My Dad, who is 84, has parkinsons pretty bad now has had this 1999 K1500 suburban truck sitting in his garage for a long time. It was the truck we (him and I) used to pull his camper when we'd go deer hunting, carrying our gear when we went into the Boundary Waters in Minnesota and used for our general driving around when he and I were out and about. It hasn't been driven since 2017 when he more or less quite driving. Mom has been hounding him to get rid of it, since they don't use it and its just taking up space in the garage. He refused to do it. Turns out, he was holding on to it in hopes that I would buy it (course, nobody tells me anything). So one day, just before covid hit Mom says, "Dad wants you to buy the truck so it stays in the family and I want it out of the garage. Mom is a little batsh*t crazy on some things.. My wife and I were full blown into the Dave Ramsey get outta debt thing and couldn't come up with the money for it, so I told them if you really need it gone, you'll have to sell it to someone else, otherwise if you can wait a bit, once we can pay cash for it, we'll take it. Mom tried to convince Dad to sell it outright, he more or less told her to "get bent". Would have LOVED to be there for THAT conversation. Well, as of April, we are debt free and went up to my folks place to pick up the truck. Dad couldn't wait to pull it out of the garage, give me the rundown on all the stuff it had. He was like a kid again. It's more or less been a garage queen since they bought it in 2003 second hand (85K miles), now has 117K. No rust, or damage, the frame still has some of the original black paint on it. I found a card it it that had (in his handwriting) the directions to one of our old camping/hunting spots. Mom showed it to him and he immediately knew what it was and said "we need to keep that. I'd like to frame it and put it on the wall" So we took the truck home this weekend. I send a couple of pictures of his truck, out and about and sent them to him. Mom watched him as he was looking at the pictures and later texted me that she didn't realize how much that truck meant to him. Course, its not the truck, its the memories. I guess its the same for me too.
It'd be fantastic if you didn't have to drive it during the winter and could keep salt from it. Mighty fine specimen.
Too often, Mars and Venus are so far apart, the other doesn’t grasp what makes one happy. great memories I’m sure for both you and your dad.
That's a dang good looking suburban. Congratulations, and congratulations on being debt free. That's ahard thing to do nowadays.
Neat story. I hope my kids get to purchase on of their grandparents vehicles someday. Sometimes the material things bring out the memories.
What a great story! And awesome you were able to keep it in the family. Congrats! Way to go on paying down the debt as well!
So glad I wasn't drinking anything when I got to that part! Glad it all worked out for you to be able to keep the vehicle in the family, and that your dad is able to recognize that. Awesome job on the Ramsey project too!
Oh there are a lot of upgrades coming for the old 'burb. Getting shatter guard put on all the glass, rust coating, even though she'll mostly be a summer runner. Going to look into putting a bluetooth/screen in the dash. Most likely going to put a set of these (front and back). 1992-2000 Chevrolet Tahoe/Suburban Front Bumper - Iron Bull Bumpers They are pretty pricey, but cheaper than having the truck totaled out after hitting a deer. I was thinking about doing a 4" lift on it, but a buddy of mine who is much more knowledgeable said that will totally screw up the ride and IFS trucks don't like being lifted anyways. It has a 2nd battery tray, so I'm probably going to put a winch on it as well as start configuring the back for some mobile ham equipment.
Nice looking rig. Lots of possibilities with it. Hoping to get my dad's John Deere 40 down here this summer. Was my uncle's before he passed and dad wants to keep it in the family.
