alright everyone post a pic of there rides!!! guys and girls!!

[Sip]

Originally posted by anileve Nice tires, did you get them from Goodyear?

Those are BFGoodrich MT KMs (Mud Terrains). The Jeep has Goodyear MTRs. Since the MTs suck on snow, I left them in LA and now the blazer has the stock wheels with the original BFG Long Trails ... very boring looking and not that good offroad but pretty decent for regular street driving.

[PASAMONSTER]

thats a sweet ride seaphan. sweet man.

[Crimson Glow]

Seapahn: In all honesty, how has the Blazer been as far as reliablilty? I know you probably put that thing through a hell of a lot more then I ever would, but over all, how has it been for you? I'm looking at getting a '95 & up body style (like yours), but from what I've read, I want to avoid '95s and possibly '96s. Lots of fuel pump and injector problems, along with other random things. Sounds like they worked all the bugs out of the newer style after '97 on up.

I'm looking at getting one for a daily driver. I need an SUV because I do a lot of junkyarding during good whether for some side income on eBay. In fact, I've done so well on it in the few days out of the month that I get a chance to go, that I'm strongly contemplating quiting my job of 8 years to take eBay up full time. So any input on the Blazer/Jimmy/Bravada (<--- leaning towards that one) would be greatly appreciated from someone who's an enthusiast.

[Sip]

Passa ... thanks

Crimson ... tough question. I have had a few problems but as you said, I've put it through a lot. I justed turned 39K miles so everything up to this point, other than what I had messed up on it were covered under warranty.

This is not the regular blazer ... this is the ZR2 version which comes with a beefier rear axle, bilstein shocks, a wider and taller stance and 31x10.5 tires stock. I would definitely recommend the Z over the stock if you are going to offroad it as it's a very different beast.

Overall though, I mostly know about the 4x4s as I had a 92 2-door blazer (S10) before this so both Gen I and Gen II I know VERY well first hand. As far as the major stuff, like the 4.3 V6 and the automatic tranny (4L60E on the newers, 700R4 on the older ones) they are quite reliable. The transfar case lasts very well and the rear axle 8.5" 10-bolt on the ZR2 (7.5" on the regulars) are decent as well. The front-end on the 4x4 is weak though. Lots of people have ball joint and idler arm problems after wheeling. I haven't had too much problems yet mostly because I didn't lift it or run larger tires. Plus my wheeling style is more slow and controlled rock crawling.

Ok in order to keep this short, I am going to list the problems I have had:

1) Oil cooler lines leaked since day 1 - warranty fixed - this is a very common problem on these and easy to fix. Before buying, look under there at the oil cooler lines and the oil filter adapter plate and see if there are any leaks (behind the front skid plate on the 4x4s).

2) 4x4 transfer case module stopped working (computer) - Warranty

3) 4WD problem where it would try to go 4LO by itself - ended up being dash switch module - Warranty

4) The rear on the blaZeR2s sag - I added 2" lift shackles ... $50 and about 2 hours to install it myself. Pretty easy to do.

5) Gas gauge was off 1/4 tank and noisy fuel pump ... ended up being that I had crushed the gas tank on a rock. It has a stupid plastic shield over it that just folds in as in NOT a skid plate. Well, this was basically my fault so cost me $300 for the tank and $275 for the pump and about 10 hours in my back yard to change it. It was a b!tch to drop that old gas tank all by myself in 110 degree heat. Dealer wanted $1200 for it so in the end it was worth it - My fault.

6) 3 out of 6 cylinders started to missfire on one of my offroading trips in Utah (basically the left bank). I somehow made my way back to civilization and after having 2 dealers work on it in Utah and Nevada, they fixed it. In the end, they had changed the "DFI regulator" (plastic thing regulating fuel flow to cylinders), all injectors, and a couple of O2 sensors (oxygen sensors). The cat converter was plugged up for a while but it cleared itself after some driving. This was very strange but it may have cracked due to some of the crazy wheeling we did that week (very extreme angles and heavy loads). Warranty fixed.

