What's best way to make money w/Truck?

[2badgn]

I guess Im just venting because I have spent ALOT of money on fixing up this truck!

My dad bought a 1984 GMC Sierra 3500 Pickup Truck brand new. He used this truck to do weekend construction jobs as a side gig. My dad told me that he made alot of money with this truck!

I am a teacher but I love cars & trucks. My strength is in detailing- buffing and waxing. I can change oil and spark plugs but that's about it.

Since the truck was getting old n rusty-- hole in driver's floor board and rusty driver's rocker panel-- I decided to fix it up. The alternative was to drive it to the junkyard. My dad is now 83 but he uses the truck to pick up firewood, wine grapes, tomatoes, things from Home Depot, etc. This truck has sentimental value and it was a great HD Work Horse. I later found out that it has a 4 bolt main and 4.10 gears. I never see these 1 tons anymore w/10 leaf springs. My car priorities up to this point were fixing up my 83 VW GTi and a few other cars.

My brother-in-law and nephew would always borrow the truck and not even put gas in it. Family!!! My brother-in-law did little jobs when things would break on the truck- like fix carb, change muffler, change front brakes, change radiator, etc. Quick little jobs.

Since my dad is on a fixed income, I spent ALOT of money to restore the truck- Parts- interior, NOS carb, trim, inner & outer fenders, body patches, taillights, mics; Engine Repair- Truck only has 108k miles- Timing Chain, belts, all gaskets except for head gaskets, change all fluids, power steering pump, rear brakes, carb, complete tune up;
Body Work & Paint - Great price for alot of work- repair all rust, sand to metal, prime, BC/CC Urethane Paint, interior work, alot of misc. things.

Now truck has alot of vibration, so I brought it back to my local Chevy dealer. It needs rear wheel cylinders, front calipers, idler arm & lower control arm.

More money!!! i originally went to my local Chevy dealer bc I wanted someone reliable to do the timing chain. The mechanic is very knowledgeable, service manager always gives me 10% off of labor & parts and the place is very close to my house. Just a bit expensive @ $108/hour. Hopefully, this is the last batch of problems. Still have to install spray-in Line-X and GPS alarm.
I have spent a little more money than I had planned. Isn't this always the case. Rest assured nobody but my dad and I will be using this truck.

Good thing is that I am NOT in debt- just paid off my school loan and car loan.

Just looking for some wise words of motivation and ideas of how to use the truck to earn some money on weekends and during my summer off from school. This truck can haul lots of weight- thinking of making business cards- maybe help out a construction company or help people move. Any ideas?

Thanks
Sorry this was so long.

[JohnC]

Man the truck looks great, and the story behind it is even better.

Now to make money on it is a questionable thing. The truck can do some of the work, but not all of it. Something to consider now that you are older, and not a teenager anymore. If you are looking at trying to do some business things you will want to make sure you have the insurance to cover yourself in a business situation. Don't want to get into a situation where your little extra side job ends up costing you everything.

[Big Port Jimmy 6]

It always costs twice as much as you planned and takes three times longer than you would think. Enjoy the truck and do not make it about money, that will ruin the expierience for you. just my 2cents . JAy

[Driveway Dreams]

The trucks value is far greater than it will ever be. You could try to work the truck again to earn a buck. But then it is gonna end up the "Old work truck" again.

[74 C-30]

a truck is a truck, its meant to be used and worked
everyone i know uses their truck to haul scrap to the junkyards. drag cars out of the woods and stuff

[2badgn]

Thanks for all the inspirational words! That's exactly what I needed. U guys have a point - stop worrying about money and just enjoy the beautiful truck. John C- U have words of wisdom -side gigs might not be worth it! I will remember those warnings about having insurance.

I will continue to use the truck for household hauling and our Italian traditions.

Today, I noticed 2 Trucks. 1 was a 2009 Chevy Silverado 1 ton - it sat up high but it had like only 6 leaf springs. The other truck was a 1988 GMC 3500 and it only had 6 leaf springs. Now i feel good. My dad always says: "They don't make trucks like that anymore!"

