2002 Chevy S10 4x4 Crew Cab

[Left Coast Dale]

This summer I picked up a 2002 Chev S10 ZR2 for some more off road and winter type adventures.

Having three kids, for many years I have driven mini vans (which I actually like). I am currently building out my Caravan and that thread can be found here:

2006 Dodge Caravan: Base camp for adventure!

Hello all, new to Expedition Portal and planning to document three vehicles I am either using, or plan to use for getting "out there". The first is this 2006 Dodge Caravan, that I have been using for several/many years. The second is a 2002 Chevy S10 ZR2 Crewcab that I just bought recently for...

expeditionportal.com

Now that the kids are grown I've decided I want to venture into the world of 4x4s so I can extend my range for activities like fat biking, skiing paddle boarding and mountain biking. We've also considered cargo vans and trailers but the current covid situation has made those prices ridiculous. I decided a used truck with some light towing capacity was the plan so, if we either saw or built a trailer, we could at least pull it.

A friend of a friend was selling his truck and we checked it out. He is a meticulous backyard mechanic and the truck was in very good condition and I soon became the new owner of a old 2002 Chev S10 ZR2 crewcab.



4.3L V6, push button 4x4, LS package with leather heated seats and mirrors, two sets of tires and rims and the canopy. The only down side is the 4'6" box.

In order to camp with it right away, and as a proof of concept idea, I pulled the canopy and added some Tacoma bed racks to make a dirt simple DIY RTT platform. I plan to use my 1 man ground tent on it for now, seeing as I did not want to invest 2k into yet another "tent" system I wasn't sure I would ultimately like. I've slept in tents all my life and have four of them currently.




This worked ok. The wings fold out on each side and are held up by braces that slot into the base of the racks and then the tent is set up on top, but I was disappointed in the overall finish. I used a roll on truck bed liner paint that clumped together in globs and looked horrible. It was a rush job and more of a proof of concept to see if it would work. Just trying out ideas. If I go back to this I think I will build the frame out of metal. $200.

Now I am prepping for winter and trying out a platform in the box to stow recovery gear and my mountain/fat bike.

I read that the stock bed liner had prefab indents for wooden braces to do this and sure enough it does. However, with the wider tires I needed to mount the platform a little higher. I am storing my spare in the bed because it was totally rusting out in the rear under bed position (more about that later).



Then I figured out the sheathing. I plan to cover the deck with outdoor carpeting. I am also adding some mounts for axe and shovel and bracing for my gas and water cans. These will be held by bungees to the walls of the box. Again, this is more a proof of concept design and if I like it I will loop around and build it better. The plan is to be able to store my spare and recovery gear below, bikes or paddle boards on top and a cooler and other gear at the foot of the bed. When I'm done I'll throw the canopy back on for winter. Cost $50 (I had some ply sitting around).

 

[Left Coast Dale]

An afternoon of building and I'm almost done. I still have to make the shovel mount, paint the exposed wood and wrap the tank boxes but the idea is there.

The axe head fits into a slot I cut through the floor and the handle is secured with a velcro wrap. I might just thread rope through a couple of drilled holes to tie it off and will reconsider when I mount the shovel on the other side. I bought a new shaft for the ol shovel (more than a whole new shovel) but this one has a steel D handle and not plastic.

In the background is the platform door having the carpet glued to it. I used spray adhesive and staples so the carpet wouldn't ride up when stuff is pulled against it.



The green cargo straps are threaded through the front tie down points on the box and run under the platform to attach to my spare tire and recovery toolbox. That way I can pull them up against the front and tie em off so they (the box and spare) don't slide around. The corresponding ratchets are in my toolbox so I have two cargo straps if I need em. Also added some sort of pulls going back out from under the box so I can retrieve the spare and box easier when needed.




I was going to hinge the door but I think I'll just make it slide in and out of a slot.

 

[Left Coast Dale]

A couple of weeks ago I finished the dirty but neccessary job of de-rusting, treating and undercoating.

Thank goodness for 4WD. I was able to crawl from one end to the other under the truck to scrape as much rust off as I could using a combo of scraper, wire wheel and hammer. Thankfully there was not a lot of serious rot and the frame is overall in good condition. Because of its position under the rear of the truck, the spare was looking sad and I wire wheeled/rust painted it and now will store it in the box. The only bad area really was the back bumper which I pulled. Had to cut this cross member off and will either fabricate a new one out of flat stock or maybe hold off for a different design of bumper.




