Rocket Man's 02 Denali Build Thread AKA "THE BEAST"

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At least it's fixable!

Windshields are strong when something impacts it from the front. But they're relatively weak when impacted from inside -- much easier to crack them from in the cab.
 

Doubeleive

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Tuesday was a bad day for The Beast. I hurt it pretty bad. I was having a rough morning and things were out of kilter in my world, not sure what it was. Everything seemed backwards for some reason. Anyway I ended up at Home Depot buying (6) 10’ PT 4 x 4 posts that must have been stored in a pond. I could barely lift each one. And since it was backwards day I had my 110 lb dog with me, which I never do when hauling lumber because it’s not comfortable for him. Which I realize is now a problem after I arrive at the truck with the cart. So I’m loading these without dropping the 60% side of the second row because that’s Kinjo’s seat. I was getting the first one situated up on the dash and as I pulled it forward the back dropped off the lift gate glass area where it had been sticking out through. The back of that 80 lb stick dropped and the front popped up into….mr windshield. Bam and I mean bam. HUGE star 18” across. It’s done. So I get quotes from several places including the small glass shop that did my Silverado for $200 back in2018. They wanted $450 for this one. Safelite was cheapest at $287 out of and then I found a $60 coupon code so the total was $227. Paid and scheduled for next Monday. Pretty cheap especially nowadays and that’s on-site service.
why the huge price increase?
 
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Rocket Man

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Did the price of sand go up or something? I don't see any reason for glass to double in price
I think it has more to do with who needs work more. That was a 2019 price and everything has gone up since then but my point was you need to shop around because the companies that were cheap a couple years ago seems like in a lot of cases are now the most expensive. Another recent case was the carpet man I used a few years ago- this time he was almost twice what the next two guys wanted, and he knew I was a repeat customer. Seems like he didn’t care that he lost my business. Anyway, it’s all done. Had a nice talk with the young man who came out to do the work. He loved working on The Beast, liked how clean everything was when he took the moldings off etc., has some friends who are into lowered Chevy cars and trucks. He shot a video of it, running, listening to the whine of the blower and the lope of the cam. Did a great job, I’m super happy. Nice new clean glass with no pits. The glass is actually made in the US by Fuyao. They have a US plant that supplies most all the auto manufacturers with OEM glass. It looks good. They charged $127 for the glass and $100 flat rate labor/ materials which nowadays is super cheap labor for someone to come to you and work on your vehicle to do anything and replacing a urethane set windshield isn’t easy. There’s a lot of expensive tools required and you need to know your sh*t. Anyway, back to the backyard. Project #1 and #2 done, heat wave set in so project #3 is going slow and it’s sod removal ( just finished) and excavation/ concrete removal yay. Paver patio came out beautiful. It’s a local product designed to look like Columbia River basalt and the colors are oranges and browns that go together with the cedar. I used a wet look
sealer on them that brought out the color. Bought a cool hanging 11’ umbrella that rotates with the sun that I like too lol.
 

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BacDoc

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Made in USA is awesome!

Windshield gets worn faster than most people realize and if you have significant mileage and get it replaced you will definitely notice the difference!

Also pretty cool that installer was stoked to do this job on your truck.
 

RAMurphy

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I always love getting a new windshield installed by someone who knows what they are doing. Mark, absolutely love the work on the patio - nice job.
 
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Rocket Man

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The pond is kicking my ass. It’s up and running with the filter in my shed. I just about killed myself digging it. The ground here is rocks and hard pack. I hauled 16 trailer loads, one a day. It’s only 1600 gallons but there was a lot of site work too that contributed. It was real hot during one of those weeks.In the process, a few days back, I started peeing blood and I had no idea that was a thing without actually dying so I basically went into panic mode. Turns out it looks like an enlarged prostate that aggravated my bladder until it bled. The joys of getting old. Anyway, no pics except this one clipped shot. I need a grand worth of plants and another couple tons of rock. I have 2 yards of river rock and a yard of 1/4 clear but that’s just a start imo. Trying to imitate nature isn’t easy I found out. The trucks are suffering- dirty and neglected but I’ll get to them soon.IMG_1712.jpeg
 

RAMurphy

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The pond is kicking my ass. It’s up and running with the filter in my shed. I just about killed myself digging it. The ground here is rocks and hard pack. I hauled 16 trailer loads, one a day. It’s only 1600 gallons but there was a lot of site work too that contributed. It was real hot during one of those weeks.In the process, a few days back, I started peeing blood and I had no idea that was a thing without actually dying so I basically went into panic mode. Turns out it looks like an enlarged prostate that aggravated my bladder until it bled. The joys of getting old. Anyway, no pics except this one clipped shot. I need a grand worth of plants and another couple tons of rock. I have 2 yards of river rock and a yard of 1/4 clear but that’s just a start imo. Trying to imitate nature isn’t easy I found out. The trucks are suffering- dirty and neglected but I’ll get to them soon.View attachment 434166
Looks great Mark. I've always wanted to do something similar in our backyard but the work convinced me that maybe not. Maybe when I officially retire.
 

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