Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[JoshCushin]

My wife surprised me with a K5 Blazer for Father's Day this year. Bought it from the estate of a family friend who passed. $200, but waiting for the lawyers to get the title is like pulling teeth... Anyway ,

Blazer ran really well when parked 4 years ago, but has a transfer case issue that needs to be addressed before taking it to get registered/ smogged. I'll be the second owner of this vehicle which has 88,000 original miles. Unfortunately because it has sat outside under an oak tree for 4 years, there is going to be a ton of work just to get the old girl running again.

The GOOD:
Clean interior (once the cobwebs are cleared and carpet is vacuumed)
Every body panel is fairly straight!
Has a NP205 transfer case
Has 12 bolt rear instead of the 10 bolt
P/O kept it on non op so there wont be any fees

The BAD
I think the tranny has lost fluid and I'm not sure why...
10 year old tires
Nasty old gas in fuel tank
oak tree dust everywhere
acorns everywhere
10 bolt front axle

The PLAN:
Mild build and keep it as a street drivable camping/ mild trail rig that I can take the family to the Lake in on the weekends
4" lift (not sure how yet but do not want any lift blocks)
35" KM2's
selectable locker rear
repaint the exterior
Upgrade the axles to 3/4 ton dana 44/ 14 bolt with 4.10 gears.
Here's the "before" pics...

















Well, moneys tight, but elbow grease is always free so I spent about 4 hours using a pressure washer, scrub brush and shop vac to scrub the Blazer and take stock of what needs attention...
I found one small rats nest next to the carb built out of the hood fire liner but no chewed wires anywhere.
















And finally, here's some pics of blazers I like that ill try and build similar to...

[ICEMAN]

That will be a great rig! Reminds me of my Dodge, but even better because of the removable top.

[ZuperDave]

AWESOME, . . .nothing beat the feel of a V8.........Someday I'll go full size again. There are tons of Full Size Blazers on the Market, . . .

[JoshCushin]

Hopefully ill be able to get my wife to go wheeling with me in this, she gets scared of off camber stuff quickly and with this being an auto tranny,i should be able to get her more interested.

[Rusty]

Looks nice! Josh do you go to Nortpointe Church?

[Bronco75]

Looking Good Josh!!! :2Thumbsup:

[JoshCushin]

Thanks guys, I'm heading over on Saturday afternoon to pick it up and bring it home so I can start draining the tank and putting the new battery in.

Yes! My wife and I do go to NorthPointe usually the 1130 or 1730 service depending on what time I get off shift the night before/ morning of

[Robert]

Nice. I miss mine. Still.

[JoshCushin]

He guys I'm in need of a rebuilt th350 or a shop/ person who can rebuild one on the cheap. Mine is shot.. Had no drive which we thought was just a low fluid problem. Aparantly it was run with no fluid and grenades the drive clutches

[GreenDragon]

Call my brother
He's a chev man and should have some answers
Tell him Pat said to call
Text me and I'll give you his number

[JoshCushin]

found a TH350 on craigslist a while back that the guy took out of a project vehicle... picked it up for $150 and as a bonus he threw in an extra NP205 that had a fixed yoke rear instead of the slip yoke...
For now I just had the tranny put in with a new filter and fresh fluid. So far it works perfect.. Thank you Lord!

I drove it down to my in laws house in Prather... I need to get it smogged and registered. I was thinking of taking it to Auberry Garage.... Anyone ever gone there or have a recommendation on a good smog shop in the Fresno/ Madera mtn area?

[Mr. Orange]

I just had my Toyota smogged at Alltech here in Clovis.  I think it was like $30 with cert.

[JoshCushin]

thankyou sir, I'll check them out.

As I'm planning out my suspension, I'm strongly (basically going to unless someone shows me it a horrible idea) to reverse the shackle on the front end. My samurai had the front shackle up front and after wheeling both it and several vehicles with shackle reversals, I decided I prefer the front shackles up front...
I'm planning to make it a little different in that instead of using normal shackles, I'm going to use leaf spring slider boxes from Liquid Iron Industries



Unlike a shackle which could get pushed into and cause the main leaf to buckle, the slider box can be plated to allow the vehicle to slide up onto the obstacle.

Some people argue that front shackles ride horrible and cant go fast however in my limited experience...
1. The arc of the axle actually mimics that of a linked rig
2. Due to the axle swing, it doesn't require the use of a long travel front shaft.
3. When climbing, the front tires are pulling directly against the frame and not against a shackle thus eliminating the front axle hop that many shackle reversed rigs experience.
4. By eliminating the shackles and using a leaf spring slider, you eliminate or at least greatly reduce the tendency of the shackle to unload on sidehills and reduce lateral movement.
5. The spring slider if mounted correctly also allows the leaf spring to have a fluid predictable spring rate unlike shackles which can vary depending on the length and angle of the shackle.
  It's not really a "perfect" design, but for street driving and slow crawling..... I like it.
Here's a few photos to show what I'm planning...





Thoughts?

[GreenDragon]

New to me, but looks like a interesting setup
Don't think I know anyone using them

[cruiserfj45]

what is the life expectancy of the wear items.