Greetings from Alberta, Canada

[SkunkedGorilla]

Hello and thanks for the add to the group. Not new to Offroading or Overlanding. Been at it for Nelly 20 years. Usually combine my adventures with activities such as Hunting or Fishing. Have racked up some really cool adventures over the years exploring both Alberta & British Columbia.

Earlier this year I was in a bad motor vehicle accident in my old expedition Vehicle (1998 Jeep TJ), which I've owned for over 22 years. Was sad day as me and that vehicle shared some amazing adventures together over the years.

I'm still recovering from the accident and have a long why to go physically, but I'm itching to start getting out exploring and getting back to activities I did amd combined with Overlanding b4 the accident and my horrible divorce back in 2021.

I'm working with an offroad built rig as my new adventure/overlanding vehicle. It's a purpose built off road toy, but handles Daily Driving just as well as the offroad use it was built for . Currently I've been using it as a daily driver for the last few weeks and surprisingly for all the modifications it handles daily diving very well andhas been super reliable. I'll continue daily driving her throughout the winter as a form of daily shake down.

I'll spend the next couple months outfitting the rig with some decent recovery gear, some storage solutions and finish up with the cockpit. Mechanically she runs like a top and a majority of the rig has recently been rebuilt.

The rig itself is a 2001 Blazer Zr2 (The basic bones of this rig are as follows):
-SAS Dana 44 & Ford 9" 4.88 gears with posi in the rear. Manual locking hubs front (completely rebuilt end to end with new gearing)
-4.3L with 208,000kms & Hypertech Power programmer 3
-Factory 5speed Transmission
-Custom NP241/231 Transfer Case
-James Duff Longarm Coil Lift front & Leaf springs rear
-35 " MTS
-Banana Armor custom Winch Bumper
-Banana Armor custom rock Sliders
-power/heated Leather Front seats
-Custom Upgraded Stereo, upgraded speakers and wired for Subs

I'm slowly transferring over usable items and equipment from my previous rig, to this new adventure rig as weather permits. Im also toying with new setup ideas.

One idea I'm looking into is my sleeping setup. While in the past it's mainly been ground tents. This rig I'm looking at possibly utilizing the 60/40 folding rear seat area to use one side as a sleeping platform via a foam mattress & sleeping bag. That way I can save time breaking down camp when I'm trying to staying mobile. And quick access to sleeping with out pitching a tent.

And with this sleeping setup idea, I've been super interested in incorporating a Diesel Heater to the rig to provide heating and hopefully extend my adventure seasons.

 

[PCO6]

Welcome from Central Ontario. Nice rig!

 

[Kent R]

Hello and thanks for the add to the group. Not new to Offroading or Overlanding. Been at it for Nelly 20 years. Usually combine my adventures with activities such as Hunting or Fishing. Have racked up some really cool adventures over the years exploring both Alberta & British Columbia.

Earlier this year I was in a bad motor vehicle accident in my old expedition Vehicle (1998 Jeep TJ), which I've owned for over 22 years. Was sad day as me and that vehicle shared some amazing adventures together over the years.

I'm still recovering from the accident and have a long why to go physically, but I'm itching to start getting out exploring and getting back to activities I did amd combined with Overlanding b4 the accident and my horrible divorce back in 2021.

I'm working with an offroad built rig as my new adventure/overlanding vehicle. It's a purpose built off road toy, but handles Daily Driving just as well as the offroad use it was built for . Currently I've been using it as a daily driver for the last few weeks and surprisingly for all the modifications it handles daily diving very well andhas been super reliable. I'll continue daily driving her throughout the winter as a form of daily shake down.

I'll spend the next couple months outfitting the rig with some decent recovery gear, some storage solutions and finish up with the cockpit. Mechanically she runs like a top and a majority of the rig has recently been rebuilt.

