“Finding A Cheap Manual 4×4 Pickup Truck Has Become Depressingly Difficult,” is an article I wrote [checks calendar]…last week. That very same day, while doing research for that article, I stumbled upon a cheap manual 4×4 pickup truck. Was it depressingly difficult to find? Yes. Did I have to drive to the middle of nowhere to buy it? Yes. But as soon as work ended I blasted to the middle of the desert in my Pontiac Aztek, and today I am the proud owner of one of the finest American trucks ever: A GMT400, specifically a 1989 Chevrolet K1500 with a stickshift.
If you look at my article from last week, you’ll see me reminiscing about the GMT400 pickup I was lent back in 2019, and you’ll read how much I loved that thing. It was a five-speed four-wheel drive box on wheels with a Chevy 350 engine, and it was just lovely.
I thought the days of finding a reasonably priced GMT400 pickup were behind me (hence my article). Everyone’s been writing it, including car value experts at Hagerty, whose article “Values for GM’s full-size trucks (1988–2002) are still rock-solid” from 2022 includes the following:
Now, surging interest and values in these trucks has us humming one of Mr. Seger’s biggest hits as we investigate what might behind this gradual rise to collectibility.
In the past three years, values of Chevy GMT400-series trucks have increased by 63 percent. No coincidence, calls to Hagerty agents for quotes on insurance for the trucks have increased 58 percent in the same period. For GMT400 GMC trucks, values are up 52 percent, with 53 percent growth in insurance quotes.
Then I found this:
It was a listing for a manual 1989 Chevy K1500. The intro photo wasn’t great, as it cut the truck off, but the next photos showed quite a decent looking machine:
While finding reasonably-priced K1500s in decent shape isn’t too hard, I’m a manual-only guy, and manual 4×4 trucks have gotten really, really hard to find. That’s why this photo caught my eye:
Gorgeous! That brown and gray just works great together.
The downside — and probably the reason the truck was even still available — is that the truck was in a place called Tehachapi, CA. I’d never heard of it myself, but it’s about 100 miles north of my office, or 45 miles southeast of Bakersfield.
Intrigued, and fully aware that this was a smokin’ hot deal that would disappear if I didn’t act soon, I asked Autopian social media contributor Griffin if he wanted to go on a bit of a road trip (probably at least five hours in total). He said he was down, so after we swapped his C6 Corvette’s serpentine belt in the work parking lot, we hopped into the Autopian Pontiac Aztek and headed north to the middle of nowhere. In the dark.
The trip started with some traffic, but was otherwise a smooth two-hour cruise northeast into the desert.
I have to admit that, as we got closer to our destination, I felt a bit bad. I hadn’t really vetted the seller. He’d seemed normal on Facebook Messenger, but I didn’t call him on the phone like I usually do. And now I was dragging Griffin out to a mystery-person’s property in the middle of the desert, and I wasn’t sure Griffin quite signed up for this.
The seller gave me his address and a screenshot of his exact location, telling me to expect to have no service out there. This made me even less comfortable.
And to be clear, I’ve done sketchy things like this many times in the past, but those times I didn’t have a poor, innocent social media contributor with me, and I also didn’t have a wife at home who expects me to, you know, return in one piece.
“That’s my new AR-15” the seller told me shortly after I arrived at his huge property, pointing into his garage that was also filled with motorcycle and car parts.
He was a young guy, about my age.
“Yeah, I got too many cars. I just got that Nissan Frontier. Gets better mileage for my commute, which doubled thanks to this new job,” he told me. “It’s a good truck,” he said about the white 1989 Chevy K1500 I was there to see. “I just don’t need it….runs good, drives good.”
After he walked me around, he fired the truck up. The throttle body-injected 350 cubic-inch small-block Chevy V8 — the engine that powered the American spirit for the better part of 50 years — sounded perfect, idling and revving smoothly.
The gentleman offered me the keys, and off we went for a test drive around his local neighborhood, which consisted of dirt/gravel roads and humongous, spread-out private properties stretching as far as the eye could see.
The engine felt smooth and responsive. It wasn’t fast, but it felt like it could tow a hangar. The five-speed had huge throws, but the shifts were buttery, and honestly, everything felt good. Even the interior — which features power windows and locks — seemed to be in nice shape aside from the headliner. It needs a cleaning, but otherwise the whole vehicle felt like a respectfully-used 129,000 mile pickup.
