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Long drive to look at a 2004

20streetrod06

Full Member
Joined
Oct 7, 2020
Messages
273
Location
Central IL
im going to make a 4 hour drive (8 hour round trip) to look at this 2004. owner says the gas gauge and tach work intermittently (doesnt scare me, seems common for all full size GM's of this era). and there is one bad spot on the frame. i can weld, so it should be able to be cleaned up and weld in a repair section to strengthen it back up. what are ya'lls thoughts? anything else i need to watch out for on the 04's?

it has ~140,000 miles and ill be able to get it for $3,000. owner says it just got 2 new u-joints and front brakes.

i attached a picture of the truck, and the bad section of frame.
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I hope this one works out for you.

Give it a good going over and shakedown.

I can't wait for when you finally find the right one and you begin to make the truck your very own.

Best of luck!

:) (y)
 
I live in Northern Indiana in the center of the rust belt. After deciding on an Avalanche and looking at what was around me I went to Greeneville South Carolina for my 2004. I paid 10K for it 3 years ago and I have it Krown rustproofing sprayed each year. I don't do rust. It's a never-ending problem that sooner or later will always end up destroying an otherwise good vehicle. Why drive 8 hours for a vehicle that is already needing frame repair? Any rust repairs are at best temporary. Good trucks are expensive. Sorry, but you asked for thoughts. Yours may of course be different.
 
I live in Northern Indiana in the center of the rust belt. After deciding on an Avalanche and looking at what was around me I went to Greeneville South Carolina for my 2004. I paid 10K for it 3 years ago and I have it Krown rustproofing sprayed each year. I don't do rust. It's a never-ending problem that sooner or later will always end up destroying an otherwise good vehicle. Why drive 8 hours for a vehicle that is already needing frame repair? Any rust repairs are at best temporary. Good trucks are expensive. Sorry, but you asked for thoughts. Yours may of course be different.

hey man i greatly appreciate the reply!! even since the time i started this thread, ive thought to myself, "if im gonna make an 8 hour round trip, why not wait and find one that is SOUTH of me, not farther north!"

i just really want an AV haha. but on a serious note, i gotta find one that will last. i tend to hold on to vehicles as long as possible. i bought my Colorado brand new in 2007, and put almost a quarter million miles on her before someone pulled out in front of me and i totaled it.
 
When I bought mine, I looked on 3 or 4 internet search engines for Southern areas not to close to the coast (hurricaines, salty oceans, floods) with little to no snow in Winter, eliminating too hot/sunny (interior bake) and too dry/sandy (desert that sandblasts undercarriage to severely rust later). Found a what I thought was a great Avalanche at a used car dealer near Greeneville, SC and started looking for alternates in a 50 mile radius. Checked with Car Fax and my first pick was titled in north central Georgia since new and didn't list any accidents (although I ultimately could see it had a repair at some point). Compiled/screened about 6 other Avalanches to look at in the area if the first didn't work out, bought a plane ticket to Atlanta, rented a car, drove to Greeneville and bought the first one - paying cash. Got the title on the spot, got the sales guy to help drop off the rental car at the airport, and drove back the next morning. This method wouldn't be for everyone!! But I'm willing to travel to get exactly what I want, and I did. Only thing bad is they tend to not deal so easily when you are traveling. Here it is, the day I got it home back in Jan of 2017. A little "Refinish Restorer" treatment on the plastic parts and it was quite pretty. My wife calls it June-bug green because it changes color in different light. The first guy who did the Krown rustproofing was also driving an Avalanche and "could not believe" how clean and rust-free it was underneath. I figure that rust-wise in Indiana I started with a new vehicle.20170123_103416.jpg

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