When it comes to iconic vehicles from television shows and movies, we start thinking about General Lee, KIIT, Herbie, the Ecto-1, and James Bond’s DB5. Coming to trucks now, the US is also known for its never-ending love for pickups. And we often see several Hollywood movies using popular pickup trucks for on-screen portrayal as well. We also saw the 1989 GMC Sierra 3500 being used in the famous action movie Lethal Weapon 2 where none other than Mel Gibson drove it and used it to pull down a residential structure!
Coming to the GMC truck from The Fall Guy now, it was a third-generation GMC K-2500 pickup truck and was equipped with the optional Sierra Grande package as well. In the show, the truck was used as a stunt vehicle and was seen jumping over cars and broken bridges. And for that, the truck was equipped with an aftermarket suspension lift kit along with bigger off-roading tires as well. Furthermore, the engine’s position was changed too, to make the truck perform the jumps more easily.
What is the 1984 GMC Truck From The Series?
The GMC truck featured in the series was from the third generation of the Chevrolet C/K model. And being a GMC badge bearer, it has the model name K-2500. The prime attraction of these trucks is the boxy design with slightly rounded edges and that squared-off brick-nose front-end design. Much like the present lineup of trucks from the brand, the K Series also came with several body styles and sizes and was categorized according to their capacities.
Coming to the featured truck now, to perform the incredible jump scenes, the truck received some modifications. Throughout the show, the truck was driven by the lead character played by none other than Lee Majors. Initially, the truck used was a 1980 model. To perform the jumps, the truck received a massive 6-inch lift kit along with massive 35-inch off-roading wheels from Dick Cepek. Later, the truck was upgraded to a 1982 K-2500 model with the Sierra Grande package. It was powered by a 5.7L V8 engine making 210 hp and 300 lb-ft of torque. The motor was paired with a three-speed automatic transmission.
What Happened To The Trucks?
The series involved the truck jumping over almost anything and everything. And that’s the reason it was given the special suspension lift kit. While performing the stunts, plenty of trucks were destroyed and General Motors was falling short on its stock of vehicles to donate just like that. As such, the production team came up with a brilliant idea to save money and to reuse the stunt truck. They took a 1977 GMC Sierra 1500 truck and custom-built it with their in-house mechanics. To make the truck sustain the intense abuse, they added a roll-cage to the bed and pushed back the electrical wirings as well as the engine towards the middle so that it would be easier to work upon later.
While the 1977 Sierra was used for the destructive stunts, in other scenes, the K-2500 units were used. Only a few units did survive after the show was over. And a majority of them were auctioned off as well. Later, a few recreations of the original truck were made and were sold in auctions as well. The most recent sale of an original stunt truck happened way back in 2003. And there aren’t adequate official records to track the current locations of the auctioned movie trucks either. However, in the recent past, several replicas of the movie truck keep coming up in auctions and sales from individuals. And it’s easier to make the replicas due to the good number of units of the vehicle sold by General Motors back then.