We returned back to the seller’s abode after about a 10-minute test drive.
By the way, at this point, Griffin was nowhere to be found because I’d suggested he drop me off at the seller’s property. “If someone’s getting their organs harvested tonight, it’s not you. Just drop me off, and I’ll let you know if everything’s OK by giving you a signal with my headlamp.”
We agreed that a strobe was bad news, a solid beam was good, and no beam was also bad.” Then we realized that our iPhones offered a satellite text feature, so we tried that, and it worked!
After the test drive, I told the seller it was a nice truck, and asked if he’d take $5,000 for it. “I mean, I bought it for $5,000 with a trailer, so I basically got a free trailer; that’s a deal!”
I actually snagged the old GMT400 for $4,900 since the seller told me he felt bad for not having smogged the car prior to sale. And thus, I became a Chevy GMT400 owner.
The drive back to Galpin was amazing; right away it became clear to me why GMT400 pickup has become so legendary in American automotive culture. It’s not just the squared-off styling (which I think is a little on the boring side), it’s not just the classic American V8 under the hood, and it’s not just the ruggedness — it’s the perfect blend of just enough refinement to go along with a bone-simple, incredibly-capable machine.
The GMT400 K1500 is shockingly good on the freeway, cruising at 75 mph quietly and comfortably; the vehicle feels decades newer than my 1985 Jeep J10, whose ride isn’t quite as smooth and whose cabin at any speed north of 50 mph sounds — relatively speaking — like the eye of a small tornado.
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I still have a lot of inspecting to do to understand everything that’s wrong with this truck, so you can expect a “Here’s Everything Wrong With” article soon. I have plans to clean up the cabin (detailing, replace headliner), but I have some concerns about the transmission input shaft bearing. I’ll get into that later (I could be wrong and maybe it’s totally fine). For now, I’m in love.
I know these trucks were much cheaper just a few years back, but even at nearly $5 grand, this is a lot of truck. Don’t take my word for it; listen to Bob Seger!
Congrats on a picking up a gem and not being murdered.
No clue where Tehachapi is either, but I’d heard of it at least (Little Feat song “Willin”)
So DT got a GMT I guess to balance out the I3. I see.
I hear Mercedes is looking for a new tow vehicle….
Maybe a slightly used Jeep, perhaps?
Nice find. my fiance had a 94 blazer (before they were changed to Tahoes) to which my dad owns now and I was always shocked at how nice it rides and I am surprised that it is still running with 250k+ miles on what is believed to be original trans and engine.
Nice purchase, but buying an older vehicle in CA which hasn’t passed smog can become a headache very quickly. Hope that’s not the case for you here.
I got to that point in the article and my stomach clenched… my first car purchase when I moved out here was a bargain priced ‘96 Ciera. Title was clean but had a previous owners name, and had a pile of title transfer paperwork stapled to it, with no smog done.
It failed its first smog, but I drove it like I stole it for an hour and it barely passed. Title was a nightmare, ended up going to a DMV services shop and paying them to make it all go away.
Hoping this truck passes, should be fine if it’s EFI and the cats are CA compliant. David, may the tailpipe emission wand be kind to you, and the particulate levels be ever in your favor.
The truck passed smog 12 months ago, so I’m hoping it’s fine.
That’s a good sign. Certain rural areas of CA don’t require smog every 2 years and I wouldn’t be surprised if Tehachapi was one of them. Glad to see that’s not the case.
Just got it smogged; all good!
Just title it in a different state, problem solved 😛
That’s true, but DT strikes me as the kind of guy who wants to do things right instead of taking the shortcut.
I think avoiding emissions altogether while in Cali is the right way to do it.
My friend’s family had an ’89 like this, but with the slushbox, as their farm truck.
The odometer broke in the very early 2000’s with 750 000 km on it. They drove it for another 10 years until they retired from farming and sold it. So, probably close to 1.5 million km!
Only repair: a gear went out in the transmission 3 years in. Rebuilt under warranty.
We had a ’91 at camp with the manual. Yes, those throws are long, indeed. Even more fun once the stick gets sloppy. Am I in 1st, or am I in 3rd. Let out the clutch, stall. Well that was third!
