# 1/2 ton Silverado 4WD questions



## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

My son wants his own truck now and he's been saving his money. He has "enlisted" me to help him find I'm best versed in Ford trucks, although I currently own a Tahoe 5.3L/auto.
Found a nice truck, thought I'd get opinions & thoughts.

2005 Silverado Z-71 5.3L/auto
75K miles
Zero rust
Clean paint, exterior and interior.
push button 4WD & hi/lo range
PW, PDL, PM
Looks extremely clean and garage kept
New tires
non-smoker

Modifications:
Flowmaster exhaust duals QNot crazy about this, is this really loud?)
Cold air intake (OK, no big deal)
Larger/Slotted front rotors QOK, why-not enough stopping power?)
Has color matched bed cap- Q: (what is it worth if we sell it?)

$10,500 cash, NOT negotiable whatsoever.

Other:
I'm buying from another state (MD) and I will have to be PA inspected.
It seems like a pretty good deal for MY area.
We currently have a 5.3L Tahoe that has 175K on it with original engine/trans and still runs great.
Our mechanic drives/likes GM and works on them cheap

Thoughts?


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## glasswrongsize (Sep 15, 2015)

That is a heck of a deal, even for my depressed area. It would be priced @that with 130-150000 miles here. 
...reg cab might be in that price, but 4wd (z71) and 3door or extended cab (whatever it is called) with that mileage is a good... scratch that... great deal here


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## danwi (Mar 6, 2015)

No rust, low miles, new tires sounds like the truck has a lot of good going for it. I don't think it sounds too bad.


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## BWfarms (Aug 3, 2015)

04-05 Silverados were the better years. It's a tick on the high side but if it checks out, an extra thousand is not worth walking away from. I would buy. Of course price bias, I bought my 04 in 07 with under 35k for 13,900. So maybe I'm just good at finding deals.


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## newholland650 (Apr 20, 2015)

Buy it because you won’t regret it. Very nice trucks


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

The seller said it’s so powerful it’ll climb a steep incline! LOL


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## Farmerbrown2 (Sep 25, 2018)

Better get on it before it’s gone . Very desirable trucks new one is $40,000 depending on options.


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

Price is very good...I would have to verify that mileage with other thing in the truck to see if they jive....brake pedals knobs seat wear etc. run a carfax.....that's really low miles for a truck that could have been on the road for 14 years.....always a cause for concern, trust but verify. 
I'm not crazy about all the aftermarket stuff on it either....why put all of that stuff only to drive it 6k miles a year.....unless an older man owned it and a young buck recently bought it and made the changes, if so, why is he selling it? 
Good luck


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## glasswrongsize (Sep 15, 2015)

somedevildawg said:


> I'm not crazy about all the aftermarket stuff on it either....why put all of that stuff only to drive it 6k miles a year.....unless an older man owned it and a young buck recently bought it and made the changes, if so, why is he selling it?
> Good luck


JD, I agree with Dawg for sure!! That's the range of truck I for which I have been looking for @6 months and have looked at plenty. I've been saving my toad-hides to buy a truck in that price range and am not afoot now, so have been able to be choosy. I have no interest in anything with any lift-kit or leveling-kit, newish aftermarket rims/tires, exhaust with dreaded loudening system, anything with a description that spends too much time talking about on radio/speakers; any "slang" (such as "such-n-such rims wrapped in mudhawg 33s"), etc....basically anything to indicate a youngun owns/owned it (I were one and I 'member how I drove em and how I fixed em up and the things I was proud of at the time...I could tell you, at what specific RPM, the lifters started "floating"...when the lifters started floating, that was the correct time to "hit second"!!!). I'm lookin' for the old codger's farm truck that's being sold due to retirement.

Mark


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

glasswrongsize said:


> JD, I agree with Dawg for sure!! That's the range of truck I for which I have been looking for @6 months and have looked at plenty. I've been saving my toad-hides to buy a truck in that price range and am not afoot now, so have been able to be choosy. I have no interest in anything with any lift-kit or leveling-kit, newish aftermarket rims/tires, exhaust with dreaded loudening system, anything with a description that spends too much time talking about on radio/speakers; any "slang" (such as "such-n-such rims wrapped in mudhawg 33s"), etc....basically anything to indicate a youngun owns/owned it (I were one and I 'member how I drove em and how I fixed em up and the things I was proud of at the time...I could tell you, at what specific RPM, the lifters started "floating"...when the lifters started floating, that was the correct time to "hit second"!!!). I'm lookin' for the old codger's farm truck that's being sold due to retirement.
> 
> Mark


Agree completely! 
In my OP, I was lamenting the prospect of driving 3 hours to see "the one" only to be disappointed by some kind of loud exhaust! And I'm still thinking it may happen. Never owned a truck with flow masters on it. 
I'm leaving in 2 hours to hopefully bring this little truck home and after looking at 3 other trucks in the last 2 weeks, I'm prepared to be disappointed.
If the exhaust is too loud, what will it cost him to put factory mufflers back on? 
Seller said "no rust". Been told that by the last 2 people and both were rusted badly underneath!
Do they think all prospective buyers are too stupid to look under something before they buy? Or are they unaware their vehicles are about to have rust-through appear on their trucks?


