edlaffoon
Adventure Every Day
I guess it's time for me to do one of these "here's my truck" threads over here on Expo as this is where I spend most of my time these days.
Most of this this will be copies of what some of you may have seen on other sites so I apologize for any repeats:
My name is Eric. I live in a Ft. Worth TX suburb with my beautiful wife Missy and baby girl Layla (and we just found out another baby girl on the way) (*EDIT* We actually have three kids now, Layla, Emmylou and William. This thread has been here a while I guess lol). I'm a hobby mechanic. I've been workin on cars and the ocassional truck for most of my life. My dad and grandpa ran the only real full service auto shop in Yukon OK for about 25 years up until 1994. I grew up there. I would work with my dad all day and then crash on a creeper with a fender cover until he was done after dark. I learned more than just workin on cars there, I learned how to learn. I know that sounds corny but it's true, my fondest and most emotional memories go back to that place.
The K5 story...
This whole thing got started when I was a kid, about 6 years old. This fella lived behind us where I grew up and he had what (to a 6 year old boy) had to be the coolest vehicle anyone could ever own, an 1986 CUCV (M1009).
From a young age I fell hard for the K5. For a long time I saved and pined for one until I got to the point where I could get one April of 2009. I'd been keeping my eye on K5's for sale weekly since about 2005. I came across what I thought was the perfect truck in Paso Robles California. I bought it and a few weeks later it was here in Texas.
This was a very exciting moment for me. I had to sell my '84 Rabbit GTI to make room for the truck, but it was the right move in the end.
So obviously my truck is a '73. At the time it was mostly stock; 350/700R4 d44/12b NP203. It had a 4" lift and 33" BFG's. The interior is out of an '05 Silverado, power driver seat and all. It was a beautiful truck and at that time I don't think I could've been happier.
We promptly removed the top and drove the truck. That's me in the white shirt.
Missy riding precariously in the seatless back.
So we were happy as larks.
One night Missy and I were driving it out to her family's ranch. I was cruisin down the highway at about 55-60 and started to smell something funny. No sooner did I smell the "hot" than I heard the noise. T t t t t t t tp tp tp tp tp tp tp tap tap tap tap tap tap tunk tunk tunk tunk tunk tunk clok clok clok clok bang bang bang bang.
It all happened in about 10 seconds. I didn't even have time to think. The smell was something getting fried inside the engine. I wouldn't find out was it was until some months later.
So with the help of a friend we towed her home and there she sat in front of our house for twelve long months.
We were broke and I was shattered because I couldn't get it running.
But that can only last so long. The next time she moved was putting her back up on the trailer to tow it to my dad's house cause HOA's are stupid.
In no time we had it ripped apart.
Hmmmmm. ****** is this?!?!
So the story is that a nut came off the rod cap and that was it. What I smelled was the bearing being turned to dust.
It was a real shame cause I could tell that the motor was brand new, just like the guy said. Everything on/under the truck was fresh. I wanted to build the motor but time and money are at a premium so I bought a reman.
Wasn't long before we had everything in good order.
We put the truck back together and everything was running perfectly. This brings us up to about the winter of 2010. I began driving it almost every day. We also started taking it camping at one of my favorite sate parks near where I live.
Most of this this will be copies of what some of you may have seen on other sites so I apologize for any repeats:
My name is Eric. I live in a Ft. Worth TX suburb with my beautiful wife Missy and baby girl Layla (and we just found out another baby girl on the way) (*EDIT* We actually have three kids now, Layla, Emmylou and William. This thread has been here a while I guess lol). I'm a hobby mechanic. I've been workin on cars and the ocassional truck for most of my life. My dad and grandpa ran the only real full service auto shop in Yukon OK for about 25 years up until 1994. I grew up there. I would work with my dad all day and then crash on a creeper with a fender cover until he was done after dark. I learned more than just workin on cars there, I learned how to learn. I know that sounds corny but it's true, my fondest and most emotional memories go back to that place.
The K5 story...
This whole thing got started when I was a kid, about 6 years old. This fella lived behind us where I grew up and he had what (to a 6 year old boy) had to be the coolest vehicle anyone could ever own, an 1986 CUCV (M1009).
From a young age I fell hard for the K5. For a long time I saved and pined for one until I got to the point where I could get one April of 2009. I'd been keeping my eye on K5's for sale weekly since about 2005. I came across what I thought was the perfect truck in Paso Robles California. I bought it and a few weeks later it was here in Texas.
This was a very exciting moment for me. I had to sell my '84 Rabbit GTI to make room for the truck, but it was the right move in the end.
So obviously my truck is a '73. At the time it was mostly stock; 350/700R4 d44/12b NP203. It had a 4" lift and 33" BFG's. The interior is out of an '05 Silverado, power driver seat and all. It was a beautiful truck and at that time I don't think I could've been happier.
We promptly removed the top and drove the truck. That's me in the white shirt.
Missy riding precariously in the seatless back.
So we were happy as larks.
One night Missy and I were driving it out to her family's ranch. I was cruisin down the highway at about 55-60 and started to smell something funny. No sooner did I smell the "hot" than I heard the noise. T t t t t t t tp tp tp tp tp tp tp tap tap tap tap tap tap tunk tunk tunk tunk tunk tunk clok clok clok clok bang bang bang bang.
It all happened in about 10 seconds. I didn't even have time to think. The smell was something getting fried inside the engine. I wouldn't find out was it was until some months later.
So with the help of a friend we towed her home and there she sat in front of our house for twelve long months.
We were broke and I was shattered because I couldn't get it running.
But that can only last so long. The next time she moved was putting her back up on the trailer to tow it to my dad's house cause HOA's are stupid.
In no time we had it ripped apart.
Hmmmmm. ****** is this?!?!
So the story is that a nut came off the rod cap and that was it. What I smelled was the bearing being turned to dust.
It was a real shame cause I could tell that the motor was brand new, just like the guy said. Everything on/under the truck was fresh. I wanted to build the motor but time and money are at a premium so I bought a reman.
Wasn't long before we had everything in good order.
We put the truck back together and everything was running perfectly. This brings us up to about the winter of 2010. I began driving it almost every day. We also started taking it camping at one of my favorite sate parks near where I live.
Last edited:
Also while sitting out there it was damaged a little by the horses in the pasture.
