Ahoy from flooded Colorado!

[DanPaul000]

Hi all,

Well I just wrote you all a nice long greeting and intro and then my browser crashed when I hit 'Post'. Hurray! Here's the short version:

I have a 2004 Trailblazer LT 4.2L 4x4 with 190k. I've had it for a few years and fell in love with the platform and the truck is in great shape considering the mileage. I've taken her off-road a number of times but the low stock height is pretty limiting. After spending a night in the back of the truck stuck in a snowbank in the mountains, waiting for a winch out the next morning, I decided that wasn't going to happen again.

The Trailblazer is still 100% stock as I haven't had the money to make non-essential upgrades or repairs. A new job has been recently changing my opinions on what I can do with my toys, though...

I love going on long road trips and going camping so I'm looking into making some mods to build it out as an expedition-ready rig rather than a rock crawler. It's also my daily driver and I commute 60 miles a day so road-comfy is a must for me. My thoughts for initial upgrades are 2-3" suspension lift, new shocks, stiffer springs, wheel spacers and some bigger A/Ts.

Realistically, I probably won't make any upgrades until spring, so I'll have plenty of time to research and find the right parts. I'll also have hit the 200k mark by then.

I am wondering if anyone has thoughts one way or the other on starting a build-out with so many miles already on the truck? Is it still worth it? I think it is. I know it so wildly depends on how you drive it, as many of you probably put yours through more abuse at low-mileage so it might not make a difference. The engine still runs smooth and the tranny was replaced and t-case resealed at 170k, and I've replaced a lot of stuff under the hood as it's broken from time and wear.

Thanks, all!

Cheers,
Dan

[mikekey]

Welcome to the site!

How's the rust? Best to take care of your basic maintenance items first. Plenty of articles around here and how to's that cover most of the basics. Rear, diff, front dif, the spark plugs, cleaning the throttle body, checking things like the shocks, CV's, all your rubber, the ball joints, etc.

Then you can map out what you think will work best for you. Guys like JamesDowning, TheRoadie and myself have setup our rigs for various levels of expedition travel, so be sure to check out the build threads.

We've got a group buy going on right now on what almost everyone here considers the best lift for the front of the car that most likely won't ever happen again you might want to look into. First time a bunch of us all at once want something and they're offering to give us a 20% discount.

Be sure to add your location to your profile too.

[bgwolfpack]

Ahoy Dan! Sounds like you have a plan. Congrats!

[v7guy]

You've got solid advice there from MikeKey. I'll take a second to put more emphasis on the radflo coilover group purchase. They will make your lifted truck ride better than stock and there is a big discount going on right now. I'd strongly urge you to try and get in on it.

You'll find a good number of trucks here from very mild to pretty wild. You'll probably want to start out reading the stickies, and then checking out the build threads.

[Karo]

Welcome Dan! I have to agree maintenance first and after that the upgrades. Lots of useful information in the build threads here, all depends on your mission theRoadie would say.
I have decided long ago to keep the Trailblazer so take a look to prevent the TB from rust and check for fluid levels and oil in the diffs and the transfer case.
Share your road/camping trips with us and take some pictures.
Karsten

[djthumper]

Howdy.

[DirtyBacon04]

Mike and Jason pretty much got it all covered... Sounds like you got a mission. Also sound like you got a head start on your plan of attack. Good work. Alot of info on this forum, alot of people willing to help. Do your research, and we'll help where we can. Also be sure to update your location...

(C'moonnnnn Central Florida.......... C'mon!! The words "flooded Colorado","snowbank" and "mountain" dont give me much hope though)

[ErikSS]

Welcome to the zoo!

[ErikSS]

Welcome to the zoo!

[DirtyBacon04]

Meet Pete and Repeat...

[Opeth]

Welcome!

[HARDTRAILZ]

Hi

[Cable810]

(C'moonnnnn Central Florida.......... C'mon!! The words "flooded Colorado","snowbank" and "mountain" dont give me much hope though)

You sound like me lol

Welcome!!

[87chevy]

welcome

[jonbo2002]

sup!

[DanPaul000]

Hi guys!

Thanks for all the responses and welcomes! Looks like a great and welcoming community. I'm travelling a lot in the next few weeks so forgive me for slow responses.

Added location to my profile...yes I do live in Colorado, a bit west of Denver right at the edge of the mountains. My TB (and me!) grew up in Massachusetts, so the underbody has seen its share of rain, snow and salt. Given that, it's still in damn good condition in my opinion.

There's some rusty patches on the undercarriage, but nothing rusted through and no rust on the body or under the hood. I've crawled around underneath enough and really have no hesitations about the structural integrity of the frame.

As far as maintenance, I do all of it myself so I have a pretty good feel about what is in good shape. In the last 18 months a lot of things broke, but are now shiny and new:

Alternator
Starter
Battery
Brake pads
Fan clutch
Water pump
Serp belt
Power brake booster
Wiper motor module
Transmission (I let the stealership do this one)
T-case resealed and filled
Coolant flush
Spark plugs

So pretty much most things under the hood except the engine itself. The only other thing in that area I'm thinking about is going through and replacing all the hoses and doing a thorough inspection of the radiator and cooling system and preventative work as needed.

I'm pretty sure the diffs have never been serviced. Everything attached to the axles and suspension is stock and never had/needed work. Good idea, MikeKey, on inspecting the CVs and boots.

Will stock ball joints and wheel bearings hold up to off-road abuse? Mine have a lot of miles so will probably replace them at some point anyway, but do folks bolt on heavier-duty ball joints and bearings when they need replacing?

I'll look into the deal on the front-end lift.

Thanks everyone!

Dan

[mikekey]

My upper ball joints are shot, I'll be replacing them and the lowers soon. I am swapping them out with Moogs.

MOOG Part # K6663 lowers and MOOG Part # K6664 uppers

We just had a discussion in another one of the threads that is probably buried now about the hubs. HARDTRAILZ found a great source on ebay with a limited lifetime warranty and a few members have had them replaced with no questions asked.

This auction ended, but that's the seller: http://www.ebay.com/itm/350868903786?ss ... 1423.l2649

You probably don't need to worry about it right now, but some of us have been upgrading our tie rod ends with 2500HD TRE's.

[DanPaul000]

Good to know, thanks. Do these ever fail catastrophically, or will they ride rough for a while for you to know to replace them before its too late? I saw a post somewhere...may have been here, of someone's lower ball joint fracturing out in the back country somewhere, needing an expensive tow, etc. Was this more of an anomaly?

[navigator]

welcome, you're getting good advice...
If the radflos are out of reach, there should be an abundance of used lift parts available just before Christmas

[DanPaul000]

I think the Radflos are a bit more $$ than I am going for at this point. Is that price just for front coil overs? I really didn't think springs would be so expensive!

How do the stock springs do with spacers? I was reading that you can't do more than 3" in the front without SAS, so are the front lift options limited to longer/stiffer springs or regular length springs with spacers? Can you stuff the z71s in the front as well as the rear?