Buying an abandoned storage unit is always a gamble, because you rarely know what sits behind the door. For one man, the prize turned out to be a 2001 Chevy Silverado 1500. Getting that Chevy Silverado home, and then making it drive properly, took far longer than clearing out the unit.
The buyer posts as @WyattWebster and works on cars with his friend Travis. He says he spent about $3,300 on the unit, and the pickup came with it. By the time the space was empty, it was 10:30 at night, and the friends who helped load everything else had already left.
A Two-Hour Drive In An Unknown Pickup
Before leaving, Travis replaced the spark plug wires and patched a coolant leak. The truck started, but it showed a service engine light, and reverse barely worked. So they had to push it backward to get going.
“We have a bit of a reverse issue.”
Their first stop went wrong right away. After they shut the engine off at a store, the Silverado would not start again. The jump box they relied on earlier was in another car, already an hour away. Luckily, a group of men working on a Chevy Malibu in the parking lot lent them jumper cables. Even then, the lights stayed bright, so the pair suspected the starter rather than the battery. A few taps on the starter finally got the engine running.
Flat Tires, Slipping Gears And A Leak
From there, the problems kept stacking up. A tire went soft, and they had to stop to air it up. Once they reached the freeway, the transmission slipped badly. Then the coolant leak returned, so they pulled onto the shoulder to patch it again.
By the end, they were rolling at about 15 mph on a nearly flat tire. Still, they made it into the driveway well after midnight, and the tire was flat again by morning.
One Starter, Two Transmissions
The next morning, a new starter solved the no-start problem. However, the four-speed automatic was finished. In fact, Travis liked the truck enough that he bought it from the storage unit buyer, so the build became his.
Rather than rebuild the original transmission, they chose a heavier-duty 4L80E from a junkyard. That meant a crossmember adapter, a wiring adapter for a second speed sensor, a new dipstick and a computer update from a local tuning shop. After all that work, the truck would not move in drive or reverse.
“Effectively, we’ve only worsened the truck.”
They pulled the transmission back out and found another 4L80E in Pennsylvania. Once installed, the second unit caught a gear right away. On the test drive, the pickup shifted through first, second, third and fourth.
“Two transmissions later, out of a $3,000 storage unit.”
Lessons From A Storage Unit Truck
Storage unit vehicles can be bargains, but they come with no history. Here is what we would keep in mind before driving one home:
- Bring a jump pack, an air compressor and basic hand tools to the pickup.
- Check tire pressure, fluids and the transmission before any long drive.
- Plan to tow a vehicle that has not run in a long time, rather than drive it far at night.
- Expect the starter, battery and hoses to need attention after a long sit.
- Test a used transmission, or buy one with a return policy, before you do all the install work.
Where The Chevy Silverado Stands Now
After a truck wash, the Chevy Silverado runs and drives with the swapped transmission, and the buyer says it came with its title. The pair call it a fully operational short-bed 1500 now, and they plan to keep working on it in future videos.
More from Fast Lane Only
