New from Barnaul, Russia

[v7guy]

that's some beautiful scenery up on those mountains, looks like a good way to spend a weekend. That's disappointing about parts availability. For what you're looking to do, some skids for the oil pan and radiator along with a small lift would get you to the point you wanna be at. Barton and I both have some decent pics of the skid plates, shouldn't be hard to get made ( or make yourself) and would help significantly in the durability department.

[KE7WOX]

From what i have found: First generation Trailblazers were produced in Russia from 2004 to 2008. About 4000 cars were made. "Produced" here means they bought cars in North America, extracted engines and brought the engine and the rest of the car to Russia separately. Then just put it back together here. I guess they did it to "optimize" import taxes. So the production has never been localized i.e. no parts were made locally.

That explains why there are plenty of TB's for sale on the Russian Autotrader. I know Russia has (or had) some crazy taxes on western equipment, and that's why a lot of Russian airlines registered their western planes in tax-friendly places (Ireland, Bermuda, Cayman Is), so they probably saved a lot on taxes by finishing the trucks somewhere in Russia.

Welcome!

[87chevy]

welcome!