Nice truck..but it looks like your headlights are in wrong. Looks like they're tilted up, caused by the headlight tabs not being in the slots in the core support. It's easier to get them in correctly if you pull the grill.
Blacked Out Xtreme
Been on the forum for awhile and decided I should do a build log of my truck.
Starting off, here is the truck of when I first got it. 2002 Chevrolet S10 Xtreme with the 4.3 Auto, 87.5k miles and originally from Michigan. For being from the east coast it was a fairly clean rig, definitely driven in the salt once or twice. I'm the second owner of the rig, or really my dad is since I was 15 when I first got it.
![Automotive parking light Tire Wheel Automotive side marker light Vehicle]()
I learnt how to drive in this truck, and loved driving it. My dad and I did LED headlights and fog lights, put some new balljoints and wheel bearings in it, as well as new pads with freshly turned rotors on the front.
Got my license and started daily driving it, which is when you find out how stupid a 16 year old with a month of experience is.
![Hood Vehicle Motor vehicle Automotive tire Car]()
I ended up backing out of a driveway on a rainy day, which had all my back windows fogged up so I was using just my sideview mirrors. Smacked right into a Silverado parked on the street, completely my fault. Owner was super chill and I did very little damage to his truck. Never had to go through insurance or anything, but now I needed to find a new stepside tailgate.
Got lucky and found one on offerup for $100 local within a week, same color, and even had the Xtreme badge on it. It was never as nice as the one I had originally but oh well, way better than the mess I made of that one.
Within the next two years there was mainly maintenance that had to be done on the truck, with a few small things I changed. Got 35% tint on the front two windows, and had my dads exhaust guy build me a nice catback exhaust system, leading to a single in dual out muffler. He also eventually did a new y-pipe for me, and a new catalytic converter when the original one went out.
We did the intake manifold gaskets, since they were leaking like all these later 4.3's do. Also found a nice bit of gunk in the coolant, presumably from stop leak from the PO. After that, my fuel pump had died on me, so that weekend my dad and I dropped the tank rather than pulling the bed. Then my belt tensioner took a crap, so went with a new tensioner and belt while I was at it. Did a transmission service, and eventually did a rear end service as well.
Here's a few pictures of all those projects and pictures of the truck along the way
![Wheel Automotive parking light Automotive side marker light Tire Sky]()
![Automotive parking light Land vehicle Automotive tail & brake light Car Vehicle]()
![Motor vehicle Hood Automotive tire Font Gas]()
![Automotive parking light Tire Wheel Land vehicle Automotive side marker light]()
Next post will start going into the fun stuff, modifications.
Starting off, here is the truck of when I first got it. 2002 Chevrolet S10 Xtreme with the 4.3 Auto, 87.5k miles and originally from Michigan. For being from the east coast it was a fairly clean rig, definitely driven in the salt once or twice. I'm the second owner of the rig, or really my dad is since I was 15 when I first got it.
I learnt how to drive in this truck, and loved driving it. My dad and I did LED headlights and fog lights, put some new balljoints and wheel bearings in it, as well as new pads with freshly turned rotors on the front.
Got my license and started daily driving it, which is when you find out how stupid a 16 year old with a month of experience is.
I ended up backing out of a driveway on a rainy day, which had all my back windows fogged up so I was using just my sideview mirrors. Smacked right into a Silverado parked on the street, completely my fault. Owner was super chill and I did very little damage to his truck. Never had to go through insurance or anything, but now I needed to find a new stepside tailgate.
Got lucky and found one on offerup for $100 local within a week, same color, and even had the Xtreme badge on it. It was never as nice as the one I had originally but oh well, way better than the mess I made of that one.
Within the next two years there was mainly maintenance that had to be done on the truck, with a few small things I changed. Got 35% tint on the front two windows, and had my dads exhaust guy build me a nice catback exhaust system, leading to a single in dual out muffler. He also eventually did a new y-pipe for me, and a new catalytic converter when the original one went out.
We did the intake manifold gaskets, since they were leaking like all these later 4.3's do. Also found a nice bit of gunk in the coolant, presumably from stop leak from the PO. After that, my fuel pump had died on me, so that weekend my dad and I dropped the tank rather than pulling the bed. Then my belt tensioner took a crap, so went with a new tensioner and belt while I was at it. Did a transmission service, and eventually did a rear end service as well.
