Slow rebuild/build of my 2013 GMC Sierra 2500

clayholz

New Member
Nov 7, 2017
18
24
3
Hello all, I’m new to this forum but have been friends with members from here for a few years now and even attended a couple of the shreveport meets and was convinced to make a build thread for my truck. I’ve got a 2013 GMC Sierra 2500 Duramax that I bought this May and have slowly been repairing the damage that it came with ever since.

A little back story: The truck belonged to my dad’s good friend who used it as a work truck. It was not treated well by him or his employees and had a very large dent in the bed and a totally destroyed and mangled rear bumper, as well as a dented front bumper. Here’s how it looked when I first went to look at it:

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There was also some hail damage on the bed too. It was a fully optioned SLT with 86k miles. The dude cut me a really good deal on the truck. And so after selling my previous f150, the timing was right. First thing I did that weekend was drive it to West Monroe to hang out with my buddies out there and i debadged and remolded it, as well as cranked the factory keys a little bit. Then I got rid of amber:

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Then I scored a new rear bumper and drove to Houston for it:

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Then I found a new front bumper off local Craigslist:

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Then I started searching car-part for a new bed, I found one about 4 hours away in McCalen, so I rented a trailer and made the trip:

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Then I got a couple buddies together and installed it that weekend:

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Also got some tow mirrors, caught some hate for them but I like them ‍♂️

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So since the bed came off of a 2010 1500, it was a different color silver, and since I already wanted to get my plastics painted anyways, I planned to get that all done at once. Got a good quote for $575 for all of my plastics and a repaint on the bed, so I pulled the trigger and was so happy I did:

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Next was tint. I went way too long without it. Got 5% all around and 50% on the windshield:

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Found some chrome tow hooks on eBay for $85:

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I also did HID lows and fogs sometime in there too but don’t have any pictures of it. Also got a can of that perfect match ptm spray paint and painted my fin antenna, badge, and trailer harness plug cover. And this is how it sits now:

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(Ignore lack of emblem in that pic lol)

I’m currently torn on what direction to take this truck. There’s a couple more things I need to fix on the body before it’s perfectly mint. I need to address the hood as it has some light hail dents on it (the roof and everywhere else is surprisingly dent free from hail) so I might look into paintless dent removal or just buying a new hood and having it repainted. Also I would like to shave the tailgate as there is a dent in it also. Not sure if I want to shave just the handle or shell out more money and have the cap done too. I’d also like to lift it but am not sure what direction to go with that either. I drive it everyday and park in the garage at school and only have 7 feet to play with, and on top of that I’m a fan of the leveled look, but I hear bad things about leveling kits for these torsion bar trucks. But with my budget those leveling kits are definitely more in the price range than a full lift kit. I’ll also most likely get a set of 33” mt’s when the time comes for new tires. Other than that I recently deleted it with an H&S mini maxx tuner and a 5” exhaust. Really enjoying no more emissions as well. This thread will slowly be updated as parts come. And I’m sorry if this thread was long. You’ll be seeing me around here more often! Glad to finally be a part of CGM!




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Huck

BIIIIG SQRBDY GUY
Jan 27, 2011
12,338
1,389
113
Gainesville, Ga
Good looking truck man, welcome!

As far as level kits, there's nothing wrong with them as long as you don't crank to the absolute moon. Leave a quarter inch or so between the UCA and the droopstop and it'll be fine. Leveled is my favorite look for sure. It'll look great with some 33 muds on those wheels.

And I vote no shaved gate honestly. The NNBS gates just look odd shaved with that huge "U" bodyline in them.

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clayholz

New Member
Nov 7, 2017
18
24
3
Good looking truck man, welcome!

As far as level kits, there's nothing wrong with them as long as you don't crank to the absolute moon. Leave a quarter inch or so between the UCA and the droopstop and it'll be fine. Leveled is my favorite look for sure. It'll look great with some 33 muds on those wheels.

And I vote no shaved gate honestly. The NNBS gates just look odd shaved with that huge "U" bodyline in them.

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I agree with you on that body line. Definitely looks really weird. I definitely need to get it fixed though so I need to start calling around to body shops to get a quote. Little thing drives me crazy


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Cheeny23

Resident Wop
Staff member
Jan 8, 2011
6,615
336
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Bakersfield
I'd suggest to spend the extra and look at the proformance coilover conversion or the bds one.Travis is here local to me, and I got to ride in a truck with their kit, and it's amazing. extra $$$ but well worth it for the ride quality over a regular level
 

clayholz

New Member
Nov 7, 2017
18
24
3
I'd suggest to spend the extra and look at the proformance coilover conversion or the bds one.Travis is here local to me, and I got to ride in a truck with their kit, and it's amazing. extra $$$ but well worth it for the ride quality over a regular level

Just looked it up. Badass kit. I’m gonna keep on the lookout for the possibility that one will pop up used (highly doubt), $4600 is steep. Thanks for the recommendation, I definitely want that now lol


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clayholz

New Member
Nov 7, 2017
18
24
3
I'm about 90% sure i'll be going that route, with the 4-6 cognito kit and atlas leafs.

I’ve thought about a 4 and cranking down, after reading more about the coilover lifts it doesn’t seem like it’s worth that much money. Would be cool as hell but like $2500 would be a more reasonable price tag. Niche market for that sort of setup


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