Well, where to start… I bought my white quad cab 5.9 Cummins 5-speed manual, old school with suicide 1/2 rear doors, in 2002. A guy was losing his job at a screw factory and wanted out from under the payment, little did I know at the time the treasure I had found. I got the truck in late spring with 30,000 miles for $22,000. YES, only $22,000 seems hard to believe, but back then, a new 2002 was going for $36,000 brand new. As of now, it has 295,000 miles on it. Motor has never been opened and finally threw the original clutch late winter of 2021. I live in northern Illinois, where we deal with salt in the winter and inevitably rusty bodies. Well, you’ve seen ’em 6-8” tall ate out fenders, cab corners, and rockers all shot… That was mine. Until about a year ago. My in-laws live in NW Alabama and my father in law was looking for a truck for me in the junk yards, basically the doors at first, since they don’t have salt or snow down there either. Anyway, he found me a frame-off white quad cab complete with fenders, hood, doors, interior, and bed. All glass intact. No motor trans or running gear. Stuck in the Alabama clay, “you come pick it up, $550 for all.” So, I did that on father’s day weekend and I just got the cabs swapped out. Now, it wasn’t pristine by no means had to be straightened out some, but it will sure be a head turner when it’s done. I have a shade tree body man doing it for $8,500, which sounds high, but for body work repaint and clear coat, not to mention the swap, dashes, and interior new carpet. Oh, did we mention mine’s a stick and the donor is an automatic? And mine’s a 4×4 and the donor is not?!?!!!! Yeah, he is doing me a solid for that price. He repairs school bus bodies where I work and knows his stuff. New fuel line, new windshield, yeah, it’s a good deal. I saw a rust repair bill for 12,500 for a regular cab and we all know no matter how much you cut out, it WILL be back. So, I figure this rust-free swap will get me 6-8 more years of non-embarrassing driving and at about 1/10th of the price of new… Here’s to your rebuild adventure story 👍
