The History of 1badgmc

1badgmc

1badgmc

New member
May 4, 2012
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Wichita Falls, TX
By request. I've posted the story elsewhere before, so some may have seen all this, but others haven't.

As of yesterday (5-4-12) I have now owned my truck for 18 years.

I graduated HS in '95 and went off to college...with no ride. My HS car, '72 Plymouth Duster 340, wasn't really up for the trip. I suffered for nearly 9 months without a vehicle. I wanted a truck. I wasn't super-picky on my requirements. It had to be a '90+ (composite lights), V8, a/c with power windows and locks. Longbed, shortbed, whatever...I just wanted a truck.

I was at home for the weekend and was out on a Friday night hanging out with friends. When I got home that night, my dad told me we were going to the dealership my uncle worked at the next day to look at a truck. Ok. Fine by me. We pulled up and there it was. I drove it. Loved it. Took it home that day. That was May 4th, 1996.

I did my first mod that day. Headlight covers! These pics were taken that day.

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A friend of mine asked if I was going to lower it and put a rollpan on it and all that stuff. I went off on him. I'd never do that crap! That's stupid! If I only knew...

By the winter of '97, I had done a few other small things. I had a color matched bug shield, ventshades and slotted taillight covers along with a soft tonneau and my first limo tint job. I also had some 15x10 Ultra wheels and 295/50 tires.

For some reason I don't have many pictures of this stage of the truck's life. I know I took quite a few, but I can't find them.

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March of 1997. My buddy shot this from his Porsche 944 as we were on the causeway to South Padre Island for Spring Break.

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In the early spring of 1998, I bought my first drop for the truck. I bought some 2" Eibach coils and 4" BellTech leafs. I also bought my first rollpan and billet grille and installed it all around the same time.

In June of 1998 the truck made its first visit to the bodyshop. I had the steps and tailgate handle shaved, installed some sport mirrors, updated to a '94-'98 GMC grille with a 30-bar insert and smoothie front bumper with billet insert and had the entire truck repainted. It was done in the factory medium blue metallic with red, green and blue pearls mixed in the clear.

In August of 1998, I bought my first BIG wheels. 17" Weld Tomahawks. 17x8 fronts and 17x9.5 rears with 245/45 and 305/45 tires. Shortly after that I added a set of 3" DJM control arms up front and a pair of shackles out back for a 5/6 drop. With my staggered tire sizes, it didn't sit level, so I went back and added a pair of hangers for a total 5/8 drop.

This is how it looked in the fall of 1998.

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Going into 1999 is when I really started doing shows. I joined Pleasures Trucks & Compacts from Oklahoma City.

These shots are from July of 1999. They were taken just outside our hotel in Austin when we went to Texas Heatwave.

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One week after Heatwave, I was sitting at a red light when a guy decided to play with his radio instead of watching the road. I just happened to be in the way.

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I had already been wanting a complete color change and that accident was the catalyst. I told my bodyman the color and he looked at me like I was insane. In the process, I shaved the taillights and installed the Precision Rodware LED taillights.

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This was one of the last pictures taken of my truck with the stock front sheetmetal. This was at Dust Off in April 2001.

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In June of 2001 this happened.

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I guess the color of my truck wasn't quite visible enough on a bright, Texas summer day. I was driving when an old man in a Ford Ranger pulls out of a grocery store parking lot right in front of me. To avoid him, I swerved into the left lane. There was an Audi stopped, waiting to make a left turn. I couldn't stop in time. In retrospect, I should have just plowed the Ranger instead since he's the bastard that started the whole deal. The poor guy in the Audi was just innocent collateral damage.

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So, in August of 2001, it rolled out of the shop like this:

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Back in '98 when I first saw a picture of the upcoming Denali and Escalade in a magazine, I knew right then that I wanted that front clip for my truck one day. After seeing Ekstensiv's crew cab dually with the Escalade clip and Sierra bumper, I knew that's how I wanted it. My bodyman worked his magic once again.

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It still needed one more thing to finish it off...new wheels. Usually, when I decide I want new wheels, it takes me forever to look through all the catalogs and finally decide on the design I want. This time was different. I had actually seen the Haze in a magazine ad a while before this point and had decided then and there that I wanted a set. I felt that 20s all around were too big for my tastes, so I decided to go with 19s up front and 20s in the rear.

By the spring of 2002, I had them all mounted up to complete the look that you still see today.

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I haven't had the truck registered or inspected in several years now. Money has been tight and with a wife and kids, it's kind of hard to take joyrides in the truck when it only has 2 seats. I pull it out of the garage now and then and take it for a spin around the neighborhood and let the kids take turns riding along. I grabbed the camera to snap a few new pics while I had it out.

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And that gets us up-to-date. I still have a small wish list of things I'd like to do, but until the money tree starts growing, it's going to stay a "wish" list for a while.
 
Awesome to see the progression from when you got it til now. 18 years is a huge commitment, especially with the accidents. Looks killer man
 
It has always been one of the best 90's single cab projects I have always seen

Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk
 
Ths is what every build thread should be like. Truck looks bad ass man! Have any more pics of the interior?
 
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