So my journey continues
 

It's been a while since I posted on here. I had given in to the fact that my 2001 blazer was not long for this world. The engine still runs fine but the tranny is worn and the suspension is still jacked from the idiot that modded it to take small ghetto tires and rims. The back end still sits low though I was able to get the front manageable. But when I towed my boat home I couldn't even get it over 70 mph over gentle rolling hills. And I know what these trucks will do. I hauled a 95 grand am from OKC to Houston with my first blazer. Well with all the issues (many not listed here) I decided it was time to move on. I've also got a 2005 trailblazer so I'm comfy. And I can take my time.
Well this week I got a line on a 2001 Jimmy 4x4. The p.o. said it had brake issues and idles rough. Well she dropped it off at my place and I knew when I heard it just what it was. Everything came down to a trashed brake booster. Sucks air almost like an old turbo. So that is my work for this weekend. However I got a pleasent suprise. When I did a vin lookup, well it turns out my 2001 Jimmy is a Diamond Edition. :icon_banana:
I don't have picks yet but I'll put one up when I get it done. Right now I'm wrestling with the floor padding trying to get the booster outta the blazer before it goes to junk tomorrow. Then I get to do it all over again to get it INTO the Jimmy. Really looks nice. Well aside from the typical plastics inside are disintegrating. But body is spotless and seat are good. Now it did have some cheesy led's inside that I promptly ripped out. that and it needs some nuts and bolts back in the interior. That and my usual removing those damnable roof racks. So there is my weekend.

Oh and I've got one of those Tow Haul buttons on the center console around where the old coin holder used to be.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/blazerf...ed968eb85b.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/blazerf...c1d21d145c.jpg

OK so a second check on my vin doesn't show the diamond edition. (Don't know what's up with that?) So far got the bluetooth radio in. and swapped the overhead console that was busted. Need to do some fiberglass work on the dash bezel and get that damnable break booster swapped out. Then it's on the road.

Oh an remove those damn aweful roof racks

Opinions wanted: I've got the blazer til noon tomorrow when pickers comes to junk it. Should I leave the american national rims on? Or should I put the stock blazer rims on? Both sets of tires have comparable tread. I'm kinda torn. Wish it had the original Jimmy rims. These are close. But kinda like the blazer style. (torn)

OH MY GOD I don't want to EVER have to do that again. Yes that brake booster was BAAAAAAD!. I sent the blazer down the road but first pulled the brake booster outta that. HOLY SHYTE was that a pain. But it gave me an idea of what to look for when swapping the one in the Jimmy. I give props to the post on here that gave the suggestion of drilling through the bracket the steering collumn mounts to to get the upper right nut off on the inside. I spent two hours trying to find another way. It just wasn't happening. after that it came out. Though I didn't ahve to unhook the abs unit. Just undid the bolts and shiffted it to the side. My brakes are back, good and strong and from right off the bat the idle smoothed out. We just gave it a shakedown run out to the lake. OOOOOOOOOO soooo sweeet. rides nice and smooth. good accelteration. because of the brakes you can tell this thing hasn't been driven much lately. but Little Breezy purrs again. And honestly not sorry to see the damnable blazer go. Though I did pull what parts I could out of it before sending it to junk. And the cloth seats look almost new.

