I Spent $74,000 To Fully Restore My Old Duramax! WAS IT WORTH IT? 

My 2005 duramax was stolen about a year ago and I’ve lost all hope of getting her back. I drove her all across the US and never left me stranded. I’m heartbroken. Such great trucks.

Again thank you Josh for sharing! I’ve been watching this build from the ground up and it’s so amazing to see her done!! Beautiful pickup! I wouldn’t ever get rid of it

Beautiful truck

Man I don't care at all what anyone thinks this thing is awesome

I would gladly pay $80k for that truck!

Sad to hear about jake. Nice that u didnt leave him out of the video.

Yes it's totally worth it. That truck is just as good, if not better, and just as new, without any modern BS to worry about and still actually cheaper. I justify spending money on my old Duramax with this logic to people all the time.

I put over 40K into my old 2008 2500HD Duramax/Allison last year. Im the second owner. It had 427,xxx miles when I decided to keep it and rebuild it. I will never get the $$$$ back that I have put into it over the 9 years that I have owned it but I will always need a HD truck so keeping it is just fine with me. Somewhere in the 60k range invested over 9 years? I have put 350,000 miles on the truck since 2015 and most of these miles were towing for my business so it has paid and continues to pay for itself. The truck (body) now has over 460,000 miles and still looks and drives great. I dont think I would take 60K cash for it to be honest. I could not replace what I have for 60K in todays market. FJB

Looking to get a truck. Definitely between the 04-06 (GMC or Silverado) I was just going to get gas. (Because I don’t tow anything) But a buddy of mine swears to the diesel and said to get one even if I don’t tow. I want to hear others 2 cents.

Do you have a stated value insurance policy? Cuz thats what i always wonder about with putting money like that into an old truck

Congratulations on a job well done! 👍 Did you ever consider coil overs on the front?

It's a nice truck I love the stance. Only thing I never liked on these trucks is the big rims and rubber band tires.

Kryptonite is the best hands down

Simply stuff an LML with upgraded pump in a 01 vin truck with an interior swap and and 06 hd front. Emissions not required when placing newer engines in older vehicle. Unless your state/county requires it, even so it’s only the admissions standards of that year. Stuff I good cat and run I clean tune, if you’d even need one. The ability of that tuning platform can leave a pretty clean trail. A truly forever truck. That is if the frame is good. 😂

Killer build! I would love the chance to do that with my 03, 05 or 08! Fantastic job!

I agree, for you it makes total sense to do this build, you get to partner with people who then get their name out in terms of sponsorships, and you get paid to make the content, and we all get to enjoy it. But if you aren't a youtuber it makes it a lot harder of a decision, unless you just have disposable money, but there is also no way I could afford one of the newer trucks. The one big difference is you can get a loan on a new truck, you could put parts and stuff on your credit card, but very hard to finance a build. The other thing is what you plan to do with a new truck, even though this is cheaper, you still couldn't tow as much if you plan on towing massive toy haulers or campers or be a hauler for a business, then you have to be super legal and not go over your GVWR. I really don't like the newer trucks emissions and all that stuff, but I have a friend with a 2022 GMC 3500 and it rides so much better than my 02 GMC 2500. Granted I don't have all the front end replaced with Kryptonite, I replaced a lot with Moog, but still need to do the steering box. The new trucks also have all the fancy electronics, like cameras and stuff, which are cool, but whats going to happen to those in 20 years, are all the sensors and cameras and computers going to still work? The only thing I wish your truck was is a crew cab. I plan to do some basic mods to my truck, I want to pull the bed and paint the frame to prevent rust, but won't do powder coat. I also need to do the cab corners and rockers. After that I probably won't do too much to it. You should consider on your next build maybe get a newer truck that has over 100k miles and maybe the emissions junked the engine, then swap an older pre emmision deisel engine into it, then you would have best of both, a newer truck that can tow more and the better engines.

If I had $80k to spend on a truck for my wife this would be definitely on the top of my list.

Love this video. Awesome job on the truck. I am currently debating a restoration or replacement of my 03 cclb LB7...

Truck looks amazing!! Who cares how much $ you put in that truck! I would do it in a heartbeat!! Great job!!

The biggest reason why I bought a 2005 duramax because I love the sounds and attitude of the engine

I did a rebuild on my 1975 ford f-100 l paid $5,100.00 for I new I spent over $7,000.00 rebuilding it ,didn't make much sence but what can I say

Truckmaster you want another project truck to do on your channel? I have an 06 lbz, full kryptonite ultimate front end, redhead gear box, arp studded, 100 over injectors, 68mm screaming eagle stage 2 turbo, fass 165 fuel pump.

