- Dec 4, 2011
- 248
Lift Kit Steel B Front 3" Rear 2" Trailblazer 02 09 2WD 4WD | eBay
Thoughts? Reviews? Looks pretty easy, and the price is right on.
Thoughts? Reviews? Looks pretty easy, and the price is right on.
Ebay Lift Kit?
- Thread starter groundshock
- Start date
Look away, that appears to be an outside the strut spacer and it will destroy your CV, we just had a member over on offroadtb post about it and the expense he went through fixing everything was significant.
I would strongly encourage going with MarkMC/Liftmeister or maybe one of the other more well known companies. Multiple Ebay companies are selling these kits, I would stay far away from them all.
I would strongly encourage going with MarkMC/Liftmeister or maybe one of the other more well known companies. Multiple Ebay companies are selling these kits, I would stay far away from them all.
HARDTRAILZ
Moderator
- Nov 18, 2011
- 49,665
- Dec 4, 2011
- 248
BoldAdventure
Member
- Jun 28, 2012
- 1,634
HARDTRAILZ said:
37s? is there fine print saying "only if used with 3.5" backspace, and modification to fender and firewall"?
da fu(k?
BoldAdventure
Member
- Jun 28, 2012
- 1,634
groundshock said:
What I wanted to say in my first post was this,
NO THE PRICE IS NOT RIGHT ON!!!
The price is a dead give-away that it's complete garbage.
Trust us, offroadtb.com and buy from Mark.
- Dec 4, 2011
- 248
I've been lurking at ORTB for a while now. Soaking it all in, doing a lot of reading since it seems redundant questions are HIGHLY 'un-tolerated' there, haha.
Basically want to clone JamesDowning's truck. Gotta find a way to get that front bumper.
Basically want to clone JamesDowning's truck. Gotta find a way to get that front bumper.
BoldAdventure
Member
- Jun 28, 2012
- 1,634
groundshock said:I've been lurking at ORTB for a while now. Soaking it all in, doing a lot of reading since it seems redundant questions are HIGHLY 'un-tolerated' there, haha.
Basically want to clone JamesDowning's truck. Gotta find a way to get that front bumper.
I lurked for like a year before posting, lol. I think they hassle total noobies more, and you're clearly smarter than most and you've been around here plenty.
James is pretty much the same person I copied at first. Did all the same first mods, BDS, spacers, Z71 rear springs, flipped upper control arms, copied how he mounted his baja rack and light bars, even copied his CB mounting. The only thing I didn't copy was his tire size. Then took a trip out west and now we're going bigger and coming up with some of our own ideas.
The truck is actually my wife's daily driver at the moment. I do all the mods and she helps when I get tired of holding the wrench. But we enjoy overlanding together as a hobby since we're both into the outdoors. I'm not much for mudding or going to crawl rocks like some guys. It's mostly about where can we travel offroad and over land with this thing. And appearance is also important to us. It might be slightly rice or not hardcore to some of the other guys there, but I don't want the truck to look like a beat up POS or a redneck mobile.
Do you have a general idea of what you're looking to do first? 2 or 3 inchs?
If you're curious about, what is stuff going to realistically cost, I've been keeping a spread sheet. Which is actually kind of depressing when you see how much money I poured down the hole.
- Dec 4, 2011
- 248
I'm right there with you Mike. I looked thru quite a few of your threads there, some of your pics are dead though.
My goal is over-land stuff / camping / etc. No rock crawling, no redneck mudding. I want a nice looking, capable rig that can get most places and do most things, but still be daily driveable. Also increasing it's inclement weather capabilities is part of it too. It did well this year with the few big snows and actually pulled more than a few cars out, and that was a fun experience to help when others wouldn't.
I'm not going to waste the cash on the 2.5 just to replace it a year later with the 3. I'll go 3 with spacers and stock 17's, and I'd like to swap the rear end for the G80. Roof rack, lights, maybe a nice front bumper and winch down the line.
I'd love to see your spreadsheet, and more of your truck.
