of those two trucks.. constant issues with those things- neither could be aligned, for instance.. come to find out, after finally looking at it myself and then verifying with a dealer- the frame was whacked.. on both of them.. from the dang factory, and in the same manner.. it wasn't a surprise to the dealer tech when i directly confronted him about it.

the other makers turned their trucks into SUV's during the SUV craze.. GMC/Chevy made a new vehicle and turned it into a dang truck.. it allowed them to lead the full size SUV market, but the 'truck' version? sucked donkey *****...

not all are the same.. I hope for your sake you don't have issues with the bowtie.. spending all that coin on the '93 was a damn fine investment.. the other two were a waste of my time and money.. my work fleet now consists of dodge's exclusively.. my personal truck is a fordf250psd.. I'll NEVER buy or lease anything gov't motors again.

 

Haven't decided yet on debadging. If I do it, it should be cake with that wheel. I am going to remove the vent visors and either toss them or clean up behind them and retape them. The tape is coming loose in a couple of places.


Drew, the nice thing about this chevy is I know its history from day 1. Other than the speedometer flaking out, the only problem it has ever had was when my folks drove it out to Arizona in the summertime, the AC went screwy and would only cool with the fan wide open. That's the way my mother describes it anyway. My guess is it was the fan that flaked out and would only come on in the high position. They had it fixed at a dealer while there and have done nothing but timely maintenance to it ever since. My dad worked for a company all his adult life that supplied him a vehicle, so this was the first one he ever bought for himself and he took care of it. If he's had alignment issues or other ongoing things, I would know about it. The only reason he gave it up is because he lives in a retirement community where everything is a golf cart ride away and this truck was only out of the garage once a month. The speedo issue was recalled but he never received the notice and never had the issue while the recall was in effect. So, it'll cost me a c-note to get it fixed.

 

Yeah post pics man for sure. I guess your son got his license?