Please keep the kind words coming.

Frank

[RuralRoute C-30]

Your truck is "wow". Very nice, Frank. I have to agree it is something to enjoy more than focus on making money with. Then there is the heritage of it was your father's truck and now you have restored it to a new life and even another generation someday.

Nice to see it and even nicer to hear the history you are so fortunate to have with this.

Yes, enjoy the truck. After all you have done to it you deserve that!

[Prong]

I feel your pain. I'm in the final stages of a frame off resto of a 79 K10 short bed. I'll be close to having 30K into it. I'll have about 200 hours of my own time into it as well (I'm at 142 hours right now). I'm sitting at 25K as of now, but I still have the interior to be done, window tint, get the A/C put back together and do the tranny. Hang in there, it'll get better.

[2badgn]

Originally Posted by Prong

I feel your pain. I'm in the final stages of a frame off resto of a 79 K10 short bed. I'll be close to having 30K into it. I'll have about 200 hours of my own time into it as well (I'm at 142 hours right now). I'm sitting at 25K as of now, but I still have the interior to be done, window tint, get the A/C put back together and do the tranny. Hang in there, it'll get better.

Oh boy- I kinda feel better. Wow - I could never do a frame off resto- but u never know!!!

I guess im not the only one that feels: "Why is this project eating so much more money than I planned?"

And nobody would ever pay u enough to be worth a sale. Not that I want to sell it.

When my dad's truck is complete by the summer- it will have cost around
17k. That's better than paying 40K + for a new one.

How do u log your hours?

[old Rusty C10]

I love your truck and the story behind it. Its a rolling tribute to your dad and hey its something you like and i guess one of your favorite memories of the guy and the bonus is he is alive and well to see your finished project.
As to making money with the truck, it will prolly be more detrimental to the thing than anything, as you will wind up beating the truck up.. You may be able to make a few bucks hauling a float in a local parade or something like that but hauling construction stuff will definately beat it up. If you advertise on CL for jobs you may find youll meet people that wont pay or worse could rob you and or your truck..
These trucks are not hard to work on. You clearly have a high level of intelligence to be able to teach so why not invest $50 into a basic car repair book and the Haynes manual for the trucks.. I guarantee you that the parts you describe in the dealership are a ton of money. Look on the advanced auto parts website and see that the parts cost. add a couple bucks for incidentals and figure out what you can save. If you need a hand or another pair of eyes when you want to do some work on your truck PM me and ill take a ride up there youre about 20 minutes away. I also have a pretty reliable mechanic in Brooklyn.. best of luck to you and your truck..

[2badgn]

Old Rust C10- Really appreciate the kind words. I will definetly keep u in mind and we can set something up to look at each others' trucks.

It's not the parts that r expensive- I alwas research them on GMpartsdirect, rockauto.com, & alot of vendors like Brothers, truckshop, LMC, etc. I have a good relationship with the parts manager at Chevy and have been dealing with him for years.

Its the freaking labor thats crazy. $108/hour!!!! Only went to the dealer to get the timing chain done and just having them finished what they started. I thought the vibration was caused by something that they overlooked but it was the wheel cyinders, front brake hoses and front suspension pieces. I could have easily gotten this work done at my alignment place but there's always a tradeoff. I would have to pay GM a diagnostic charge and then bring the truck to alignment place and wait as they did the work. The Chevy dealer is just convienent but expensive. For future jobs, I will keep u in mind. I know there r deals to be had out there.

I am great at researching parts but dont really have the time to work on the truck EXCEPT for the summer months when Im off. I am a a diabetic so I have to be careful to not get cut or scrpaed. But I am always willing to learn new things.

Talk to u
Frank

[oldschool18]

get a hitch and a small dump trailer and haul stone and dirt for people and stuff like that on weekends, but its a nice truck so I wouldnt put anything in the bed. Just keep it running it and enjoy it and all the things that you done to it.

