K5 Blazer?
 

Hey fellas. Long time lurker first time poster here.

Sooo....I'm looking at getting into a full size Blazer, here are some questions for you all:

1) What do you all think of going gas or diesel? I know the old diesels won't put out too much power but whatever, as long as its not a dog.

2) For the full sized Blazers, any years that stick out more than others, for better or worse?

3) If you recommend the diesels, then what do you have to watch out for/expect on them for problems? Also, what kinda fuel usage can I expect to get with a moderate lift? 2-3" at most.

4) If I choose to buy a gas truck, what mods can be made to boost fuel economy and what fuel economy can I expect?

Ask yourself the following:
Do you NEED a blazer?

there are alternatives that are much better on gas and cheaper to maintain.

If I had to drive one, I would look for an '80s model with a 6.2l diesel, lots of army surplus ones down there still. It will be slow, but it will get in the 20s MPG wise with some luck. Rust kills those things, first thing you do when you look at one is grab one of the rear seat lap belts and pull on it. Usually they either aren't attached to anything already, or you will feel it move as it tries to take the rusted floor with it. Stuff from that era is getting to the age of restoration rather than daily driving, and even though the 6.2l and the rest of the Blazer drivetrain is solid, unless you find a mint, low mile, rust free one, you should expect to have issues. If you get into an early '90s gas one, look for low oil pressure. Make sure the oil idiot light on the dash hasn't been disconnected, and listen to it idle when it gets warmed up. Those motors tended to have soft crankshafts in them, so the crank journals would wear rather than the bearings. They will run for a long time with super low oil pressure at idle, but you are best to avoid them unless you are willing to rebuild the bottom end.

Do I need a blazer? No. Anything I want to do with it could be accomplished with a Chevy S10, Ford Ranger, or Toyota Tacoma.

Do I want a blazer? of course I want one, they're awesome trucks. Also if you're saying that these are expensive to maintain you haven't seen how cheap old chev parts are.

Ya they are cheap, but you will need a lot of them lol. It's not the mechanical parts that will hurt you on a K5, it's the sheet metal/labor to replace that sheet metal that will. And anything from the 80s/early 90s is going to start having issues like electrical problems etc. On a K5 i.e. you will be replacing all the junk that makes the rear window go up and down. They were a good design, but they are 30 years old, so as long as you are equipped to deal with issues like that then you are in good shape.

generally I would guess that everything on a truck is more expensive. more spark plugs, spark plug wires, bigger tires, more oil, more gas, etc.

You are right Hydro, but for the amount of times you have to change those things, they pale in comparison to the fuel costs for running one. I am all for a cool wheeler that gets decent mileage, but I wouldn't want one as my only source of transportation. A lifted K5 diesel with some eco mods running on WVO would be sick, but like I said, this stuff is getting old so you have to be prepared to fix a lot of issues with it, and it will never be "good" on fuel, only better than it was. Just my $.02 worth, and hey what do I know about used cars ha ha. :snail:

You can expect sub-20 mpg and +$4 gas.

Wow, I realize this is an eco minded forum but I guess I was over-optimistic thinking I would get more supportive answers...

I mean I don't like the full aero cap and similar mods but I was curious if there were alternative options that might increase the efficiency of the truck and make it a little less painful to my wallet, and more answers regarding my diesel or gasoline powerplant question.

I'm more focused on the return time of getting a diesel over a gas powered truck.

Personally I'd get the diesel, although there's no shortage of mods to turn the stock 150hp 350 gasser into a monster. Parts are cheap but either way, you'll have some work to do. The return time will depend on the condition of the truck, work you intend to do yourself, and how much you drive it.... (make it fun and drive it a lot!)

I recall there was someone on here who did some modding to a diesel chev of this vintage and got some good mileage out of it.