My "new" 2016

[62Blazer]

Just picked up a 2016 with 26k on the clock. This is a very clean 1 owner local trade-in. I saw this one on the lot a couple weeks ago when looking at new ones and didn't pay much attention to it at the time. After more shopping and thinking about it the price was hard to turn down. I really liked the looks of the current models (blacked out grill and wheels) but the money saved will pay for two more cheap daily driver cars and allow me to buy some upgrades! The crazy flame/splash graphics on the bed had already been removed and kinda' debating removing the Power Wagon decals.


I traded in my 2003 Chevy 2500HD Crew Cab 6.0L gas with 150k miles which I bought new, so obviously plan on keeping this a long time. It's not a daily driver so I can keep the miles off of it. Really no need for a Power Wagon but have always been into off-roading and was wanting a mall cruiser, plus this still serves the purpose of a truck and pulling trailers. I have a SxS and fully built K5 Blazer trail rig on 40" tires which do the real off-roading.

Current plans are to tint the front side windows, install some 35" tires, and some sort of bed cover. And some sort of rust proofing. Rust was the worst issue with my old truck.

For a quick comparison with my old Chevy. Obviously more power (only driven empty so far) but feel a little more disconnected because of the electronic throttle and stuff. The Chevy was rated at 300 HP/ 360 TQ as compared to the 410/429 of this one. Cruising RPM is a little lower thanks to the 6 speed (Chevy had 4.10 gears also with the same height tires). Honestly the Chevy had a better ride and little better handling/feel on the road despite the 150k miles. The Chevy did have newer balljoints and bearings along with Bilstein shocks, but all the steering and suspension bushings were original.

 

[hodge-xj]

Just picked up a 2016 with 26k on the clock. This is a very clean 1 owner local trade-in. I saw this one on the lot a couple weeks ago when looking at new ones and didn't pay much attention to it at the time. After more shopping and thinking about it the price was hard to turn down. I really liked the looks of the current models (blacked out grill and wheels) but the money saved will pay for two more cheap daily driver cars and allow me to buy some upgrades! The crazy flame/splash graphics on the bed had already been removed and kinda' debating removing the Power Wagon decals.

View attachment 189658
I traded in my 2003 Chevy 2500HD Crew Cab 6.0L gas with 150k miles which I bought new, so obviously plan on keeping this a long time. It's not a daily driver so I can keep the miles off of it. Really no need for a Power Wagon but have always been into off-roading and was wanting a mall cruiser, plus this still serves the purpose of a truck and pulling trailers. I have a SxS and fully built K5 Blazer trail rig on 40" tires which do the real off-roading.

Current plans are to tint the front side windows, install some 35" tires, and some sort of bed cover. And some sort of rust proofing. Rust was the worst issue with my old truck.

For a quick comparison with my old Chevy. Obviously more power (only driven empty so far) but feel a little more disconnected because of the electronic throttle and stuff. The Chevy was rated at 300 HP/ 360 TQ as compared to the 410/429 of this one. Cruising RPM is a little lower thanks to the 6 speed (Chevy had 4.10 gears also with the same height tires). Honestly the Chevy had a better ride and little better handling/feel on the road despite the 150k miles. The Chevy did have newer balljoints and bearings along with Bilstein shocks, but all the steering and suspension bushings were original.

Beautiful truck! I vote you pull those decals off,that would really change the look of the truck. Look into thuren,he offers 1/2" lift coils and shocks that would help the ride, tho it will never handle quite as good as the IFS, but im sure you already know this. Some 35s on that thing and it'll be the perfect dual purpose rig.

Ps pics of the k5?!?!

Sent from my P00I using Tapatalk

 

[ALRedneck]

Surprised to hear you think your Chevy rode better. I had a 2010 Chevy 6.0 and it had the stiffest suspension on any truck I’ve owned. The motor had a lot of vibration around 3,000 RPM when towing too. It was a good truck but nowhere as refined as my 2018 PW. My wife refused to ride in it when empty. The guy I sold it to didn’t tow so he reworked all the suspension and lifted it and he said it rode better then. I’m not knocking the truck but just saying I thought it wasn’t even in the ball park of ride quality of the PW.

 

[Trailmaker]

The PW like any HD will ride better with a load. My bed cover,rack, tool boxes and gear put me at 250# I really like it when I’m at least carrying 500lbs in the bed. If you soften the suspension to much, you will lose your payload.

 

[Grand Mesa]

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[HB hellcat]

NIce truck. First thing I do to all my vehicles is debadge and desticker them. I think they look better that way.
Obviously, that’s my vote then.

 

[62Blazer]

After a couple weeks I'm still happy with the truck and have no regrets. I doesn't appear it ever pulled a trailer or hauled anything in the bed as both are spotless....on a receiver hitch it doesn't take much to scratch up the paint inside it! The 2 1/2" to 2" sleeve for the receiver was still wrapped in bubble tape and the winch controller was still wound up with twist ties on it. I did pull a smaller 4,000 lb. trailer and it definitely pulled it easier than the 300 HP 6.0L gas engine in the Chevy. The Chevy didn't really have any issues, but you could tell it was back there when pulling hills and such.

Factory tires are getting a little worn and noisy but that will be a good excuse to upgrade to a set of 35's. For the ride quality, don't get me wrong it rides fine but not as good as the IFS equipped Chevy. Part of it probably comes from the tires as I ran 285/75R16's (so same basic size) but ran the rear at 40 psi and front at 50 psi empty. Don't want to deal with the TPMS light right now but already thinking of modifying it with a programmer.

Completely agree about the side steps. I'm 6-2 and my wife is almost 6" tall but have to admit the side steps are nice. Test drove a PW with steps and you did have to hop up in it! We will see how much actual off-roading gets done with this truck in which the side steps would cause an issue. I live in the Midwest so it's either "muddin" out in the field or any real technical trail is usually pretty wooded trails that I would stay out of with this truck.

 

[62Blazer]

Though I would provide a update on the truck. Purchased in mid-December with 26k, now has about 31k on it. Modifications include 35" Falken Wildpeak MT's and a bed cap. I've towed my SxS a few times and recently took the family on a long weekend trip that was about a 6 hour round trip. Here are my recent comments:

-Really like this truck and love driving it. Still try to drive my car back and forth to work but hard not to get in the truck.
-After adjusting the pressure in the tires to 50 psi front and 40 psi rear I think it rides really good. On our trip we spent a good amount of time on narrow and hilly paved and gravel back roads around a national forest. My wife commented a few times on how well the truck rode. Never remembered her saying that when riding in my Chevy 2500HD. We rode in a 2018 Chevy 1500 Z-71 on the same rodes it was noticeably rougher ride....that truck also had the factory optional 20" rims and lower profile tires that I'm sure didn't help any.
-Did some minor off-road and exploring during the trip...township roads but many followed creek beds or crossed streams. Put it in 4 low several times mainly so I could run the swaybar disconnect. Again, thought it handled these rough roads really well even without airing the tires down more (if I was spending more time doing this I would have dropped a lot of pressure in the tires).
-The windy and hilly back roads caused a lot of weird shifting of the trans IMO. Most of the time I used the manual mode and kept it in 2nd or 3rd for these lower speed sections.