The rig itself is a 2001 Blazer Zr2 (The basic bones of this rig are as follows):
-SAS Dana 44 & Ford 9" 4.88 gears with posi in the rear. Manual locking hubs front (completely rebuilt end to end with new gearing)
-4.3L with 208,000kms & Hypertech Power programmer 3
-Factory 5speed Transmission
-Custom NP241/231 Transfer Case
-James Duff Longarm Coil Lift front & Leaf springs rear
-35 " MTS
-Banana Armor custom Winch Bumper
-Banana Armor custom rock Sliders
-power/heated Leather Front seats
-Custom Upgraded Stereo, upgraded speakers and wired for Subs

I'm slowly transferring over usable items and equipment from my previous rig, to this new adventure rig as weather permits. Im also toying with new setup ideas.

One idea I'm looking into is my sleeping setup. While in the past it's mainly been ground tents. This rig I'm looking at possibly utilizing the 60/40 folding rear seat area to use one side as a sleeping platform via a foam mattress & sleeping bag. That way I can save time breaking down camp when I'm trying to staying mobile. And quick access to sleeping with out pitching a tent.

And with this sleeping setup idea, I've been super interested in incorporating a Diesel Heater to the rig to provide heating and hopefully extend my adventure seasons.

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Welcome To Overland Bound
That is a beast of a Blazer.
Check the forum calendar and Meet-Up page for events, and the Trip Planning page for trips being planned by members. These pages can be filtered by region.
Overland Bound Meetups
Overland Trip Planning
You can use the Member Map to find other members and events in your area. You can also send a message directly from the map to other members.
RESOURCE MAP
App Tutorials
Overland Bound One App Adventure and Expedition Tutorials
Local information for any of our regions can also be found in the “Overland Bound by Region”
OVERLAND BOUND COMMUNITY
Check out the four Overland Expo events https://www.OverlandExpo.com
Quick adult & youthTread Lightly online awareness course.
Online Courses - Tread Lightly
Tread Lightly! Youth Online Course
If you have any questions don't hesitate to message me, hopefully I can get you going in the right direction. @Kent R or Kent@OverlandBound.com

 

[Silver Rover]

Hello and thanks for the add to the group. Not new to Offroading or Overlanding. Been at it for Nelly 20 years. Usually combine my adventures with activities such as Hunting or Fishing. Have racked up some really cool adventures over the years exploring both Alberta & British Columbia.

Earlier this year I was in a bad motor vehicle accident in my old expedition Vehicle (1998 Jeep TJ), which I've owned for over 22 years. Was sad day as me and that vehicle shared some amazing adventures together over the years.

I'm still recovering from the accident and have a long why to go physically, but I'm itching to start getting out exploring and getting back to activities I did amd combined with Overlanding b4 the accident and my horrible divorce back in 2021.

I'm working with an offroad built rig as my new adventure/overlanding vehicle. It's a purpose built off road toy, but handles Daily Driving just as well as the offroad use it was built for . Currently I've been using it as a daily driver for the last few weeks and surprisingly for all the modifications it handles daily diving very well andhas been super reliable. I'll continue daily driving her throughout the winter as a form of daily shake down.

I'll spend the next couple months outfitting the rig with some decent recovery gear, some storage solutions and finish up with the cockpit. Mechanically she runs like a top and a majority of the rig has recently been rebuilt.

The rig itself is a 2001 Blazer Zr2 (The basic bones of this rig are as follows):
-SAS Dana 44 & Ford 9" 4.88 gears with posi in the rear. Manual locking hubs front (completely rebuilt end to end with new gearing)
-4.3L with 208,000kms & Hypertech Power programmer 3
-Factory 5speed Transmission
-Custom NP241/231 Transfer Case
-James Duff Longarm Coil Lift front & Leaf springs rear
-35 " MTS
-Banana Armor custom Winch Bumper
-Banana Armor custom rock Sliders
-power/heated Leather Front seats
-Custom Upgraded Stereo, upgraded speakers and wired for Subs

I'm slowly transferring over usable items and equipment from my previous rig, to this new adventure rig as weather permits. Im also toying with new setup ideas.

