ZR2 suprized me

[BDBWTE]

Last week I went on vacation but on the 3rd and 4th of July I went to Haspen, IN to go off roading with my buddy John who has a 2003 ZR2. Anyways I would have pulled both of our buggies down with the HD but I had to go on Vacation on Sat. Plus my Toyota is broke...yes again...agggrrr Anyways so we decide not to take his dad's stroker because he's going to go camping and needs the 5ver. On the ZR2 we loaded. First we loaded what we could into this ext. cab full I mean you couldn't see out the back window full of gear. Then the toolbox got loaded with as much wood as I could fit under the toolbox. Now goes in his 400EX 4wheeler into the bed. Okay so now the truck is pretty well loaded. So we finish it off by hooking his 16ft. tandem to the receiver and on goes his Buggy Truck toyota extra cab 22R 5spd 4x4 with flat bed and 33" boggers on the back and the old style Buckshots on the front. Strapped her down and then stood back and looked at the truck. It was a beautiful site the ole ZR2 was done in the back fully cycled suspension and resting on the bump stops.. So figuring it could be too much weight and that we could ease up on the tonque weight with backing the toyota up over the trailer axles. But being lazy like we are we left it siting on the hitch of the truck and off we went 180 miles to Haspen. The ZR2 pulled it there find and back with no real problems except that we weren't racing anywhere and the wind caught the toyota and pulled the truck around a little bit. So to you ZR2 owners your trucks are quite capable.

 

The best part of the trip was where we camping their was a guy named Joe with a 2003 6.0L G2 Powerstroke Dually pulling a 16ft trailer with 4 quads on it. I was like dang man can that stroker handle that load? I mean that's almost as much as we have on our s10 with a 4.3L...actually no you toyo goes for close to 3000lbs and those quads about 400lbs a piece so we have you buy 1800lbs plus our payload.. I thought that part was hilarous. Not to mention the stroker didn't have a hitch rather we was pulling off the bumper I was like wtf a diesel without a hitch?? I thought that was a given.

[Black02Silverado]

Sounds like a great weekend.

 

I have to admit. I had a regular cab 93 Sonoma 4x4 and it did it's far share of hauling and towing with it's 4.3 5sp. We have a 20' bayliner and it towed it really well. Matter of fact now that I'm thinking of it. I towed my 65 Impala SS 396 with the Sonoma. I put the Impala on a trailer and just hooked it up to the bumper hitch. I know I over loaded that bumper because when I got done taking to the place to get worked on and back home, I noticed that the bumper was a little bowed out.

 

I was able to get the thing up to speed no problems, it was the slowing down that I did really carefully. I figured the trailer was about 1k and the Impala weights in at 3900lbs.

 

GM makes some tough trucks if you ask me.

[TarheelZ]

Of course, I've always known the ZR2 was an impressive truck but I enjoy hearing non-ZR2 owners make testimonials like BDBWTE's...thanks! That's primarily why I chose for my vanity plate: Z-NESS NV

 

The ZR2 offers quite a bit of torque for a V6 (250 ft/lbs) as well as the same size front/rear diffs as the full-size trucks. It's a great truck for pulling or climbing but the turning radius makes tight turns a real challenge.

[Frank S]

Yep,they will definitely surprise you.

 

Here are some shots of a very large F250 and a Z71 as well I had to pull out not quite 18 months ago.

 

The only one out there who believed I could do it was the younger guy who called me out to begin with,he is in one of the pictures looking at the camera at the back passenger area of my truck.

[greyghost03]

 

[Tex2kZR2]

The ZR2 offers quite a bit of torque for a V6 (250 ft/lbs) as well as the same size front/rear diffs as the full-size trucks. 

Actually they have the same rear diff but the front dif is a piece of crap 7.25". Definitely not strong enough for our Z's.(especially if you want bigger tires) If they would have gone with a 8.25/8.5" front diff then it would solve a lot of our problems....

[bowtie_pasta]

I'm really leaning towards picking up a used ZR-2 extend cab if I can find the right price. Seeing this thread has just convinced me more.

 

What's a used ZR-2 going for nowadays?

[Frank S]

Well,you can buy my '00 with 43,xxx miles for $13,500.

[bowtie_pasta]

Well,you can buy my '00 with 43,xxx miles for $13,500.

Ouch!!! A little out of my price range. Are you serious about selling it?

 

What year did they first introduce the ZR-2's?

[Tex2kZR2]

94 was the first year - Short Cab only

95 was the first year for Extended cabs

end of 96 they introduced the 3rd door and ZR2 Blazers

98 New front end, improved interior, and big upgrade on brakes. Switched to 4 wheel disc brakes.(much needed)

99+ Minor tweaks, nothing major.

 

Good solid trucks, plenty of power and torque. Treat em right and they will last.

[Frank S]

Well,you can buy my '00 with 43,xxx miles for $13,500. 

Ouch!!! A little out of my price range. Are you serious about selling it?

 

What year did they first introduce the ZR-2's?

Yeah,pretty serious though not really advertizing it just yet.Got a baby on the way which is due on October 30th and while we have a vehicle that will be good for transporting the child,the Z doesn't really fit in anymore.

[bowtie_pasta]

Congrats on the baby dude!

 

Does anybody know any other decent used auto search engines besides autotrader.com?

 

I was only able to locate a couple decent ZR2's close to me, only thing I didn't want was the regular cab, I would like an ext. Can you tell if the gold one is an ext or not, horrible pic?

 

Gold ZR2

 

Red ZR2

[Frank S]

Well,the Pewter one doesn't look bad but the mileage is kind of high for being 5 years old and having a 10g asking price.Just a quick click on the vehicle history indicates they have 6 entries for that one.

 

For some reason they don't even list the miles on the Dark Cherry Z which kind of concerns me.It is a regular cab and they have 12 reports about its' history.

 

Personally,I would probably sty away from both of them but when you go to look at one be sure to have them open the trap door on the skid plate so you can inspect the lines leading from the filter relocation.They are notorious about leaking.

[bowtie_pasta]

Oh wow, thanks for the heads up. I didn't even notice the history check button. So those counts could indicate mechanical troubles, accidents, etc?

[Frank S]

You got it.

 

Generally those things show up when work is performed by a dealership and can be anything from a minor warranty problem to a big mechanical or accident repair.

 

Best thing you can do is try to find one with only a few listings on their "Vehicle Report" area,call the owner to ask about them and if it sounds good,pay for the actual report to make sure they are telling you the truth.