Old Soul, New Style: A Clean Take on the GMT800 GMC Sierra

They’re 24s, But He Keeps ‘Em Clean

As much as it hurts some of us to admit, GMT800 (‘99-07 Chevy/GMC) trucks are pretty old by today’s standards. With three generations superseding it, it’s safe to say that this body style will be approaching “classic” status in short order. And as old as these trucks may now be considered, we bet you still see at least a handful of them every day – but probably none as clean as Daniel Pierce’s ‘06 GMC Sierra 3500.

But this isn’t just an old truck to Dan, as this GMC and he go way back. “My father bought the truck new in 2006, and had it until 2016 when I bought it from him. When he first bought the truck I was nine years old, so from then on my entire childhood was spent in that truck. Road trips, baseball games, even the first time my dad taught me to do donuts in the grass was in that truck. When the time came for him to sell it, I didn’t want to see it go to anyone else, so I sold the truck I already had and bought the dually from my dad.”

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With the keys now firmly in Dan’s grip, he set out to keep most of the truck’s history intact. As the owner of Remarkable Detailing, Dan knows that having a brand new shiny ride to show off to the potential customers would be quite the flex, but a spotless 18-year-old work truck goes a lot further in truly showing off how important it is to take care of your automotive investment.

As Dan tells it, “A big reason I wanted to keep a lot of those things original was to showcase what our company could do, and what better way than with a 300,000-mile work truck? I knew going into the build that I wanted to keep a lot of the originality of the truck to showcase how clean it was for the mileage. That meant original paint, grille, and exterior plastics. On the inside, original door panels, dash, interior plastics, and even the OEM leather to match the original textured finish on the interior panels of that body style truck.”

As a custom truck nut, though, Dan also had to make some changes to make the truck his own and add to the GMC’s legacy. The most dramatic of those changes was the set of custom-cut 24-inch wheels, which started out as standard Alcoa semi wheels before Wheels-A-Million got down with the CNC machine and custom-cut a design that Dan helped create. A 4-pack of 305/35R24 Nitto Terra Grappler G2 tires provide plenty of meat, which get extra traction with the help of the Wehrli Custom Fab traction bars mounted between the rear axle and frame. Wehrli also gets the credit for the skid plates, while a combination of Recon, Twisted Pro, and North Georgia Lighting LEDs add plenty of illumination both above, around, and below the cab and bed.

Of course, a big reason this truck is still on the road is the trusty 6.6L Duramax V-8 turbodiesel, backed by the venerable Allison 1000 six-speed automatic, but Dan couldn’t resist making some upgrades for a bit more fun while mashing on the “go” pedal. He had Rocket Man Racing do its magic with a Wehrli Custom Fab high flow intake setup, PPE high flow manifolds and up pipe, a DuramaxTuner Stealth 64mm turbo, a FASS Titanium 165-GPH lift pump with sump, and a Diamond Eye Performance 5-inch exhaust to wake up the Duramax without getting too wild.

Other than the aforementioned detailing and restoration, it didn’t take much to get the interior where Dan wanted it. Rear captain’s chairs out of a Suburban replaced the original rear bench, and a custom audio system built by Nicolas Gau at Southern Sounds are the most obvious, but at night the black suede headliner lights up with the starlight LED/fiber optic headliner kit shining bright.

Dan’s relationship with his Sierra transcends mere vehicle ownership – it encapsulates a lifetime of memories. Every enhancement he has made since taking ownership is a part of the truck’s story, meticulously curated to stand the test of time, honor its history within his family, and embrace his own creativity. And that, folks, is how it should be done.