Should I return my truck to daily driver duty?

[70chevc10]

I have been away from the board here for a few years now, but have started to come by to check whats going on from time to time. And I must warn you, this may be a long post!

Here is my current situation; I'm currently finishing up my degree in economics while studying abroad in the Netherlands (a lot of fun, to say the least!). Knowing that it isn't cheap to live over here without working for 6 months, I sold my Jeep and VW to pay off bills/save some money. This means that when I get back, all I have left concerning a vehicle to drive is my truck. I live in Seattle, and will (HOPEFULLY) land a job somewhere in the city once I get back home.

So whats the point of all this? I am trying to decide if I should buy some cheap beater to drive around until I have some money saved up for a decent car, or drive my truck everywhere. In high school, I used my truck as a daily, and it served me very well. Once I moved to Seattle, I parked it at my moms place and only drove it in the spring/summer on nice days or to car shows. I would leave it in my parking spot in Seattle over the summer sometimes, and well.... my poor truck seems to hate this city. All sorts of new problems surfaced, and it remained in various states of repair over the 4 years I was in college. Every time I fixed something, something else broke and I never did know if that meant I fixed the problem or made it worse.

Examples of things that have gone wrong; suspension is complete junk. I bounce all over the road. It even scares me sometimes. Power valve in the carb went out causing me to foul the plugs OFTEN. Electric choke kept getting stuck on. ALWAYS. I would usually have to open the hood and manually push the choke off. The dizzy went out (and it took me nearly 3 months to figure out WHAT in the dizzy went out before I could fix it, due to being in class/working at the time). Brakes have gone a bit crazy. Sometimes the pedal just drops to the floor, even after having them bled. I need a new speedo gear in the trans because I switched to 3.73's and I cant really tell how fast I'm going, ever.

And the kicker, something is still wrong with the carb. I've had it professionally tuned, fiddled with the choke dozens of times, and I STILL foul all the plugs within only 500-1000 miles.

Basically, to get her back into daily driver condition, I would have to (FINALLY) redo the suspension and convert to discs (including a 4/6 drop while I'm at it), fix the speedo, get a new carb (I've given up on this one), fix the pass. side door bracket (it is loose and doesnt shut all the way), and hope/pray that nothing else goes wrong.


I added up the costs of parts and it would be $1,700 (not including an alignment or carb tuning, because I don't know how well I could tune it). This also includes a few misc. little items and new fluids. This is likely cheaper than buying some junker car that has unlimited potential problems.

What am I worried about while driving it daily in Seattle? Well for one, shes a bit of a looker:







Considering I have a rollpan out back, I'd have to worry about people bumping into me when I have to part on the street. I'd be scared of people breaking into it. I don't enjoy driving it in bad weather. 9mpg isn't fun (even when my Jeep was only getting 12...). I would HAVE to find an apartment that has a parking space. It has collector plates, so technically I'm not supposed to drive it everyday.

Other things I am considering is that the paint really isn't the best. There are some bubbles on the rockers, some scratches, 1 dent, a scrape on the passenger fender, etc. So really, a few more won't really hurt it too much, because EVENTUALLY I will have her all stripped down and redone (....someday).

Most importantly, I want to stop ignoring her! I've had a list (a hand-written one, at that!) of parts and things I've planned to do since I was 17 and first got her. I hope that if I can get it back to daily driving condition, It'll light a spark under my bum and get me motivated again.

Anyone have thoughts or opinions about this? I'll ad a few more pics, since everyone loves pictures!














And last, the scrape on the fender that I mentioned

[QKENUF4U]

if ya wanna drive it then drive it..... sounds like its a driver anyways and it really should be driven to keep all the dry-rot/flat spotted tires,etc. at bay....

[rsavage]

Truck looks too nice to me to use up as a daily driver. I guess if you have to you have to, but I'd be looking for a cheap car or truck for daily transportation. Ultimately, it is only a choice you can make based on your needs/feelings.

[70chevc10]

Originally Posted by rsavage

Truck looks too nice to me to use up as a daily driver.

In that respect, the truck was used as a daily driver (in it's current condition) for 3 years before I purchased it, and also for the first 2 years that I owned it. The only difference is big city vs. small city daily driving.

[oldblue1968chevy]

Id do a disc brake job (anything but drums you got b@lls driving drums)!!!!! And DD it!!!! Why not? It a great lookin' truck to me!

[cdowns]

that's what they were made for// driving and working

[bigguy69]

i would drive it. of course i drive one everyday so i might a little biased.

