l008com
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I did my oil change yesterday, and while waiting for every last drop to drip out (I could never open an oil change shop, I'd drive myself right out of business), I was rolling around under the truck looking. MANNNN the insides of my frame rails are NOT looking good. I don't know where this truck lived for the first 7 years and 100,000 miles of it's life. But I bought it down in PA and I live near Boston. Around these parts, they over-salt the hell out of the roads. Its enough to make you think that car manufacturers are buying salt free for the towns just to make sure people need to buy new cars. Its crazy how much they over-salt the roads. And the result . . . My Trailblazer has some problems, but overall its in excellent shape for its age. But the rust is finally winning the battle.
I'm thinking a new 4Runner for my next vehicle, its the closest thing to a first gen Trailblazer. And kind of the only thing really. Other than I guess the Grand Cherokee and the Bronco. The thing is, I *really* want to own one more Manual before everything goes electric. I'm hoping Toyota takes the manual out of the Tacoma and puts it in a 4Runner! They probably won't, but a guy can hope. The Bronco *IS* available as a manual, but I both hate Fords in General and also the Bronco specifically is one ugly vehicle.
So we'll see how it goes. I was hoping to eek out another year or two while waiting as long as possible to see if toyota does do a manual 4Runner, but thats not looking likely.
Story time:
Way back in 2003 or 2004, I had a ZR2 (S10) Blazer which was my second new car. The first was an identical ZR2 that got a little too up close and personal with some trees on a very snowey morning. So the second one was a few years old and it was kind of a dud, it has eternal water leaking problems and always smelled bad inside. They gutted the interior several times and still it stank like moldy water. Then just after the warranty expired, modules started failing. So I gave up on it and decided to upgrade. I ended up going with a 6 speed red Mazda RX8, and that was the BEST decision I could have made at the time. But I still loved "truck" SUVs and I was looking at Trailblazers but... I just hated them back then. 4.2L, so SMALLER engine. 4 doors, UGH. Factory tires were always too small, so they all had this really ugly stance. And they were so low, they gave off real minivan vibes. 24 year old me had no real responsibilities in life so going with the RX8 was the right decision. But 11 years later, 35 year old me had multiple trailers to pull, many regular trips to Lowes, and a Camaro lease that was ending, plus a DIFFERENT old ZR2 Blazer that was starting to rust.
So I got rid of them both and got this Trailblazer. 5.3L V8, my first and most likely only V8 I'll ever own. Stiffer springs, bigger tires that properly fill out those wheel wells. Subtle changes make a big difference in appearance. This has been the most reliable and most practical vehicle I've ever owned by a mile. I only paid $9500 cash for the thing back in late 2015. The engine feels like it could easily go another 100,000 if I fixed the cracked exhaust header and replaced all the oil seals
Using plastics around the bottom and the bumpers was a VERY smart choice. That probably bought me at least 5 addition years in the battle against the rust.
My boat is old and small and only weighs around 1900 lbs with trailer. But still there are some big hills on Route 93 in new hampshire and my S10s would really bog down. I'd have to be in the right lane in certain stretches because it could only maintain about 45 mph towing up the big hills. Fast forward to the V8 trailblazer and yeah, I'm in the left lane passing everyone like I'm driving a sports car and effortlessly accelerating up these same big hills.
Also I never did finish the headlight project from many years ago. Who has time. I still have the lenses and some LED projectors in boxes. I'll probably never install them, its just not worth the hassle at this point. I had big plans for upgradings when I bought this thing too, but finances did not cooperate. I did install heated seats. But I wanted a carplay radio, I wanted to install ultrasonic backup sensors, I wanted to get a truetrac rear differential and possibly front. And of course I wanted some majorly upgraded headlights.
If GM still made SUVs comparable to this, I would almost certainly buy one and not be looking at toyotas.
Its so gross that GM recycled the Blazer and Trailblazer names, and put them on what are essentially cars. Way to completely ruin their legacies.
Anyway, story time is over.
I'm thinking a new 4Runner for my next vehicle, its the closest thing to a first gen Trailblazer. And kind of the only thing really. Other than I guess the Grand Cherokee and the Bronco. The thing is, I *really* want to own one more Manual before everything goes electric. I'm hoping Toyota takes the manual out of the Tacoma and puts it in a 4Runner! They probably won't, but a guy can hope. The Bronco *IS* available as a manual, but I both hate Fords in General and also the Bronco specifically is one ugly vehicle.
So we'll see how it goes. I was hoping to eek out another year or two while waiting as long as possible to see if toyota does do a manual 4Runner, but thats not looking likely.
Story time:
Way back in 2003 or 2004, I had a ZR2 (S10) Blazer which was my second new car. The first was an identical ZR2 that got a little too up close and personal with some trees on a very snowey morning. So the second one was a few years old and it was kind of a dud, it has eternal water leaking problems and always smelled bad inside. They gutted the interior several times and still it stank like moldy water. Then just after the warranty expired, modules started failing. So I gave up on it and decided to upgrade. I ended up going with a 6 speed red Mazda RX8, and that was the BEST decision I could have made at the time. But I still loved "truck" SUVs and I was looking at Trailblazers but... I just hated them back then. 4.2L, so SMALLER engine. 4 doors, UGH. Factory tires were always too small, so they all had this really ugly stance. And they were so low, they gave off real minivan vibes. 24 year old me had no real responsibilities in life so going with the RX8 was the right decision. But 11 years later, 35 year old me had multiple trailers to pull, many regular trips to Lowes, and a Camaro lease that was ending, plus a DIFFERENT old ZR2 Blazer that was starting to rust.
So I got rid of them both and got this Trailblazer. 5.3L V8, my first and most likely only V8 I'll ever own. Stiffer springs, bigger tires that properly fill out those wheel wells. Subtle changes make a big difference in appearance. This has been the most reliable and most practical vehicle I've ever owned by a mile. I only paid $9500 cash for the thing back in late 2015. The engine feels like it could easily go another 100,000 if I fixed the cracked exhaust header and replaced all the oil seals
Using plastics around the bottom and the bumpers was a VERY smart choice. That probably bought me at least 5 addition years in the battle against the rust. My boat is old and small and only weighs around 1900 lbs with trailer. But still there are some big hills on Route 93 in new hampshire and my S10s would really bog down. I'd have to be in the right lane in certain stretches because it could only maintain about 45 mph towing up the big hills. Fast forward to the V8 trailblazer and yeah, I'm in the left lane passing everyone like I'm driving a sports car and effortlessly accelerating up these same big hills.
Also I never did finish the headlight project from many years ago. Who has time. I still have the lenses and some LED projectors in boxes. I'll probably never install them, its just not worth the hassle at this point. I had big plans for upgradings when I bought this thing too, but finances did not cooperate. I did install heated seats. But I wanted a carplay radio, I wanted to install ultrasonic backup sensors, I wanted to get a truetrac rear differential and possibly front. And of course I wanted some majorly upgraded headlights.
If GM still made SUVs comparable to this, I would almost certainly buy one and not be looking at toyotas.
Its so gross that GM recycled the Blazer and Trailblazer names, and put them on what are essentially cars. Way to completely ruin their legacies.
Anyway, story time is over.
