1990 Jimmy Daily Driver?

[asickber]

For awhile now I've been considering going from my 99 ext cab 4X4 to something a little older/cheaper. I've been looking at older vehicles but just found a 90 K5 Jimmy and like the body style along with the fact that it's got a/c, ps, pb, overdrive, fuel injection etc...

What should I be looking for?
How many guys drive these daily and how do they peform?
My wife's having a baby soon, anyone have any experience with getting a car seat in and out of the back seat?

[Mkcustums]

I guess first thing I could say is if you have never driven one then do, and down the highway too if possible. There really isnt too much of a difference between reliability with the blazer, suburban, and the truck, all the same parts. Space is a big difference for sure, a car seat in a blazer will not be fun nor easy. If it was me I would get a suburban around the same year and put you child in the middle row in the middle of the bench. Safe and 100x easier, plus you can get the seat put in easier and correct without leaning awkwardly to do so. I drove a 1 ton '71 blazer on 40" swampers on a daily basis, it was great but it all depends on the person.

If you have pics of the blazer maybe post them up and see what people think. Pics on here usually help out a lot with responses too.

[79 silverado]

Depends on if you are looking for info on minor issues or more major ones. The variable ratio steering on those trucks were something I wasn't a fan of, but would ot be present if you went a bit older, say 87 or so.

When you look at the truck make sure to stick your head into the rear wheelwell and look forward. there is a "step" in the floor that creates a boxed in corner towards the front of the wheelwell. These trucks tend to rot out there even when solid in other places, and while it doesn't seem like a big deal, the front belts attach nearby... also, just check out the floors well, they tend to rust more than in pickups and suburbans, probably in part due to their more trail-friendly natures and how much more stuff is packed in in the undercarriage per sq inch of floor space....

[Mkcustums]

^^ That's one good thing about living in Oregon, we don't have rust issues that here. So things like that dont really cross my mind. Anything late 80's or newer that has any rust most likely wasn't originally from here. Well, unless it's from over the mountain near the coast. Anyway...

[asickber]

Here's a link to what I'm looking at.
http://tippecanoe.craigslist.org/cto/2071677815.html


As far as a car seat goes, I'll be using one with a base that stays in the truck so that it can snap in and out without having to buckle it in every time. Hopefully that would make it a little more convenient.

[79 silverado]

Well, if you look close under the front bumper in the pics it has the plates on it for mounting a plow frame, so it looks like the "snow plow available" that is mentioned in the ad was on the truck and probably removed for that "new paint". This would lean me towards wanting to check out those floors since it likely saw lots of snow/sand on some roads somewhere, also the rear reinforcement bar the tailgate hinges mount to, etc.

Also might want to find out if it was an electric or hydraulic plow setup, see what was modified to put it on there (did they weld those plates to the frame hack-job style) cut holes in the firewall to put control cables through that might leak, think about drivetrain stresses from having been a plow rig depending on how often it was worked (if they give you an honest answer) check areas like the front frame near the steering box for cracks like on the pickups, etc.

Personally, seeing that it was a plow rig I'd pass on it as something to be daily driver dependable, but that is just me having seen what plowing does to many rigs in my time in new england.

[Mkcustums]

Yeah, the previous plow truck would raise concerns for me too.

About the car seat that should be easier. I don't have kids but my brother didn't like it too much with his K5.

[asickber]

I had my concerns about the plow too. The guy said that he's owned the truck for 2 yrs and now he has fewer clients so he's going down to 1 truck. It would be nice to know if it was used for a plow truck before he bought it or not, but I guess it would be about impossible to know for sure.

[Mkcustums]

Originally Posted by asickber

I had my concerns about the plow too. The guy said that he's owned the truck for 2 yrs and now he has fewer clients so he's going down to 1 truck. It would be nice to know if it was used for a plow truck before he bought it or not, but I guess it would be about impossible to know for sure.

I'll email him and ask him for ya, then see what he says. I'll post his answer back for ya. Make this a group effort...

