Three problems related to spare tire have been reported for the 2002 Chevrolet Trailblazer. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
The indicated vehicle is my wife's. We bought it brand new on 09/26/2001. She has never towed anything and has city and highway miles. We have had numerous problems: instrument cluster, rear tailgate strap, right rear brake light, (3) solenoids, spare tire dropdown and deteriorated transmission lines. I have repaired all of the previous out of pocket (except for the strap and the spare tire dropdown). Now, my wife was on the way to the bicycle store in her truck, with the bicycle on the back. She was making a turn onto the main road when she heard grinding and squealing, and the speed dropped drastically. Luckily, it was around 10am when there is not much traffic on the road. Reading numerous posts on this website, it is the same problem everyone has had, the transmission sun shell, and no reverse. With 98911 miles, I was about to spend the weekend changing the fluid in the transmission to keep it to spec. Now, I'm looking at a very expensive bill of which I cannot afford. $30 is easier than $1200. And, I'm a manufacturing engineer, so I check fluids regularly, even though the oil change stations check them. Seeing that there are problems with these components, I think that general motors should produce a recall. I'm very disappointed that with all of the complaints, nothing has been done to remedy the situation. We will be calling the dealer that we bought the vehicle from first thing Monday morning.
The spare tire hoist cable system tangled or jammed and would not allow the spare to lower further or raise. I had to use rope to tie the spare tire to the frame to make sure it would not fall down while I was driving which clearly could have thrown the back of the vehicle upward. The dealer had to cut the cable and replace the entire hoist assembly: $176. 54. The hoist had been used successfully on three other occasions.
From first attempt to use the spare tire lowering device it has not worked. Goes down about three inches and stops. Tire cannot be removed. This is a problem when stuck on the highway and is a real safety concern. Chevy has told me that nothing covers this. I am reporting this so that if other people are experiencing the same problem it will be rectified.