Not to throw this totally off topic and i hear ya on the 16.5's! But it is incredible what a difference airing down is! First time i ever drove in the sand was with my burb down at sand lake. With the full 35psi I made it down to the beach ok but when i tried to get back off the beach it was hell. I was doing everything in the book to try to make it back up with itty bitty little hill. It was small enough you could see over the top of it and was very gradual. I tried everything. Low range, high range, running start, reverse, i just couldt make it! So i aired down cause i had heard its the thing to do. Aired down to about 20 psi and finally made it out with a good bit of struggle. After that i met up with the friends that i was supposed to meet down there. I told them about my adventure and they said, "air down more". I thought, Are you crazy? Im going to blow a bead for sure! After all of them telling me different psi's, i finally settled on 8psi. After that, i could climb just about any hill down there! I went back to my trouble spot and did it in 2wd without spinning a tire! I made it up both the first and second bowl without issue. I was blown away but never did blow a bead. I just couldnt believe that i could not climb the smallest hill around before, but now i could climb anything i wanted. It was quite the learning experience.
That turned out way better than I thought it would!! Orange looks good. I had to grind my crossmember down under the front shaft too. I wondered if it would eventually self-clearance, but I didn't want to risk messing anything up. Did you space your crossmember down any? The Blazer I got my TH400/NP208 out of had 1" steel spacers between the frame and the crossmember, so I used them and that help a lot. I wouldn't have even been able to hook up the front shaft without cutting a chunk out of the crossmember if I hadn't used them.
flatten them tires to 8psi 
The new baby would be a natural born off roader for sure. Wouldn't that be a great tale to tell their friends as they grow up? Maybe they could sing a song about it: "I was born in the back seat of a ... Chevy Blazer... Rolling down the beach in Oregoooon." "Lord I was born an off road maaaaaann." (or woman). 