Nice truck and great explanation Josh. God bless ya brother.

Definitely worth it for that generation of truck...and the bonus part its your wifes truck 😊

I have my dad's 07 with 497K miles on it. Head gaskets have been blow for the last 300K or so. It will get this treatment eventually.

This a very nice build. I am going to be importing an old man owned LLY CCSB 4x4 with 165K from New Mexico to Michigan and I hope to do something similar. I just wanted to be ahead of the rust game after owning so many rusty GMT800s. This one will only be summer duty though.

It’s not about the money it’s about the adventure!

I own a 2024 2500hd and absolutely love it. I think the biggest difference I didn't hear you hit on is yours being non emission which means the world in longevity

I had a guy argue that an 48RE will be a good Duramax swap and as an ex rebuider I said no way. Allison all the way. Do you agree. You keep doing your thing we love it.

Nothing these days is cheap when it comes to fixing it the way that you want it. You get what you pay for..at least you know what you got. I enjoy your channel brother.

I have a 2005 silverado 1500 it was the last truck my dad owned before he passed away in 2017. It's my daily driver now it runs like a champ but rust is starting to take over. I'd love to get the bodywork done but I can't afford it so I will just drive it for now.

GMT800 has more comfortable seats... No brainer!

Love the break down. I purchased my first diesel an LBZ in November last year. Used a few of your videos for repairs and upgrade ideas.

Big part of it also comes to your willingness and ability to learn too.

Your videos are great man I have change my water pump and motor mount on my lmm Duramax by watching your videos keep it up man your videos are greatly appreciated

If I were a rich man I would give the 80k for your truck. I would never buy a new truck even if I was rich. I would not want all the stupid epa requirements. I will always be a less government control citizen, don't get me wrong I love my country, but I don't love our ungodly and corrupt government.

I really like the wife Max pick up truck

Awesome build Josh, enjoy your vids. Am up in Calgary, had my beloved 06 LBZ stolen as well last Jan. Took me 9 months to find her replacement- 07 CCSB LBZ - found my old expensive parts at the wrecker when it was found (Titan Tank, FASS & FS-2500 Oil bypass). Next up: EGR DELETE, PPE Headers, Banks diff cover….and lastly TransGo jr for the Allison. One day will take a cpl weeks and come down to meet ya..!! Cheers bro Theo

What’s all done to the bottom end? I what to compound turbo my truck sometime in the future!

I love how detailed you are in your work. would you consider doing a giveaway? Not a material type giveaway one where one of your followers like myself could bring their truck and do custom mods with you?

Hey Truck Master I spent 3 Hours creating a playlist of Wife Max, over 100+ Videos, I love the wifemax out of all of them, hoping to buy one just like WifeMax

Thanks for sharing the story and details. Appreciated!

You got skills...My compliments on your hard work.

You’re right. I hate the wheels, but the truck is bad ass. Keep up the good work!!

Hey I’ve been watching your videos for years i have a 2010 gmc duramax and have an hsp bundle kit a stage 3 leveling kit and unlimited front end from Kryptonite and I’m feeling very Hesitanton doing the work myself I’m from the central Michigan area and wondered if you are looking for some content although i know you have tons of hsp installs

Fun fact: I don’t even own a diesel, but I love them. Growing up we had idis, powerstrokes, etc. I’ve been following your channel for years, your attention to detail is immaculate. Hope to see you and your family continue to grow and be successful. And keep these old diesels on the road!

I just have to say it's one nice truck

Beet wheel and combo on it that you both have had on it yet! It looks great and I'm not even a duramax dude. I'm a 6.0 ford dude so anything I do is a waste of money to some because there definitely aren't as many of us as there are duramax dudes lol

80000 worth it to you because it meets your exact dream specs but probably not to someone else who would have something different in mind. Customs are exactly that, one of a kind and worth it to the person who wants one.

The videos of the wifemax where the best ever I did get to see the rig yes it is worth it I hate to see an end to the build 😂

Under 1000hp not worth more definitely

Awesome video man. Thanks for helping me get what I need to figure out with my truck with your videos. Keep them coming

Hey Josh, I am new to the Duramax world I’ve had cummins and power stroke trucks before. The guy I bought myLB7 from told me that you have to be really careful jump starting them? He said you ran the risk of frying the gauge cluster and or the transmission control module if you do it wrong. I’ve never heard of such an issue because I’ve never owned the Duramax.

&&& gets stolen or written off. Insurance paycheck. $20k 😢

I like this truck. Color & all bc its for the wife. Wheels is the only iffy part.

