What did you do to your non-G body project today? [2022]

[81cutlass]

Just keep rollin' along!

These used vehicle prices make me want to keep the ol' Rainier keep going. Will the driveline make it to 300k? Probably. Will my patience go to 300k? Maybe. Will the rust make it go to 300k? Highly questionable.

The only thing I have determined is an acceptable replacement is-
18-19 Coyote F150 ext. cab 10 speed (38-45k), ideal, but too much money and heated seats, coyote, 6.5ft bed ext cab is REALLY REALLY hard to find
15-17 Expedition 3.5TT (22-32k), cheapest, plentiful, not a fan of IRS for a tow rig, old chassis (like 06 design) and high mile ecoboost..... timing chains, turbos, DI plugging intake ports?
15-18 Tahoe Z71 (32-45k), fits in my garage, boarderline too much money, pretty hard to find a z71 to get the tow package I want and 18" tires instead of baller 22's
16-19 Tahoe RST (45k+), gets a 6.2 (don't care), 10 speed (absolutely YES), but even harder to find and absolutely out of my budget

I have a REALLY hard time justifying spending 25-45k to replace the Rainier which will do the exact same job..... All I get is Bluetooth and some additional towing capacity.

 

[mclellan83]

It is literally impossible to make it worse.

One thing you can learn from me then is to bite the bullet and pull the dash to work on it, I tried doing it inside to save myself some work and just couldn't properly access stuff. I will let you know how it comes out wrapped, can give you his info if you want to go the wrap route

 

[Texas82GP]

Just keep rollin' along!

These used vehicle prices make me want to keep the ol' Rainier keep going. Will the driveline make it to 300k? Probably. Will my patience go to 300k? Maybe. Will the rust make it go to 300k? Highly questionable.

The only thing I have determined is an acceptable replacement is-
18-19 Coyote F150 ext. cab 10 speed (38-45k), ideal, but too much money and heated seats, coyote, 6.5ft bed ext cab is REALLY REALLY hard to find
15-17 Expedition 3.5TT (22-32k), cheapest, plentiful, not a fan of IRS for a tow rig, old chassis (like 06 design) and high mile ecoboost..... timing chains, turbos, DI plugging intake ports?
15-18 Tahoe Z71 (32-45k), fits in my garage, boarderline too much money, pretty hard to find a z71 to get the tow package I want and 18" tires instead of baller 22's
16-19 Tahoe RST (45k+), gets a 6.2 (don't care), 10 speed (absolutely YES), but even harder to find and absolutely out of my budget

I have a REALLY hard time justifying spending 25-45k to replace the Rainier which will do the exact same job..... All I get is Bluetooth and some additional towing capacity.

View attachment 196279

Keep it going until structural failure. Then find a survivor from the south or southwest and make one out of two.

 

[DRIVEN]

I always see you east coast and rust belt guys (Canadians too) posting these painful pics of rust. I realize that's it's inconvenient, but why not take a long weekend and fly south or west to drive something rust-free home? If the initial buy-in is about the same, wouldn't it be worth it just for the additional life of the body and frame?

 

[ck80]

Just keep rollin' along!

These used vehicle prices make me want to keep the ol' Rainier keep going. Will the driveline make it to 300k? Probably. Will my patience go to 300k? Maybe. Will the rust make it go to 300k? Highly questionable.

The only thing I have determined is an acceptable replacement is-
18-19 Coyote F150 ext. cab 10 speed (38-45k), ideal, but too much money and heated seats, coyote, 6.5ft bed ext cab is REALLY REALLY hard to find
15-17 Expedition 3.5TT (22-32k), cheapest, plentiful, not a fan of IRS for a tow rig, old chassis (like 06 design) and high mile ecoboost..... timing chains, turbos, DI plugging intake ports?
15-18 Tahoe Z71 (32-45k), fits in my garage, boarderline too much money, pretty hard to find a z71 to get the tow package I want and 18" tires instead of baller 22's
16-19 Tahoe RST (45k+), gets a 6.2 (don't care), 10 speed (absolutely YES), but even harder to find and absolutely out of my budget

I have a REALLY hard time justifying spending 25-45k to replace the Rainier which will do the exact same job..... All I get is Bluetooth and some additional towing capacity.

View attachment 196279

Not knocking the choice of the coyote 5.0 in the f150, if go after the same engine... but I have to ask. If you're willing to settle for an ecoboost junker in an expedition, why not in an f150? Opens up a whole extra set of cheaper options.

I always see you east coast and rust belt guys (Canadians too) posting these painful pics of rust. I realize that's it's inconvenient, but why not take a long weekend and fly south or west to drive something rust-free home? If the initial buy-in is about the same, wouldn't it be worth it just for the additional life of the body and frame?