Here's a few pictures of all those projects and pictures of the truck along the way
Next post will start going into the fun stuff, modifications.
1 - 5 of 5 Posts
Alright, onto the modifications. Most of this has been done in the past six months, after most of the maintenance and small fixes were made.
By far the biggest thing I've changed on the truck was the transmission. Went from the 4l60E automatic, to a NV3500 5 speed out of a 98' S10. I'd always known I would want to do it, and so when I found a junkyard that had one about 2 hours south of me I took the trip. Got the transmission, flywheel, clutch pedal, and the brake pedal cover. I followed this thread, almost to the tee, and it came out great. I got a new pre-bled master and slave cylinder with the line, had the flywheel machined at a local shop, got a clutch kit, rear main seal, and a few other small pieces through my work and amazon. After everything was set aside, I took the first weekend of my spring break, and with the help of my dad we pulled everything we needed to, cut the firewall and floor, and put in the manual. Only thing that didn't go smooth was my custom y-pipe I had no longer fit with the manual, so I had it modified to fit again. Here are pictures of that project.
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Of course with all of that comes about 12 CEL's, all due to the transmission, as well as the truck driving like crap with hanging/climbing rpm's. Instead of having a shop try to tune it, I chose to pick up HPTuners and teach myself. A little bit of money and time later, I had solved the Throttle Follower issues, cleared all the CEL's, fixed my speedometer since I'm running 235/60R16's, and a few other small changes in the tuning. To me I found the investment of the tuner well worth it, since I can go back at anytime to log and adjust the tune to my liking.
Another mod I've done was a Spectre Cold Air intake, mind you that very easily could be wasted money. I also changed the headlights and Taillights, then recently I went back and got the windows tinted to 15%, with ceramic as well to help with the heat. The next big thing was doing Belltech 3" angled blocks and 2" drop spindles, which brought the truck down just enough. I love the height now, it's still drivable as long as you're careful. Only thing now is that with the 235/60R16, I had to cut some of the inner lip on the fender flares, and any big bump will cause the tire to hit on my inner fender. I'll probably end up taking a hammer to it soon to clearance it a little bit more.
Here's how the truck sits today
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The next big post I'll make will be about the sound system in the truck, since that has taken up quite a bit of my time and money. After that I should be caught up with almost everything I've done to it for now.
![]()
By far the biggest thing I've changed on the truck was the transmission. Went from the 4l60E automatic, to a NV3500 5 speed out of a 98' S10. I'd always known I would want to do it, and so when I found a junkyard that had one about 2 hours south of me I took the trip. Got the transmission, flywheel, clutch pedal, and the brake pedal cover. I followed this thread, almost to the tee, and it came out great. I got a new pre-bled master and slave cylinder with the line, had the flywheel machined at a local shop, got a clutch kit, rear main seal, and a few other small pieces through my work and amazon. After everything was set aside, I took the first weekend of my spring break, and with the help of my dad we pulled everything we needed to, cut the firewall and floor, and put in the manual. Only thing that didn't go smooth was my custom y-pipe I had no longer fit with the manual, so I had it modified to fit again. Here are pictures of that project.
Of course with all of that comes about 12 CEL's, all due to the transmission, as well as the truck driving like crap with hanging/climbing rpm's. Instead of having a shop try to tune it, I chose to pick up HPTuners and teach myself. A little bit of money and time later, I had solved the Throttle Follower issues, cleared all the CEL's, fixed my speedometer since I'm running 235/60R16's, and a few other small changes in the tuning. To me I found the investment of the tuner well worth it, since I can go back at anytime to log and adjust the tune to my liking.
Another mod I've done was a Spectre Cold Air intake, mind you that very easily could be wasted money. I also changed the headlights and Taillights, then recently I went back and got the windows tinted to 15%, with ceramic as well to help with the heat. The next big thing was doing Belltech 3" angled blocks and 2" drop spindles, which brought the truck down just enough. I love the height now, it's still drivable as long as you're careful. Only thing now is that with the 235/60R16, I had to cut some of the inner lip on the fender flares, and any big bump will cause the tire to hit on my inner fender. I'll probably end up taking a hammer to it soon to clearance it a little bit more.
Here's how the truck sits today
The next big post I'll make will be about the sound system in the truck, since that has taken up quite a bit of my time and money. After that I should be caught up with almost everything I've done to it for now.
Attachments
1 - 5 of 5 Posts