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## glasswrongsize (Sep 15, 2015)

JD3430 said:


> Never owned a truck with flow masters on it.
> 
> If the exhaust is too loud, what will it cost him to put factory mufflers back on?


Flow masters will putter around just fine at a tolerable decibel but will get "throaty" when you gag on it a little. Not nearly as bad as glass packs or straight pipes, but loud enough to change your driving habits while leaving an intersection or parking lot when you know there is a cop nearby.

I think they are kinda like the old Thrush mufflers from our day...not loud enough for a 16 year old and too loud for a 50 year old.

Mark


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## newholland650 (Apr 20, 2015)

Jd3430 I’ve got flowmasters on mine and at highway speeds it has just a slight rumble which I think sounds good but like was said can be a little loud taking off. But it wouldn’t make me not buy the truck. Around here to get stock mufflers put on wouldn’t be to high I wouldn’t think


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

OK, so we bought the truck!
I feel like our hard earned money went to a good person selling a solid truck!
The truck drives very solid. Steering tracks perfect. No strange rattles. Stops fast & straight.
You guys were right about the flow masters. I actually likes them by the time we got home LOL!
They sound nice.
Starts is a second, shifts crisp, nothing at all broken on the truck.
New BFG Rugged Trail tires look sweet. Cast aluminum wheels could use a little polishing
The body overall is great for a 13yr old truck. No rust except a little surface rust underneath on shock towers, areas you'd expect.
Only "body" issues is in the drivers side door, a tree fell against the top door frame and put a small 1/2 dollar size dent in it.
The hood is losing some clear coat in 2 football size spots. Paint is still there.
I will have to do some research and see whats involved in either repairing a missing spot or clear coating the entire hood again.

My son took the running boards and cap off immediately to take the "old man" look away from the truck as he calls it.

For what we paid, I think we hit darn near a home run, but I'm reserving final judgement until we see how she does for PA state inspection.
Thanks for everyone's input!
My boy is happy and so am I.


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## luke strawwalker (Jul 31, 2014)

JD3430 said:


> My son wants his own truck now and he's been saving his money. He has "enlisted" me to help him find I'm best versed in Ford trucks, although I currently own a Tahoe 5.3L/auto.
> Found a nice truck, thought I'd get opinions & thoughts.
> 
> 2005 Silverado Z-71 5.3L/auto
> ...


Sounds pretty good so far...



JD3430 said:


> Modifications:
> Flowmaster exhaust duals QNot crazy about this, is this really loud?)


Could be, but maybe not. Depends how much you push it I guess and how much
smaller the mufflers are than original... I put a Dyna-Flow on my 02 F-150
pretty soon after I bought it (2 years old, 29,000 miles)... flow better and sound
mellower but a little louder than factory. It's straight piped now and not bad at all...



JD3430 said:


> Cold air intake (OK, no big deal)


Helps wake the engine up... factory air cleaners and supply hoses to the throttle
body are "muffled" and usually flow poorly. Not a big deal... though I got tired of
the additional trouble of cleaning the K&N air filter and went back to the factory
air filter, especially after I replaced the MAF sensor, which oil-type air filters
can mess up.



JD3430 said:


> Larger/Slotted front rotors QOK, why-not enough stopping power?)


Nah, just a "hop up"... Don't believe the hype. I tried cross-drilled and slotted rotors on
my '02 F-150-- figured they'd help some with trailering since the front brakes do a LOT more work
but they really didn't... no noticeable difference, other than the fact it ate brake pads a lot faster
(and you have to run them with "ceramic" pads, not regular cheap "factory" cerametallic pads). I had some
bearing noise and went to tighten up the bearings and found that the outer race had spun in the rotor and it
had worn a groove in the rotor deep enough that the race just "wallered around in there", so I replaced them
with regular "cheap rotors" from Oreilleys... I'd had a warped "factory rotor" and it was "too small to be turned"
which is why I switched to the slotted rotors-- they were cheaper on Ebay for a pair of crossdrilled/slotted rotors
than the "factory" plain-jane rotors from Oreilleys... But the price came down quite a bit by the time I replaced them...