Seeing DT get a GMT400 is like having two really great friends that are single meet up, hit it off, and get married. It’s a feel good story. You’re going to find out that these trucks are seriously the perfect blend of a classic feel and modern driveability, they’re as reliable as a toyota yet American as apple pie. The aftermarket is very generous on these, but it it’s a G80 equipped truck, you can take this truck incredible places by just cranking up the torsion bars a hair and installing some 33″ tires. Put a pappy cap on it, lay out an air mattress in the bed, and go adventure!
Pro tip: 2018 and newer Ram 1500 Tradesman steelies bolt right up, add an inch of offset, allow you to run more modern tire options, drastically enhance handling in emergency maneuvers, and still somehow look period correct.
I’ll check my glovebox sticker for “G80.” Any advice on how to deal with the light bearing noise when I’m off the clutch? Some folks seem to think the NV3500 isn’t worth rebuilding…
Speaking of G80 – The standard axle for that series of 1/2-ton was an 8.5″ 10-bolt. The G80 Gov-Lock carriers for this axle have fragmentation issues. It’s a fine axle, and the Gov-Lock has a good reputation in larger (9.5″ or 10.5″ 14-bolt) axles, but this series of G80 is called the “Gov-Bomb” for a reason…
I doubt he’s going to be dumping the clutch to light the tires or towing double the weight of the truck, and thats what most people are doing when these go.
Either way, if its a concern, he can always look for a 14 bolt out of a 6 lug 2500 truck, would be a very cheap way to really upgrade the stoutness of that truck.
Agreed! That’s an easy and cheap upgrade.
I’m not worried about David clutch-dumping. But the previous owner(s) may or may not have abused the G80. Once the cracks start, they keep propagating, regardless of how gentle the current owner is.
I almost view these things the same way I do a Jeep TJ. It really doesn’t matter if it’s been beat to hell or not, nothing on that truck takes more than a day of wrenching and a few hundred bucks to fix.
Blow a motor? Somebody knows somebody with a TBI 350 in their garage they’ll let go of for 250 bucks. If you take longer than 5 hours to change the engine and have it running again, you either drank too much or you dealt with rust. Ditto for the trans, whether its an automatic or a stick. Get T-Boned? You can swap a new cab onto one of these trucks in like a weekend, and again, you might have 500 bucks in a whole cab with interior. They’re amazing.
They also come apart and go back together like legos! I once snapped a driver front CV axle on a trail, and It took a whole 15 minutes to fix, from sliding a jack under it to hopping back in to drive.
I’m happy with my G80, it’s not a performance diff, but it’s helpful in thick mud/slush/snow
The NV3500 is famous for chattering in neutral when you’re off the clutch. Mine did so even after a full rebuild. Aside from being a bit annoying, it’s not a problem by itself. It adds character to the truck.
If you have bearing noises (whine) under load, that’s indicative of wear. But, again, it isn’t necessarily a problem in the near future.
Also, “NV3500” refers to several series of transmission, with several different sets of internals and at least 3 incompatible cases. And there’s an S10 version of this transmission that’s quite a bit smaller. If you wind up needing parts, be sure you order the right stuff!
It’s not as strong as the (mostly) cast-iron NV4500 used in the 3/4-ton trucks. Folks with high-torque or hot-rodding applications might manage to break one.* But that doesn’t make it a bad transmission for a stock truck. It does that job just fine. And it’s funner to shift, too!
* Note – Freiburger and Finnegan beat on and raced an S10-series NV3500 for several years, and I recall the turbocharged engine died before the transmission did. It’s not a weak design, and holds up to abuse better than most.
Sounds strange but more often than not those things make that noise as soon as you put in a new non-OEM clutch. As long as its not EXTREMELY noisy, just run it. It’ll be fine.
As for the NV3500 itself, unless you’re planning to ABUSE that truck off road or add a crazy amount of power (And I know you’re probably not going to do either) that Tranny is perfectly fine, especially because most other popular options sacrifice driveability, fuel mileage, or both.
That same transmission has survived untold amounts of abuse from everyone from Off roaders in thier jeeps to teenagers beating the hell out of the family farm truck, you shouldnt have a care in the world about it.
is the whining when you’re on or off the gas? Aka when you’re on throttle, even lightly, it whines, and when you let off, it’s quiet again?
The transfer case in my Astro was doing that, found a junkyard unit for $150 and it’s quiet now.
