2002 GMC Sierra

Finally found another unicorn. This one is the closest I have gotten to the perfect truck to start with. V8, manual trans, limited slip, good paint and a good colour! Long list of things to do, but am in no hurry. If I can keep it from getting stolen, I hope to drive this until I can afford my Porsche or R32 😉

Stock Specs :

  • Regular Cab / Short bed
  • Vortec 4800 (4.8L V8) 270hp/285tq
  • 5 speed manual NV3500 transmission
  • 3.42 gear ratio with G80 limited slip
  • 4 wheel disc brakes
  • SL base model

Convenience / Retrofit Modifications:

  • OEM carpet kit
  • OEM powered door panels
  • OEM LS/LT seats with folding middle
  • Power Windows
  • Power Door locks
  • Alarm system
  • DeeZee Tailgate assist
  • Stereo system

Cosmetic Modifications:

  • Flush Toneau cover
  • Headlight covers
  • Tinted windows/brow 20%
  • Tinted Tail lights
  • Smooth handles
  • Smooth mirrors
  • Upgraded headlights –
  • OEM fog lamps
  • OEM Denali front clip
  • Roll pan
  • 20″ OEM Wheels/Tires

Suspension Mods:

  • DJM Calmax 6″ Flip kit
  • DJM Calmax 4″ Lower Control Arms
  • DJM Calmax Front and Rear shocks
  • DJM Calmax adjustable shackles
  • OEM Flush transmission cross member

Performance Mods:

  • Cold air intake
  • Flowmaster Super 44 exhaust

Stereo System:

  • Pioneer AVIC 1330NEX
  • Sirius Satellite tuner
  • Backup camera
  • JL Audio HD900/5 amplifier
  • JL Audio C3-650 components
  • JL Audio 12w3v3 (x2) Sub woofers
  • JL Audio bass control knob
  • Custom built sealed box

Repairs:

  • rear brakes – complete – nov2017 @230,000
  • wheel bearing (driver front) – Feb2018 @240,100
  • Suspension rebuild – May2018 250,000
  • E-brake rebuild @265,000
  • Spark plugs Mar2019 @275,000

Long Term/Dream Changes :

    • Sliding Rear window
    • Bedrug or Spray in liner
    • LED Bed lighting
    • Shaved tailgate
    • Full respray – new colour?
    • Air ride suspension
    • Cam / headwork
    • T-56 6-speed transmission

Build Log:

  • 2017
  • Sunday Sept 24 – put down payment on Sierra
  • Wednesday Sept 27 – picked up second 12w3 sub woofer. Also order remainder of needed wiring.
  • Tuesday Oct 17 – Had safety done @smouts garage
  • Wednesday Oct 18 – had alarm installed – 150$ @HiFiPlus
  • Friday October 20 – bought seats, door panels and switches – 180$ @York scrap yard
  • Monday October 23 – Windows tinted @BrettW $140. Installed new seats
  • Tuesday Oct 24 – Ordered headunit/Sirius/Install parts @Crutchfield $600
  • Friday October 27 – Bought used coil springs from Rhino in Simcoe $40
  • Saturday October 28 – ordered a parking brake bypass from Amazon for 15$
  • Tuesday October 31 – Picked up all outstanding orders. – paid 140$ duty
  • Wednesday November 1 – Installed DeeZee tailgate assist, and bolted the tonneau hinges in.
  • Thursday November 2 – Soldered up the headunit harness
  • Friday November 3 – Bought the second 12w3 grill that I needed.
  • Saturday November 4 – Finished looming the wiring from deck-to-amp. Chopped up dash. Tested deck.
  • Sunday November 5 – Started running wires in the truck. 20% complete.
  • Monday November 6 – Dash complete. Headunit + all wiring 98% done. Would like a cleaner usb solution, but it works for now
  • Tuesday November 7 – Picked up a pair of OE leaf springs. $180
  • Saturday November 11 – Installed speaker wiring into both doors. Tried installing windows – wrong harness. Requested new.
  • Sunday November 12 – Installed power wire from battery to amp area. Re-assembled truck. Ground and splitter all that remains.
  • Wednesday November 15 – New rear pads/rotors/lines/axle seals + oil change @233,500 $900
  • Thursday November 16 – two new rear calipers installed. $290 Ordered replacment power windows 100$
  • Tuesday November 21 – plumbed the door window wiring into each door and across the truck.
  • Wednesday November 22 – finished installing the power windows minus mounting switches. Driver side is good, passenger is not. Diag tomorrow, as well as finish power wire install
  • Saturday November 25 – unhappy with the aftermarket pw. Decided to order OEM power regulators and adapters. Should work like factory when Im done.
  • Sunday November 26 – Removed the power window kit, left wiring intact. Hoping to re-use for OEM regulators.
  • Monday November 27 – fabbed up amp plate and installed under carpet. Bolted amp down. Wired in RCA, remote and bass knob. Wired power and ground, but need to adapt to 0 gauge runs.
  • Tuesday November 28 – Hooked amp up to a temporary ground, and power and test bumped the little box. All works as it should.
  • Friday December 1 – Picked up new parts today. Tonneau struts, power windows, and fog light connectors. Soldered the fog light connectors onto some 16g wire and got it ready for install.
  • Monday December 4 – Finished the camera install. Finally got it working. Install will be cleaned up when I do the flip kit this spring. Also, removed the old fog lamps to make room for new ones. Realized my valance has no holes for OEM fogs. Will need new valance to use them.
  • Tuesday December 5 – Installed the tonneau shocks, sound deadened the inner section of the driver door to match the passenger and removed the antenna.
  • Wednesday December 6 – Swapped the window regulators with the oem style. Driver side works awesome. Passenger, not so much. Pretty sure just under powered.
  • Thursday December 7 – Tried direct power to passenger window. Didn’t help. Lubed it up and worked it up and down for a bit. Much better now. Still not as good as driver side, but usable finally
  • Friday December 8 – Picked up MDF for the soon to be constructed sub box
  • Monday December 11 – Made a cardboard template for the sub box. Measurements roughly determined. Need to cut sides and back before sorting front.
  • Saturday December 16 – Started cutting up the MDF for the sub box
  • Monday December 18 – Assembled the back, top and bottom of the box. Glued + nailed. Should fit well in the truck. Slightly smaller then planned size
  • Wednesday December 20 – Cut and installed end caps onto the box. Need to router the edges with a flush trim bit but its coming along.
  • Thursday December 21 – Finished the main part of box and glued it all together. Cut the holes out of the main box. Just need to attach baffles and cut holes into them next
  • Friday December 22 – Cut the baffles out and installed. Fully glued box.. Bought carpet. All done but the carpet and terminal cup
  • Monday December 25 – Shannon bought me a 6″ Flip kit and Flowmaster super44 muffler for Christmas. Can’t wait to install!
  • Friday December 30 – Cut the hole for the speaker terminal and wired it up.
  • 2018
  • Wednesday January 3 – Smout removed, cleaned and reinstalled ABS sensor. Hopefully problem solved.
