I'm done...For Real This Time
 

I'm throwing in the white towel. I'm selling the Jimmy. As much as I like it, I just can't keep throwing money at it. I just replaced the wheel bearings, the CVs need to be changed, the engine was knocking around 2500 rpm, now it knocks it at idle, the transfer case is shot, the universals are going. It's mechanically falling apart. It kills me to get rid of it. The body is great as is the inside. I've got a friend nearby who I think is going to buy it.

FYI, this is not a for sale thread, it's just an "I quit" thread.

Sorry to hear it.

Thats how i feel sometimes, but never give up!!!! lol

Sorry to hear of your dilemma.

Yea man, I know the feeling. I get stick all the time about my truck.

Sorry to hear! I know the feeling though. Now you need to go out and find a newer Jimmy/Blazer in better shape! :D

x2 get a new one and stay. Only way out is in a body bag. LOL

I'd love to find a newer one, in fact, that's what I plan on doing. I absolutely love driving that thing. I don't have the means to get one right now. I'm still in college and I don't have a real job yet. In fact, I'm not even sure if I have a job yet. I got hired at Best Buy a couple of weeks ago as a seasonal employee. I have faith in myself that they'll ask me to stay on after the holidays, but there are no guarantees. Anywho, once I get some cash, I'd like to get an 04-05 ZR2 if I can find one in good shape and the color I want (I'd like white on black). Did they ever put a manual transfer case in those? That would be sweet.

Thanks for your sympathy/regrets. I'll still frequent the forum in the mean time and hopefully I'll be back on here regularly by summer with a newer ZR2.

hey, you gotta do what you gotta do. Good luck with the job and everything. Look to seeing you a new ride soon.

Goodluck man... hopefully you return...

Thanks. Hopefully I can find a clean, low mile ZR2 when I'm ready to make a purchase.

Thanks. I'm hoping to get back into the "game" soon, but it probably won't be at least until summer.

Well, I know I said I'm done and all, but I think I changed my mind. I was looking online and I found a white ZR2 with a gray interior (almost exactly what I want), but it's in Savage Minnesota. I'd be traveling from NW Indiana/Chicagoland to go up there and see it. Because of the risk that there could possibly be something wrong with it when I get there, I decided against it, although it is going for a killer price with low miles ($7000 with only 56000 miles on it). After seeing that, I decided to go and sit in my Jimmy and drive it around the block. Although the front end was bouncing because of something that's f*cked up, I decided I'm not selling it. It may be a bad idea, but I figure I'm already past the point of no return, money wise, if I sell it. I might as well dump more money into it and drive it for a while longer. It's sitting at my mechanic's shop right now. Usually I do all the work, but it'll literally take me all winter to get everything finished up on there. I'll pay the extra to get it finished sooner. I told him he could put it on the back burner for now because I do have 2 other cars at home that I can drive. He's going to rebuild the front end and quote me on an engine swap and figure out what's wrong with my 4 wheel drive. I figure if I do all 3, it should be good for a couple more years...hopefully. I guess I'm picking up that white towel and continuing on my path, as rough and expensive as it may be...

There's just something about this truck that makes me not want to get rid of it... I'm not exactly sure what it is, but I'm sure a lot of you have that same thing going on.

Tell me about it!

Yea man, I'm there too. Family keep telling me to throw in the towel but ...... I'm not a quitter. LOL

Ugh... It's getting fixed right now. Usually I do the work myself, but I don't have the time, tools, or facilities to do this job. The front end is pretty much getting rebuilt. It's going to be pretty much everything other than ball joints. I'm also getting a new encoder motor and the vacuum switch for the 4 wheel drive. Oh, and I'm getting an alignment. This will all be done for the low, low price of $1433.xx. :icon_doh: I did get 12 months no interest financing on the work though. Yay for them giving me buying power...

Once this is done, I'm going to call TireRack and order some tires. The reason I'm going to call them is because I live close and I don't want to pay for shipping so I'm going to drive out there and pick up the tires. I'm probably going to get some General Grabber AT2s.

After all of this, the only thing I'll need is a new motor. :( My mechanic said that I've probably got about a year on the motor I've got in there now with the way it's knocking. I figure that's probably about 10,000 or so miles. It's knocking at 3000 RPM and it's really not that hard to keep it under that. There's a slight knock when I start it up, but supposedly that's normal?

Not normal, mine doesn't knock but occasionally you can hear the belt turning, but it's definitely not a knock.

Once your in, your in forever. You cant just quit. That would be no fun. Happy to hear your staying. Just drop a 350 in it :)

Glad your toughing it out. I lost the engine in mine last winter and picked up a low mile used one cheap. couple of weeks later and i was on the road again.

Hmm... I thought I read that a dealership told one of us on here that that's normal for the 4.3. Either I'm mistaken or the dealership is mistaken...

Haha, I wish. If I put a 350 in anything, it's going in my Caprice. The Jimmy is my daily driver that I just can't get rid of. Damn these things...:)

I've been looking into getting a used engine for a while now, but this whole Cash 4 Clunkers BS that went on is really making that difficult. I haven't checked in a couple of weeks, but I'm probably going to start looking again...as soon as I find out when my buddy can help me out putting it in, and how much $$$ he's going to want to help. :( I guess nothing's free though, especially good help. He's ASE certified and he's done these before. Too bad he's not doing my "front end rebuild" and fixing my 4x4. I could have probably saved at least $700 on it, but I'd rather not think of that. He takes a while to get around to side jobs so I guess I'm paying to get it done now. Speaking of that, it should be done late today or early tomorrow. :D Then I'll be ordering my General Grabber AT2s. Ughh... This truck is a drug.

