Jeep Trailblazer SS

[Southcity]

Excellent job on the paint!! The two tone scheme with side strip and white on the hood really fits the vehicle. Glad to hear you are re-thinking the wheels and excited to see what you end up with to complete the look.

[gottattooz]

Here's what the jig looks like. You bolt it onto the existing pattern, drill the pilot hole, rotate the jig clockwise and drill the new stud location and another pilot hole. It was just under $250.00, but i didn't have to remove the axles and hubs and stories to bring to a machine shop to have them done.

-Josh

[67ChevyRedneck]

Woah, that came out awesome. I am definitely biased.... I love anything blue/white.

[Madkidd007]

Originally Posted by gottattooz

We'll paint your Lincoln powder blue. Then I'll put pink and purple flames on it for you.

-Josh

That’s what the factory color was. Ah hahahha

[gottattooz]

I scuffed the clear coat and assembled the tailgate trim, all the driver's side trim, door handles, door lock and new left front marker lens with new gaskets for the locks and handles. The scuffed clear over the blue makes it look anodized. I'm getting really excited to see it all put back together.

-Josh

[gottattooz]

I pulled it outside before work to see it in natural light. I love it.

-Josh

[biketopia]

looks freaking slick!!

[Ol Blue K20]

Looks great, I love it.

[gottattooz]

I tried wet sanding the passenger side with 1200. When it dried, it looked worse, so i scuffed it all back down with the grey pad. I've still got the bumpers to go an then I'll work on mounting the roof rack.

-Josh

[67C10Step]

I'd drive it and you wouldn't see anything but a smile. Looks great.

[gottattooz]

I finished scuffing the roof so i could put the roof rack on. I have this baffle that's supposed to mount over the shop doors. I cut sections to make pads to mount between the rack and the roof.

-Josh

[gottattooz]

I installed the front and rear bumpers and the roof rack. Now I've got to wireup the wiper motor and third brake lights.

-Josh

[Palf70Step]

Looking like it is time for some cruising!

[Ol Blue K20]

It looks great! It's time to take it out and enjoy it...

[gottattooz]

Well i pulled it out before work to get pictures in the sunlight.

Then after work, i wired up the third brake lights.

-Josh

[gottattooz]

When i put the mirrors on, everything was fine. I took the Jeep out for a parts run and noticed the glass was missing. I stopped into AutoZone for a replacement.

-Josh

[gottattooz]

And 3 hours later, i drilled out the new bolt pattern (from 6x5 to 6x5.5). When i disassembled the caliper and bracket to swap the studs over, i found out that there isn't enough material on the hub to safely swap the studs. I thought about welding the studs in place, but i don't like the risk to swap wheels. At least i didn't order new wheels and tires yet.

-Josh

[gottattooz]

I spoke with my dad and he brought up a good point. With the wide track front fenders, i could get away with bolt pattern adapters if the jig works on the rear axles. I drilled a test hole to see, and sure enough it works. So i drilled out the rear. I'll order adapters for the front and mount the rears inset. I'll pick up studs at summit racing and test fit the Colorado wheels to check the offset.

- Josh

[gottattooz]

I finished drilling and replacing the rear studs. I took the 17x8 wheel off my dad's 2005 Colorado with 255/60r17 tires and test fit it. One profile picture is flush against the rotor and the other is with a 2 inch spacer. The rims I'm going with will stick out about an inch further than the stock Colorado wheel.

-Josh

[gottattooz]

I hung out with MadKidd today and he brought up the point that even though i can't use the drilled front hub to safely drive down the road, i can use it to test fit the 2 inch spacer to see what the front wheel will look like with the offset I'm looking at.

Since i have to use an adaptive spacer for the front, it'll be 1-1.25 inches thick. The new rims stick out about an inch farther than the Colorado wheels, so the 2 inch spacer is a great visual tool.

-Josh

[gottattooz]

I threw these on just to set it down from the lift. Turns out they have the exact back spacing as the new wheels. These are 17x7.5. The new rims are 17x8.5. So they'll stick out one inch further.

These tires are 31.5 inch diameter. The Colorado tires are 29 inch. The 275/60r17 I'm going with are 30 inch, same as what's on the trailblazer wheels so there won't be clearance issues.

-Josh

[Southcity]

Glad to see you are making progress with the wheel/tire/brake config, it's a big part of the overall presentation and drivability of your one-of-a-kind vehicle. Not sure if anyone else has mentioned it but you sure have a really nice shop and surrounding area.

[gottattooz]

Originally Posted by Southcity

Glad to see you are making progress with the wheel/tire/brake config, it's a big part of the overall presentation and drivability of your one-of-a-kind vehicle. Not sure if anyone else has mentioned it but you sure have a really nice shop and surrounding area.

I pulled the trigger on the 9 spoke vision turbines last night. The tires were already outside my garage this morning.

The shop is a huge blessing. My dad is retired and lives with me. I don't charge him rent because i think he earned the right to be free of debt. He decided to use his nest egg to finance the shop we both always dreamed of but could never afford. My place is 2.54 acres. We put the shop behind the house in the woods. It's peaceful and i really enjoy my time there. As you can tell by my progress, I've got a lot of free time. Haha.

-Josh

[biketopia]

That's awfully stand up of you, hell of a gesture your dad! Are you replacing your swiss cheesed front hubs?

[gottattooz]

Originally Posted by biketopia

That's awfully stand up of you, hell of a gesture your dad! Are you replacing your swiss cheesed front hubs?

Thanks. My dad's a great guy.

I'm still using the front hub. There's nothing wrong with it structurally. It's just lighter. I ordered 1.25 inch wheel adapters for the front. MadKidd suggested changing the studs in the adapters to match the rears so i could stick to one set of lug nuts instead of having 1/2-20 in the rear and 12mm-1.50 in the front. The set comes with 4 adapters, so i can practice on 2 and still have 2 good ones in case i mess them up.

-Josh