Probably like many owners I have used 4wd very seldom...but now I will be exploring the Arizona wilderness, making use of Forrest Roads and trails. Was wondering how my Blazer's 4wd is going to do when actually used. Are there components that I should change-out before I start?

I have replaced the front wheel bearings and CV shafts, so they are not originals, also replaced fluid in both differentials and transfer case.

Suggestions?????

Thanks,

 

Just have fun........what you have there is a true 4WD. What many people don't know is that there are rules and techniques for fun 4 wheeling, you obviously cant go where a rock crawler does nor can you drive through 4 feet of water. Do some research, Google and YouTube are your friends.

 

I drive a bit on the National Forest Service roads and other more primitive access roads in the woods here in North Idaho. I've never had problems or worries. I don't go fast and am content to pick my way around obstacles or go slow when the road gets rough to avoid excessive forces on my suspension. I don't do any extreme 4x4 actions or do the "rock-crawling." I am glad I have "skid" plates on the bottom of mine. They are the OEM ones and I treat them more as protection against stuff getting caught on my suspension or drive-train rather than something to slide on.

My truck is a tool that I use to get me to where I want to go. If you can move it or go around it, that is better than trying to go over or through it. Also go slow and only use 4Lo to get out, never to get in. :-)

I carry a couple tow straps and an come-along and am considering getting receiver mounted winch someday. I've never needed these except for hauling elk out of the brush or up a hill. I hope to never need them for the truck itself.

 

".what you have there is a true 4WD".....Lol , if he has a G80 he has a true 3 wheel drive , 1 front and 2 back If no G80 he has a true 2 wheel drive ..1 front 1 back.

 

My bad, I guess what I was trying to convey is that it is not a 4WD assist like so many others that you don't have a dedicated front diff and selective hi/lo range.

 

Yeah I probably should have stated that I will not be attempting to do any type of rock crawling, mud bogging, river crossing, etc.
And I will have to look to see if G80 is on the list or not....I have never looked. I have the 4 button system, the NV236 system.

I will heed the advice above. Just wanted to know if there is a "weak" link in the 4wd system that should be changed-out now instead of it breaking when I am miles into a trail or forest road.

Thanks,

 

The weakest link is the one between the seat and the steering wheel. If you drive it slowly and carefully off-road, it will be very reliable. If you drive like a maniac, not so much. Take care of it, and it will take care of you.

 

That was funny!!!...and I agree 110%. I am pretty sure that at 61 I have obtained a level of wisdom not to be the "weak link".....but then again I still ride a sport bike...so maybe not.

Thanks for the laugh.

 

I've been places with the Blazer, Ford Explorers, GMC Jimmys other guys just go in big lifted full size trucks.

The Blazer is a sound little 4x4 platform. AFAIK no known specific weak points. Watch the temperatures.

TECHNICALLY
I would see that it has a locking differential in the back. This is the most useful off-road addition. As strangerock said, else it's a 2WD 1front/1rear. LOL.

You most probably want the OEM protection plates. The 1st gen has nice aluminium ones which are more than 1/4" thick skid-plates which can support the truck when sitting on soft obstacles. Careful with pointed rocks, they can and will dent your truck.
There is only so much your truck can take. Make sure you know what touches first.

Drive to an incline e.g. in a parking lot, drive it to the begin of the incline when it starts going up in the front, stop, park and go looking underneath. Repeat when backing up. OEM for the 1st gen

Today I have sacrificed about 10 degrees incline in the back with the trailer hook. But the hook can be pulled

DRIVING TECHNIQUES
Christine's advice is sound!
Go slow, stop go look by foot first. Make a mental picture of where your frame is in relation to the wheels and then introduce the figures. Start looking at videos of offroad challenges. What kills most is speed or "momentum".
Learn to drive offroad in a course or from experienced guys.
Learn to break with your left foot if you are driving an automatic transmission.
Keep your thumbs out of the steering wheel rim. Hit a rock and the wheel spins - ouch to the thumbs.

As soon as your truck is no longer stock you loose some of the safety that is built in.
E.g. with a stock Blazer and an earthen wall you normally start loosing traction and it is sliding down when driving in sideways (up is at your left or right). As soon as you change tires, wheels, spacing, lift it it is a completely different game and starts getting dangerous. You NEED TO KNOW the limits.

OWN EXPERIENCE
Many moons ago I spent some time on Hawai'i (The Big Island). Rented a stock Ford Explorer. Only issue I had was a flat tire from a huge Bougainvilla thorn (2") and a few scratches on the frame rail without indentation.

One day we decided to go to a beach near the place we stayed on the south coast. I headed down a trail and finally had to stop and park a quarter mile from the beach because of a 2 foot vertical ledge. I would have been able to make it but it was a rental and I had no intention on damaging it. I could have had it diagonally using a special technique to go down over it and also to climb it back.
But with this truck on this ledge that would have involved quite a bit of a risk of scratching the frame or other stuff underneath and a risk of rolling over if not hitting it quite right.

Later on the beach a guy comes over to ask if the Explorer is ours. I say yes and he starts laughing and his buddies too. Obviously no one of them ever came that far in a stock truck. It was nice, he gave us a ride in his 86 lifted K5 which took the ledge in a blink.

The ledge was rounded from the tire marks of the locals using big lifted full size trucks.

Mind you! I have hundreds of miles in off-roading brutal crap and thousands of miles on dirt roads with the occasional washed out road stretches.

Go slow, build experience, enjoy!

 

Become familiar with the vacuum system and take a couple of feet of vacuum line and a couple of connectors with you.