Once the flakes were gone, I degreased what I could and set to work treating the underbody with Corroseal. This can be painted right over surface rust. At first it looks milky but after about 10 minutes everything turns black.






Pulling all the tires to get to the wells, I discovered the ZR2 already has wheel spacers!




Finally, after the Corroseal cured, I went to town with multiple cans of Fluid Film, hitting as much of everything that I could.
This all took about two weeks or so, on and off after work, just crawling around under the truck and looking at stuff.

 

[huachuca]

Truck looks to be really clean for its age but I don't think its a ZR2. To the best of my knowledge (and I could certainly be wrong). Chevy did not offer the ZR2 package on a double cab - only the single and extended cab versions of the S10 and the wheel moldings shown in your photos do not appear to be correct for this feature. The RPO options are likely on a tag in the glove box and one should be 'ZR2' if so equipped. Still a great base to build on - I have a 2K ZR2 Blazer with nearly 300K miles that's still going strong.

 

[Left Coast Dale]

Truck looks to be really clean for its age but I don't think its a ZR2. To the best of my knowledge (and I could certainly be wrong). Chevy did not offer the ZR2 package on a double cab - only the single and extended cab versions of the S10 and the wheel moldings shown in your photos do not appear to be correct for this feature. The RPO options are likely on a tag in the glove box and one should be 'ZR2' if so equipped. Still a great base to build on - I have a 2K ZR2 Blazer with nearly 300K miles that's still going strong.

Well, that's an interesting notion

I was going by the big ZR2 emblems on the box but spent some time checking some of the signs related on the net for identification, notably the RPO tag in the GB. No Zr2? also the tire size on the door is P235/75R15. I wouldn't necessarily count on the wheel moldings as the previous owner touched up some rust spots and replaced lots of parts along the way. Wouldn't doubt if he replaced those. At the same time one positive mark of a Zr2 is front and rear disc brakes, which this has. There was also a Zr5 crewcab which didn't veer mechanically from the regular 4x4 but they had a roof rack, which this does not.

Don't know what to make of this as the stickers look original. They are faded and match the pin striping for wear. If someone slapped them on I suspect it was done early or when new?
I feeling kinda bummed atm as I was pretty stoked on the fact that the ZR2 had a more robust 4x4 package.

For now I'll leave the original title until I figure things out and then edit it if it turns out not to be one but at this point it's looking like that is the case

 

[Left Coast Dale]

Had a little pout last night and then decided to get over it. Grrr... Changed the thread title for now.

This was a bit of a hit because about two weeks ago I had to have the 4L60E transmission rebuilt, 3/4 clutch burn up (typical apperently). That was a financial big hit but part of the deal when buying a 20 YO truck. Now it has all the update and correction kits. While they had everything apart I had them install an external 18,000lb Trucool transmission cooler as well, plus replace the crankshaft sensor that was throwing out codes and causing a stutter under load. Lots of work (money) but I should have a tranny that lasts for a while. The Zr2 thing came up during that time as the shop was surprised a ZR2 didn't have one (cooler) factory installed. I guess we know why that was now.

I love to drive but am not a mechanically minded guy so this is a real weak spot for me. I've decided on this truck to try to do as much work as I can though. Never to old to learn I suppose. Took some heat from the missus for using a shop (more money) instead of a backyard mechanic friend for the tranny rebuild but I did not want to ruin a friendship should the job go south as no matter what it is big bucks. I watched quite a few rebuild videos on Youtube (Precision Transmissions) and it did not look simple!

 

[Utah Mountains]

This is a really cool truck. I've had a few S10s of this era and they're both phenomenal and underrated. It is a bummer that it's not a ZR2... but still a great platform.

I also had to have the 4L60E rebuilt on one of mine and it's definitely worth have a shop rebuild it. You should get another couple 100k out of it now.

 

[ricoisme26]

Look at it this way, its not a ZR2 but that means there are more plentiful and cheaper replacement parts! I would love to build an S10 for a camping/light wheeling rig I think the 4.3 is an underrated engine in a world where toyotas get all the love

 

[Left Coast Dale]

Thanks guys. I will see the silver lining soon

Thankfully full on 4x4 is not the goal with this truck, no rock crawling. More like FSR type stuff and snow capable to gain access to the back country.

For now I am throwing the canopy back on and will probably sleep in the cab or tent. Minimalist but workable. I have a Vancouver - Moab mtb trip planned for Nov if the border opens (fingers crossed) and want to have most of the immediate stuff done by then.

 

[Left Coast Dale]

Some time has passed and a bit more work has been done.

