1989 GMC K5 Jimmy SLE Daily Driver

[OutlawDrifter]

Some of you may remember my black '82 2wd K5. To this day it has been my favorite vehicle I have ever owned, even over my Z28. I sold it shortly before my 4th child was born to purchase a 6 seat crew cab Silverado.

Since then, both my wife and I have lamented over the fact, we wish we would have kept it.

Sooooo, flash forward 5-6 years, I've been driving a 2013 F150 FX2 for about 10mo now. It's Coyote powered and has every option but the DVD player. I love it, it gets better fuel economy than any pickup/suv I have ever owned, but it just doesn't feel right....and it's made me lazy, can't remember the last time I checked tire pressure or hell popped the hood to pull the dipstick.

Started looking for a 2005-2007(Classic) Vortec Max...then remembered how much I despise those interiors. While doing this I kept checking for K5's, like I always do. I was pretty sure I would own another 2wd, but decided to be practical and buy a 4wd this time. Chased a few down that the money ended up not being right on, and then found this dude....this, 55k, clean, 1 repaint, awesome bucket of awesomeness.

350/700R4/3.42/G80, all power, orginal R12 AC blows cold, the cruise works, the only things not functioning are the trip odo and the CD part of the aftermarket Pioneer 1.5 Din stereo (bummer, cause I wanted to put it in the Z28).

Immediate plans are: Quieter tires, better exhaust, some type of custom step board, splash guards, upgrade the audio, temp/compass mirror, some TBI upgrades, and drive the snot out of it. When the engine or trans lets me down...it'll be LS swap city.

Stay tuned for updates. You 4wd guys won't like my tire choice, I'm going from the 31x10.5-15 to a 235/75R15XL Long Trail...quieter and the speedo will read right. So begins the journey of my 4WD Gentleman's car.

[rideair]

OutlawDrifter,

May I suggest as your step boards, looking at a set of "iBoards". During my 88 Suburban project, I used a set. Provides a nice clean, classy look while providing the step up you need. They come in 4", 5" and 6" wide versions, in aluminum or black, won't rust, etc... I purchased a set for a 1999-2003 Ford F250/350 extended cab and made a few changes to the mounting brackets to make them work and keep them tucked up tight.

Tires, I like the Defender LTX from Michelin, but everyone has their brand.

VERY NICE!!

Would love to find one like that myself,

Enjoy,

[OutlawDrifter]

Rideair, thanks for the suggestion and the comment. I was actually looking at those boards on eBay. Need to find some that are around 65". I had priced out both the Michelin LTX and the BF Goodrich Long Trails. Long Trails won on price, probably should have spent the extra for the Michelins.

[rideair]

OutlawDrifter,

Here's a couple of pic's how I mounted my iBoards up, not saying it's the best way, but the way I did it. As you will see, standard pinch-weld rocker arm install, with bolts also at the top of the rocker backside.. I cut the brackets that came with the F250 set to tuck them up tight, then added a piece of angle iron from the bracket over to the frame for extra support (NO FLEX!!) Also used a small piece of plate (you can see LR) to also give more support.

The one I purchased was for an Extra Cab F250, which are 74-75 inches long.

[OutlawDrifter]

Thanks for sharing!

More pics to come soon, tires are swapped, and I've got a steady stream of parts coming in this week.

[Ski-me]

First off, nice rig and love the colors! How is the interior....I assume great?!? Although it may indicate 55k, are you sure it's not 155k? Any Carfax to document the mileage?

My 89' was actually 300k+. I figured out the mileage after tracking all the mileage readings throughout it's life on Carfax. Once I figured it out, I then converted my 89' cable driven speedo to the 90-91 electric speedo. With an adjustable DRAC unit, I'm able to get my speedo spot on!! Tire changes, gear changes, etc...fully adjustable plus an extra digit for the 100k counter.

Just an idea for you.

[OutlawDrifter]

Originally Posted by Ski-me

First off, nice rig and love the colors! How is the interior....I assume great?!? Although it may indicate 55k, are you sure it's not 155k? Any Carfax to document the mileage?

