'72 K5 - Greg's @MightAsWellK5 Build

[Greg72]

So last night I figured there wasn't much value in working on steering and suspension until I knew for sure where the fender mods were heading..... You can't place the axle without knowing where the clearance problems are, so I decided to deal with the front fender "fang"...

Here's the current interference point:

I made a template from the rear of the fender opening and transferred it to the front for symmetry.

This photo says it all...

Then I took the removed metal and started reworking it to reinstall...

After a bit of tedious checking and fitting of the new section....

......and installed it back onto the tire to see the difference.

Much better.


Astute viewers will notice that there is still a 2" gap between the fender and door in this final shot. That means I have to now either:

1. Cut and slide the entire fender opening forward 2" on the fender (maintain current 106" wheelbase)
2. Cut and slide the entire fender 1" and move the axle back 1" (to 105" wheelbase overall)
3. Don't cut the axle at all, and move the axle back 2" (to the original factory 104" value)

Still ruminating on that one...


-G

 

[NorCal69]

When you say cut and slide...you mean cut out the entire wheel opening from the fender, moving the opening pretty much where it will be close to the side marker (Maybe 1" away) and filling in the back portion with another piece of sheet stock?

Just want to visualize it.

 

[max 02]

When you say cut and slide...you mean cut out the entire wheel opening from the fender, moving the opening pretty much where it will be close to the side marker (Maybe 1" away) and filling in the back portion with another piece of sheet stock?

Just want to visualize it.

Add 2"to the back of the fender would be the easiest.

Your new opening looks real nice!

 

[NorCal69]

Add 2"to the back of the fender would be the easiest.

And then the same to the hood? I don't think that is the answer..

 

[Greg72]

When you say cut and slide...you mean cut out the entire wheel opening from the fender, moving the opening pretty much where it will be close to the side marker (Maybe 1" away) and filling in the back portion with another piece of sheet stock?

Just want to visualize it.

Something like this:

The yellow is the "cut" line. You want to get everything that is included in the fender arch so that it moves as one large piece, otherwise you will change the proportions of the wheel arch.

The red line is the resulting gap once the arch is pushed forward. That will need to be filled in with scraps from another fender or flat steel that has been shaped to fit.... whatever is easier!

The only "unknown" is how much of a stretch will be aesthetically pleasing. I'm afraid that 2" might end up putting too much material in the area where the "K5 Blazer" emblem goes and it might be a visual distraction. I think that adding only 1" might not even be noticable, but then I'd have to pull the wheelbase down to 105" to keep the tire centered the way I want.

Ultimately, once I cut and move that section it will be easy to tack it in a few spots (at 2" shifted) and take a look at it. If I don't like it....just cut the tacks and slide it back an inch and try again. It's only metal...



-G

 

[max 02]

And then the same to the hood? I don't think that is the answer..

Good point.

 

[ryoken]

yup, Greg's got the right idea..... the light area is the only tricky part...

 

[NorCal69]

I keep clicking back to this pic for reference. Sorry about the ugly dude.

I think that 2" would be pretty extreme. But, it's a ton of work for just 1".

Do you still have those red fenders that you could slice up, just for a mock up?

 

[Greg72]

I've been down this road before, so I know it's possible... the only question is how hard to push that arch around.

Remember this photo from Page 1?

Boy, I could use a little bit of THAT kind of weather right about now.... (SQUIRREL!). But seriously folks.... that front fender was my "pizza slice" experiment, similar idea but done in a different way.

In that case what I did was template the ENTIRE wheel arch (including the fang shape) then I carefully built a wooden buck that was exactly 2" larger in all directions from that original factory shape (a total of 4" larger opening at the bottom of the arch, and 2" taller at the top). Then I cut and shaped the original fenderlips (and a small "extra" piece since I needed more material) until I had the new larger arch. IIRC, I may have even moved the entire thing slightly forward towards the marker light. But obviously it was 2" closer already due to the larger opening I'd built. All I had to do was cut a little clearance around the marker light and it worked flossy!!

If you study that photo really carefully you can see that the lower front fender (fang area) is quite a bit shorter than stock, but it doesn't really look bad or noticeable. The problem is that since I also moved the rear area back (toward the fender badge) I didn't have to deal with that area "stretching" and getting longer visually, like I am dealing with now.... it might end up being unnoticeable when I'm done, but it may also just look a little too "long" in that area and create an uncomfortable set of proportions in that area.

