Eredin's Build - 2005 Chevrolet Trailblazer

[Eredin]

2005 Chevrolet Trailblazer LT

Drivetrain Specs:
4.2L I6
4WD, 4.10 w/ G80

Suspension Modifications:
Mark's 2.5" suspension lift
Mark's 1.5" spacers
87 front springs
Bilstein HD front struts
Skyjacker N8030 rear shocks
Spohn adjustable pan hard bar
Discoed front sway bar
Removed rear sway bar

Exterior Modifications:
General Grabber AT2 265/70-17 (matching spare)
8.6" Rear
American Racing Trench 17x8 wheels
Front fender liner cut
MDB Oil Skid
MDB Front Bumper
MDB Radiator Skid
Custom swing out tire carrier

Engine Modifications:
PCM of NC, Inc Tune
E-Fan
Magnaflow Cat & Muffler, Res delete
Trans Cooler

Interior Modifications:


Recovery Equipment:
30,000lbs Tow Strap
12,000lbs Tow Strap
Jumper Cables
Air Compressor
2.5Lb Extinguisher
Assortment of tools and spare parts

Electrical Modifications:
Optima Yellow Top
ScanGauge II
2 10" Rockford P2 w/ 1000w amp
Sony Head Unit
Cobra CB w/ 3' Firestik II

Upcoming:
Done! For now...

[Eredin]

The journey started in 2009 when I sought a daily driver to replace my 4/6 dropped Silverado. I have since sold the truck to a good friend and moved on to the Trans Am scene. I picked it up, bone stock at 67k miles with a brand new set of Fuzion XTi. I needed something that would be sufficient to pull an 18' boat, haul more than two people and 4WD for the random winters. My goal was to leave it mostly stock to keep the daily driver functionality and the fuel mileage.

[Eredin]

I put a set of American Racing 17x8 Trenches on it in 2010, painted the front and rear emblems and added the 'reduce my functional ground clearance' bull bar. I mainly wanted the bar for the look and wasn't doing any serious off-highway stuff at the time, so it didn't really matter. It did save a pizza guy's Honda from crushing the front bumper in though, when he left his car in drive as he walked to my door, and paid for itself instantly.

[Eredin]

2012, I went for the PCMforLess (PCMofNC now) tune and EFan conversion. I also repainted the emblems and wiper arms to make the look cleaner.

[Eredin]

I had not done anything but continue to use the Trailblazer as a daily and was finally due for a set of tires after 50k miles. After doing some price quoting and finding this site, I was immediately hyped to do a lift. I planned on trying to buy a new truck at the end of the year, but priorities changed and I only have 117k on it now, so no reason to move on just yet. The lift has brought much needed interest into the TBlaze again. I can't leave stuff alone for too long, too much of a car guy for that.

I picked up a 2.5" lift from Mark a few weeks ago and got it all installed in one night. I ordered a set of his spacers as well, which were great quality and did not require stud trimming for my lug nuts.

Skyjacker N8030 followed in the rear. As others, I used a box full of Grade 8 7/16" washers, 11 per shock. I ordered directly through Skyjacker and got the 'scratch and dents' for a discounted price, $74 to my door. The link was provided by another member, as it didn't seem readily available unless you knew to look for it. I could not find anything wrong with them, they looked perfect. Here is the link: http://skyjacker.com/ and search for #N8030D.

I followed up with a set of 265/70-17 Grabber AT2s and immediately found a bad lower ball joint and had some rubbing issues. I was able to trim out the small portions that was clipping, but will know more once the lower control arms are replaced and aligned correctly.

This led to either replacing the ball joints themselves or the whole lower control arm. I figured for the price and frustration, replacing the whole lower arm would be easier. I've dealt with press in joints before, and cursed them to no end. After pulling the arms, I found that the bushings were worn mildly on the passenger side, but the driver side was way gone, movable by hand with minimal force. This explained some of the inner tire wear that was forming on my old set. Passenger side went smoothly, only one stubborn frame bolt, but was removed with a 2ft breaker. The driver side, I was not so fortunate. The front bolt had disintegrated and rusted to the body nut, snapping off right in the middle of the control arm mount. We attempted to drill it out, but hardened bolts aren't fun to deal with and the breaker on our compressor gave up, negating much needed tools. We then debated on trying to break the body bolt loose, and to our surprise, it was not welded on! After busting a little rust loose, we were able to take a punch and knock it out. The bolts have keys on the bottom of them to keep them from spinning in the frame, but are not completely attached. Hopefully this bit of info will help someone that might find themselves in a similar situation. We ended up replacing the bolt with a 5/8" grade 8 bolt and thick washers. Not ideal, but it's the strongest we could source without ordering a GM replacement.

Also added a much needed trans cooler.

Alignment coming this week. Hoping to get a bit of actual trail time in very soon, we have many good ones near our lakes area, about 30 minutes out.