My 89' was actually 300k+. I figured out the mileage after tracking all the mileage readings throughout it's life on Carfax. Once I figured it out, I then converted my 89' cable driven speedo to the 90-91 electric speedo. With an adjustable DRAC unit, I'm able to get my speedo spot on!! Tire changes, gear changes, etc...fully adjustable plus an extra digit for the 100k counter.

Just an idea for you.

Thanks

I'll have some more pictures up later this week, including some of the interior. I'll convert it over to a digital when I "have" to LS swap it. Yes I do believe the mileage to be true. Underneath the hood and the exhaust pre-aftermarket muffler tells the story. It is bone stock and coming from Denver, does not show signs of being driven much. There is only slight discoloration on the manifolds from heat cycling, no scaly rust, along with everything else under the hood. The underside is also amazingly clean.

New tires are on. 1000% better going down the highway. I can actually have a conversation without yelling. Temp/Compass mirror came in yesterday, so'll I'll get that wired up this week. "Fixed" the trip odometer, replaced a few gauge cluster lights, and put some fresh oil in it this weekend. Exhaust should be in this week for a weekend R&R.

I'll be ordering a set of iBoards for it today probably. Looks like Ford Ranger SuperCab @ 63" is the best set for my needs.

[Ski-me]

I did the temp/comp mirror too. So nice to have and I guess we take them for granted in newer cars!

[68Timber]

That's a beautiful truck. Looking forward to seeing the interior pics.

[OutlawDrifter]

Thanks John, update to follow.

[OutlawDrifter]

Well here are some updated pics as requested. The exterior shots show the new Long Trails.

Installed the Comp/Temp mirror tonight. All connections are soldered and heat shrunk. Looks like a factory install from the mirror until the zip ties at the sensor...haha.

Also put on a new serpentine belt. Noticed it looked a bit tough...just about came off in pieces, guess I had somebody riding with me down the interstate!~

Tint and muffler get here tomorrow. Looks like Friday for splash guards and early next week for the new iBoards.











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[Ski-me]

Looks very clean, nice job! I put my sensor down by the bumper, just on the back side. I do like your position too. Let me know if you get any temp swings while sitting still for a long time with truck engine running. Your location may be good!

It does look like the miles may be correct....very clean looking!

[OutlawDrifter]

Ski-me, thanks. I've never had any problems running them near the front emblem, that's where the factory puts them. This is probably my 5th or 6th mirror swap I've done, this one definitely being the cleanest. I'm planning on keeping this K5!

Even if the miles were 155k, I still bought it right. I'm enjoying it more everyday. I forgot what it was like to have a DD that you WANT to drive. Excited to tackle the exhaust project, that's always my favorite part, and the Flowmaster 40 series knockoff that is on there tends to drone on the highway even with the big pellet cat in place. The 10 series on my daughters C1500 RCSB 305TBI pickup is even quieter!

[68Timber]

Wow. Not many of those left, even the floor mats survived... Well done!

[lower50's]

Very nice Jimmy!! We just sold our '87 Jimmy Serra Classic, 180,000 mi original paint Zero rust paint was flaking off to the primer.
Love it and enjoy it, feels good to stand out in the sea of shapeless tinfoil vehicles that are on the road now.

[OutlawDrifter]

Originally Posted by 68Timber

Wow. Not many of those left, even the floor mats survived... Well done!

John even all the keepers are in place on the back of the floor mats....that one blew my mind, normally they all break off and the mats slide around everywhere!

Originally Posted by lower50's

Very nice Jimmy!! We just sold our '87 Jimmy Serra Classic, 180,000 mi original paint Zero rust paint was flaking off to the primer.
Love it and enjoy it, feels good to stand out in the sea of shapeless tinfoil vehicles that are on the road now.

lower50s, believe me I will. I won't be letting this one go anytime soon. I just wish it ran on compliments and thumbs up, last tank was 11.5mpg.


In other news, tinted the rear window last night night. That should help keep the cab temps down in this KS heat. I have the tint to do the driver's and passenger's door, but honestly, I may just leave them clear.

