I'm looking to buy a vehicle to be used for towing a boat, camping, hunting, and some 4x4ing. I have a few questions about the 1998+ (newer bodystyle) Blazers.

How long is the cargo space with the rear seats folded flat in a 2dr or 4dr? Is it long enough with the hatch closed to "camp" in the back and lay down to sleep?

All of these are IFS I believe, are there readily available kits out there to do a SAS? What axles are typically used?

What is the towing capacity of one of these Blazers? Can they readily tow a 17ft boat or a small camp trailer?

It Looks like people are getting 15-18 MPG according to the forum poll, should I expect a large loss in MPG with oversized tires?

Would it need to be re-geared to run 31"-33" tires and still drive nicely on the highway?

How many miles can you realistically expect to get out of a 4.3L V-6? 200k? 300k?

Thanks to those of you that can take a few minutes to answer my questions!

 

Easily 200,000 + Mine has 225,000 and still going strong. I`ve towed a 2000lb popup and didnt know it was there. And as for sleeping in it\

 

in the owners manual for my 05 they rate it at 5000lbs towing capacity
I would say 2500 is more realistic for any amount of distance

Mine is a 2dr , if needed you could likely get away with sleeping in the back but it would be cramped IMO
its only about 5 1/2 ft from the back of the front seats to the tailgate
On the 2dr the head rests on the rear seat fold away and stick up so realistically its 5ft

Just towed my camper trailer (about 1000lbs plus fire wood and gear) up north and it killed my fuel mileage, probably close to halved but I also locked out the overdrive while towing and I am running 30 inch mudders at stock height

 

I`m 5ft 10 and sleep very well, of course I`m usually half lit

 

Is the 4dr version much longer than the 2dr?

 

Longer but not sure how much

 

EDIT: Welcome to the forum BTW.

lets start from the top.
1. when we, the lady and I, go out boat racing, we have both slept in the back of my 4x4x4. im 6'2" and she is shorter, about 5'8". we are both a little over weight. but we were still comfortable. just move the front seats forward, kick the rears down, push the head rest back down and move the front seats back to hold them there. roll out a mattress topper and a few pillows and blankets... easy sleeping.

2. i dont think that there are any "kits" available. as far as axles, that depends on what you want to do. i have heard Dana housings though...just dont know which one.

3. i would say the boat and little trailer shouldnt be a problem, but i havent had the chance to tow anything heavy/long for any extended period of time. i would say you would have to do some research to make sure that you are safe with what you tow.

4. this will answer the rest.
depending on the rear end gear, you wont need to rear gear for larger tires. if you get something that has say, 3.73's in it, you wont have to do anything. with that kind of gear and say 31-32" tires, you wont notice the mileage drop. its low enough and putting bigger tires on it basically gears it up. so you could end up at about 3.42 or something close. i dont know for sure.

as far as mileage, my parents had a van with a 4.3 in it and got over 300k out of it before the trans failed for the 2nd time. i had a 95 blazer for work that i had 318k when i sold it and it just needed the injector. only did the trans once on it. my current work blazer, a 98, has 229k on it. its a little tired, but i dont think that the PO took very good care of it. i think that there was lots of pedal mashing, pretty much all the time. but it still runs good.

Hope that helps!

 

mine has the spare inside the back so it also takes up some real estate on the 2dr

 

I would say only problem with towing with a midsize is seeing around the trailer. I towed a popup camper and gear and I estimate 3000lb of stuff. Did not even go 100 miles to get there but I still averaged 14mpg with my crew cab s10. If you are going to be towing more then once a month or long distances I would look into a trans cooler.

 

The vast majority of towing would be a 16ft bass boat I own. The boat, trailer, and motor with gear in it can't be over 3,000 lbs I wouldn't think.

Now that I think of it, my Dad's 1996 AWD Astro with a 4.3 pulled it and launched it just fine.