Abandoned Monster Truck: Chevy Silverado 2500HD Gets Its First Wash in 12 Years

They call it "the biggest barn find." It sure is in terms of proportions. It doesn't run, it doesn't drive, it's covered in a thick layer of dust that seems glued to the body and windows. And they have no idea how to drag it out of the barn. They can't even tell what color it is. That's how much dirt it has on it.

The detailing team went all the way to Ohio, on a three-hour drive from their headquarters, to work its magic on this 2005 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 Heavy Duty that has been sitting in a barn in the exact same spot for the past 12 years. It would probably still be sitting there if it wasn't for them.

The owner said he just left it there because it had some issues with the transmission so that it wouldn't go into gear. The one giving him a headache is a five-speed manual gearbox, mated to the 4.3-liter V6 engine that used to put the Silverado 2500HD in motion years ago. Gone are the days...

However, the owner of the truck would like to get it back on the road and off-road, too, an environment that should be familiar to it by the way it looks.

The pickup truck sports a bull bar and a winch at the front, plus protective grilles covering the taillights. So it looks ready for all sorts of jobs. It just needs to run and drive again. And to get rid of all the filth first.

The 2005 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD was lifted 30 inches off the ground with the help of a suspension lift kit and rides on 30-inch wheels. 30-inch wheels that are stuck. So, the team brings a tractor to tow the pickup truck out of the barn.

They couldn't load it up on a flatbed tow truck because it was too big and heavy, and the route was rough. So they tow it all the way to a garage located over a land of 480 acres, with the tires covered in mud. However, pushing the monster truck into the garage turned out to be the most complicated mission.

Work started with ripping off the mud and grass from under the truck and filling up an entire bucket with it. They try to remove everything they can by hand because pressure-washing the terribly dirty truck in the garage would be a nightmare to clean up, they say. Just taking the mud and pebbles off the wheels took over an hour.

Cleaning the wheel wells and tires was the next stage. To pressure-wash the truck, they need to get up on a bench. Otherwise, they would be unable to wash it any higher than the mirrors. They use a scaffold to film everything. Sweeping off the load bed fills the garage with a cloud of dust. But clearing off the dust reveals the rust.

Once the grime is out, the truck in Silver Birch Metallic shines as if it is trying to make up for the lost time.

Next up is the engine bay, so they can let the mechanic do his work under the hood without taking home a whole world of dirt. They do the pressure-wash but also need sponges and brushes to get the soil off.

Cleaning the undercarriage is easy because the truck is so tall, and the team doesn't need to get under it.

The cabin, though, doesn't look half as bad as the exterior. It is how the cabins of trucks usually do. But once the vacuuming is done, the carpet shows up full of stains that have to disappear.

A degreaser, a brush, and the extractor with hot water in it complete the mission. The rubber carpets are very easy to clean compared to everything else in there. Another box checked: this one is as good as new, too.

The seats go out for the exact same treatment because they have obviously not been treated well before the truck was abandoned in the barn.

To make the paint look like it did when the truck rolled off the production line 19 years ago, the team carried out a light polish procedure to remove several marks.

The chrome displayed a lot of oxidation spots, but a metal polish does the job, so all those silver inserts, as well as the chrome tailpipe and side steps, now look as shiny as a mirror.

The detailing stage is done, but the truck is only half way there. It will now be taken to a mechanic who will fix the transmission, and then it will be delivered back to its owner, who can't wait to see those wheels spinning again.

Hours later, the door cards, dashboard, and instrument cluster all look as good as new. That is it. We have to live with the idea that a 2005 Chevy truck is a barn find. Long gone are the days when all we called barn finds had seen the light of day back in the 30s and 40s.