This #6 might be related to the intake kit I had on it but I doubt that.

7) Busted a motor mount on the driver side due to offroading. Fixed under warranty but the motor mounts on these are known for being weak. For daily driving, you won't have a problem though. However, if the engine is under load and you hear the fan hit the plastic shroud, then know that it is the motor mount.


Ok so as a summary:
----------------------
These things are pretty rough, tough, use it and abuse it, kinds of trucks. If you want squeek free, rattle free, noise free, totally trouble free, luxury driving, then look elsewhere. But if you want a good truck for a good price that you can haul junk around, they'll do the job. The regular 4x4 and 2WD that are not offroaded should not have any front end problems ... the ZR2s in stock form are excellent for mild to moderate offroading.

I wouldn't keep one with more than 100K miles unless you have a good deal on it and it has been taken care of very well. The repairs could get costly. But the engine, tranny, and drive train are proven to work well and as you said, after the 98 redesign they really took out the buggs. Mine is a 2001. Especially the ABS breaking ... mine is 4 wheel disks so I would say don't get the older ones with rear drums. Plus the 98+ look much cooler!!!

I could tell you a LOT more about them so when you get serious about buying one of if you have any more questions let me know. Other than going into the engine or tranny, I have pretty much worked on all the parts of both this 01 and the 92 S10 which was quite similar.

[Crimson Glow]

Ummm... thanks for the thorough report! I will be looking at a regular 4x4. Off roading isn't in the plans (but you never know ). GM motor mounts have always been an issue. I'm replacing all my cars with poly bushings. May cause a tiny bit more vibration, but never having to replace them again is worth it, plus it will aid in crisper shifting/retrieving a bit of torque. Two of my cars are '89 Pontiac 6000 STE AWDs. The back end (3.42) is basically machined down parts from the front end of a Blazer. The system works in much the same way, too, except obviously you can't shut it off.

The computer for the 4x4 going out already seems a bit odd. And the switch going bad I've heard before. The injectors and O2 sensors seem to be a common issue, as well. Man, what happened to the days of just one oxygen sensor (like on all my cars).

This is definitely a good start for info. Buying one is still a ways off (house comes first), but I will definitely drop a line when I'm closer to purchasing one. Thanks!

[Sip]

I hear ya! The blazer has 4 O2 sensors. 1 on the left bank, 1 on the right bank, 1 after the y merge on the exhaust, and the other if after the cat I think or after the pre-cat ... not sure at this point.

It's good and bad at the same time ... I can see most troubles with just plugging in my laptop on the OBDII port and just reading off all the sensors and engine parameters (not to mention the codes) ... but the bad thing is that now you have to carry a laptop around with your wrenches

I have done a lot of electrical mods to the vehicle like an aux battery and a 1000W sound system with 3 amps so the computer going bad may have been due to that. Again, I can't know for sure. I haven't heard too many people having those problems. But to be fair, other than the oil cooler lines the other problems were probably offroading related.

By the way, I got a bunch of info about some of the stuff I've done to it here. The offroading pictures should be back up this week sometime when I get a chance to reset the server that has crashed.

[xBaron Dants]

Here's my "ride". In this pic, I just raced a friend who has the same vehicle. As you can see, I won!





Seriously though, I just drive my parent's Honda Civic.

[anileve]

Originally posted by Baron Dants Here's my "ride". In this pic, I just raced a friend who has the same vehicle. As you can see, I won!

At his triumphal entry into the holy land of Armenia he rode Antraniks and Zeitun's donkey. “Praise the new Minister of Armenian Affairs! Praise Baron Dants!” The crowd shouted as they welcomed their new savior.

[Crimson Glow]

The scary part is, that donkey's probably more powerful then the Civic.

[clubbin714]

I had to sell her a few months ago

https://www.cardomain.com/id/mogambie