It’s the transmission input shaft bearing. When I’m off the clutch in neutral, it makes that noise. When I’m rolling down a hill with the motor off and I’m in gear ON the clutch (i.e. the wheels are spinning the input shaft), it makes the noise.
ah, yeah, not a super fun repair whenever you have to pull the trans. Probably do clutch and stuff while you’re in there tho.
Does it whine under load? If not, I would not initially suspect the input shaft bearing. If it makes a buzzing/chattering noise only when the shaft is unloaded (both of the situations you describe), I wouldn’t worry about it. It’s a common trait of these transmissions.
Mine did so even after a rebuild that replaced all the bearings and the clutch. In my case I believe the noise was caused by the accumulation of looseness between gear teeth lash and the clutch springs (neither of which are adjustable). The resulting torsional looseness is enough to allow the clutch/input shaft/counter shaft to rock back and forth against each other periodically when unloaded, producing the chattering noise. But when loaded (in either direction), the springs and gears aren’t free to oscillate torsionally, and the chattering would cease. Annoying? Yes. But it didn’t cause any problems during the 6 years I drove that truck.
I’m not sure that your truck has the same problem as mine. But it’s worth driving the truck for a while to get more familiar with the problem. If it is the common chattering, it’s not worth messing with (and may not be fixable). If you have a bearing problem, you’ll be able to confidently identify that as the whine under loading (which you don’t seem to have?) will get gradually worse.
Either way, you have fodder for a future article!
From the photos it looks like the Galpin parking lot has a potentially dangerous number of empty spaces for you.
I’m looking forward to a “Galpin accidentally sold all my cars to auction” story soon.
I always knew you were a Chevy guy. Every time you talked about one you waxed poetic.
I’m a Mopar-or-no car guy, but even I admit these are the best damn half ton trucks ever made.
Nice! In a LOT better shape than my ’97 K3500, but mine has 400k miles on it.
David, it IS decades newer than your J10 which is by all rights a 1965 vehicle. GMT400s are great.
My J10 is great, too, but it feels truly vintage in a way that this Chevy does not.
Yes the GMT-400 may best bridge the old school vs modern truck gap (I just don’t like the GMT-800 styling and interior). Also the late (92-95) OBS Ford. Have driven and ridden in may of each. Still want a Squarebody though.
Would not kick this ride out of my driveway – probably try to keep forever.
Nah, 5k for a 4wd truck of that generation, regardless of transmission, is a good deal. Throw in the fact it’s LOW MILEAGE and it’s an even better deal. You could drive that to the midwest and likely list it for 8-10 and find a buyer.
When I bought my AWD Astro, it had around 100k and it rode fine, but I knew the front suspension was original. I decided to do everything all at once; put it up on a lift and replaced ALL of it, tie rods, control arms, shocks, bushings, sway bar end links, calipers, discs, brake lines, drag link, idler arms, etc etc etc. It was one of the best decisions ever, starting ‘fresh’ is so nice.
AWD Astro? I grew up in a 1998 Astro van! The thing was a tank; had a few AC issues here and there, but otherwise the thing was rugged and unstoppable.
Yessahhhh. Lifted 3-4″, all terrains, and installed a G80 locking diff in the back. Saw your comment above, I just searched G80 on ebay and found a rebuilt unit ready to be installed, was two hundo or so.
Astros are amazing, can tow over 5k lbs, short wheelbase for maneuvering, love mine. I put a chinese diesel heater in it, and it will stay warm even when it’s 5 degrees outside, so it is a fantastic road trip vehicle; no hotels ever needed!
What a badass build! We gotta feature you!
Nice work truck. I think it’s time to sell the J10. This appears to be a much nicer truck in much nicer shape. You don’t have use for multiple tow rigs. Send the Jeep to someone who will use it.
Good find!
I bought my ’93 4×4 3500 turbodiesel new in ’93, first decent vehicle I ever owned. I still have it, it’s always been garaged and is in perfect condition inside and out, 105 K miles. I take it to Radwood every year and the younger people love it. Other than the typically GM vague steering, it drives great and I’ve never felt the need to buy a new one. I also at one point also thought the design was a bit boring, but in these days of atrociously overwrought MACHO trucks, I love it now.
It’s not a stick shift, but I’m not a huge fan of stick shifts and diesels, having spent years driving 10-speeds and 13-speeds all over the country. IMO, sticks are fun with high-winding motors, work with low-revving powerplants.
