im looking at colorado's on craigslist and there are several that are z71's, but some sellers don't list as 4x4. most of the time the pics don't show the dash well enough to see if it has the switch. initial google searching turned up contradicting info
there are several z71 Colorados on Houston cl right now. one of them had good pics of the dash and it did not have 4wd switch. so i guess they made 2wd z71's.
No, for about the last 10yrs. RPO code Z71 was originally the off-road 4x4 package. Mid-2000s sometime they started applying the code and many of the parts of the package to 2WD as well. The package includes several suspension, body trim and badging items, besides 4wd. And the fifth digit of the VIN should be a K for 4wd (C for 2wd).
lol, No. Not even particularly 'brand loyal', but all the vehicles in my sig are in front of the house right now, and we had a '99 Z-71 Tahoe before the '05. Did a lot of shopping over the years, and a little bit of googlin'
Based on that, could one assume that the 2wd Z71 used a 4x4 frame and may easily be converted with a tcase, front driveshaft, axle housing and axles? I'd bet the unit bearings are the same.