One idea I'm looking into is my sleeping setup. While in the past it's mainly been ground tents. This rig I'm looking at possibly utilizing the 60/40 folding rear seat area to use one side as a sleeping platform via a foam mattress & sleeping bag. That way I can save time breaking down camp when I'm trying to staying mobile. And quick access to sleeping with out pitching a tent.

And with this sleeping setup idea, I've been super interested in incorporating a Diesel Heater to the rig to provide heating and hopefully extend my adventure seasons.

View attachment 246529View attachment 246530View attachment 246531View attachment 246532View attachment 246534View attachment 246535View attachment 246536

Welcome Aboard from Texas. Trust your recovery will go well.

 

[Dave Snyder]

Nice rig. Welcome to Overland Bound.

 

[SkunkedGorilla]

Welcome from Central Ontario. Nice rig!

Thanks for the welcome!

 

[SkunkedGorilla]

Welcome To Overland Bound
That is a beast of a Blazer.
Check the forum calendar and Meet-Up page for events, and the Trip Planning page for trips being planned by members. These pages can be filtered by region.
Overland Bound Meetups
Overland Trip Planning
You can use the Member Map to find other members and events in your area. You can also send a message directly from the map to other members.
RESOURCE MAP
App Tutorials
Overland Bound One App Adventure and Expedition Tutorials
Local information for any of our regions can also be found in the “Overland Bound by Region”
OVERLAND BOUND COMMUNITY
Check out the four Overland Expo events https://www.OverlandExpo.com
Quick adult & youthTread Lightly online awareness course.
Online Courses - Tread Lightly
Tread Lightly! Youth Online Course
If you have any questions don't hesitate to message me, hopefully I can get you going in the right direction. @Kent R or Kent@OverlandBound.com

Thanks for the welcome amd for the links to get me going around the forum!

 

[SkunkedGorilla]

Welcome Aboard from Texas. Trust your recovery will go well.

Thanks for the welcome, take it one day at a time, enjoy the little things.. could have been worse for either driver.

 

[OTH Overland]

Welcome to Overland Bound!, Nice looking Blazer, and cool to see it equipped with a manual, not likely to be stolen that way...lol

 

[Red_Leaf_Overland]

Welcome fron ontario. Rig looks awesome and super capable. One think I will say is I have tried the 60/40 split sleeping in other rigs and found it to be a tight fit ( jeep patriot, Nissan pathfinder, 1500 blazer) the only one I fount to have enough room for me was the older blazer ( and that was more out of necessity than comfort as I gad nowhere else) and I'm not a big guy, but I roll around alot lol.
Sorry to hear about your accident. Hope the road to recovery is fast and you can get back out doing what you enjoy.

 

[SkunkedGorilla]

Welcome fron ontario. Rig looks awesome and super capable. One think I will say is I have tried the 60/40 split sleeping in other rigs and found it to be a tight fit ( jeep patriot, Nissan pathfinder, 1500 blazer) the only one I fount to have enough room for me was the older blazer ( and that was more out of necessity than comfort as I gad nowhere else) and I'm not a big guy, but I roll around alot lol.
Sorry to hear about your accident. Hope the road to recovery is fast and you can get back out doing what you enjoy.

Thanks for the Welcome! And comments on my sleeping setup. Will get a good look at the rear area of the rig tbis week seeing as I've had to get her into the shop to replace the Transfer Case I cracked earlier this week



I really haven't looked too much into the setup as of yet. I have utilized a 2000 Grand Cherokee WJ (Perfect size) & a 2003 Jeep Liberty (Was a little small).

I always carry a ground tent. But for those trips such as hunting and fishing id like something more mobile where setting up or tearing down camp will eat up too much time.

Say I'm hunting till last legal light snd wanna switch up WMU's and travel 60-150kms b4 sleeping. Would be nice to have an option to retreat to the back if the vehicle, skip camp setup and catch a few z's b4 making my way to a pre-planned blind or location.