JD3430 said:


> Has color matched bed cap- Q: (what is it worth if we sell it?)


You could probably get $100 easy I'd say if it's in good shape... probably a little more
BUT those things can SURE be handy... I bought one from my BIL's brother before he got killed.
They had the same 02 SuperCrew F-150 I have (with the 5.5 foot bed) and had the same color-coded
bed cap on their truck and it miraculously survived his wife rolling the truck (the truck didn't)
and he sold it to me for $100, along with one of those "cages" that allows you to carry stuff with the
tailgate down and not have it slide out the back...



JD3430 said:


> $10,500 cash, NOT negotiable whatsoever.


Sounds pretty fair... Even junkers go for a few grand around here...



JD3430 said:


> Other:
> I'm buying from another state (MD) and I will have to be PA inspected.
> It seems like a pretty good deal for MY area.
> We currently have a 5.3L Tahoe that has 175K on it with original engine/trans and still runs great.
> ...


Are yall "smog inspected" in PA and has it been smog-inspected (and passed) in MD?? Might want to check on
that and think accordingly. Can be expensive if something needs work or replaced to pass a smog check.

I see a lot of those Chevy's still around, so I don't think they're junk... I've got 315,000 on my 02 F-150 and so far so good...

Later! OL J R


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

Jeff,

Yeah we have smog inspection for gas, but not diesel. I have to get it inspected this week.

I looked up some articles on line on how to fix clear coat...
Sounds like you can't really fix missing patches, the whole hood has to be "de-clear coated" an then re-clear coated for the job to come out correctly. 
Couple more hurdles. Hopefully not too much $$$


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## luke strawwalker (Jul 31, 2014)

JD3430 said:


> Jeff,
> 
> Yeah we have smog inspection for gas, but not diesel. I have to get it inspected this week.
> 
> ...


Yep... clearcoat on my '02 F-150 hood started "scabbing" off around some little bitty chip-like spots. Tried "sealing" them with some WM clear-coat, but it didn't work. Water gets between the clear and paint coat every time it rains or gets wet and the clear turns loose farther back, until it makes big loose peels that easily chip or break off... plus it looks like crap.

Not as bad as my old school bus I used to drive-- the clear turned loose on it, but it was making "big watery looking blisters" that sloshed around under the clear coat! I finally got sick of looking at it, so I tipped the hood up one day and scraped them all off with my knife... rest of the clear coat peeled off within a few months. Hood of the bus was "flat" while the rest was "shiny" but who cares-- better than looking like it had 3rd degree sunburn!!!

Later! OL J R


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## Dan_GA (Dec 29, 2015)

When I was a little bit younger, I had my 5.3L Silverado split into true duals with single chamber racing flowmasters, and still wasn't as loud as my SS Camaro is now with stock exhaust. The cam and porting make the noise. Flowmasters won't be too bad on it. Sounds like a good deal. As others have said, get a carfax on it.


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

Dan,

Thanks I did get the carfax and its 100% clean. 1 owner since new and no reported accidents
There was a recall on the gauge motors.
The odometer checks out with the service records he gave me.
3,100 hours on engine.

Just gotta deal with this clear coat issue on the hood before the pain oxidizes.

I like it, drives really nice. Good relaxing ride after pounding around in these 2008 Ford diesels, it feels like a luxury car.


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## Dan_GA (Dec 29, 2015)

My '03 Duramax had bad stepper motors in the dash cluster. I replaced them all myself. I think it cost me about $35 in parts from ebay. That's a common issue.

Guess I should've read a little further into the post.. congrats on the new truck!


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## skyrydr2 (Oct 25, 2015)

The hood needs to be stripped and repainted unfortunately. It was a common problem. The base coat was not formulated correctly I guess ..so the clear would not properly adhere.


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## luke strawwalker (Jul 31, 2014)

skyrydr2 said:


> The hood needs to be stripped and repainted unfortunately. It was a common problem. The base coat was not formulated correctly I guess ..so the clear would not properly adhere.


When the EPA forced them to go to "less aggressive" solvents in their paints, the paint jobs really went to h3ll...

Later! OL J R


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

Well I sold the cap and the stock am/fm/class/disc player. Got $300 for both.

Gave my son $100 of it which he used to replace head unit with a $50 pioneer am/fm/aux radio and $50 pioneer speakers. New radio has aux input which is so much more useful. 
I used the extra $200 left over from the cap and radio to pay for 
PA state inspection
Transmission oil & filter
Engine oil change 
Emissions inspection.

She flew through inspection with zero issues. 
We're both happy so far.

Now that clear coat/hood issue......


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