What's new
CK5
Register an account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.

'72 K5 - BYT - 1 ton swap

Overview Gallery Discussion
mrk5 said:
Were you working in the rain?
Click to expand...
Yeah. Actually started to snow a bit. :(
Typical Utah weather. I started on it probably 3 hours earlier when it was bright and sunny out, so I decided not to bother pulling it into the shop. Next thing you know, the wind picks up, clouds roll in, it gets dark and starts raining, then snowing. :surepal:

I really only planned on working on it for an hour or so, but once I got looking at the wiring I decided it needed to be cleaned up better than it was. MAW got me. I ended up rewiring the 7 pin pigtail, the emergency brake battery, and winch battery. Also added the D-ring on the winch mount so that I had something to hold tension on the hook, and also provide a hook up spot if I want to use a snatch block.
 
Started cycling the rear suspension.
20200407_225938.jpg 20200407_225958.jpg 20200407_234645.jpg

I have the axle moved back 1.5" but still didnt have any issues hitting the body.

Got a total of about 9" of travel at the spring plate, but with the shocks in the stock location, I'm only getting about 3.75" of use out of them. They are at a pretty good angle too with the axle moved back.
I've decided that I'm going to outboard the shocks, and try to get them much closer to vertical so that I'm actually getting more use out of the longer shocks.
 
skunked said:
Looks good @ashman . I'd recommend the cross tied shackles when you get there.
Click to expand...
You mean the 2 shackles welded together, right? I should be able to do that. At the moment I'm thinking I'll be using 4" shackles. That is how long the old shackles were, but I need to see how it sits at ride height. I cycled everything with 4" and 6" shackles just to be sure. No significant difference in performance, just gets a little closer to the rear of the wheel well with the 4", but still what I would consider plenty of room.

I'm only running 35" tires so that is part of why I have it easy with the tires. It looks like I'd be fine with 37's if I decide to go a bit bigger later. I'm using the front hole on my spring perches to move the axle back 1.5", so since it's close in the back, I could move it back forward easily if it came to that.
 
ashman said:
You mean the 2 shackles welded together, right? I should be able to do that. At the moment I'm thinking I'll be using 4" shackles. That is how long the old shackles were, but I need to see how it sits at ride height. I cycled everything with 4" and 6" shackles just to be sure. No significant difference in performance, just gets a little closer to the rear of the wheel well with the 4", but still what I would consider plenty of room.

I'm only running 35" tires so that is part of why I have it easy with the tires. It looks like I'd be fine with 37's if I decide to go a bit bigger later. I'm using the front hole on my spring perches to move the axle back 1.5", so since it's close in the back, I could move it back forward easily if it came to that.
Click to expand...
Yeah I wouldn't go bigger than 35 on a blazer.
I am putting on 37 on my suburban because of the wheelbase
 
ashman said:
I don't remember, but whatever stock length was. Ordered from ORD.
Click to expand...
I have heard before that your shackle length should be about 1/10th of your spring length. Now this was just a general rule of thumb and aimed more at the discussion of installing 56" springs where there used to be shorter springs. The idea being in that scenario you should be running 6" shackles.

I bring it up, but I wonder if it would be worth considering 5" shackles assuming you have 52" long springs.
 
mrk5 said:
I have heard before that your shackle length should be about 1/10th of your spring length. Now this was just a general rule of thumb and aimed more at the discussion of installing 56" springs where there used to be shorter springs. The idea being in that scenario you should be running 6" shackles.

I bring it up, but I wonder if it would be worth considering 5" shackles assuming you have 52" long springs.
Click to expand...
I'm considering a little longer shackles for sure, but since my spring length is still stock, I'm assuming the stock 4" shackle would still be fine. :dunno: Of course, I've also switched to a shackle flip, so I don't know what that does to shackle performance as far as length goes.
 
I made up some quick mouns so that I could test the outboard shock position.
20200409_201009.jpg

Cycled the suspension with the shock in place.
20200409_220817.jpg

20200409_221250.jpg

The placement looks pretty good, but I did get a little closer to the spring plate than I want.

20200409_220832.jpg

There is room to move the lower shock mount up, and out a bit to give me more room. Also, I could trim the spring plate a bit if needed.
20200409_223251.jpg
 
The upper mount is adjustable in 1/2" increments from 3" to 5.5" away from the frame. I want to stay as close to the frame as possible for leverage reasons. In the pics above, I've got it at the closest position and it still clears.

As far as the shock length goes, the bilstein 12" shocks compress to 18", and extend to 30". Where the mounts are now, I have 19.5" between the mounts at full compression. If I move the lowers up an inch that will put me at 18.5" and leave me the max available for droop travel.

As I mentioned before, at the stock location I was only getting 3.75" of use out of my shocks. At this location I'm getting 9" of travel on the shock. :waytogo: Given that I'm using 9" of shock, I could get away with the 10" bilsteins I have, but having a couple extra inches of down travel available is probably a good idea.

Oh, and for those of you wondering why I'm using the old rancho shock for mock up, it's not gas charged. It's slightly bigger than the bilstein shock body, but not having to push the rod in while mocking things up makes it a ton easier to deal with. Before finalizing anything, I will cycle with the bilstein just to be safe though.
 
ktmoutfront said:
With the shock so close to the plate, I would be concerned when the frame slides sideways from the rear end under load.
Click to expand...
agreed. I think I can move that lower mount up and out enough to give myself 1.5" or so of clearance. I'm going to experiment with moving the upper mount out a bit too to see what that does. I've got the ability to move things around now, no reason not to try a few more things.
 
ashman said:
agreed. I think I can move that lower mount up and out enough to give myself 1.5" or so of clearance. I'm going to experiment with moving the upper mount out a bit too to see what that does. I've got the ability to move things around now, no reason not to try a few more things.
Click to expand...


You may want to make a crossmember to to go through the frame to mount the shocks. It's pretty easy to drill 1.75" hole in the frame and run a piece of 1.75 tube through the frame. Some simple brackets to reinforce the tube outside the frame and mount the shocks will make it quite strong and will allow you to move the shock away from the frame for more spring clearance. I might have some pictures if needed.
 
ashman said:
I'm considering a little longer shackles for sure, but since my spring length is still stock, I'm assuming the stock 4" shackle would still be fine. :dunno: Of course, I've also switched to a shackle flip, so I don't know what that does to shackle performance as far as length goes.
Click to expand...
What length is the shackle in that picture?

20200409_220817.jpg
 
ashman said:
Thanks @bigblock72 any pics would be appreciated. That would certainly make things easier too.
Click to expand...

I can't find any pictures of my original setup, just pictures of the revision when I added the bigger shocks. My first setup was the round tube that goes through the frame that I used it with some bilsteins and it worked just fine for several years.

101_1262.JPG

101_1265.JPG
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest Posts

Top Bottom