My goal is over-land stuff / camping / etc. No rock crawling, no redneck mudding. I want a nice looking, capable rig that can get most places and do most things, but still be daily driveable. Also increasing it's inclement weather capabilities is part of it too. It did well this year with the few big snows and actually pulled more than a few cars out, and that was a fun experience to help when others wouldn't.
I'm not going to waste the cash on the 2.5 just to replace it a year later with the 3. I'll go 3 with spacers and stock 17's, and I'd like to swap the rear end for the G80. Roof rack, lights, maybe a nice front bumper and winch down the line.
I'd love to see your spreadsheet, and more of your truck.
BoldAdventure
Member
- Jun 28, 2012
- 1,634
groundshock said:I'm right there with you Mike. I looked thru quite a few of your threads there, some of your pics are dead though.
My goal is over-land stuff / camping / etc. No rock crawling, no redneck mudding. I want a nice looking, capable rig that can get most places and do most things, but still be daily driveable. Also increasing it's inclement weather capabilities is part of it too. It did well this year with the few big snows and actually pulled more than a few cars out, and that was a fun experience to help when others wouldn't.
I'm not going to waste the cash on the 2.5 just to replace it a year later with the 3. I'll go 3 with spacers and stock 17's, and I'd like to swap the rear end for the G80. Roof rack, lights, maybe a nice front bumper and winch down the line.
I'd love to see your spreadsheet, and more of your truck.
Hmm.. I better go check my old links. I host everything off my own server most of the time. I need to update this spreadsheet with current stuff: http://www.mikekey.com/offroadtb/Trailblazer_Mods.xlsx
Plus, I think it'd be more helpful to others if I categorize the sections where the money went. Others might not include buying gas tanks as money spent on the vehicle. Plus I spent what is probably a silly amount on things like HID's and the Halo Projectors we have that others probably don't care about.
Lots to be learned from others. I think the 3inch lift is probably the best to start with. You get the most suspension lift, it seems the most common to go with) and step it up to 32inch tires (or 33's even) and you've got a very hardy vehicle. And as James mentioned, it's a sweet spot for off-road and drivability with things like MPG in mind.
It also builds a good base if you want to do the body lift and get crazier. After I finish the work we're doing now, I need to go back thru all my stuff and update it and share some of my thoughts on our experiences.
- Dec 4, 2011
- 248
Yeah, just looking through your Excel file I can see quite a few things that I can save some money on, plus there's some doubles of lifts, wheels I wouldn't need, and a bunch of other things that I wouldn't go with.
Basically for me it's come down to:
Marks 3" Lift
1.5" Spacers
Bilstein HD's
BDS Rear Shocks
Tires
Diff Guard
Roof Rack
Light Bar
...and maybe a custom bumper after the fact, if I can't find a used WAAG.
Miscellaneous would be trying to fit the larger fuel tank, HID's, a CB antenna (already have the radio) and some misc. electrical stuff since I want to run another fusebox/relay center under the hood for the lights/radios/etc and probably a second battery.
Plus I'm going to try to find most of this stuff used, if I can, so I'll hopefully be at a much lower pricepoint. I can see where a guy would get real scared looking at your list, haha.
Appreciate all the input, man. Please keep me posted with any updates!
Basically for me it's come down to:
Marks 3" Lift
1.5" Spacers
Bilstein HD's
BDS Rear Shocks
Tires
Diff Guard
Roof Rack
Light Bar
...and maybe a custom bumper after the fact, if I can't find a used WAAG.
Miscellaneous would be trying to fit the larger fuel tank, HID's, a CB antenna (already have the radio) and some misc. electrical stuff since I want to run another fusebox/relay center under the hood for the lights/radios/etc and probably a second battery.
Plus I'm going to try to find most of this stuff used, if I can, so I'll hopefully be at a much lower pricepoint. I can see where a guy would get real scared looking at your list, haha.
Appreciate all the input, man. Please keep me posted with any updates!