You're probably right. I'll just think mine is abnormal since it doesn't knock.

Yay for having a abnormal truck:icon_playing::icon_razz:

Superb choice on the AT2s :)


Glad youre sticking with it!

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/d...w/100_0959.jpg

glad to hear you're going to tough it out.

regarding the engine "knock", what you're probably thinking of, is that these 4.3's are known for lifter "clatter". any kind of knocking is never a good thing.

good luck with the search for a new heart, keep us posted.

I know the feeling... Something just doesn't want me to get rid of this truck... Ive talked about keeping it forever and de-moting it to a project (5.3L swap) in the future.

I keep finding good prices on little 4cyl cars like G5's and Cobalts... but then I turn around and say, but the Blazer isn't costing me anything but maintenance and fuel... Thanks Mom and Dad for paying the insurance.

It's ridiculous for a 19 yr old guy in Ontario and it's supposed to go up AGAIN! I can't afford it because I don't work during the school year since I wouldn't have time to do my homework and everything.... YAY 2nd yr university.


Good Luck with the truck! It's a nice Blue too.

yeah, thanks Mom & Dad (must be nice). but, you're paying them back by getting top marks, and a great paying job when you graduate, right?

i've heard some people's insurance is going up as much as 40%! my renewal isn't up 'til May, so i've got some time (to wait for the inevitable).

you're right Pat, it is a nice Blue.

I believe it's called Bermuda Blue Metallic Clearcoat. Thanks for the compliments. Also, the reason I'm getting the AT2s for it is because on TireRack they're like the 5th best tire in their class and the best for around $100. To go any better, based on reviews, I'd be spending like $120 a tire. I definitely research before I buy.

Well i just read through this whole thing and I must say that I, like you, and others, have been there. These things nickle and dime the hell out of you and if you even CONSIDER fixing something, every other part get's jealous and becomes extra needy....

Glad to see you'll be trudgin on with your Jimmy. It's like a death march. you don't want to do it, but at this point it's all you know.... just keep pouring money into her, pray she runs, and hopefully get liberated before the engine blows, or you get crushed in your garage trying to save her :icon_teeth:

Sometimes we can only hope for the easy way out.

Well, I got the truck back. The 4 wheel drive is functional again!!! :D:D:D I went almost a whole year without it. There were some pretty brutal days last winter where I would have killed for it. I believe the wheel bearing my mechanic put on there is defective because it's already ticking while I make right turns. I also heard a little clunking around down there. It's going back to him in the next week so he can mount and balance my tires I'm going to be getting. I'll have him check everything out then. It's all under a 90 day labor warranty and 12 month parts warranty so it's not going to cost me any more to get it fixed, assuming he does not find anything new that is broken.

:icon_woot:
Glad to see you back in the game! now that you have 4wd, it's time to get her dirty!

knowledge is key, and it's always good to have the right keys to a deal.

X2! and post the pic's-or we won't believe you. :icon_goofygrin:

oh yeah Curtis, i'm liking the "Putting 3/4 ass into my Skid Plate to prove a point... :icon_badrazz: " in your sig @ the moment. not sure what the point is, but at least you're making it-your point i mean, hahahaha!

It might be weird, but I've always thought of my truck as an "it". I usually think of cars as a girl, but I think it's obvious that GMC wanted it to be a guy. They did name it Jimmy. My friends and I usually call it James. It sounds really bad to say, "Time to get him dirty!"

For sure.

When it happens, you'll know.

I'm having the same crisis with my truck... I usually stick to IT, just because IT has a stick lol... So I'm not too sure.

sorry to hear that, i know how you feel my blazer is only a 2001 and ive had it for almost 9 months and ive had to replace the radiator with all the hoses, new feul pump assembly, new shocks, new ball joints, blah blah blah but now its good, go get another one theres nothing like a bllazer/jimmy

Very true. I think that's part of the reason I like mine so much.

Oh, here's another issue that just popped up. I think one of my plugs fouled out today. It was running fine last night, but today it's missing like no other. Is it possible for a plug to just foul out? I thought they kind of started to foul then finally go out. I'm replacing them with AC Delco plugs this time around. I also hate how the radio, pocket, and heater controls are all "connected". It really makes it a b*tch to change any of that around.

I should probably just let this thread die now, but whatever. I just wanted to update everyone. My friend and I are driving out to South Bend today to pick up my Grabber AT2s and a set of tires he ordered for his car from Tire Rack. I'll probably be getting them on in a few days. :D:D:D

Pics are a must of tires.

I'll try and get some pics up tonight. They're not on my truck, but I've got them stacked up in my garage right now.

Eh, f*ck it.

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/u...P1010135-2.jpg

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/u...P1010134-2.jpg

Living close to Tire Rack definitely pays off. It cost $25.00 even in gas to fill my friend's '08 Sierra with the 4.3L in it after we got back. He paid half of that as well because he got tires too. Shipping would have been a lot more than that.