[Rat Bastid]

tell you what,i live nearby sumner to be exact,if you would like me to to take your problem off your hands just let me know.......leave it parked and buy a beater to tool around in till truck is safe and sound again

[AusTx68]

I say get the beater and leave the truck parked until you can do right by it.

Btw, where are you located in Holland? I once dated a girl that lived in Alkmaar. Talk about a long distance relationship!

[Indyuke]

Drive it! Why not? I drive my truck in Seattle constantly as I live just north of the city, and I think my suspension is worse off than yours.

And like Rat said. Buy a $300 beater from VOA or something (if you need it) while taking several months to go through the suspension and other areas of question.

But what would be really sweet, is if a bunch of us northwest guys got together and spent a day hanging out and rebuilt the suspension on your truck. I'd like that, and I'd love to see your truck.

A vehicle deteriorates quicker when it's not in constant use.

[capev86]

A vehicle deteriorates quicker when it's not in constant use.

exactly.....give it a good drive once a week.....drive it to work. if you can, take the long way. it takes a good ten minutes/5 miles of driving to get a truck warmed up so you want to give it a good ride where you can get up through the gears and give it some highway time. this will keep your brakes from rusting in place and any other part from getting stuck as well as keeping the battery charged up. be sure and lube the e-brake and set/disengage it once a week or so....that will keep it freed up as well. don't leave it on for long periods!

that is a nice looking truck. i know you guys have a lot of rain out there....but atleast it isn't snow and salt spray like here in new england so you can drive it year round without waiting for "clear" days.

[70chevc10]

Originally Posted by AusTx68

I say get the beater and leave the truck parked until you can do right by it.

Btw, where are you located in Holland? I once dated a girl that lived in Alkmaar. Talk about a long distance relationship!

I'm in Tilburg, which is the very south near the border of Belgium. I must say, I do enjoy the Dutch and their way of life, even if I don't like their school system!

Originally Posted by Indyuke

But what would be really sweet, is if a bunch of us northwest guys got together and spent a day hanging out and rebuilt the suspension on your truck. I'd like that, and I'd love to see your truck.

A vehicle deteriorates quicker when it's not in constant use.

That would be pretty cool! Besides have the carb tuned, and the posi unit installed, I do all the maintenance and repairs on the truck myself (with help from my dad). Considering I had never worked on any cars before I got it when I was 17 (23 now), having more knowledge around wouldn't hurt

[big_al_71]

make it road worthy and drive the piss out of it..

[knsmodels]

drive it....why not.....fix the little things to make it reliable and safe.....later when you want to redo it you can buy another car and park it to work on it.....jmho......

[Already Gone]

Tough choice to make. You have a great looking truck there with ( in my opinion) a bunch of small aggravating items to address. If I was you I'd try to find dry inside storage for the truck then buy a beater and drive it untill you are in a position to enjoy and repair the truck as you want to.

[junkyardjohn]

NO CHOICE AT ALL FOR ME. IF I EVER HAD A VEHICAL THAT I WAS AFRAID TO DRIVE... I'D SELL THAT SUCKER IN A MINUTE, & BUY SOMETHING I COULD DRIVE. G.M. HASN'T MADE A VEHICAL YET THATS TO NICE FOR ME. (AND YES.. I'VE BUILT A FEW NICE ONES) IT'S HARD TO DRIVE IN MODERN TRAFFIC WITH DRUM BRAKES WHEN EVERYONE ELSE HAS ANTI-LOCKS, BUT A COMPLETE FRONT END FROM ANY G.M. TRUCK (AT LEAST UP TO 86) IS DARN NEAR A BOLT IN, YOU CAN PULL ONE AT A BONEYARD FOR AROUND $150 & YOU & YOUR DAD COULD PUT ONE IN IN A WEEKEND. THEY ARE HEAVY, BUT I THINK THERES ONLY 8 BOLTS. JOHN YOU'LL BE SURPRISED HOW MANY LITTLE PROBLEMS WILL DISSAPEAR WITH A LITTLE USE.

[Indyuke]

Disc brakes are a very nice upgrade, especially in PNW were it rains a lot and you don't want your brakes disappearing on you while on the freeway.

I still say get together all the parts you want to install, then I would imagine three or four of us could easily put the truck up on jackstands and do what needs to be done in a day. I'd be willing.

And the these trucks, once you have a nice suspension underneath are smoother than the new trucks. I recently test drove every new model half ton except for the nissan. They don't compare in ride quality to my c/10.