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Well I've been shopping for a new SUV. I love the gas mileage but the Bonneville is too cramped for a growing family, especially with car seats.

We've been looking at 06 Tahoes and 06 Trailblazers. With the current rebates a new Tahoe ($50k sitcker) can be had for only about $3k more than a Trailblazer!!! The bad thing is they stopped 06 Tahoe production early to start the 07s so you can't order plus they don't let you have 3.73 gears anymore, 3.42s or 4.10s only

Sooo, I decided to get a 2006 Trailblazer with the 300 Hp 5.3 V8

I love to check all the boxes so it's going to have every option except the Navigation radio (could always add later for about 1/2 the cost).

I just can't wait to see how the 5.3 feels on the open road!

Now I just have to wait 6 weeks.

Steve

Congrats! What color, and what happens to the Diamond edition now? Trade in?

HenryJ wrote:Congrats! What color, and what happens to the Diamond edition now? Trade in?

Thanks

Exterior: Jewel Red
Interior: Dark Charcoal


The Jimmy isn't going anywhere, the Bonneville is being traded.

Congrats, Diamond! I have the 5.3 in my new silverado and I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!!!! Considering the Trailblazer is lighter than the Silverado, you should fly!

Pauleo wrote: Considering the Trailblazer is lighter than the Silverado, you should fly!

That's what I'm hoping!!!!!

I know even in the Tahoe/Suburban the 5300 really performs so the TB should too.

sweeeeeeeeeeeeet

This is what the Jewel Red looks like, it's a new color for 06.




I wanted to get the 2-tone (red with silver) but you can't get the dark interior with the 2-tone. So I decided on a solid color. I really like black but it's too much work and I don't have time to Zaino it weekly. I love the charcoal metallic but I'm trying to get away from grays.

JimmyDiamond wrote:This is what the Jewel Red looks like, it's a new color for 06.

IMAGE

I wanted to get the 2-tone (red with silver) but you can't get the dark interior with the 2-tone. So I decided on a solid color. I really like black but it's too much work and I don't have time to Zaino it weekly. I love the charcoal metallic but I'm trying to get away from grays.

An awfully small sidewall to squeeze in white lettering

BTW.........looks good.

f9k9 wrote:
An awfully small sidewall to squeeze in white lettering

BTW.........looks good.

That's an SS with 20's. Mine will only be 17's but I am getting the RWL tires. On a wheel that size I wouldn't put RWL tires.

The tires that come on it are Contitrac TR's which are sh*t tires. I'm going to have the dealer replace them with either Firestone Destination A/Ts or Michelin LTX A/T. The Dueler Revo isn't available in this size.

Very nice color , are you keeping it as a family vehicle ? or do you have any plans for the suspension etc ?

Blaze One wrote:Very nice color , are you keeping it as a family vehicle ? or do you have any plans for the suspension etc ?

Thanks! It's going to be a family car/daily driver. I will do mods to it but mainly handling and performance type. I'm not really into lifts etc and I don't offroad. I like clean and shiny, not muddy!

Saleman called yesterday let me know they show it scheduled to be built next week.

JimmyDiamond wrote:

Saleman called yesterday let me know they show it scheduled to be built next week.

Have my fingers crossed that it will be a Wednesday "Build"

f9k9 wrote:

JimmyDiamond wrote:

Saleman called yesterday let me know they show it scheduled to be built next week.

Have my fingers crossed that it will be a Wednesday "Build"

Yeah, no kidding!!!

Thats hump day though that could be trouble any way you look at it.

We are talking about a GM vehicle here so you've got a good chance of getting a lemon no matter what day it's built on! I'll take my chances!

I got a call today, IT'S ON THE LOT!! Ordered 2/14 arrived 3/3!

I couldn't believe it! I still have to get the car ready to trade.

I hope to get some pics maybe tomorrow.

Ok, here's some pics taken while it sits in sold row at the dealer. My only gripe is the wheels, I thought it was going to have the 5 spokes like all the other TB's do. We looked on the computer and with the V8, this is the standard wheel which explains why all the V8 ones I looked at had this wheel. I told them if they'll do the tire swap straight across I'll keep the wheel. If I have to pay a difference then I want the other wheel. We'll see. Either way I plan to install something chrome down the road.