BoldAdventure
Member
- Jun 28, 2012
- 1,634
groundshock said:
That's smart thinking. It's best to always plan things out and even better if you can source things. I own a Stingray Corvette I'm restoring and frequent the vette forums quite a bit as well, and the guys with the most obsessively detailed cars have planned everything and know where every dollar went. Then you've got the other guys who are in the middle of LS1 swap or something crazy and have no idea how much money they've spent.
It can be a little sobering in my opinion to help you think; "ok do I really want to do this mod" is this going to be worth my hard earned money for my goals.
And realistically, it's a 10yr old car, I know that I'm not going to get the value back out of the vehicle. I don't expect too in that regard. I know the value will come with the memories and fun the vehicle provides my wife and I during our adventures. And to me that's money well spent.
Maybe I'm anal, I dunno.
Best advice is research and do nothing in haste!
Good luck and have fun modding! I do love Victory red btw.Oh, on a side note, we're actually going to build our own bumpers and sliders. It's far more cost effective, there are a million photos on offroadtb of the things being built and welding is a skill set I've been wanting to learn and I have a father in law with a welder whose willing to teach.
- Dec 4, 2011
- 248
I hear ya. My truck books at like 4 something K, so really, what the hell is the point of getting rid of it. I'm going to turn it into an unbeatable winter truck/fun off-roader and buy a 350Z or something for summer fun.
I tried and failed to educate even one of those criminal Ebay vendors.
All we can do is help their widows sell the trucks after they crash, or tell them when it breaks how to buy a proper lift.
All we can do is help their widows sell the trucks after they crash, or tell them when it breaks how to buy a proper lift.
djthumper
Administrator
Go with the coil overs for up front, you can tune them for how you want it to ride. And you don't go through all of the choosing new springs because of the added bumper. If they would have been out when I did my lift that is how I would have done it.
- Dec 4, 2011
- 248
Regulator
Member
- Nov 20, 2011
- 2,496
groundshock said:
Yeaaa, they don't compare at all. Seriously, you can get a set of 87's (or the moog equivalent, can't help you here though) a lot cheaper then coil overs. With the heavier spring up front you will be able to handle BartonMD's bumper and skid plates. Go that route and don't look back. You will be happy you did!
it's about a grand for the pair of coilovers. The difference in ride is staggering and it's well worth it in my opinion. I still consider selling my struts and getting them. I really wish they were around when I lifted mine too.
even with shocks under a year old the ride is bouncy and the springs are obviously under damped.
It's a chunk of money, but the ride really is so much better. I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't drive a truck with em installed.
even with shocks under a year old the ride is bouncy and the springs are obviously under damped.
It's a chunk of money, but the ride really is so much better. I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't drive a truck with em installed.
BoldAdventure
Member
- Jun 28, 2012
- 1,634
What these guys are saying is true. The Radflo's are a bit pricey but they are the best performing option. Better than buying upgraded springs. Perhaps better than just buying Marks kit even.
I went with the BDS kit, and if you check out my thread after install everyone warned me what I could experience with that setup: OffRoad TB - View topic - Lifted and Appearance Mods
And sure enough this happened after about couple months and my road trip out west:
I was thinking of buying Marks' kit to replace the BDS kit, and I even ordered Moogs springs in haste since we're building a bumper, but the more I think about it, plopping down the cash for the front Radflo coil overs is probably the best long term solution.
But with anything it depends on your goals and how often you think you'll be doing things. JamesDowning for some reason has never had a problem with his BDS lift. I think the offroadtb guys just jinxed me.
I went with the BDS kit, and if you check out my thread after install everyone warned me what I could experience with that setup: OffRoad TB - View topic - Lifted and Appearance Mods
And sure enough this happened after about couple months and my road trip out west:
I was thinking of buying Marks' kit to replace the BDS kit, and I even ordered Moogs springs in haste since we're building a bumper, but the more I think about it, plopping down the cash for the front Radflo coil overs is probably the best long term solution.
But with anything it depends on your goals and how often you think you'll be doing things. JamesDowning for some reason has never had a problem with his BDS lift. I think the offroadtb guys just jinxed me.
mikekey said:...I think the offroadtb guys just jinxed me.
I read what everybody posts on BOTH sites, you should know. 
