Blazer Down - Need Advice

[east or bust]

Some of you kooks were lucky enough to see the Blazer in all her glory at BBI19.

Well, on this most recent foray up to Colorado I had an unpleasant encounter with a 300lb mule buck at 60mph.

Mule deer 0... Blazer, also 0...








Luckily I was able to rent a car in Farmington NM and continue my trip. But over the weekend my insurance co. got a hold of me and said this is most likely going to be a total loss. On the way home I stopped back in Farmington and cleaned everything out. Was pretty at ease with the whole thing after a therapeutic weekend but now thinking more about this I'm a bit heart broken. Have a lot of memories with this mobile, and to be honest, other than a couple bolt on parts (fender, hood, grille, light assemblies) the damage didn't seem that bad. Bumper is still intact, hell even the radiator didn't look too bad (minor coolant leak is the only reason I had it towed).

Am I crazy for wanting to try and keep this thing? Mechanically speaking there was nothing wrong with it. Tranny rebuilt about a year ago, engine is strong, 4wd and e-locker still work...

It sounds like the gears are turning with the insurance company taking the vehicle from the yard. From there I have no idea where it goes, trying to get more info tomorrow. Then I guess there's also the issue of them possibly totaling it, then not re-insuring it as a salvage. Fuck, I don't know what to do.

[BFD]

I had a 2 door jimmy. Biggest piece of shit ever made. Lucky for you. You can collect the insurance and move on. I donated mine to charity.

[SirVicSmasher]

Fender hood grill. Fix that shit and get on with life.

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[XXX-er]

Then I guess there's also the issue of them possibly totaling it, then not re-insuring it as a salvage. Fuck, I don't know what to do.]

that deer gave its life for you,

I would the take money and run

buy some other inanimate object with 4 wheesls

[Woodsy]

Try going with a sportcoat

[billyk]

Similar thing happened to wife when she had an encounter with a deer one dark night. Insurance company totaled the car, but kept it and sold it at a salvage auction. My wife wanted to keep the car, and even went so far as to pay for a permit to allow her to bid at the salvage auction. Unfortunately, she got out-bid quickly at the auction. It ended up selling for about 3 times what we expected.

So we ended up buying a much better car, so there’s that.

[Todd Zander]

register in nh after you buy it back for $100

[ill-advised strategy]

Always possible some scuzznuts at the tow company/body shop/whatever had eyes for the drivetrain, elocker, etc...and worked an angle with the insurance co. It's New Mexico...you're an out of towner....just sayin.

Seems like the go/no-go on trying to rescue this rig, imho, is the mechanical history and trust level with all that stuff. If it's been babied forever and kept in the family with Amsoil and Mobile one and it's sitting there with new belts and new tires, and you always hold your farts till you get out of the driver seat etc etc....maybe.
If it's just a car in the middle/end-ish of its service life....meh, start looking.

I hear that Leavenworth Skier guy haz a monster truck for sale!
https://www.tetongravity.com/forums/...8-1L-Big-Block

As for the blazer hate....that 4.3 drivetrain (Astros, S10/15s, small Blazers) is really popular where I live and I see those things (and toyota trucks and a lot of Cavaliers for some reason) run completely into the fucking ground and limped on into states of rust and mechanical neglect you couldn't imagine outside of a rust-belt state with no safety or emissions inspections. People plow with them. They're survivors...around here they're survivors.

[Viva]

If the frame is straight and it drives, and you love it, then save the bitch! Looks like a sweet snow rig.

[adrenalated]

We just went through this in another thread.... don't carry full coverage on old ass cars that aren't worth anything. Yeah they're "bolt on parts" but they have to be painted to match, etc... that damage is $4k at at body shop, at least. I doubt blue book on an old ZR2 is more than $3k.

If you really want it, buy it back and fix it yourself. I'm with the others that the deer did you a favor. My '95 was falling apart at 180k miles, everything broke on that fucking truck.

[XXX-er]

yeah i thot these things were shit and its already kacked a transmission,

they were certainly not popular up here from what i can see,

short wheelbase/high CG is a recipe for an accident at highway speed especially in snow

Bambi did you a favor

[BmillsSkier]

[uglymoney]

I know you love this beast. Never love a machine because it will not love you back. One mans trash is another mans treasure? I was reminded of that by someone way back when.

