how far will a zr2 go?
 

Hello I'm new to this site and hope I'm putting this in the right place. I have recently aquired a 01 zr2 blazer and I am intrested in getting off road. I have been reading through some of the build threads and defintly have a lot of ideas but how far will a stock Zr2 get? If I take it off road will it have no problem or are their some things I should look out?

thats going to depend on where u are what u are planning on doing rocks, mud, sand, logging roads i use myn in bc mainly stock for rocky trails with some sand light mud and about wheel deep water crossings and if u are carefull myn does just fine

Yeah I'm looking at mostly just sand and two tracks for now

You should be fine for normal offroading, and you can build from there. The ZR2 is pretty capable on its own, although decent AT or MT tires will go a long ways to helping you keep moving forward. If you have bald tires or regular street tires it's a lot easier to lose traction when you get into the slippery stuff.

Yeah right now my tires are pretty bald any suggestions on tire I was looking for good performance on road but still able to handle the off road

I'm partial to Cooper tires. I absolutely love the Zeon LTZ's I have on my Durango. Great traction in every condition I've put them in; from dry or wet highway, to sand to ice and snow. And they look awesome too with a nice agressive tread. I've also heard good things about Hankook too. Everyone will probably give you a different answer, depending on personal experience.

A decent AT tire will give you good off-road capabilities while still performing well on the highway. If you go more agressive with MT style tires you'll get better off-road traction, but you'll probably sacrifice a bit in tire wear and highway comfort. Some MT and AT type tires also perform poorly in the snow because of the large solid tread blocks. Not sure if that would matter to you.

I have one more question right now my blazer has a grill guard on it and I was if that will negatively affect my off roading

i cant see why it would affect unless it sticks out really far could effect your aproach but also look for pro comp tires they go on sale 3 for 4 every few monthes

from what i've seen, there isn't anything naturally occurring that can stop a zr2, which is why i want one so bad, another new member here, first post

Theirs been a few stories of a ZR2 out performing some modded Jeeps. They can pretty much go everywhere a stock or lightly modified Jeep can go. If your needing new tires look into the new Toyo AT2 tires.

Ive always been bias towards treadwrights, got a set on james.

https://www.treadwright.com/default.aspx

Yeah I'm getting some tires this winter break but I have been off road a few times with the bald tires and I have gone every where a jeep grand Cherokee could go so I'm pretty impressed

new tires will make a huge difference.

Yeah if any one has any other ideas to boost its performace besides shackles it would be alleviated

sway bar disconnects, a proper rear locker.

Why would disconnect the sway bar help?

Because disconecting the sway bar allows each wheel to articulate independantly, giving you more vertical wheel travel on each side, keeping all 4 wheels in contact with the ground longer when you're in rough terrain.

On the road they help keep the truck balanced and reduce body roll in corners by applying pressure to the opposite side when one side of the suspension is compressed. Ie. when one wheel goes up it applies upward pressure to the opposite side to keep the truck level.

Ok that makes sense. The other thing I'm looking at is 2in shackles. can I use a leveling kit on the front to even it out? Sorry if this a silly question but this blazer is my first 4x4 lol

good explanation!

In my opinion, the leveling kits that consist of just new torsion bar keys are a waste of money. You can turn your stock torsion bar keys up higher than what is safe for the CV axles unless your torsion bars are extremely saggy. If you do shackles (which are a great simple lift for the rear end) then just do a 1-1.5" torsion bar lift in the front for only the cost of an alignment, and put the money for the leveling kit towards something useful, like a real upgrade or beverages. :icon_beerchug:

Ok sounds good I'm just a little worried **** premature failure on some of the front end parts but everyone says 1 to 1.5 is ok

Make sure when you rebuild the front end don't use cheaper parts, I skimped on getting good ball joints and mine turned to crap in less than 7 months

When you say disconnects are you talking about links that can be disconnected or simply removing the links when you go off roading? Front and rear?

Exactly! Front ones for sure, but the rear isn't a must, it's a pretty light sway bar anyway.

a lot of people do shackles in the back for that added lift. me personally, i have never liked the look of shackles hanging down. i was "almost lucky" that my rear leafs were a little saggy. i did a short add-a-leaf on mine. just as easy as shackles, and i got the same amount of lift out of it too. plus it stiffen'd up my ride, which was another thing that i was looking for. this is what i bought.
there are some how-to's on youtube on how to install them. just dont forget the c-clamps. after i put that in, i just did the t-bars in the front up about an inch. now i sit ~3/4 of an inch lower in the front. once i throw some stuff in the back, it sits pretty level.