  • Thursday January 4 – Sanded down the sub box one final time, and painted the sub trim rings blaze yellow. Also had Flowmaster muffler installed.
  • Friday January 5 – Bought JL C3-650 component speakers for front stage of truck
  • Saturday January 6 – With lots of help from Shannon, The sub box has been carpetted.
  • Sunday January 7 – Routered out a pair of speaker rings for the C3’s. Turned out very well. Certainly going to have to pre-drill them but they fit awesome.
  • Thursday January 11 – Finished sub box installation. Bolted to floor of truck. Also wired in the crossovers. Stereo just needs speakers mounted into the doors
  • Sunday January 28 – Replace the aftermarket window switches and stock door lock switches with the OEM LS style. Cut and soldered all the wires and zip tied them cleanly. All works perfectly. Installed the (dirty) LS door panels.
  • Saturday February 3 – Replaced driver side front wheel bearing. It was pooched. Truck now stops properly again (so far). No more ABS randomness . Also cut holes in OEM tweeter mounts and glued in the JL tweet mounts
  • Monday February 5 – Mounted tweeters in the new pods, and soldered in the AT power connectors
  • Sunday February 11 – Bolted the speaker rings to the door and the tweeters to the panels. Nearly done!
  • Tuesday February 13 – Finished off the speaker install. All in and buttoned up. Just need some tuning now. Sounds good as is!
  • Sunday February 25 – Repaired ground wire for the rearview camera. It’s been faulty for a few weeks now. All good again!
  • Sunday March 4 – bought a few front bumper parts. Smooth bumper cap and a fog lamp valance.
  • Tuesday April 11 – Bought 4 used 20″ Tahoe/Avalanche wheels. Need to pickup an an extra centre cap. They will need some cleaning and polishing but should work well. Also bought a used Silverado HD hood. The old parts pile is coming along!
  • Saturday April 21 – Installed USB plug onto dashboard and replaced bass knob retainer rings with black ones and clocked 0 to the 12 o’clock position. Ordered new headlights
  • Monday May 21 – Removed the bed from the truck and removed the bolts from the new leaf springs. One leaf spring bushing is damaged.
  • Tuesday May 22 – Had Simcoe Spring replace the bushing from yesterday and bought new bolts for the shackles.
  • Wednesday May 23 – Removed leaf springs, shackles and reinstalled the new flip kit + springs. Suspension is loosely installed. Just needs to be tightened tomorrow.
  • Thursday May 24 – Finished the 7″ drop. C-Notches have been installed, all bolts in and functioning. Need one more pass to check tightness, but drives well.
  • Friday May 25 – Completely finished up rear suspension. Gave the frame a quick coat of paint. Then after a test drive, backed into the garage and Stripped front suspension out. Hung the new control arms from their bolts and called it a day.
  • Saturday May 26 – Bad news. New front end fully assembled. Put down on tires, and the truck bottoms out. Springs or spindles are wrong. Going to have to replace some more parts
  • Sunday May 27 – Removed the short springs and purchased a replacement pair that are 3-4 inches taller. Clearly the used springs I bought in Oct were not correct.
  • Monday May 28 – new springs are too tall. I can’t win. Confirmed DJM LCA are correct. Only option is to trim spring until I get the correct height.
  • Friday June 1 – cut the new springs 1/2 coil each and reinstalled. Put truck on the ground and all 4 corners now within .5″ of each other! I can live with that. Just need to install sway bar and shocks and its good to drive!
  • Sunday June 3 – Finished suspension install and re-assembled all parts. The truck sits good, but not perfect. Needs alignment. Likely leave it alone until next spring now
  • Friday August 3 – Oil change @255,000. Smouts
  • Tuesday October 10 – Bought OEM tail lights, pre-tinted. Installed same day.
  • Thursday November 7 – Bough a used cold air intake. Nothing fancy, but will do the job
  • Tuesday December 4 – oil change, @265,000, repaired broken shock mount (rewelded), and adjusted rear parking brakes
  • Sunday December 16 – bought 99 flush mount transmission crossmember
  • Sunday December 30 – Crossed the 270,000km mark
  • 2019
  • Spark plugs installed @275000
  • April 15 – picked up smooth covered mirrors. Will need painting.
  • May 25 – picked up my painted rollpan from Vissers. Also, removed the bumper and installed the cold air intake.
  • June 1 – picked up Denali front clip
  • June 6 – dropped off all body parts to be painted.
  • June 8 – Smashed exhaust and crossmember on brick. Going next week to see about repairing underside damage
  • June 20 – picked up replacment Y pipe to repair damage
  • June 28 – swapped out front end for GMC Denali front clip
  • July 23 – decided to put truck for sale. No space to store and not filling daily needs.