I remember when these came out in late 1987. The small town dealer had a few early 88’s that they had sold. 2 months later, one had been a GM buyback as they couldn’t get the gauge cluster to work right. The other one that was sold was also a buyback as the owner went through 2 transmissions in 3 months. (The owner was tough on vehicles, and the 700R4 were…. not!) There were conversations within the community of how they were complete crap as compared to the outgoing square bodies, and how GM’s quality had tanked. Yes- This was late 1987.
Quality would get better in 89 and beyond. I never thought the GMT-400 era would be considered collectable, but they have. I owned a 92 and 93 Extended Cab, and the high back buckets are arguably some of the most comfortable seats ever.
Nice purchase, David. Enjoy!
Congrats! It looks like a really clean truck compared to what’s left around here in the Midwest. That interior is cool, I don’t think I’ve seen one with that two tone seat going on. If I did I forgot, or maybe it just had one of those blanket seat covers to hide tearing upholstery?
As good trucks go, it’s a very close battle between the GMT400 and the GMT800. Mostly it comes down to personal preference. I’d prefer the 800 with an LS and MPFI, but I’m saying your truck was well bought for YOU. Enjoy.
Congrats on the truck! Wild buying something not full of rust. The lack of headrests in trucks, even this new, is always surprising. I do not think they were required until 1991. If you retrofit the seats with headrests. please write up the process so we can all learn.
A super cheap and easy upgrade to these is to take out the old rotten bump stops from the front suspension (no tools needed) and install the version from later 90’s Z71 package trucks. Doesn’t make a night/day difference but these torsion bar suspensions rely more on the front rubber bump stops than you would think.
The Z71 trucks had a stiffer version so it makes the front end feel just a bit tighter.
That and throw some bilsteins on it, adjust the torsion bars (but not too much).
You might need to put some lube on the bump stops to push them in correctly.
It’s got Bilsteins on it! But I bet they’re old. I’ll look into the bumps stops; I’m amazed those get that much use.
Bilsteins last a pretty long time, from my experience.
And it is an interesting part of the GM torsion bar IFS design that makes it (sort of) a moulton rubber suspension. The bump stops are supposed to be touching the control arm to make it a progressive rate suspension, in a way.
Also…I think you need to add this to your fleet. The most rare GMT400 of them all.
A factory stick shift 1995 2 door blazer is for sale in CO:
https://fortcollins.craigslist.org/cto/d/fort-collins-1995-tahoe-door-4wd-speed/7814575459.html
Did you mean…
HOLY GRAIL
?
Great – Now you’ll be able to recycle cardboard and do lawn work all over LA!
Well I’m the guy who expressed skepticism that rust-free GMT400s were out there for $5K. Maybe in CA you can still find some.
Well bought.
We know “why” you bought it, but why did you buy it??? This goes counter to your mentality lately.
It’s awesome. Also, my gray i3 is sold and my 1958 Willys is right behind it!
And who knows, maybe I’ll keep this and sell the J10, or I’ll sell this and use proceeds to fix up the J10. In any case, for now, I’m just enjoying driving it.
Nice! Well done reducing the fleet. You’ll notice the lowered amount of stress related to the desire to want to maintain things pretty quickly.
I agree, though, the J10 is a very difficult vehicle to think about letting go. Good thing is now you have a very reliable work vehicle, something that has been missing from you life for a while.
I love driving this truck because it just works. No rust, no bullshit, just reliability and surprising comfort.
Sweet! Yeah, like I keep saying to my spouse about all the extra horse tack/saddles, someone needs that J10 so why keep it away from them?
Note: this argument does not actually work.
So with reference to last week’s article, what manual 4×4 truck did you find Brandon? I guess his hunt for a similar rig just got that much more difficult with this unit now off the market ;).
He found a CLEAN Jeep J4000. It’s a bit of a project, but I may fly out and help.
Oh sweet! Well done everyone, then!
“The couple is registered at Facebook Marketplace.”
Congrats David; it looks MINT.
COTD right here…
This seems to be going over my head
He is joking that your wedding gift registry is actually a list of old cars on Facebook Marketplace.
Whittles down vehicle count… promptly adds more vehicles.
More working vehicles is the key.
…but it’s a vehicle that can pull a car-carrier!
Dangerous…