First any vehicle manufactured by any company has its pros and cons. Never owning a Chevy before I can only hope I’ve discovered all the the Blazers. Purchased a 2000 Chevy Blazzer for my son. One owner with 120,000k miles for $1800. Runs, 4wd works, clean with 31” tires. Discovered a little rust under the doors where someone ran a carbon fiber stick on covering after the fact but looks good from 25ft.

Being his first car the plan was to get him working on it and to learn something as well as having some pride in driving an old beater. Most kids at his school are driving teslas or foreign cars from their parents. I’m a beater guy and at 45 I have never had a car payment or purchased something from a dealer. We knew some brake lines were going to need replace as well as some suspension parts.
After a separation between his mother and I we have been trying to get this thing ready for him for when he got his license. We are now 3 weeks behind but we only had 1/2 the time available as planned due to custody being split 50/50. I believe we are now on the last lines in the front of the truck that can be replace. The best was saved for last.

We have done every line from the brake and brake lines, master cylinder, steering gearbox, steering lines, pitman arm (pita), all the steering components but the rag joint, the headlights with upgraded LEDs, front and back struts, upper a arms, ball joints, calipers, hub bearings, filters, radiator lines after flushing, and now finally the transmission cooler lines. We may still also have vacuume lines but a few have been replaced with them. Just ordered silicone lines and I’m hoping they are better.

The transmission lines are finally off, not easy. I tried cutting them and clamping
on hoses made for transmission fluid from NAPA. It’s still leaking from above the transmission and we just removed the screw in adapter before calling it a night. Is there a better system I can replace it with other than the clips I don’t care for. I see compression fittings and braided lines online or I can get the original metal lines and fittings all replaced new for under $100.

Two shops in thr area quoted it as a 5 or 6 hour job depending on cleaning up the mess underneath from the hole that was in it. Not sure what to go with and wanted some opinions. Either way I was going to just have a shop do it with a 4 wheel alignment after the suspension was replaced (is now). They won’t put the truck on the machine with the leak but wanted close to $1000 to replace them. Skid plates are off and I have access with a 18 mm wrench I believe it was. Under an hour we have everything apart from being on our backs in the driveway. Any links or suggestions are welcome.

[img alt="New headlights and turn
Lamps. "]https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/blazerforum.com-vbulletin/2000x1504/img_4373_2793641ce5b45cae1efd4726ad04c4de454b22f3. jpeg[/img]
New headlights and turn Lamps.

The rust bucket from underneath.

Front Hub bearings

Suspension parts front end.

 

What you have there is a ZR2 Blazer. Great job on getting your son involved on working on it with you. It is always a pain going through a used vehicle to find and fix everything. My son bought a 2000 ZR2 a couple of years ago and has been doing the same as you. They can be great vehicles providing you keep them maintained properly.

 

It is always a bit of a crap shoot with used vehicles, isn't it?

I've found getting a GM Service Manual has been really helpful, even if the way it says to do something is not always practical. LOL In a pinch, it is worth asking here for excerpts as many of us have copies that we can scan for you.

Regarding your transmission lines, the stock GM system has worked well for me. Just be sure they are routed correctly. I once caught in the nick of time that one of them had almost been worn through by rubbing at the top of the idler arm bracket!

And as said already, those ZR2s are great and capable little rigs! They aren't the largest, but as happened with me more than once, being smaller helped with getting into and out of spots that would have trapped a larger truck.

Be sure to ask questions here.

 

I thought it was the zr2 but I don’t believe it is. It’s 4wd 2 door. I think it was the year they came out with the trail blazer. But it was the idea to get him into learning something about cars and how they work at least. At 17 I would like to think I was a little more hands on, but I bet we are about the same. When he isn’t into the mechanical part of things or gets frustrated at least he works on the ascetic parts to make it look good from 20ft. He’s terrible at cleaning up but so am I. He rolling around in my 2008 town car that I have as
my newest beater. I’d rather have 2 old cars than 1 new. As long as both don’t break down the same day it’s the most reliable way to have transportation. I have a Haines manual but they aren’t as good as I remembered. At least this one is not. Someone today told me about the service manual. It will give me part
#s and everything.

 

Either the Haynes manuals got worse or our cars got more complicated. It is probably both. A GM service manual is super useful.

As for it being a ZR2 or not, the VIN/RPO sticker on the inside of the glove box lid will where you can confirm this. If it is a ZR2, that code will be among the other RPO codes.

 

What kind of front bumper is that? I want one

 

stock as far as I know.