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1987 K5 Rebuild- narrow and dovetail the body-Painted

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stockk5

stockk5

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stockk5 submitted a new Build:

1987 K5 Rebuild- narrow and dovetail the body

This is going to be a slow build, but I hope this thread gives me some more motivation if a discussion is started/interest.


I have had this k5 since I was 17, I am 30 now and it has gone through a few different phases, I will give a quick history. Its been through 3 or 4 motors, 3 trans, 2 transfer cases and a few axle configurations since then.


When I got it, had to redo the floor completely, my dad and I tackled it with no experience doing any welding/fab work.. but came out decent!


















Of course, being 17 or 18, you gotta get some offroad lights..




Then I progressed to some 33" mud terrains





Then came the cheapie 4" rough country lift..




Of course, reading CK5 didnt help.. so I tried my hand at fabrication...




terrible front bumper.. but hey, learning..


Then I "upgraded" to a dana 60 rear, D44 front and 35" tires on a home brew shackle flip.

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Read more about this build here...

View attachment 230268
 
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Along the way I upgraded the tires to 39.5" pitbulls, put a locker in the front and rear.. and then made a bender and some bumpers.

















I also created some half doors.. these were great!




In all honesty, the truck has stayed with the bumpers, half doors for the last 4 or 5years, since getting into my career and not having much time or money to play with it, she just sat around, or was driven once or 2x a year on short mellow wheeling trips.


My buddies all have continued and are building buggies and really serious rigs, but I cannot let go of my blazer, it means a lot to me because it was truly the only father son project I had with my dad, and he passed away. A bit of nostalgia with it, plus, i love myself a full size chevy.


I am at a turning point now, I am 30, I am in my own house, I have my own shop and time again to build, so I am leaning towards narrowing the whole front end, back end, caging it , stretching the wheelbase 6 inches and wheeling it as it sits, basically, it needs to be lower and fit into where my friends go wheeling now in the private land of New England.


Here is my inspiration.. except on leaf springs and stock motor/trans/tcase

The blue one is my favorite of all..., so much detail and awesome work!







There are many others, but I hope this thread allows me to keep getting into the garage and updating you all with my progress!


I put it up on jackstands the other day, and took the inner fenders out, found all bunches of rust, the bottoms all rusty.. but she will come back better and stronger! stay tuned.











I took off the hood and radiator support, the inner fenders basically fell off.. and this is how my floor looks!











The next game plan is to move my front axle forwards a few inches, once that is set, the fenders will be cut and welded to go back on.


The first questions is, can I just simply shift my front shackle hangers forwards 2 or 3inches to move the axle where I want it? I really am trying to keep it lower, so a zero rate is not my favorite option. I know I will have to re-drill my front shackle hangers and relocate the front spring mount, but I would really like to go forward 3inches and not swap out for 52's or custom springs.
 
stockk5 said:
well a standard dana 60 ujoint on the 208 side, then a standard size dana 60 yoke size... man writing this makes me feel way outta the loop, I havent had to change one in years!
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OK good to know. If I could get a few pics of the front driveshaft that would be awesome...There's a few guys here who are interested in the clocking 208/front shaft deal.
 
Looking good man! The east coast is representing pretty well lately! Ever go to Rausch Creek in PA?
 
swettysblazer said:
Looking good man! The east coast is representing pretty well lately! Ever go to Rausch Creek in PA?
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Yeah I have been there once... when i drove it more regularly I drove it down the 6hours.. wheeled a whole weekend and drove home... i was a bit proud of it then! Now the wheeling is either mabell or field and forest, all my buddies just have straight up buggies though so a fool size is tough to play with them.

 
When its done, bring it down... We're always looking for more people to wheel with. I wheeled my Blazer once up in New England when I lived in Providence and it was definitely tight.
 
So I got the afternoon in the garage today, took the fenders off, removed the DIY4X shackle hangers, unbolted the leaf springs from the frame, then it was off to the parts store for bolts etc. I marked out where I believe I am going to drill in my shackle hangers, basically, it seems as if I am doing a 52 swap.. with out doing the 52's. Does this seem ok? I am trying to keep my truck as low as possible and I enjoy the flex of my springs currently so I figure moving it forward 2inches would be a good start for creating a longer wheelbase. It sits at 108, im shooting for 112-114.



The old bushings were SHOT!


I had some bushings in a box for along time that go on another type of spring, but I just ground them down to fit my current springs. They fit nice and snug so should be good to go.


