RAFFY's 2014 Silverado 1500 LTZ (Hail Damage Edition)

[crafferty]

Long story short I was looking for a used 2010-2012 Sierra or Silverado with the 6.2L and a few options. Ended up finding a dealership who had some hail damaged trucks with blow out prices. So after a two weeks of emails with the salesmen there I made the 900 mile drive to Nebraska from Alabama. I ended up purchasing a brand new 2014 Silverado Double Cab LTZ 4x4 from Sid Dillon Chevrolet in Blair, Nebraska on November 8th 2014. The trucks sticker price was $48,625 I walked out of the dealership paying $28,000 for a brand new heavily optioned LTZ. The only options I do not have are the sunroof, navigation, max trailer and some of the special features exclusive to the high country. Currently she is sitting at 4,573 miles not a single complaint nor do I think I ever will have one. But the time has come to make her my own! Hope you all enjoy the build thread!!!

Build List:

Fix Hail Damage

• PDR as much as possible
• Bondo (unfortunately this may be a possibility)

Paint

• Line-X Platinum Color Matched body
• Black roof
• Black bed

Color matched parts

• Front & Rear Bumper
• Fender Flares
• Door Handles
• Mirror Caps
• Lip on wheels

Black painted parts

• Grill bezel
• Headlight bezel
• Lug nuts
• Wheel bolts (the bolts on the lip of the wheel)
• Emblems

BDS 6" Lift

• Fox Coilovers
• Fox 2.0 Shocks
• Black Shock Boots
• Rear Leaf Springs

Method Race Wheels "The Standard" 20x10 4.5"BS/-24 Offset


Toyo Tires R/T 35x13.5r20

• May have to change tires as Toyo is on a nationwide back order

Bushwacker Pocket Style Fender Flares

• Color matched

[crafferty]

Here are some pictures that show the current condition of the truck. Hope you guys like photos!

 

Driver's side is pretty much perfect except for a couple small dings near the roof line. Passenger side took the beating.

 

Bed loaded up with a Jack Daniels whiskey barrel (soon to be converted into a custom smoker), 125qt Yeti Cooler, dog cage and bakflip vp tonneau cover.

This is by far the worst spot on the truck. Going to try and pull it out with some PDR techniques but fear I may need to involve some bondo.

[bigsapper]

Are you sure that's hail damage? That had to be at least softball size and it looks like it had to be horizontal hail. ???

[crafferty]

Are you sure that's hail damage? That had to be at least softball size and it looks like it had to be horizontal hail. ???

Yeah, 100% positive. The smallest hail they had that day was golf ball size I have been told. There is actually an article from a local newspaper in Nebraska that stated there were over 4,300 vehicles damaged by this one storm system that came through. That 4,300 was only including dealer vehicles as well. Here's a link to the article I mentioned.

[22_AT4]

Great looking truck and great buy. That's not 20k worth of hail damage so you stole that truck. Is your truck black or tungsten. I want to black out my truck, it's tungsten. How did you go about blacking out the chrome grill, lettering? Who did you purchase the color matched parts from? Any details on the items you listed above would be helpful.

[EnterSandman]

So did the guy beat up your truck because you kissed his girl or stole his liquor?

[crafferty]

Great looking truck and great buy. That's not 20k worth of hail damage so you stole that truck. Is your truck black or tungsten. I want to black out my truck, it's tungsten. How did you go about blacking out the chrome grill, lettering? Who did you purchase the color matched parts from? Any details on the items you listed above would be helpful.

My truck is Tungsten Metallic, I love the color. I just used plasti dip to black out the grill, front bumper, rear bumper, door handles, mirror caps and emblems. In total I used about 6 or 7 cans for a whopping total of $45 with tax. I did it to see how it looked before I paint or Line-X the body and it worked out great. I have now decide that the stock rims black are boring, I prefer paint matched mirror caps and door handles (installing once the rain stops), the front and rear bumpers will be color matched and the grille i still dont have a clue. On the grille im debating on either color matching the trim and then painting the center pieces black or painting the whole grille black and having color matched front emblem with a black outline. Still up in the air. The chrome mirror caps and door handles i purchased off an eBay member by the name of Toneygreen. They were brand new take offs pieces from a 2015 silverado or sierra. I would message him because I did and then next day he all of a sudden had a set of the handles and mirror caps in my color.

 

So did the guy beat up your truck because you kissed his girl or stole his liquor?

Both and then I took his barrel as a finishing touch!