[Mkcustums]

I asked a whole bunch of questions, but this is what I got back-

"Sense the posting the truckside mount and wirining has been sold I still have the jimmy and the plow. The Jimmy i have had for about 2 years now I had all the body work done in the fall of 09. the truck runs out great I still have the plow that i had on it. it is a western unimount 7'6" pro plow i would let the pair go for $4500.00 cash"

[asickber]

I appreciate the help. The guy doesn't seem to want to offer much information.

Here's an '83 diesel that's closer to me. It's much cheaper but definitely needs more work.

[79 silverado]

The 6.2 diesels (like that one) were ok, but, not alot of power, kind of pricey to rebuild things like injector pumps, and if you haven't owned a diesel before I'd caution you that you *should* add an additive to every tank of fuel in cold weather seasons (which are alot in your neck of the world) because the fuel likes to gel in the tank. Likewise, they can be hard starting in the cold, so looking into adding a engine block heater, keeping it plugged in at night, etc and better yet parking in the garage would be advisable.

Just-in-case you look at an older late 70s model that has the olds 350 diesel in it, those are getting hard to find parts for and might be a candidate for a gas motor conversion, in which case the block is desirable to the olds crowd for building high hp motors due to the metallurgy in the castings...

[Mkcustums]

Originally Posted by asickber

Here's an '83 diesel that's closer to me. It's much cheaper but definitely needs more work.

Just posting the Blazer he is talking about - No it's not mine

Hey, I have an 83 Chevorlet K-5 Blazer 4x4 auto with a 6.2 litre diesel non turbo engine in it. It runs very strong. has about 98,xxx og miles gets about 14 16 mpg and it has a 35 gal tank

runs great, drives fine lights work radio shifts good,windows work heat is hot removable top doesnt leak rear window works all around great truck.

has rust in normal spots where these blazers have rust, the 4 wheel drive works but i took off the automatic lockouts to replace with warren lockouts and havent put them on, the new lock outs are brand new in box, never been on any vehicle and i think i still have the reciept. the rear window is cracked due to some kids who dont respect anyone. the high beams flicker after about 15 min of being on, have the new switch for it in the truck again i justhave never gotten around to putting it on. carpet is kind of ripped up have replacement black to go in it fuel guage only goes up to 1/2 way and the bat/temp/andclock guage doesnt work but i think i have replacement sunpro guages somewhere if i find them i will throw them in. 1200 or trade for 4 wheeler

Extras to go with truck: light switch, carpet, transfer case, cb antenna, and wires, homemade light bar if you dont want it ill throw it away has probably $50-60 of tractor lights on it. It was going to be a fixer upper, i priced out everything to make it perfect except a paint job and it was going to be about 1400, but i really want a fourwheeler now so got to get rid of one toy to get another. this is my daily driver for now so it is a good truck i used to drive 120 miles a day to work and back and it did fine

[Mkcustums]

Does posting ads like that ^^ violate user tems and such? It's not mine, so...

[79 silverado]

Originally Posted by Mkcustums

Does posting ads like that ^^ violate user terms and such? It's not mine, so...

Good question. If its not too late, I'd say go in and edit your post. Pull out the link to the c-list ad, and delete the phone number from the description. If the truck isn't yours, you're not trying to sell, and there is no way to get in touch with the owner, it cant be considered for sale

Also, and IMO (although I am not a mod here) as long as we are careful not to tread the line of what one of these trucks are worth, and just keep it to opinions on what to look for before buying one, we should be ok.... what potential defects are is ok. Discussing prices would be getting close to a WIW thread that OP may need to be a supporter to post up

[Mkcustums]

^^ I pulled the info... It's not for sale anymore, well it is but... it's not. lol

The other day a guy asked about a driveshaft, I made no mention of selling him one or anything but responded with a super general question and the thread instantly got locked. So now I feel like I'm walking on pins and needles... ok typing on pins and needles!

No need to get the simply for trying to help someone out!

Ok I'm done jacking your thread "asickber"... Back to the Blazer search!!