One issue, at least for new england/northeast, is that anything made in roughly the past decade must meet California emissions standards to be registered there and they all have emissions testing. Those states all adopted the California standards.

In practical terms it means you could fly to Georgia, get a sweet deal on a 2016 whatever, and 99.95% of the time it won't be legal to register and drive.

 

[Hurricane77]

I always see you east coast and rust belt guys (Canadians too) posting these painful pics of rust. I realize that's it's inconvenient, but why not take a long weekend and fly south or west to drive something rust-free home? If the initial buy-in is about the same, wouldn't it be worth it just for the additional life of the body and frame?

For us Canadians, importing can be a huge pain, especially if you don't know what you're doing. I certainly don't. But there is a whole bunch of paperwork. You can't just show up at the border with a car.

It would be quite an investment in time and for some vehicles, just not that worth it. And for the right vehicle, it's worth the satisfaction of saving something

 

[81cutlass]

I always see you east coast and rust belt guys (Canadians too) posting these painful pics of rust. I realize that's it's inconvenient, but why not take a long weekend and fly south or west to drive something rust-free home? If the initial buy-in is about the same, wouldn't it be worth it just for the additional life of the body and frame?

Yeah, it's worth going south to get a clean starter, 100%. If I find something that's reasonably priced farther south I'd have no hesitation getting that vs. a northern train wreck. The used market just sucks now and anything southern that is a reasonable price sells instantly.

Keep it going until structural failure. Then find a survivor from the south or southwest and make one out of two.

That's where I am at. Run it til it dies. The issue I am dealing with now is something is worn or tweaked in the front suspension and I can't get the negative camber out. The slots are at full lock and it's not where I want. I did all the control arms in summer of 20 and I have all the negative camber pulled out that I can and the right front is eating the inside of the tire fast (took a 60% tire down to 10% in 4500 miles in the inside, I am in the rotate the tires every oil change now just to keep a fresh tire in the front right). There is some serious rust in the bottom of the frame rail and I think the entire UCA mount is tweaked/flexing under bumps. It needs a strut tower brace or something lol.

The only issue with keeping with a Rainier or other GMT360 platform is the trans and lack of towing ability. I have tossed around getting an 08/09 Saab or Denali 5.3 with under 100k from down south and swapping the 60e for a 6l80 to gain a few gears for towing through hills, but it's still a compromise. I'd like to feel comfortable pulling a car and trailer 2 to 3 states over and the GMT360 really isn't the vehicle for that. It's fine on trips in state with a car trailer but wind gusts make it a bit tail-waggy and the brakes are marginal for towing through a population center.

 

[Hurricane77]

15-17 Expedition 3.5TT (22-32k), cheapest, plentiful, not a fan of IRS for a tow rig, old chassis (like 06 design) and high mile ecoboost..... timing chains, turbos, DI plugging intake ports?

I've got a '16 Ecoboost, but it's not that high mileage and I've owned it since new - so I know the history. No issues so far. I know several issues were on the 1st gen of those motors - no surprise there. But I've been fairly happy so far. Tows my trailer with the Explorer on it fairly well.

 

[81cutlass]

Not knocking the choice of the coyote 5.0 in the f150, if go after the same engine... but I have to ask. If you're willing to settle for an ecoboost junker in an expedition, why not in an f150? Opens up a whole extra set of cheaper options.



One issue, at least for new england/northeast, is that anything made in roughly the past decade must meet California emissions standards to be registered there and they all have emissions testing. Those states all adopted the California standards.

In practical terms it means you could fly to Georgia, get a sweet deal on a 2016 whatever, and 99.95% of the time it won't be legal to register and drive.

The only reason I'd consider a ecoboost expedition is that they are 7-10 grand less than a similar year and mile tahoe and it has the towing capability I want. Plus it fits in my garage unlike a long wheel base F150. If the expedition was available with the coyote I'd probably go for it over the f150. The tahoe, expedition chassis always seem to rust less than the similar F150/Sierra options despite them being the same thing. Honestly a short wheel base Gen3 Coyote 10 speed expedition is what I'd have ideally. The Ford user controls are superior to GM in my experience based on my wife's fusion.


That's news to me on emissions testing. It's not a concern in MN yet (house keeps proposing CA emissions req. on new cars).

Did they make CA spec emissions, say 2016 tahoes? I assumed CA spec emissions cars stayed in the 80's.

I know metro Atlanta has emissions testing, and even if it doesn't couldn't you just get the car in spec and it would pass?

 

[Clutch]

I always see you east coast and rust belt guys (Canadians too) posting these painful pics of rust. I realize that's it's inconvenient, but why not take a long weekend and fly south or west to drive something rust-free home? If the initial buy-in is about the same, wouldn't it be worth it just for the additional life of the body and frame?

They rot faster when they get here for some reason.