So four days in of full driving. 3 trips to work. After swapping that brake booster all is running good. Had to fiberglass my dash bezel (expected that). Got the bluetooth stereo in. Glad that still works. I've gone a little over 154 miles and its still just over half a tank. So yesterday I took the time to look at the underside. Since the po told me they did some work under there. I can verify that both lower control arms, along with the ball joints have been replaced. Uppers look good even though original. And (here's the biggie) the driver side bearing hub has been replaced. This is a catch to me because I've been having the ABS light (and sometimes the brake light) coming on at random times and staying on for that trip. I did the reading and wasn't sure if the abs unit was flaky. But I gave the brakes a good bleed and they are working fine. even when the abs light is on. And I know the abs will work since I go through some road construction and I can hear the abs pulse when I brake going over a bump. But it also seems that (not always the same one) when I hit a bump it will set off the abs. Now just to cure my curiosity I checked the abs sensor on the driver side (that's the side that had the hub replaced. How do I know? It's clean and that wheel is missing the center hub cover). It seems to me the wire to the sensor was a little tight and MIGHT be going through some pinch points. I pulled it back a little to give a little slack on the tight side. I'ma gonna try undoing it and rerouting it away from the pinch points this weekend. But after pulling some slack my drive today, no ABS light. I'll give it a few more days to see if it comes back. but really, that and my inop wiper washer motor seem to be the only real repairs this truck needs now. :icon_banana:. Because of the bad brake booster I really don't think this truck was really driven much in the last 2 years. From what the paperwork I found in the dash shows.

Well in the last couple weeks I've learned a few things about the new Jimmy. First. the po had done a TON of repair work on the front end. from what I can tell the lower control arms, upper control arms a couple tie rods and a bearing hub have been replaced. Thats nice. They have new 235/75 r15's on American racing rims with solid lug nuts. new battery. OK. BUt come to find out a few suprises. some good, some not so much.

So last weekend I dropped the skid plate to get a good look at my sway bar bushings and connections. It has had a lurch at bounces. Well come to find out the front bolt to the lower control arm was only 2 threads in. And both the bolts on the upper control arm were not torqued down. (driver side) So I got them tight and torqued. But while under there I also noticed this thing has an air injector pump similar setup to my trailblazer but it is mounted in the front just up above the skid plate next to the oil filter mount.This I didn't expect. She said it was replaced but she didn't even know what a spark plug was so wasn't sure she knew what she was saying. But, yep, it's new, clean, shiny. Oh yeah the sway bar bushings look ok. Prob could use replacing but not bad.

Then while I was under there I gave a good run down the abs sensor wire. Sure enough I found at least one spot it is definitely knicked. not bad. But it might be enough to set off that random abs light I get. I really need to get a newer obdii reader. mine is older and doesn't read abs codes.

But after that little run down I gave it a test run, sure enough, runs stable now. No wobble on bumps. Oh but yeah, wiper washer sprayer is out. but oil looks good, not burning. Didi have to replace the radiator cap. Seal was bad. But all in all a solid buy. all I'm looking at is replacing that driver front abs sensor, replacing the wiper washer motor (got it in the shed) and finding which vacuum hose is causing a slight leak. And I think I know which one it is but it's gonna have to wait til the weekend. But since it's driving great I'm not that worried for now.

Oh yeah, needs a driver door hinge pin. :icon_confused:

Well I timed that right. So you see from this post I Got my Jimmy going and junked the Blazer. Well turns out I junked the blazer too soon and just in the right time. First. I needed some parts off my blazer. TUrns out whoever did work on my Jimmy before I got it was careless. They damaged both speed sensors on the front hubs. I know becuase I went to autozone and got the ABS codes read. Sure enough both left and right abs signals missing. I know the driver side at least because I found the spot on the wire that has been knicked. So this week I made it to my local (one county over) pick a part lot and hit the bucket sale. My old blazer is still there. Now it's been fairly picked over but a few things I missed were the speed sensors and the wiper motor circuit board. Yeah the Jimmy's is flaky. Now turns out while I was trying to get the speed sensor off I had a feel at that driver side bearing hub. Heh. turns out we got rid of the truck in just the right time. That hub is starting to bind and wobble. I had already replaced the passenger side hub and took that one back off while there. But the driver hub is almost shot. and on a 2wd who knows how catastrophic it could have been if it gave way. Especially considering it WAS the wife's truck. She now has the Trailblazer. It just felt weird pulling parts back off a truck I just junked. I needed some more off another one but I knew what was still usable on my old one. Of course I almost didn't recognize it. Nearly the whole front end was gone. Along with the driver door I had repaired and the entire dash.