4:45 finished Sunkist sighting 👀

Again thank you Josh for sharing! I’ve been watching this build from the ground up and it’s so amazing to see her done!! Beautiful pickup! I wouldn’t ever get rid of it

It makes perfect sense to build your truck versus buying a new truck. You know exactly what you have and it is built exactly as you want.

Forget the haters. The truck looks great!

This has nothing to do with this video but curiosity, have you seen the new fass egr filter? Do you see any benefits? Can you test it on an L5P? The questions I have about it are. Does it do anything good or bad to performance? Does it help or hurt the regen frequency?

Awesome video. I’d take that over a new one all day long. I love the channel!!!

Josh, all I can say is Word!

Keep up the good work brotha

It looks amazing build I would done same build to restore it

I'm about half way through the video and before I even finish watching it, hands down I'd rather spend that kinda money fully restoring my current truck when the time comes instead of buying a new one. There's a million reasons why so no point in listing them, but if my truck survives long enough to see at least 300k miles (hopefully more like 350k), I am 100% fully restoring and rebuilding it so it'd be like owning a brand new truck built exactly how I want. It's 2-3k miles short of hitting 250k, with the exception of regular maintenance and replacing some little things here & there simply because they got worn out mainly due to age and mileage, my truck's been more reliable than any vehicle I've ever owned.

Also who in the hell wants to pay 1000 a month on an emissions ridden junk truck that half time wont run without a backordered part that there are lots full of and everyone has?!?! If those are worth 90-120k then the wifemax is for sure an 80k truck

Love the build. but what was the reasoning for building an extended cab as opposed to a crew cab?

Love the wheels it's the best ever made

Great looking truck and build!

Great job nice truck! But there is now way I would’ve not straight Axle’ed it!!!! Would’ve had the perfect truck!

I would’ve done the same thing you did with wife Max lowered nice tires nice rims nice purple accents it’s pretty cool 😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎

D Max swap a Tahoe or suburban

hey dont gloss over jake. we need a moment of silence he helped in starting a great channel especially for me cuase my first show i saw was him getting it to you. not sure what happened to him but far to young

Josh... great job. 👍 I have to say I have been watching this channel since you started. Your achievements are outstanding. Your content is outstanding. You have a great family. Watching you and Mrs Truckmaster working together... outstanding. I venture to say that you inspired a few others to become a couple in producing their channel. That speaks volumes about you and the relationship between you and Mrs Truckmaster and your character. You have never hide your faith and the role it plays in your life and your family life. Outstanding. I can go on but I don't need to... one word sums it all up.. OUTSTANDING. Congrats on everything and keep doing what you're doing. 😎👍

Long live the LB7!

hey truck master i’m at a lost so i’m new to Duramaxs i just put a fass fuel system on my 2007.5 single cab 2500 and it runs great i love it but when i get into it because it has a EFI live 5 switch on it send the truck into reduced power and the only way i can get out of it is if go and reset the fuel filter on the sets the factory pump has been deleted it’s not on the side not more idk how to fix this problem thank you

Nice work, good to see a new old truck, you can't sell that truck with all the meaning behind it 👍

I think it is worth it if you’re going to keep it, not if you’re flipping it, I hope you do a cost breakdown of Sunkist, and maybe do a 6.5 build, I have never seen or heard of that type of build before!

My 09 had a box frame 🖼️

I loved your content from this build. Do an LLY next! Do a flatbed!

I love it man. I love watching these truck build videos

Where do you get a new wiring harness for the old lb7 ? I’d love to have a new one, mines starting to crack up a bit on the plastic wire covering. Thanks for any advice.

Excellent job!

Uhm - Anyone got one of them NADA unused chevy 2500s turbo diesel quad cabs for 18k ? 😂

Seems like I guessed $50k in the beginning. I sure fricking missed that! I wished you would do just a $30k upgrade on my 07’ ride.

This is a top tier build You can build a older truck real nice and stock With a updated interior for less than 25k

You're going to get legitimate $80k offers.

Young Anthony Martinez Gary Jackson Ronald

Really nice work dude. Way to follow thru !

Whats with the wheels that stick out!!! STOP! Doing that it looks dumb.

I love how it came out, great job for sure!

Robinson Edward Hall Scott Hernandez Anthony

No

Thompson Michael Brown Richard Lee David

Imagine whistling diesel showing up with the cash. Would you still sell knowing it’s heading to its destruction.

Jackson Thomas Jackson Susan Jones Kimberly

Moore Jennifer Walker Charles Gonzalez Linda

White Anthony Thomas Helen Martinez Susan

Wholly crap that’s a chunk! But man is it beautiful Josh!!!

You did basically build it twice