The canopy is back on and the bed set up is done for now. I want to tint the windows though so the gear is less visible. I wound up replacing the two gas struts as the rear window would not stay open. What a difference. Its like viagra for canopies!




I also installed a small 13.25" Evergear lightbar from Princess Auto, a mixed spot/flood. I might upgrade later but for now it throws a decent amount of light. The cast is about equal in distance to the high beams but between that distance and the foreground the area in between is far more illuminated.



Evergear sells a complete harness with: light bar connector, relay, fuse, battery attachments and toggle switch that made the installation pretty simple, other than trying to thread the off/on switch into the cab. I wound up going behind front quarter panel and through the door plexus where the electric window/heated mirror wiring goes. The dash has a blank panel where other S10 models mount an air bag switch so I drilled it out and mounted the toggle switch there.

When I got the transmission done the mechanic told me the fan clutch was probably going. It howled for an extended period when starting out and after doing some research it turns out that's what it was. I watched some You tube videos and decided to try and tackle the repair myself so I can eventually earn my man card. I dropped $80 at Lordco and got to work.

Success!

 

[Buddha.]

S10’s are underrated. I’ve had three s10’s: two pick ups and a blazer, one zr2.
In regards to your spacers. Keep in mind 2wd and 4wd have different wheel offsets. Also the fronts are wider than the rears(4wd only I think.)
If you went with 2wd wheels you would have an even wider track width than you do now.

On my 4wd non zr2 blazer I spaced the rear out an inch or two to match the front.

 

[Left Coast Dale]

S10’s are underrated. I’ve had three s10’s: two pick ups and a blazer, one zr2.
In regards to your spacers. Keep in mind 2wd and 4wd have different wheel offsets. Also the fronts are wider than the rears(4wd only I think.)
If you went with 2wd wheels you would have an even wider track width than you do now.

On my 4wd non zr2 blazer I spaced the rear out an inch or two to match the front.

Interesting.
truck came with a second set of identical rims (with snow tires mounted) so I probably won't buy another set unless I sell one of those sets. But, if I decide to lift it and up the tire size I may experiment with the wider stance. I did note how deep the rim is when removing the tires to undercoat.

 

[Left Coast Dale]

Did a few small things to finish off the canopy install for the time being.

I replaced one of the locking T handles ($27) so the canopy would lock. I did not get the keys with the original.

Also wanted to tint the windows somehow so people couldn't look in and see my gear. After considering films, spray paint etc... I came across this stuff which is billed as a removable product ($19). Masked off the canopy windows and decided to give it a go - pretty pleased with the result. Hopefully, if I wanted to go back or need to retouch it will be easier to scrape off than spray paint.






Saturday a friend and I drove to the Adams River salmon run, a 700+Km day trip and the first long test drive of the truck.

The Adams River run happens in early October and is one of the biggest in our region. On a dominant year there can be millions of salmon. We don't actually dive in the Adams River (not allowed when salmon are spawning) but rather in Shuswap Lake, near the Adams River outflow. There we enter stage left and edge towards the river outflow at about 30 -50 feet, getting in the mix of Sockeye Salmon that are lining up to make their run up river. I've been doing this for about 7-8 years now and never get tired of it. This is a predominant year (they spawn on a 4 year cycle) and there were a lot of fish in the water.

I have been worried about gas mileage with the truck as my stats are less than good for city driving but I was pleasantly surprised that it did fairly well - perhaps on par with my Dodge Caravan. I forgot to zero off the odometer though so I can't say for sure what the mpg was. Perhaps fixing the fan clutch helped out in that regard. The truck motored along nicely at 110kph but could boot up to 120-130 with ease.


My camera crapped out so I did not get any good salmon stills but did capture some "crappy" video. This is a video I took in 2014




Here are a couple of shots from years past.

 

[huachuca]

Looks to be coming together very nicely, Thanks for the tip on the tint - had not heard of it before. Nice pics of the salmon - sure don't have anything like that along our NC coast / rivers.

 

[Left Coast Dale]

Thanks. I usually go to the salmon run every year just to check it out. I'm a pretty active local diver (never gone tropical). Most coastal divers tend towards the ocean but I also enjoy looking for unusual inland dive locales or things to see. One reason for the truck is to get further off road in search thereof. On the weekend a friend and I were talking about making a rack system to hold the gear better. A good idea to keep the tailgate when I redo the rear canopy area.

We went back on Monday to the Adams River in the truck for another attempt at pictures. This time it was sunny and calm and I had better luck.


Here's a pic at the top of our local Sumas Mountain FSR