Which would you pick?

[swathdiver]

All else being the same or nearly so, including the price. The differences are listed below.

Vehicle 1: stock, no rust, basic leather interior, basic stereo and about 1500 miles from home.

Vehicle 2: 6.5 lift, 35s, fancy leather interior, fancy stereo, some rust underneath, photos below. Other photos show the cab and bed to be rust free. About 2500 miles from home.

The owner wants a lifted truck on 35s with a nice stereo system.

It will cost about $4500 to do the lift and wheels and tires if Vehicle 1 is chosen. Worth it?

 

[swathdiver]

Anyone?

 

[Fless]

To me the rust doesn't look all that bad on #2, unless you see something that I don't. It's already nearly all set up for what the new owner wants. You could have some rust mitigation done, or Fluid Film or the like.

 

[Jason in DLH]

Yeah...that’s not bad rust at all (take a peek under mine and you’ll keel over in shock). I’d go with 2 as well.

 

[OR VietVet]

I would go with #1. Then the lift can be done the owner's way or wishes instead of maybe not being exactly what the buyer wants.

Second Opinion: I would never lift the rig. I have had a lifted independent front axle rig and a lifted full front axle rig and I am not a fan of the first choice. Only my opinion.

 

[Bill 1960]

I would never buy a lifted vehicle. Despite the fact I like to lift my own. There are many ways to get it wrong, and too many lazy installers I wouldn’t trust. And if it’s a possible indicator of hard use.

I’d also never buy rust. Not for anything I plan to own very long.

 

[Dantheman1540]

It all comes down to how long you want to own it and how strict your quality standards are. If all you want is any lift and any 35s and don't keep your stuff nice and don't plan to keep it for a long time (3+ years) then get #2. If you demand quality and want things done right as well as plan to keep the truck for a long time then #1.

Me personally #1 no questions asked.

 

[RST Dana]

The only one I have ever lifted was my first one, a 1978 Blazer. You could insert 2X2 square tubing with longer axle u bolts and boom. But, there was some additional assistance needed with steering to make it play nice again, but nothing heat and leverage could not correct.

 

[iamdub]

Will the new owner be in an area that the vehicle will rust anyway? The frame of #2 isn't bad and can be cleaned off and painted. It's the body panels, particularly the rockers, that I'd be concerned with.

Regardless, I'd feel better about Vehicle 1 unless I could thoroughly inspect Vehicle 2 and find nothing alarming. IMO, it's the safest route and there's always some amount of risk buying a modded vehicle.

If the new owner isn't afraid of rust and really wants the instant gratification, and is able to perform proper maintenance, diagnostics and repairs on such a modded vehicle, then #2 might be a winner pending thorough inspection.

 

[Tonyv__]

All else being the same or nearly so, including the price. The differences are listed below.

Vehicle 1: stock, no rust, basic leather interior, basic stereo and about 1500 miles from home.

Vehicle 2: 6.5 lift, 35s, fancy leather interior, fancy stereo, some rust underneath, photos below. Other photos show the cab and bed to be rust free. About 2500 miles from home.

The owner wants a lifted truck on 35s with a nice stereo system.

It will cost about $4500 to do the lift and wheels and tires if Vehicle 1 is chosen. Worth it?

View attachment 274203 View attachment 274204 View attachment 274205

If you ask me. Number 2 would be a “rust free” truck in PA

 

[Miami-Dade]

I vote for number 2.

 

[swathdiver]

Thank you for all the responses and words of advice and caution. This will be for my second daughter, she's 19 and this is her first big purchase. She has decided on #2 by default, the dealer with #1 sent it to auction because of the airbag recall. This is the second truck that we've looked at where this has happened. The dealer with #2 replaced the airbag.

I'm not a fan of lifts and would only run maybe a level at my age but my kids are young and like them. My research showed the lift to be by Zone and it has been on for at least 50K miles and is holding up well.

We've been looking for the unicorn of unicorns. Been looking for months for a GMC Sierra SLE Extended Cab with the NHT option, max towing over 10K pounds and they come with the 6.2 L9H motor. Have only found 3.42 geared Z71s. So she was persuaded to look at Crew Cabs (giving up goose neck capability) and these are more numerous but still quite rare.

Lots of stories to tell, many salesman from all across the country have for the most part been very honest, accommodating and forthcoming, one even told her not to buy his truck as her first car because the rust was already bubbling through the paint. Most of these NHTs are in the north where it snows, save for that Texas truck.

Anyhow the one she signed for is an SLT so the interior is like the Yukon. In all my searching, I have yet to see an SLT with the NHT option except for this one. @iamdub the body has zero rust on the underside or wheel wells or cab corners that we've been able to detect via numerous photos.

Will post up photos when it is brought home.