Well… its been about 5 months since the old s-dime emerged from the shop and moved under its own power… so I figured it was high time I post up a quick status update.
In the wise words of Zipties and Bias Plys: F*** is she loyal!
The trucks been incredible! Its been my daily driver all 5 months, taking 100mi+ round trips almost weekly. Its been used for hauling all our crap when we moved, dragging our kayaks down to the river, hauling pit bikes around (on may occasions), and blasting around back roads because…. WOW did I forget how fun this thing is in the corners! It might not be fast (at all) but holy crap does it make up for it in the twistys! Also amazing added bonus: it gets ~30mpg! Thats double my next closest vehicle! I’m insanely happy with it and i no longer give a shit if i look like I’m stuck in the early 2000s mini-truck scene. Screwit… this thing is gold and my pie in the sky plans of hardcore step notching into the bed, slamming it on its ass, and LS swapping it are sorta drying up. As cool as that would be, this is a perfect shop truck. I may still bag it if i get board some winter, but I’m NOT going into the bed… and as long as gas prices are ~$4/gal for 93, I’m not gona touch an LS swap. When you have a 30mpg fun truck, you leave that motor alone!
The only work I’ve done to it since getting it on the road was: 1. A new alternator, 2. new front shocks.
The alternator was a given.. it started refusing to charge at idle. The shocks were.. well.. shocking. When i pulled it out of storage, all was good. However quickly after, the rubber bushings were so dry rotted they disintegrated, leaving me with no front shocks. I could have just added a new bushing.. but.. f*it. Went with a set of shocks made for an S-10 “xtreme” package.
All and all, i couldn’t be happier with this thing and i’m now extremely glad i stored it for the last 10 years!