Not sure yet.


EDIT: The hard part for you Mike, is that you really need to get a lot of clearance behind the tire to allow for the flattening of the leafspring and the way the tire is going to move into that space. That's why I built my pizza fender so much larger than stock. This time around, the 3-link is going to control my wheel position and keep it very close to vertical in travel, so I don't have to make those concessions. With leafsprings, I really believe that you have to either go larger everywhere (to keep the factory proportions), or just accept the fact that the fender shape has to become some other non-factory shape to allow the tire to do get where it's going under full-stuff.


-G

 

[ashman]

I love that you're trying to keep the front fang. I think cutting it off looks fine too if it's needed, but overall I like having it on better.

just looking at this pic:

How close is this to full stuff? Just wondering how much clearance you'll have all around.

 

[folkenheath]

I like what you are doing, it looks good. Also, although you are correct that links control the axle better, you are still clearing a turning axle, and with those portals that basically swing the wheel around instead of turning it, I think you are going to need a lot more clearance than you think when you consider full stuff, articulation, and steering.

 

[Greg72]

Ash,

I agree...that "fang" is a subtle detail but to me it's one of those little 1st Gen things that I'd really like to preserve once this truck is all put back together.

That photo shows more wheel travel than I think I realistically have. The distance from the upper fender mount bolt (upper left) to the actual bolt on the cowl is more than 6" away (IIRC) and since I only have 6" of uptravel, it's unlikely that the tire/fender would ever be as close as they are in that pic.

That's one of the reasons why I think I can get the fang back in there!


-G

 

[Greg72]

I like what you are doing, it looks good. Also, although you are correct that links control the axle better, you are still clearing a turning axle, and with those portals that basically swing the wheel around instead of turning it, I think you are going to need a lot more clearance than you think when you consider full stuff, articulation, and steering.

Heath,

It's definitely time for some suspension cycling to see what is really going to happen....

Last night I came up with a simple method for articulating the suspension that is pure genius (or pure stupidity, it's hard to tell sometimes! )

I've got an old Harbor Freight 2000Lb electric winch and an open bay over the top of the Blazer. The thought was to build a small lifting point on the axle (at it's balance point) so that I could attach the winch cable and then raise the axle a fraction-of-an-inch at a time. Then at each of those z-heights, I could articulate the suspension (left side, right side, up, down, etc) and also turn the tires hard left, and hard right to see what sort of issues I've got....

Since the weight of the axle would be balanced on the winch cable, it should be quite easy to manage moving and cycling things around.


-G

 

[bp71k5]

Why not cut off the new arch you just built and graft it 1" or 2" forward on a new fender? That way you don't need to graft in a 2" strip at the back? I guess it's a little more $ that way though.

 

[Greg72]

PM me for my PayPal address or if you'd like to direct-ship a set of repro front fenders I can provide you with my shipping addy!!!

Maybe it's about time to start looking for a few sponsors for the "Might As Well" build??




-G

 

[bp71k5]

I guess a 2" strip ain't so bad.

 

[MNorby]

How much scrub do the mog knucles have? Will the tire still clear at full bump/steer with the amount of trimming/re-shaping you have done?

 

[Greg72]

The scrub radius is around 2.65" currently (I need to re-check now that the axle is completely built)... the spacers for the knuckles are going to increase the SAI a bit, so that will actually help reduce the scrub radius.

My old D60 setup with 3.75" BS wagon wheels had a scrub radius of 5.65"..... it seems hard to believe, but the Mog-9 is quite a bit better than the old D60 was. To be fair, the D60 only has an SAI of 8* and the Mog knuckles are at 10* (before the extra shim gets installed). That helps reduce the scrub number quite a bit.

-G

 

[folkenheath]

I just used a floor jack and some wooden blocks for the extra height. Full stuff in the center, and then jacked each side up to full stuff with the other side hanging free to check all clearances. Of course, intially without any tires, and I didn't have a rotor, so I could let it relax all the way. Once i got the suspension all done, then I redid this to clearance the fenders for the tire by only putting the high side tire on and jacking from the tire, with no shocks/springs on it was a piece of cake, no cable system needed.

 

[Greg72]

Your way sounds a lot easier.....

Damn!


-G