Has anyone had success purchasing a rebuilt titled G (post-auction)? Assume the worst (e.g., undercarriage damage, air bags deployed, etc.).

I’ve been looking for a rebuilt titled G65 with the idea of doing a portal axle conversion with 2 or 4 inch lift and 35 inch tires. How bad of an idea is it with the intent of this work to be performed?

Outside of a PPI, is there anything else I should be considering?

 

Are you planning on off-roading it hard, or just cruising around? You "should" be able to run 35s with no lift and portals on a G65. If you want to run 37s you would need a 50mm lift with portals.

If you are going to dump the money into portals, then why start with a truck that has a junk title? You're not likely to recoup your money on the aftermarket stuff when it comes time to sell. If the truck has a bad title to begin with you will likely have an even harder time selling it.

If your intention is to actually offroad the truck, then a salvage title might make some sense.

I've analyzed portal builds up and down, left and right. I'd love to do one, but I don't like losing money on my project trucks. I don't think it would be a profitable endeavor, and it might take awhile to sell. But if your intention is to just have fun with it then by all means do it, and post lots of pics and details on here so we can all watch how it comes along!

 

Good points. The intention of this truck would for it to be my forever G. I live on a mountain top with miles of dirt and rock roads near me so it would be off-road only with minimal pavement cruising. My thought is that if I’m intending on putting this much work in the truck, then perhaps buying a rebuilt title would be an approach rather than spending the premium on a stock clean titled G65 followed by the portals/lift. I’m currently running 35s on my 3inch lifted 17 G63 (Fox adjustable shocks w/ springs and such) but I need the G65 (haha) and thought if I wanted to do a portal axle conversion, then why not on a rebuilt G65 to save some cash.

 

I'm with you 100% on going with a G65 if you are going to do it. The only reason we let go of ours was my wife liked the creature comforts and ride of the new G63 a little better after driving them both for a few months. She would have been happy with either, but in the end the new creature comforts won her over.

Saving some money on the upfront cost by buying salvaged title makes some sense, but I would think it would need to be a SUBSTANTIAL savings to make it worth fixing whatever was damaged to get it back up to snuff. Maybe see if you can find one wiith a branded title (manufacturer buy back) that's a good deal. There have been one or two floating around in the past few years that had them, and the buy back issues were minor (undercoating issue on one, and I can't recall the other but I think it was electrical). Or find one with Carfax damage report (that's already repaired), and get it at a discount.

In terms of suspension/wheel/tire, I'd probably suggest some ARB/OME springs, and FOX adjustable shocks like you have now. You may even have to play around with some spring spacers to level the ride. I ended up going with a 50mm front and 30mm rear spacer on top of the OME springs to get it level, and get the lift height I wanted to clear 35s. On paper, the weight balance of the G65 compared to the G63 is the same, but in the real world I found the G65 to be heavier upfront. Or, at least it compressed the front springs more than a G63. I couldn't even run the THOR springs at all because they compressed too much. I had to go with OME to get the springs from bowing too much. To keep your height down you could maybe just run a 20mm or 30mm spacer up front, and nothing the rear.

I'd suggest you run 37" tires which will improve the ride quality off road, and 37s are a good gearing match with the reduction afforded by the portals. You could certainly stick with 35s (particularly since gearing on the top end won't be that big of a deal off road), but the 37s would have some definite advantages in ride quality. Not sure if you saw it or not, but there was a post on here that 18" Alpha Equipt wheels fit over the G63 calipers (as far as I know they are the same as the G65), so you could get even better offroad ride by going with an 18" wheel. I'd be careful though, as not all 18" wheels are built the same, so others might not fit. Luckily the Alpha wheel looks good.

All of this being said, when you put all the numbers down on paper you might not be that far off a high mileage G Squared (unless you absolutely steal the G65 you start with). You miss out on the fun of doing the build, but you have a set up that was truly designed to work together. I'd probably still go G65 though!!!!

Edit: Quick search on Autotrader and there's a 2016 with ~50K miles listed for $105K. Damage on the Carfax, but obviously repaired. Might be a candidate if you don't mind the red/black interior.