Not where its going to stay, no worries.



This is where I am thinking about moving my shackle hanger to, any thoughts?


I am going to just make my own front mount similar to DIY4x, I am just trying to save every dime I can since I just bought a house.

Like I said, not a ton of progress but, slow and steady It will get done. Its just so nice working inside a garage and being able to leave a project over night!
 
Should work fine.

Why not reuse your stock mounts in the front if trying to save money?

Martin
 
I moved my shackle hanger forward just like you are except I did it to run some shorter 67-72 springs on my '83. My front hanger is in the stock position and I'm running ORD heavy duty shackles. I will eventually flip my front factory bracket to the front side of the forward cab mount and run some 52" springs I think. https://ck5.com/forums/resources/52-front-spring-swap.34/ was what I used for reference.
 
Good looking truck! Do I spy a square crew cab dually in your garage too? Is that the black one with a Cummins/NV4500 swap that was for sale on here a while back? I really wanted to purchase that one...was just too far away for me.

Rig is looking good...keep at it!
 
Kay86K5 said:
Good looking truck! Do I spy a square crew cab dually in your garage too? Is that the black one with a Cummins/NV4500 swap that was for sale on here a while back? I really wanted to purchase that one...was just too far away for me.

Rig is looking good...keep at it!
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Thanks! yes, you see correct, my dually with a cummins nv4500, its dark blue, no black, I have a build thread on it on here. That was 5years ago and still going strong! Love that truck, hence my poor blazer been lacking attention. Now with the house, a new fire under the pants with wheeling with some friends Im back on it.

https://ck5.com/forums/threads/1986-gmc-3-3-dually-build-cummins-swap-updates-2015.294648/page-16

crew cab thread

So I have been working on and off this week trying to get a proper angle on my shackles and moving the axle forward. Basically, I couldn't end up getting what I wanted with my current springs. It was to tall compared to the rear, not enough forward movement so I am going to do a 52 swap. So in come the home made spring hangers. I also am going to rebuild my 60 a bit, new spring perch cuz mine is crushed, new paint, freshen up the bearings etc. So this week was a whole lot of moving forward, then going backwards with set plan.

So this is missing a bumper, and front clip, but I am not happy w how tall the front is, I put a few hundred pounds back on and it only sunk it down 1/2", so the old 6" springs are not going to stay.



I decided to take the axle all the way out to freshen it up, my spring perch needs to be replaced, the things so bent and messed up.




Now I love DIY4X stuff, but trying to save money I made a set of front mounts for myself.


Not sure how many springs I will use on these 52'.



So Now I have to wait for new bushing, spring perch then toss it back together.
 
Also has anyone every drilled the Dana 60 spring perch on the pumpkin side to offset the axle? I am getting new spring perch for the tube side with offset holes, I know its cast, but what do you guys think? Possible? smart?
 
stockk5 said:
Thanks! yes, you see correct, my dually with a cummins nv4500, its dark blue, no black, I have a build thread on it on here. That was 5years ago and still going strong! Love that truck, hence my poor blazer been lacking attention. Now with the house, a new fire under the pants with wheeling with some friends Im back on it.

https://ck5.com/forums/threads/1986-gmc-3-3-dually-build-cummins-swap-updates-2015.294648/page-16

crew cab thread
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Ah yes, I remember that one.....sick looking crew dude. I like it a lot. Hoping mine will be rocking in the next couple months (I did 8.1/NV4500 though).

Blazer is looking sick as well. Keep at it!
 
So I spent a good 7hours in the garage today sweating it out getting the 52's under the truck, still not done but I think I am on the right path!

Cleaned up the 52s.




Tack welded the front mounts on




The top of my dana 60's spring perch was messed up, so i cut it off and patched it up.




So I tossed on the axle, put it down on tires and realized I need to put much longer shackles on, so I made some prototypes, 6.25" and it gives me a 70degree angle. What do you guys think of that angle?





I put 350lbs of weight on the front of the truck to ensure it would simulate a bumper, front clip, tubing, it levels out quite nicely.


Now this is where I have concerns and need some advice. This is my caster angle.


Currently I have the axle bolted up with no shims. I was reading the stock caster angle is 8degree? I suppose I should call up DIY4X to order a set of 3, 6degree?

I am going to fully weld and brace it tomorrow and hope to have the suspension done, then axle comes back out to wire wheel, new paint, fresh grease/oil.
 
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