Was also concerning how to mount a diesel heater in the rug that's semi-Permanently mounted. Which I've got an idea from these forums I've been toying with. Mounting the Diesel Heater inside of a Spare Tire Bag (one if those trasharoo style spare tire bags) still have alot of research into diesel heaters b4 diving into this project. But would like to get it sorted out for next fall.

 

[SkunkedGorilla]

Welcome to Overland Bound!, Nice looking Blazer, and cool to see it equipped with a manual, not likely to be stolen that way...lol

Thanks for the Welcome!

Ya not many still drive a stick. I wouldn't have it any other way, especially for a vehicle that will see alot of offroad/trail use.

 

[DintDobbs]

That's a gnarly build, and it looks like it will only get better! I've never owned an S10 platform, but the 2nd-gens are really fun to work with, particularly the 2-doors with their short wheelbase.

If you don't mind me asking, how long is the cargo space with the seat folded down? I've spent many nights in my Explorer Sport, and it isn't long enough to lie down in the back, even for a short guy like me.

 

[SkunkedGorilla]

That's a gnarly build, and it looks like it will only get better! I've never owned an S10 platform, but the 2nd-gens are really fun to work with, particularly the 2-doors with their short wheelbase.

If you don't mind me asking, how long is the cargo space with the seat folded down? I've spent many nights in my Explorer Sport, and it isn't long enough to lie down in the back, even for a short guy like me.

I've got quite a bit planned for this Blazer over the next few months. Maybe I'll start up a build thread and document some of the progress from here..

Had a mishap earlier this week, was helping out the sisters husband trying to get his farm truck and trailer out of some snow on a field. Ended up completely cracking the tail shaft of my transfer case. So she'd currently undergoing a swap atm. Completely operator error, shouldn't have been trying to tug him out snd we should have waited for tje tractor. Pretty expensive lesson to learn on this repair.



The cargo space from the book...
Boot Length Max 68.5Inches/ 5.7 Feet

I would have to remeasure as the fronts had leather power/heated seats added. I believe they are from another Blazer trim model. But could be +/- extra room with the seat upgrades.

 

[DintDobbs]

Ouch... yeah, these light trucks are LIGHT trucks; even if the frames can take the abuse, the drivetrains can't.

That length sounds about right, I want to say the actual length in the back of my Explorer came close to 5' exactly (it perfectly fit a 4x5 gate I had to transport once). I think the Blazer has a slightly longer wheelbase (Explorer Sport is 102") and more rear overhang for sure, giving a longer cargo space.

Happy trails, once she's back on (and off!) the road again!

 

[Red_Leaf_Overland]

Was also concerning how to mount a diesel heater in the rug that's semi-Permanently mounted. Which I've got an idea from these forums I've been toying with. Mounting the Diesel Heater inside of a Spare Tire Bag (one if those trasharoo style spare tire bags) still have alot of research into diesel heaters b4 diving into this project. But would like to get it sorted out for next fall.

I'm just getting into the deisel heater thing myself so I have no input there lol. Mine is still a box of parts in the garage and was planning on keeping it on a trailer and run a duct into my tent ( ground tent).
Sounds like you have a good head on your shoulders and should be able to figure it out pretty easily. By the way I have to ask how you blew the tcase lol.

 

[SkunkedGorilla]

Nice rig. Welcome to Overland Bound.

Thanks for the welcome

Ouch... yeah, these light trucks are LIGHT trucks; even if the frames can take the abuse, the drivetrains can't.

That length sounds about right, I want to say the actual length in the back of my Explorer came close to 5' exactly (it perfectly fit a 4x5 gate I had to transport once). I think the Blazer has a slightly longer wheelbase (Explorer Sport is 102") and more rear overhang for sure, giving a longer cargo space.

Happy trails, once she's back on (and off!) the road again!