Muffler "should" arrive today, it apparently was placed on a pack mule with a blind guide to get here from the depot in Kansas City. Also, my splash guards should be in today, so that can be a quick install tonight.

I have everything saved to Amazon for the audio upgrade less the kick panel speaker pods. I'll get those elsewhere.

[OutlawDrifter]

Made some progress on the K5 this weekend, completed the exhaust. I'll have to get some pictures put up, forgot to take some while working.

I used the 2nd largest muffler in the series, and it's a touch louder than I wanted, even with a cat. I'm probably just used to how nice and quiet the FX2 was, it had the next size bigger muffler and J-pipe to cancel out any resonance.

It all when surprisingly well, I used a Walker Quick Fit tailpipe. Very impressed with the quality for the money. All mandrel bends, and the fit was awesome, these are a "universal" pipe with somewhat specific applications. $36 picked up at my local Car Quest, can't beat that!

I finished up earlier than intended so I went and helped a buddy with harvest running a grain cart. It was good to get some tractor therapy!

[Irish1941]

Nice truck. Love that interior color.
Hard to find Jimmy in the 89-91 yrs let alone a decent one.
Just found friend a 1991 Jimmy SLE with 6.2. Unicorn truck.
Anyway, good on ya!

[OutlawDrifter]

Originally Posted by Irish1941

Nice truck. Love that interior color.
Hard to find Jimmy in the 89-91 yrs let alone a decent one.
Just found friend a 1991 Jimmy SLE with 6.2. Unicorn truck.
Anyway, good on ya!

Thanks!

[OutlawDrifter]

Here are some quick (dirty) pics of the exhaust.

Ordered a different muffler today, I was going to try a "j-pipe" 1/4 wave cancelling pipe...but decided the volume was still too high for daily driver duty. So I ordered a SS Walker Quiet Flow. 3" I/O, it's supposed to flow better than OE and be an OE replacement. I'm good with that. Let's be honest, 200hp of TBI doesn't need crazy flowing exhaust @ 4500rpm.

So the muffler will change this weekend, should be here Friday...haha, made it less than 1 week on this one!














Ok part B..or 2 if you will...of this post.

Fabricating brackets for my new iBoards...does anyone see a reason why I should/can't use the subframe under the cab? Pointing at it in the picture below for reference.

[lower50's]

We had a similar exhaust set up on our Jimmy and we had a drone inside cruising around. I figured out that the exhaust was reverberating againced the body with the side exhaust. I switched it to come straight out the rear and the problem went away, much quieter inside.

[OutlawDrifter]

Originally Posted by lower50's

We had a similar exhaust set up on our Jimmy and we had a drone inside cruising around. I figured out that the exhaust was reverberating againced the body with the side exhaust. I switched it to come straight out the rear and the problem went away, much quieter inside.

Muffler change out to the Walker Quiet-Flow SS fixed the issue. I had my tailpipe passed the edge of the body with that chrome tip. I though the same thing with just the tailpipe, it was tucked inside the edge of the bumper about 3-4".

Walker setup is exactly what I wanted. It sounds very similar (and is built in the same manner) as the Flo~Pro Big Oval I had on my 6.0l powered 2500HD.

It was a relief to not hear the drone...the older I get, the less I want to deal with that on my DD. If I want loud, I can take the '49 GMC or the Z28 out.

All of my audio upgrades were ordered today. 5.25" speakers for the kick panels, 6x9s for the back, amp wiring kit, dash adapter, and Bluetooth headunit. All Kenwood gear for the speakers and headunit. I've had really good luck in the past with the brand for sound quality vs. $$.

Still trying to decide on an attack plan for the iBoards, think I'll try the body subframe and the pinch weld for extra caution.

[OutlawDrifter]

Did a little more digging...this K5 actually has 3.73 gears from the factory. That makes a little more sense!

[buffydores]

Gosh, that thing is in good shape.

[Ski-me]

Originally Posted by OutlawDrifter

Did a little more digging...this K5 actually has 3.73 gears from the factory. That makes a little more sense!

That's a good deal! A lot of them (including mine), came with 3.42's...