TheCook
TYF Newbie
- Joined
- Aug 28, 2018
- Posts
- 6
- Reaction score
- 15
I'm new here and have an older Yukon XL (2004) but have driven primarily Suburbans for the past 10 years. Last year I was looking for a used car for one of my 16 year old twins and decided instead to get Dad a new car (Chrysler 300S), sold the Suburban LTZ that I had and bought what was supposed to be a cheap tow vehicle (since we boat a lot) that one of the kids could drive. That's where the Yukon comes in. It was kind of a wreck when I got it for $2900. The rockers and quarter panels were rusted and patched VERY badly, the interior was very dirty, most of the warning lights (ABS, Stability Control, etc.) were on in the dash and it made a howl when driving.
One the good side it was a fully loaded SLT AWD with only 140K miles that ran good and shifted strong and while dirty, the interior leather wasn't torn, just dirty. So I took a chance. I'd hoped that a lot of the lights and noises could be fixed with something simple light a wheel bearing but no. After replacing the front differential (rebuilt) and electronic brake controller (used), brake lines and several other smaller items mechanically it was mostly sorted out but now I had put way too much money into it to have it look like it did so I cut out and welded in new rocker covers and quarter panels, then since my bodywork and painting isn't was good as it should be, I used "Monstaliner" roll-on bedliner to give it a two-tone look and hopefully slow the return of the rust on the bottom. After a lot of elbow grease, the interior actually cleaned up better than some of the "nice" vehicles I'd had too.
Finally this year I added fender flares to cover where I could tell some rust will be breaking through soon. They made the stock wheels look silly so of course I went and put the biggest set of aggressive wheels and tires that I could fit in there.
During this process my son who was driving it bought his own car so now it's strictly an extra vehicle we use to tow the boat and other things. All told, Its cost waaaay more than originally planned and it's gone from a "cheap tow vehicle" to being a toy. I've almost started to think that it will have to be good to me because it had spend the first 11 years of it's life on a farm, never being washed and treated like crap; now its kept clean, looks nice and only has to work once in a while!
One the good side it was a fully loaded SLT AWD with only 140K miles that ran good and shifted strong and while dirty, the interior leather wasn't torn, just dirty. So I took a chance. I'd hoped that a lot of the lights and noises could be fixed with something simple light a wheel bearing but no. After replacing the front differential (rebuilt) and electronic brake controller (used), brake lines and several other smaller items mechanically it was mostly sorted out but now I had put way too much money into it to have it look like it did so I cut out and welded in new rocker covers and quarter panels, then since my bodywork and painting isn't was good as it should be, I used "Monstaliner" roll-on bedliner to give it a two-tone look and hopefully slow the return of the rust on the bottom. After a lot of elbow grease, the interior actually cleaned up better than some of the "nice" vehicles I'd had too.
Finally this year I added fender flares to cover where I could tell some rust will be breaking through soon. They made the stock wheels look silly so of course I went and put the biggest set of aggressive wheels and tires that I could fit in there.
During this process my son who was driving it bought his own car so now it's strictly an extra vehicle we use to tow the boat and other things. All told, Its cost waaaay more than originally planned and it's gone from a "cheap tow vehicle" to being a toy. I've almost started to think that it will have to be good to me because it had spend the first 11 years of it's life on a farm, never being washed and treated like crap; now its kept clean, looks nice and only has to work once in a while!
