Thinking of trying off roading
 

I’ve never tried off roading before, but I’m considering it, the problem is I have no idea where to start, I have no experience, don’t know anyone who does it, and don’t know what equipment I need.

I have a 1998 LT 4 door (about 162,000 miles), fully loaded, with the towing package as far as I can tell, it will be awhile before it’s ready, the last owner neglected it a lot, I need new rear brakes, and I need to rebuild the front suspension, among other things, but once that is done I wouldn’t mind giving this a try. The thought occurred to me though since I have to rebuild the suspension anyway, why not build it for off roading? As far as I know everything is stock right now.

I don’t plan on doing anything extreme, like rock crawling, just some light beginner trails, and maybe some disused/abandoned logging roads, utility right of ways, and rail beds, with the ability to handle medium and hard terrain in an emergency if I had to. The truck will still be on the pavement as a daily driver 99% of the time.

How capable is the stock vehicle for off road use? Could I get away with leaving it unmodified?

I am on a budget, can decent off road parts be had (and readily ordered) for about the same price, or only slightly more than stock parts from Rock Auto and the like?

Do you recommend any parts?

Right now I only need to rebuild the front suspension (I need new wheel bearings, CV joints, sway bars, and shocks), if I upgraded that but not the rear yet would the mismatch cause any issues?

What does driving an off road modified Blazer on the street feel like compared to a stock one? Does it make an uncomfortable ride? This will still mostly be a daily driver so if it’s going to make it uncomfortable I probably wont do it.

Is an off road modified vehicle less reliable than a stock one? Does it cause other parts to wear more?

Can you recommend any decent beginner trails in the lower peninsula of Michigan?

Any tips you have for someone just starting?

I did a small suspension lift to my Blazer to add a bit of piece of mind when I'm off-pavement. (See my link below in my signature.) For me my off-roading consists of logging roads and un-maintained tracks. I was able to add a bit larger tires. My lift is conservative compared to others.

I also purchased a shackle attachment for my receiver hitch. For the time being, I purchased a small, 500 lb, winch for hauling elk out of the woods. I've thought that someday I'd add a proper 9,000 lb winch on receiver hitch bracket. I also carry a couple tow straps, a large hatchet/ax, traction boards. I also carry two pairs of tire chains for bad mud and snow. I've thought about adding a recovery strap (one of the stretchy type).

When in the woods, I always have extra food, water, blanket, bad-weather clothes, stove and fuel, and my hand-held VHF ham radio.

Mild modifications to make your vehicle better off-road won't make it noticeably worse to drive on the street. Following Christine's example would probably get you anywhere you want to go. The biggest improvement you can make, IMO, is better all-terrain tires. If you can go a little bigger without rubbing, even better. But keep in mind that your suspension will move more when driving off-road. So, what works fine on the street may rub badly in the dirt. Skid plates are also a necessity, especially if you don't have a lot of lift.

The best thing you can do to gain experience is to join a club in your area. Most clubs have annual safety clinics where you can learn the basics, and frequent club runs of varying difficulty where you can learn from experienced folks. You might have to try a couple of clubs before you find one that's a good fit.

Would that require different CV joints, sway bars, shocks, or wheel bearings, or would stock work? I looked at the thread and it wasn’t clear if the shocks just had an extension or were longer or if you needed different CV joints.

For me, I use high-quality original replacement parts; generally Moog, Proforged, Timken (for the hubs) for the front suspension components. I did buy a bracket for an upgraded idler arm but I'm waiting for the part to fail first before installing it.

Otherwise, the only upgraded part was the use of the upper control arms from Rough Country that are part of their 2.5" suspension lift kit. These provide better geometry for the upper ball joints when the front suspension has been increased in height causing the angle of the upper control arm to be pivoted downward more than stock. These also have ball joints for 1/2 ton Chevy trucks in them.

I forgot to add I also added a steering damper to the center-link to take some of the jolts when going over rocks or such.

The CV joints in the stock axles are good but I wish I had taken the opportunity to replace the CV joint covers with modern neoprene ones that are much more flexible than the stock ones when I had the whole front end apart. Later I had the inner CV joint covers slip off the inner axle surface. I caught them in time but it with the front end apart, that is the time to disassemble them, re-grease them, and install the new covers. These covers would qualify as upgraded parts over stock replacement.

Because of the change in the suspension height at the front, I had to get longer shocks although I probably could have gotten away with the stock ones for a little bit. But when I did my front end lift work, I already had one bad shock so I took the opportunity to replace them with ones from SuperLift (I think) that were designed for a lifted suspension. For the rear, because it came with self-leveling shocks, I instead went installing a spacer for the shocks.

THIS

If none of your peers share the interest in offroading, them you will need to find some that do. Not saying ditch your friends for new ones lol just need to find an offroading crowd to hang with. Check out local facebook groups, sometimes you can find some on there. When I had my Tacoma that's how I met a ton of people and ended up going go several outings with a bunch of Toyota guys (and even some Jeep guys) and hitting some trails, and had a blast! It's always cool to find people in those groups who share similar interests, share the same passion, and you can learn a ton from them in the process. Most of the time they'll be willing to lend a hand and share knowledge if they know you're new to the scene.

As far as mods go, I will agree with the above statement of tires, I think they will make the biggest difference to an otherwise stock vehicle when taken offroad. If it's your DD and you're only looking to hit the trails every once in a while, a set of all terrains will suite you great. As you get into it and if you find yourself really enjoying it and wanting more, you may find yourself wanting to invest in some meaty mud terrains. Aside from that, I would say bring a snatch/tow rope of your own on your outtings and some clothes and shoes you don't mind getting dirty.

Some nice things to have as you progress are a little lift so you can fit even larger tires, a winch so you can get YOURSELF unstuck if you don't always have someone with you (or get other people unstuck), some offroad lighting for those late night trips ;) and if your truck doesn't already have a factory G80 limited slip rear end, a locker in the rear will do AMAZING things to any rig offroad

If you do a 2 inch lift, would the CV joints made for the ZR2 be a better choice?

Tires! Good point everyone! If you are going to play off the beaten path make sure you have a reliable vehicle! If you are going out by yourself if not stay within call service or let someone know where you are going and about when you will be back, next respect the land and the laws! I have been on many rescue missions to recover people that have not been prepared and just some that got into trouble. I have also been on the other end more than I care to admit lol. These trucks are more than capable in stock form but it's always more fun to modify them to your liking and what you want to do with them. My Jimmy started stock and has sowly been built for the offroading that I do.