It will look much better once I get it home

looks nice. should trade mine in for one. But have a white one instead

Nice truck! Good luck on the quality. I personally will never buy GM again until Toyota buys them out . Too many horror stories here and elsewhere about their reliability you know. One of the many reasons all of Consumer Reports top picks were Japanese branded vehicles.

JimmyDiamond wrote:Ok, here's some pics taken while it sits in sold row at the dealer. My only gripe is the wheels,

I wonder why that isn't a surprise to me

I likey!

snocat1 wrote: looks nice. should trade mine in for one. But have a white one instead

All white is too plain for my taste but I would do white with silver 2-tone. What sucks is GM doesn't allow the dark interior with the 2-tone otherwise this one would be 2-tone. I didn't want the light grey interior.

border man wrote:Nice truck! Good luck on the quality. I personally will never buy GM again until Toyota buys them out . Too many horror stories here and elsewhere about their reliability you know. One of the many reasons all of Consumer Reports top picks were Japanese branded vehicles.

I'm the type of person that would rather walk than own a Jap vehicle. It's a matter of pride. I don't care if they build Toys or Hondas down the street, I still wouldn't be caught dead owning one.

I'm sure this won't be a totally trouble free vehicle but neither are Jap cars. I can at least drive with pride knowing I didn't sell out my country.

f9k9 wrote:

JimmyDiamond wrote:Ok, here's some pics taken while it sits in sold row at the dealer. My only gripe is the wheels,

I wonder why that isn't a surprise to me

I don't have it yet and I'm already on the second set of rims.

Pauleo wrote: I likey!

Thanks

JimmyDiamond wrote:

border man wrote:Nice truck! Good luck on the quality. I personally will never buy GM again until Toyota buys them out . Too many horror stories here and elsewhere about their reliability you know. One of the many reasons all of Consumer Reports top picks were Japanese branded vehicles.

I'm the type of person that would rather walk than own a Jap vehicle. It's a matter of pride. I don't care if they build Toys or Hondas down the street, I still wouldn't be caught dead owning one.

I'm sure this won't be a totally trouble free vehicle but neither are Jap cars. I can at least drive with pride knowing I didn't sell out my country.

I agree with you to a point on american made cars and trucks, but my wife's Honda's flawless record makes me swallow some of my pride each time I have to take my truck in for a problem

BTW, truck looks good I kinda like the silver wheels...they go good with the body color.

My Bonneville has been flawless too but there's this misconception that american made vehicles break down all the time and Jap ones don't which is totally false.

I do think though that the S-series platform does have more problems than most.

People do associate American vehicles with problems, I think the main reason why is because of a few import vehicles that seem to do really well. One being Honda Accords. People look at those and a few other models and base their opinions on that.

Plus you have the car mags and consumer reports which seem to always be biased towards rice.

Well I brought it home Monday night. Boy does this thing haul ass!! Especially after being used to driving the Jimmy! I let it warm up good at the dealership idling and then got outside of town and layed into it. Ran it through all the gears a few times and then did a couple runs from a dead stop to 100. I'm soooooo glad I got the V8!!

Went to an exhaust shop yesterday and got a quote for a custom dual exhaust. I want to be able to hear the V8 w/o sounding redneck. I hope to get the exhaust done in the next few weeks.

When you get the exhaust work done, you gotta post some pics! My cousin wants to do that to his Trailblazer too

I need to get pics of everything but haven't had time and the weather isn't cooperating

I've been doing some reading and I may not be able to replace the stock muffler because it has something in it that adjusts with the DOD on the engine. I'm still doing more research because I really want to replace everything!!!

JimmyDiamond wrote:Well I brought it home Monday night. Boy does this thing haul ass!! Especially after being used to driving the Jimmy! I let it warm up good at the dealership idling and then got outside of town and layed into it. Ran it through all the gears a few times and then did a couple runs from a dead stop to 100. I'm soooooo glad I got the V8!!

So much for the break in period...

ludwis wrote:

JimmyDiamond wrote:Well I brought it home Monday night. Boy does this thing haul ass!! Especially after being used to driving the Jimmy! I let it warm up good at the dealership idling and then got outside of town and layed into it. Ran it through all the gears a few times and then did a couple runs from a dead stop to 100. I'm soooooo glad I got the V8!!