I gave my old Subaru to my stepson. It still hurts. But at least I get to visit it whenever I want and enjoy it racking up more miles as he beats the shit out of it and it keeps refusing to die.

We have an 03 4R and till death do we part. So I know.

But sometimes you just have to roll with the punches. I didn't want my stepson to turn 16 and I sure as shit did not want to give him a car I had poured hours of labor and treasure into maintaining over the years. But it is what made sense for him and me. A deer fucked up your truck, you didn't plan on that shit happening but it did.

Now go buy yourself a 10 year old 4R and love it till deer do you part.

[PNWbrit]

Some of you kooks were lucky enough to see the Blazer in all her glory at BBI19.

I bet everyone was impressed.

It's just an old car.. move on.

[plugboots]

A bit heartbroken over a beater? Get a car instead of a stupid SUV and move on.

[SB]

move on and up

[evdog]

I hit a small bambi a couple years ago near Montrose doing about 45. A lot less damage than the Blazer but still racked up $3500 in repairs. If you're good at fixing stuff yourself and don't care about imperfections, go for it.

I've been looking at replacement for my old Tacoma and there are lots of salvage vehicles on CL which (according to seller) had only minimal damage and were fixed up. Makes sense for a vehicle like this, but I wonder when its a very new vehicle.

[exsparky]

I'll make you a deal on an international...

[east or bust]

I know you love this beast. Never love a machine because it will not love you back. One mans trash is another mans treasure? I was reminded of that by someone way back when.

I gave my old Subaru to my stepson. It still hurts. But at least I get to visit it whenever I want and enjoy it racking up more miles as he beats the shit out of it and it keeps refusing to die.

We have an 03 4R and till death do we part. So I know.

But sometimes you just have to roll with the punches. I didn't want my stepson to turn 16 and I sure as shit did not want to give him a car I had poured hours of labor and treasure into maintaining over the years. But it is what made sense for him and me. A deer fucked up your truck, you didn't plan on that shit happening but it did.

Now go buy yourself a 10 year old 4R and love it till deer do you part.

Heh, funny enough there’s a super clean 09 SR5 for sale in my area. 1 owner, 90k miles, garage kept. Plus I’m pretty sure the SR5’s didn’t come with the XREAS/RAS bs. Tempting for sure.

[uglymoney]

Heh, funny enough there’s a super clean 09 SR5 for sale in my area. 1 owner, 90k miles, garage kept. Plus I’m pretty sure the SR5’s didn’t come with the XREAS/RAS bs. Tempting for sure.

Our truck had the xreas system. Not really a big deal. I just disconnected it and drained the fluid when I replaced the shocks/springs with Bilstein/OME. Didn't even bother to remove the plumbing because why? I guess the only real downside is you have to replace all four shocks at once.

[east or bust]

Our truck had the xreas system. Not really a big deal. I just disconnected it and drained the fluid when I replaced the shocks/springs with Bilstein/OME. Didn't even bother to remove the plumbing because why? I guess the only real downside is you have to replace all four shocks at once.

True.. you have the 8 or 6? This one I might check out is a 6. Having never driven one, definitely curious how torquey they are. The Vortec 4.3 isn’t much to write home about, but at the end of the day it is a small block Chevy with 2 cylinders chopped off. You know, the same engine that has been swapped into virtually every conceivable vehicle on the planet at one time or another.

[uglymoney]

We have the 6 on the 03. To me it is fine. Oil use is slim to none. The V8's seem to make people happy but not really necessary for us.



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[Diamond Joe]

Yeah I always liked those triangle-window two door Blazers too. (a two door, triangle window Pathfinder was one of my favorite vehicles I ever owned)

Problem with fixing up is you're looking at some big money body parts. *maybe* you get lucky and find one at the junkyard that was rear-ended? and you can strip the parts of the front end? otherwise, you need a new hood, fender, grill, and paint for them all, and those ain't cheap. I reckon you could just buy another Blazer for what it would cost you to fix this one..

[Rideski]

The hidden time is gonna be in the mounts.
Spot where hood hinge bolts to firewall? Bent
Spot where bumper mounts to frame? Bent
Spot where quarterpanel mounts to frame? Mangled
Spot where light brackets attach? Obliterated

Etc etc etc

That said if you only want to make a crawler out of it and can get it back, do it.
Otherwise be happy your forehead is in one piece and look at the next horizon.

[XXX-er]

you got so many fucking guns down there

so use one to put the nag out of its misery