New guy intro plus a couple of questions

[rob03tb]

Hello everyone. I'm Rob and I live in the Columbus OH area. I want to first start off by saying thanks for a great site. Learned a bunch about my truck just looking around. I have a 03 Trailblazer 6 cyl 4WD short wheel base and open diff and 3.42 gears. I sold my 2000 Blazer ZR2 this past summer for the 03TB. The TB was such a good deal that I couldn't pass it up. Night and day difference on road manners and towing my Firebird to track days. The blazer just felt like it was designed in the 70's, oh wait it was... But off road, the Blazer in stock form is so much better than my TB. I've spent some time researching your posts and have found out what works and what doesn't and what I pretty much want to do to the TB. My goal is to make the TB at minimum, as capable as the Blazer ZR2.

Which leads me to a couple of questions I was hoping someone could help me out with.

Build plan:
31" or 32" tires
2" or 2.5" front lift
not sure on the rear lift yet
G80 or eaton LSD (forgot the name but torsion type) rear diff. I want a true locker but no plans to swap for a 8.6"
goodyear duratrac or general grabber AT2 tires

1) The tire size's I have settled on are 265/75 R16 or 265/70 R16 Basically 32" and 31" tires. From all of the posts the 265/70's probably will work on stock rims no spacer no lift and the 265/75 work with lift and wheel spacer.

I tow a car trailer 6-7 times a year about 5000 - 5500lbs. Any one tow around 5500lbs with 3.42 gears and 32" tires? Any issues? Is it a slug? over heat issues? trans hunting between gears to much?

will 32"s make the truck's transmission hunt between 3rd and 4th on the highway unloaded?

2) wheel spacers with the 32's Has anyone had any issues with them? From this site I've learn there are only two brands to consider. The Lift Meister or wheel adapter.com. I have not seen any one that had issues but wanted to ask in case I missed a post. I would prefer to get new wheels, but can't find any with 1-1.5" less back spacing.

Should I be concerned with wheel spacers, 32's and the extra load from towing a car?

3)Anyone solve the speedo error with tall tires? I saw a couple of posts but didn't see a solution. unless I passed over it.

Sorry for the long first post, I figured I'd list all the questions in one post instead of bothering everyone multiple times.

Thanks for your input.

[Crazytb]

Hey rob welcome to the site

Im no expert at all and im sure theres a thread on the towing but i have 265/75 16 duratracs with 3.43s and i've towed a 23 foot boat. First for towing definitely do research. These trucks sway with big loads so get a stabilizer. I drove in 4 but i recommend 3 with that much weight because any hills might be an issue with the tires and 3.43.

As far as the tires and spacers. I have had my wheel spacers over 4 years and still going. I got them back by a guy named fred who was the only one but make sure your retorque them because they settle after you start driving. Definitely get the coil spacers also because you'll bottom out on bumps with 265/75 16 without them..at highway speeds the gears handle the tires..taking off suffers a little especially if your going from stock tires and that can cause lower mpg..best way to fix the speedo is a pcm4less tune. They will also take care of lag from torque managment and give much needed hp low end for your towing and tires.

All in all make sure to retorque the spacers after some driving. Im not sure how long but i think like a couple hundred miles..sooner if you suspect anything

Definitely look into pcm4less for power and the speedo..if you dont when your speedo says 70mph your actually going 75

Research everything you can for towing because when i took the boat over 55mph it felt like i was loosing control

As far as lift i just got the markmc 3in and recommend it..check out the z71 springs out back. If you do both in the rear put bds or pro comp shocks because stock are to short..suspensionmaxx also has coil spacers if you only want a slight lift but markmc is a member here and proven reliable


Like i said im no expert but there are guys on here and treads that cover most questions you could have. Research is key here seek and ye shall find but hope i pointed you in the right direction

George

[djthumper]

Welcome! Rob with those questions and the replies you will probably get on this you may want to start a separate thread with the questions. Maybe even edit this so it is your intro and have a link to the thread with your questions.

[NC_IslandRunner]

Welcome!

If you don't plan on axle swap in the rear the only locker you can get is the Eaton G80, no true locker available for the 8" rear end. But the G80 should due for what you described.

[chevycrew]

A computer tune cannot fix the speedo issue, there is the speedohealer, superlift truspeed, and another one out there that work.

Towing, don't tow in overdrive. If you run in od with the torque converter unlocked you face meltdown. Add a trans cooler and gauge anyway.

I would upgrade the rear axle and buy a locker for it, the stock rear is weak, and that is amplified with big tires, a locker, and towing

[Crazytb]

The tune can reprogram for the tires..i think hes just refering to the diameter difference

[djthumper]

The tune can reprogram for the tires..i think hes just refering to the diameter difference

Not before the 2006 models

[chevycrew]

The tune can reprogram for the tires..i think hes just refering to the diameter difference

The 2002 -2005 models CANNOT have the speedometer recalibrated for a difference in tire diameter.

Which is what the OP is concerned with.

[bgwolfpack]

Anyways…you've got lots of reading to do that may help with the questions.

But Hey! Welcome!

[Crazytb]

Oops sorry for the wrong info..chevycrew thanks for the correction

[Rob93]

I have 3.42 gears, 31" tires, and tow a jeep cherokee on a car trailer, roughly 5500lbs. Luckily there isn't a hill within a 300 mile radius of me. 4.10s, the v8, or an entirely different tow rig would be nice.. Keep it at 60 or so and its not too bad

[rob03tb]

Thanks everyone for your replys

[Mooseknuckle]

Welcome to the site