The modern day Trailblazer clearly wasn't made for off-road use. There are no off-road packages offered. In fact the only special package I'm aware of is the SS package which is designed completely opposite of a 4x4 package. The S Series Blazers were offered in a ZR2 package for off-road use. That's why it was built... Just like the Xtreme package was meant for the road. The modern Trailblazer is equipped with 4x4 just like any non ZR2 Blazer ( ie. not designed for offroading). 4X4 comes in handy other than in the mud, for example snow.

 

Just as I suspected, I knew there was a valid reason I kept this old 89 S-10 Blazer

 

I don't even like the 'modern' trailblazer, its all plastic and crap.

 

I bought my wife a 04 tj with 22000 miles and a 2in lift in 05, it was already starting to rust, it was a gutless turd, had a oil pressure problem where it would drop out for no reason at idle, and was no more capable then my at the time factory tahoe. But on the bright side wy wife now agrees it's GM or nothing. Oh i we kept it for six months then got a 06 Trailblazer LT.

 

I would say that just based on the post/viewing numbers alone since I started this thread that the interest is definitely there. I personally think the 4.3L S10 would be a perfect rival for those damn Jeeps. Seriously , I just got back from our trip to CO and every other car was a wrangler with gray hair flying out the windows! (And a dog in the back lol)

 

To me its like apples and oranges. And there would be more than one kind of Jeep. There is the Wrangler, Cherokee, Grand Cherokee, and all different models of each. It would be like comparing a Wrangler to the entire Chevy line of vehicles.

With that said, I think it depends on the vehicle. The 2-doors would be better suited to compare to a Wrangler while the four doors would be better to compare to a Cherokee or something similar. My sister had a Cherokee that everything fell apart on and my blazer has had the list of commonly replaced parts replaced. As far as capabilities go, I once drove a 15 passenger van full of people up a trail that some Cherokees and some blazers had issues getting up and back on. But like everyone said, they all were intended for different things.

What I would really like to see is an old FJ 40 Land cruiser against a Jeep wrangler, that would be a true off road competition.

 

But back to the original topic, the S10's will never REPLACE the jeep. I'm sure it would have happened by now, I mean someone would have clued in during the ~20 years they were produced that GM was building a real off-road bomb, but once again the fact that Blazer's and S10's were marketed as more of an on-road than an off-road vehicle is what inhibitted that.
Sure they may be just as good off road. Jeeps have been labelled as off-road vehicles, both through ad campaigns and the public eye. The top comes off, the doors come off, the windshield folds down on some models. They have an unrivaled popularity IMO among the 4x4 crowd. They look (but not necessarily are) rugged.
What's keeping jeeps from being "replaced" isn't other vehicles being more or less capable then a jeep, it's the above reasons that I mentionned that are keeping it from being replaced.

I personally hate jeeps (I am talking wranglers and t/yj's and all those names they have for the same bucket) seeing as they're underpowered, quick to rust, and I've seen lots on their roof.

My friend's boyfriend put 31" mud tires on his jeep and the fricken thing has trouble hitting 65-70mph, the engine just doesn't have enough kick.

sorry about the verbal diahrrea

 

I have a 89 S-10 Blazer with a 4.3, and a 01 Jeep wrangler with a 2.5, I learned a long time ago the main differences between Jeeps and S-10 Blazers
(1) Jeep parts are all over the Internet, Blazer parts are all over the local parts stores
(2) yea the top folds down and the doors come off. I love driving my Jeep to work that way, until it starts raining
(3) Granted both the Jeep and Blazer have their own particular difference that makes each better in its own way. My jeep's frame will flex a little tiny bit where the Blazer won't, and supposedly my Jeep is water proof (don't believe that) But basically Jeeps and Blazers will both last forever if properly maintained, its just that the blazer is a LOT cheaper to properly maintain.

As for youir friends boyfriend and the 31's. Is it a 2.5 or a 4L if its a 2.5 sell the 31's and get a set of 235/75/15's, if its a 4L Plan on replaceing the engine

Oh thats another thing I like better about Chevys, my jeep has a 2.5 cause when I replaced the engine thats all I could replace it with without paying a few thousand on a total rebuild for the mounts and computer. On the Blazer swaping the 4.3 for a 350 will cost me and engine and distributer, and I'll need to replace a $20 computer chip.
Yea I like both of em, but trust me when it comes to fun I take the Jeep, when its time to get down to the work of the day, I call upon the raw power of Chevrolet

 

They have very low ground clearance too. My buddy has one and he cant even go down a simple two track with out scraping the ground. Very poor design. I noticed this a lot lately with GM. Th dont really have any SUVs any more now that the trailblazer is done. unless you spend big monney on a full size.

 

That's just good old America! They want you to buy the lift kit anyway...