[mitch1965]

I personally use both my trucks for misc side jobs. My '85 and '96 both will pull my trailer or haul stuff. I mainly only use the '96 for pulling the trailer for road trips (moving people's crap, etc.). My '85 does the same, plus hauling stuff in the bed, taking my welder into fields, and other dirtier work. Even after the '85 is painted and done, it is still gonna work for me. Like was said earlier, trucks are meant to work, especially the '85 K20. It just likes it.

[thirdstreettito]

Gooseneck/fifth wheel for sure. Class V hitch. Spray in bed liner. Headache rack. If you do those you can do anything.

[C-10 simplex]

It's funny you mention this, because i recently came up with an idea that i'm almost positive will work as a part-time money maker with the truck(for fun first and make some money at the same time). But i'm selfish and i don't want to tell right now----because i'm greedy and i want all the $$$ for myself.

i will probably tell after i get it rolling. Or i may tell you thru PM or something because geographically we are pretty far away and thus i don't think you would be invading on my "territory" especially if you're only doing it part-time.



i will, however, suggest this other idea because:

1) i have no interest in it myself, and

2) you have a one-ton. By the way, is this 4X4 or 4X2?

What you could do(here's where the 1-ton comes in), is get a long(40-42 feet or so) 5th wheel cargo trailer and basically help people do weekend moves; i don't know how the NYC/metro area culture is----do people move around town to different appartments alot? i know Moishes (sp?) is big around that area and they have alot of straight trucks as opposed to tractor trailers so i'm thinking that these are for in-town type moves as opposed to moving to florida or something. i'm thinking new yorkers move around alot to different appartments "all the time?"


Your advantages would be:
1) Low overhead---your truck is paid for, and despite your initial shock, is still very cheap to maintain---especally compared to the newer glitzier stuff.

2) trailer overhead is low----maintenance is basically nil. Tires, brakes, bearings and lights are cheap and easy.

3) Loading and unloading a 5th wheel trailer is a hell of alot easier and quicker than loading the convential commercial truck due to the trailer having a ground level walk in deal versus the commercial truck's dock height loading. So, you can charge alot less to do the same work! And get it done quicker to boot. This could get you alot of refferals?

i think the only disadvantage would be, where are you going to park the trailer?

[GCncsuHD]

Originally Posted by 2badgn

Today, I noticed 2 Trucks. 1 was a 2009 Chevy Silverado 1 ton - it sat up high but it had like only 6 leaf springs. The other truck was a 1988 GMC 3500 and it only had 6 leaf springs. Now i feel good. My dad always says: "They don't make trucks like that anymore!"

Yes, but you forgot to notice that the newer spring packs use thicker, stronger leafs and are less prone to cracking than the old style thin leafs. The newer leafs are also longer than the old leafs, meaning there is less stress put on the leaf for the same give load, as well as offering a smoother ride. I agree that things are not made like they used to be, but that's not always a bad thing.

There's reasons why my 98 2500 has 7 leafs, yet has a lower GVWR than my 01 2500 with 5 leafs, and why my 78 1 ton with 12 leafs rides like a lumber wagon when there is no load in the bed. Not all Engineers are retards, some of us turn out ok.

Anyway truck looks great, and its good to see that you are still working it like day one. Reminds me of my 78 K30, 30 years hauling water and pumps in the bed as our brush truck at the local Fire Dept, now it gets the easy life most of the time, but still sees a few heavy loads.

[dan76]

Get the truck equipped for towing and buy a small enclosed trailer. Then you can start a lawn service business. Get on CL or Angie's list, advertise at school, coffee shops and other small businesses in your area. The trailer will store/transport equipment and also serve as a rolling billboard.

If you teach at a high school with an auto shop, check with the instructor for student recommendations for assisting you with repair and preventive maintenance.

A nice truck with a heritage.