So much for the break in period...

The "break in period" all depends on who you talk to. Ask any engine builder, babying the engine doesn't help anything and may make things worse. The first 20 or so miles are the most important. Warm the engine up good (which I did) and then cycle it through the RPM band several times. This is what I did on the drive home (26 miles). I used to think you should baby them too but I learned later not to. I've done this on every new vehicle and they were all runners later on. People seem to be on both sides of the issue. Some say baby some say run it hard.

I will also be changing the oil at 500 and again at around 2k. I've seen some people run up to 7k on the factory oil! I think that would be much worse for the engine than breaking it in hard!

GM crate engine break in procedure

1. Run the engine between 2,000 and 2,500 RPMs, with no-load on the engine for the first 30 minutes.

2. Drive the vehicle with varying speeds and loads on the engine for the first 30 miles. Be sure not to use a lot of throttle or high RPMs.

3. Run five or six medium-throttle accelerations to about 5,000 RPMs (55 to 60 MPH), then let off in gear and coast back down to 20 MPH.

4. Run a couple hard-throttle accelerations up to about 5000 RPMs (55 to 60 MPH), then let off in gear and coast back down to 20 MPH.

5. Change the oil and filter with 10W30SG oil and appropriate ACDelco oil filter.

6. Drive the next 500 miles normally, without high RPMs (below 5,000 RPM), hard use, or extended periods of high loading.

7. Change the oil and oil filter again.

8. Your engine is now ready for many happy cruising miles

This is just the break in procedure for GM's crate motors, however it does show that you are not supposed to just baby the engine when it's brand new.

Steve

I'm not losing any sleep over it. I've watched my dad do this to every one of his Suburbans. I broke his 04 in and I remember him breaking his 94 in. We picked it up from the dealer with 3 miles on it. He drove it about 4 miles out of town and stopped on the highway, shifted into 1st gear and then relined it through all the gears and pegged the speedo. I was horrified at the time! He still has the 94 Suburban and it's got about 140k on it and runs like a champ. It has actually had less problems than his 04!!

I've got a 6yr/100k warranty on this one so if it blows up, it blows up!

How is your mileage with the 5.3 Steve? With 2 vehicles from them I am sure that the Dillons are loving you. Bet they fix anything wrong with your truck or your car...especially with the retail business being so slow these days.

Hmm...both the Avalanche and the Tahoe have the 5.3 in them. Might be time for test driving soon.

RaleighBlaZeR2 wrote:How is your mileage with the 5.3 Steve? With 2 vehicles from them I am sure that the Dillons are loving you. Bet they fix anything wrong with your truck or your car...especially with the retail business being so slow these days.

Hmm...both the Avalanche and the Tahoe have the 5.3 in them. Might be time for test driving soon.

Honestly, I haven't driven it much in the past 3 weeks. We're taking it to Wisconsin (roughly 1300 miles round trip) next weekend so I'll have a chance to see how well it does on a long road trip.

Yes, Dillon does love me. The Malibu is the 6th new vehicle I've bought from them since 1999. That doesn't count all the ones my family has bought from them. They take very good care of me and really all customers. Whenever I take anything in to get worked on they always give me a loaner car and they've never questioned any mods I've done.

Are you looking at the new style Tahoe/Avalanche? Those have the DOD 5.3 in them as well.

Actually I was thinking about looking at the 2006 Avalanveh/Tahoe. Has the Flex Fuel 5.3, but I am not sure whether it is the 4/8 cylinder motor. Funds are tight on this end.

RaleighBlaZeR2 wrote:Actually I was thinking about looking at the 2006 Avalanveh/Tahoe. Has the Flex Fuel 5.3, but I am not sure whether it is the 4/8 cylinder motor. Funds are tight on this end.

The 2006s don't have the DOD motor. They have the 290 or 295 hp version of the 5.3. Still a great engine just not DOD. The Flex fuel just means you can burn E85 which is a big farce in itself. E85 maybe saves you $0.10-$0.20 at the pump but it drops your mileage about 30% so it effect you go backwards. E85 capability makes the enviro-kooks feel good so GM builds it.