You folks will probably think I'm crazy, and my wife would be happy to provide documentation to back you up too. But here is the story.
My family and I own a small carriage biz. We travel all over New England with a 2000 lb belgian draft horse and a fancy carriage in the back of a 30' steel trailer. Until recently I've always pulled it with an 04' Chevy Silverado extended cab 2500HD with the 6.0 gas engine. With the horse, harness and carriage, the combined weight of the trailer runs around 11,000 lbs and that truck works to move it on some of the hills around here.
Anyway, earlier this summer we headed out with 5 people crammed into the truck and pulling the trailer along rt-119. I was climbing a small hill about 40mph when a deer suddenly appeared like a giant hood ornament. Despite being stuffed completely into the engine compartment and twisting the bumper into a large horseshoe, the bloody animal got up and ran into the woods, leaving a big pile of deer poop in the middle of my windshield.
Well after 2 months and $4000 of bodywork I finally got the truck back, but decided #1) I needed a backup truck so we're not out of business if the truck breaks down or something, and #2) I need a BIGGER truck for both pulling those hills and running over Bambi.
So I stumbled upon a 73 GMC 6000 in fair condition for $500. It only has 54K on the odometer and the 379 V6 gas engine runs pretty good. The problem is I need a cab big enough to carry 5 people. So here is where my wife starts rolling her eyes at me. Those cabs aren't too much different from a pickup if I'm not mistaken, so IF I can find a crewcab, it shouldn't be too much work to put it on right? Makes sense to me anyway, now if I can just FIND one!
BTW, 2 months after I got the truck back from the body shop I hit another deer on the NY thruway at 70 mph, but fortunately it got the side of the trailer instead. Grilled venison anyone?