Here's a few shots testing articulation and rubbing before replacing control arms.

[Eredin]

Finally had my maiden trail time today, and as expected, that bull bar got in the way and I even tweaked it a bit at one point. It was a great day, took some good trails and never had issues with the Grabber ATs.

I replaced the terrible halogen floods with 30* LED 27w lights, which look much better. Light bar is still in the plans at some point.

I also installed my Firestik earlier this week, but got my spring in yesterday and decided to move it. Our trails are heavily wooded and I didn't feel like breaking it on the first outing. I moved it the the rear bumper and grounded to the body behind the tail light. I managed to tune it enough this morning to get short range, low channel working in time for us to leave, but I'll have to do more researching on how to tune it more effectively. So far it's working okay, but I may try to build a better mount for it this winter as it rests against the taillight a bit.

[Eredin]

Installed MDB Oil Skid and discoed the front sway bar. The end links were shot anyway, so I'm opting to try it without it for a bit. Drive ability isn't too much different, far less harsh on rough segments and abrupt hills on-highway with some expected, additional body roll in tight corners. It'll force me to slow those corners a bit though, which I need.

Articulation is much better. I had issues on this 'test spot' before with the front end binding, not now.

[Eredin]

Past few months have been busy.

I drove up and met Mike to pick up a bumper and radiator skid kit from him. I followed up the next weekend with a trip to grab an 8.6 4.10 rear, which was originally designated for a PowerTrax locker. However, I cracked the case to make sure all was in order, to find a G80 inside. I decided to ship the locker back instead of buying a new open carrier or purchasing a Detroit, for now, and will utilize it for a bit. I was also able to source a good deal on a 4.10 front diff, shipped from Ohio.

We welded the bumper and skid kits together and coated them in bed armor. I also swapped the rear in with a replacement pan hard bar, as my bushings were gone. We then followed up with the front diff replacement, which is single handedly the worst thing I've ever had to change on a vehicle. We got the disconnect out and serviced it. To get the diff out, we had to break it at the oil pan collar with an air chisel, too much corrosion to separate without risk to the oil pan.

The write up can be found here, which may help others save some steps if they have an EFan in play. http://forums.offroadtb.com/viewtopic.php?f=72&t=5849

Other than that, regular service items have been addressed. Idler/tensioner pulleys were replaced, TCase serviced, rear drive shaft UJoints, disconnect and diff services (given) along with the replacement rear. Upper radiator hose has a spare that needs to be swapped as well.

I have a 50" light bar on order and have brackets in hand for when it arrives.

The only other major thing left to do is to construct a spare tire carrier. I like the thought of the CBI carrier, but would rather have a gate. I have sourced the needed hinge and latch, just need the metal and to complete the plan details. Planning to do this before TECORE.

[Eredin]

50" curved LED light bar installed. It's a generic 'gen 2' bar from China, but so far everything has been as advertised. Rated at 288w, 17300 lumens.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00SW8 ... UTF8&psc=1

Brackets were purchased from forum member HawkTown28. His thread regarding the brackets can be found below.
viewtopic.php?f=69&t=5732

The bar is utilizing a 40 amp relay, 30 amp inline fuse and switched at the overhead console.

It does suffer from the notorious 'whistle' above 40mph. This was remedied with a $5 pack of foam door trim with adhesive backing. Apply one strip to the lowest fin on the bar and it will deflect the wind away from the other fins, which cause the noise as air is forced over them. This is a common solution from the Jeep guys. Unsure on longevity in weather/heat exposure, but it's a cheap start.

Cabin glare is moderate, but not the worst I've seen by far. It's a non issue for trails, but can limit some visibility when used on open, higher speed areas in the peripherals. The impact is dependent on how clean the windshield is. The light output is enough to negate 90% of headlight use, dims or highs.

[Eredin]

Tire carrier completed. With the free metal I had, we couldn't come up with a good solution to do a bolt in style at the frame without it warping the frame to badly, with the weight pushed out so far. We decided to weld the spindle and receiver to the frame rail and gusset it. It still has some drop, but not very bad for the amount of leverage the gate poses at full swing. The Envoy wheel is a junk yard special and will get a tire cover to keep the sun from annihilating the fresh Grabber. This design still clears the hatch glass and allowed me to remount my Firestik. Plate is attached the the carrier with LED bolts, on a spot welded Miata front plate holder we had lying around, and wired into the harness behind the passenger tail light. Unfortunately, I had to cut slits into my bumper cover since it's just too large to flex around the receiver and spindle. It didn't take away any rigidity to it, so it's not a big deal for me. I can always get a new cover later, if the tire carrier ever went away.

Total cost ran me around $160, most of that being the MD spindle, which can be found at the link below. Most of the metal was given to me, so I only had to source some extra 2x2 square. It's been road trip tested without any issues, we'll see how the trail treats it over the next few weeks.