It's got a pretty beefy drive train under this 01 Blazer ZR2. Definitely not stock configuration.

Has the stock Factory
4.3L V6 (Gm Vortec 4300) with a Hypertech Power programmer 3 tune
NV3500 (5 speed) Transmission with Centerforce 2 clutch

Solid axle swapped
Front: Ford Dana 44 with 4.88 gears and warn hubs
Rear: Ford 9Inch with 4.88 gears and posi

Transfer case: NP241/231
Kinda unsure exactly what was done. But assuming it's a np241 case and innerds with the 6 planetary gear swap from a NP231. But this is just an assumption. Also had a floor mounted cable shift.

My plan is to keep this fix simple and as cheap as possible. Just gunna replace with an nP241C with 6bolt patern, drivers drop. Just need to get the tcase out and determine the imput spline count either 27 or 32 spline.

Was hoping for my sister's husband's help this evening to lower the case out od the truck, but the Christmas season has gotten in the way. And he came up busy.

Got everything u bolted ams ready to drop, my jack is 1 foot to short to reach the tcase, so have a block of wood to make up the height. Just want an extra set of hands to get it lowered down.

Not sure on the exact wheelbase of this Blazer, but I'm assuming close to the stock configuration.
2hich would 107". But the wheel base could b3 a little longer with the SAS under this Blazer. Would have to measure to be sure.

We'll have her up and running by the end of the week provided I can fine a good Tcase at the wrecker. Still doing some esearch but I might have a couple doner Tcase swaps in the shop from some older projects if need be. They might need some fuckery to make em work though. That's last resort

 

[SkunkedGorilla]

I'm just getting into the deisel heater thing myself so I have no input there lol. Mine is still a box of parts in the garage and was planning on keeping it on a trailer and run a duct into my tent ( ground tent).
Sounds like you have a good head on your shoulders and should be able to figure it out pretty easily. By the way I have to ask how you blew the tcase lol.

Might be leaning towards having a custom rear bumper made with swing out . Have a mount to hold the diesel heater box and tank incorporated into the bumper., still toying with ideas. But a rear bumper is high priority atm as My stock tire carrier can't hold my 35x12.50r17 , so I've been running with no spare around the city atm. So a custom made swing out Tire Carrier with 2 mounts. One to hold gas can and another to hold the diesel Hester box.

I've always like the off road trailer idea, but unfortunately I like to pull a boat behind ,e on trips. Either the SSV-151 or the small center console tinny I've been working on as a fishing boat).

Horrible situation how the tcase broke. Was trying to help out the sisters husband,he got his truck and trailer stuck out feeding the critters. Tractor was up with his uncle on another parcel of land . I figured I'd give him a tug and pull him out. Was some deep snow, but weather was kinda nice out so made everything soft under the snow.

His dodge 3500 with a water tank, nothing too big, and a small trailer with a bail of hay. Well 5 small tugs later I hear a chattering, looked under the rig saw tcase fluid everywhere. Looked up and saw the carnage.

I hear here aluminum cases are weak in the tail section. Guess I found that out 1st hand. In all honesty I shouldn't have tried pulling him out. Should have waited for the tractor, definitely operator error. And an expensive one at that. Kicking myself atm to be honest.

 

[SkunkedGorilla]

I'm just getting into the deisel heater thing myself so I have no input there lol. Mine is still a box of parts in the garage and was planning on keeping it on a trailer and run a duct into my tent ( ground tent).
Sounds like you have a good head on your shoulders and should be able to figure it out pretty easily. By the way I have to ask how you blew the tcase lol.

I'm still on the fence as to which way tor go with the diesel heater, weather to build it myself, order a pre-made one or there us a guy close to where I am that builds custom ones and services them.

I'm kind of leaning towards having a custom one built to my specs as I'd like to have it mounted somewhere semi permanent. I also have to think about my sleep system and how the Hester will be used.

 

[SoCoRuss]

Welcome, nice rig