[sahls01gmc]

WOW! Heck of a deal. I remember that storm, I have clients in that area and they said they have never seen anything like that before.

 

If anything, now that it has some "character", you won't feel as bad if you hit something!

[SteveBBB]

Did any glass get broken in the storm? Any idea what it will cost to get the body all straight and painted? I think you got a deal.

[crafferty]

WOW! Heck of a deal. I remember that storm, I have clients in that area and they said they have never seen anything like that before.

 

If anything, now that it has some "character", you won't feel as bad if you hit something!

Haha, eventually the "character" will be gone and translate back to smooth lines.

 

Did any glass get broken in the storm? Any idea what it will cost to get the body all straight and painted? I think you got a deal.

Yeah the front passenger window was broken a couple others were cracked. The body will probably cost around $2-3k to fix if I have a shop do it. I'll trying to pop the dents myself with a few PDR tools I have purchased. Worst case I will grind down the paint, bondo and line-x the whole body.

[Mike1220]

DAMN! That is a lot of damage man! Must've been one hell of a hail storm and some very large pieces. Here in LA we just watch out for hurricanes and dumb drivers. Glad we don't have hail storms too.

 

A couple tricks I've found to help PPP out dents, just incase you want to try them:

Heat the area immediately surrounding the dent (but not the dent itself) using either a hair dryer or heat gun (if heat gun is used make sure to have it on a somewhat lower temp so you don't mess up the paint and keep it moving at all times) and then once the area is hot to the touch, use a compressed air can (the kind you'd commonly use to clean a keyboard) and turn the can upside down and spray onto the hot area. The cold ice forming on the hot metal will act like a vaccuum to pull the dent out. This won't work in just one go. It'll be a process of continuous heating and cooling until you get the dent out

 

Another trick (one that I have used in the past and really like it) deflate a basketball, football, or anything else similar you have lying around the house. Wedge it between the dent and another part of the body (this works best on dents in the bed because of the space between bed side and body panels) and slowly inflate the ball to push the dent out. Eventually that air has to go somewhere so the dent will be the first thing to give before the rest of the body will.

 

 

Can't wait to see how your truck turns out!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[sahls01gmc]

Another trick (one that I have used in the past and really like it) deflate a basketball, football, or anything else similar you have lying around the house. Wedge it between the dent and another part of the body (this works best on dents in the bed because of the space between bed side and body panels) and slowly inflate the ball to push the dent out. Eventually that air has to go somewhere so the dent will be the first thing to give before the rest of the body will.

 

Genius! I need to give that a shot.

[crafferty]

Quick Update:

Today has been a great day but my pocket book would not agree. I have gone ahead and ordered my lift kit as well as wheels and tires. Now it's just a matter of getting the parts in and having my "local" installer get to work. I say "local" because he is 60 miles away, but has a great resume and isn't trying to charge me $1500-1700 to install my lift another store lol. And please don't worry I do intended to keep producing truck pornography despite mine having an ugly side!

 

 

 

DAMN! That is a lot of damage man! Must've been one hell of a hail storm and some very large pieces. Here in LA we just watch out for hurricanes and dumb drivers. Glad we don't have hail storms too.

A couple tricks I've found to help PPP out dents, just incase you want to try them:
Heat the area immediately surrounding the dent (but not the dent itself) using either a hair dryer or heat gun (if heat gun is used make sure to have it on a somewhat lower temp so you don't mess up the paint and keep it moving at all times) and then once the area is hot to the touch, use a compressed air can (the kind you'd commonly use to clean a keyboard) and turn the can upside down and spray onto the hot area. The cold ice forming on the hot metal will act like a vaccuum to pull the dent out. This won't work in just one go. It'll be a process of continuous heating and cooling until you get the dent out

Another trick (one that I have used in the past and really like it) deflate a basketball, football, or anything else similar you have lying around the house. Wedge it between the dent and another part of the body (this works best on dents in the bed because of the space between bed side and body panels) and slowly inflate the ball to push the dent out. Eventually that air has to go somewhere so the dent will be the first thing to give before the rest of the body will.


Can't wait to see how your truck turns out!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks for the tips. I have seen many videos about the canned air trick. But I didn't even think about using a deflated ball. That may work really, really well on the rear corner of the cab! Great ideas here, I will be sure to document my attempts at PDR. The only PDR tool I have right now is a metal dent hand held dent puller.

 

Genius! I need to give that a shot.

Great advice I would say!

[RyanbabZ71]

Welcome!

 

 

Ryan

[PMurray]

Need any help with the football trick, just contact the N.E. Patriots.