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.

74 K5 - Harry's Budget Blazer

No I didn't. The chirp chirping kept getting old when I would be running around town. The good thing is it only takes me about a hour to swap rear ends now, if I decide I want to put it back in.

On another note I found out why my u-joint came out of the yoke and the straps didn't fit. Turns out I had the wrong conversion u-joint in the driveshaft. The width is right, but the caps are to small. It fit better in the other 14 bolt, but not perfectly. I am surprised it worked as well as it did.
 
Well looking into it further, it turns out what I had was a 1310 to 3r u-joint in the driveline previously. Which worked for the old blazer axle (10 bolt) along with the welded rear axle (14 bolt), but not the new axle 14 bolt (unwelded). The other 14 bolt (welded) didn't fit perfectly, but worked for the limited amount of driving I did around town.

Turns out what I need is a 1310 to 1350 conversion u-joint. Hopefully pick one up tomorrow.
 
Keep after it bud. We'll be headed to the coast together in no time
 
Well I got the correct U-joint in and have been driving it around for awhile now, when it isn't raining. I guess not all 14 bolts have the same shock mounts, because the shocks are to short for the non-welded axle. Also I have picked up a slight vibration under throttle. I think it might be due to a small dent in the driveshaft. I think the driveshaft got the dent when the u-joint came out while I was driving.

On a more serious note my steering makes a clunking noise when I cycle the wheel. Turns out the box flexes on the frame as well as the frame flexing. Looks like I will need some form of frame repair because it looks like the top bolt in the picture is pulling through the frame. Not sure if it is supposed to look like that, but my guess is probably not.

Well if I have to pull the box to repair the frame I might as well install the crossover parts I have. I also have have a tapped top and front cap for a hydro assist setup. Not sure yet if I want to go ahead with all that or just install the caps. Hopefully pull the box off hear in the near future to asses the damage.

IMG_0325.jpg
 
Update time

I ordered up a frame repair kit and bolt in brace to fix my steering box separating from the frame problem. Unfortunately the whole frame flexes now after installing the kit.

Also managed the order up some rear shock mounts for the axle. Driving on gravel roads without shocks causes the rear to bounce around a lot.

No finished pics of the installed weld on repair kit. It turns out my welding ability goes down hill dramatically if I am not welding on a flat table.

IMG_0373.jpg

IMG_0375.JPG

IMG_0376.jpg
 
Also you can see in the above picture where the previous owner welded the frame back together.

Here are a couple of pictures of me using the blazer to turn my ford around in the driveway. It worked well considering none of the ford's sheet metal is bolted down. I am terrible about remembering to take pictures, but I am trying to work on it.

IMG_0313.JPG

IMG_0315.jpg

IMG_0316.jpg
 
The ford is a 1952. So far I got a 300 6 cylinder, np435, 9 inch with 2.75 gears. I am going to keep the stock suspension, steering and brakes. The goal is to have a cool older truck I can afford to drive. I have a set of turbine mags, but I am not sure they will fit the overall look of the truck. In the future I may lower it or tear it down and paint it, but I am cheap and currently without lucrative employment.
 
Update time

I decided it was time for an update.

Since installing the steering box brace and repair kit I have been battling a vibration when driving at all speeds. The vibration got worse until both u-joints let go and I got to see my driveshaft bouncing down the road behind me. To try and solve the problem I bought a 10 degree shim from DIY4x to rotate the pinion down. After installing the shim my driveshaft became to short by a couple of inches. I was able to find a new driveshaft and have it shortened to a new length of 37.75 inches. That number is length at ride height in the middle of the 3 inches of slip travel. I have only driven it a limited amount of time with the new driveshaft in. The vibrations seem to be gone, but I hope my u-joint angle is not to severe. We will see how long they hold up. A picture below shows about what angle it is at.

Also in preparation for buying new tires I went ahead and bought a set of 17inch black d-window wheels from summit. They are 17x9 and have 4.5 inches of back spacing. They seem to have plenty of clearance for 1-ton axles. Unfortunately I don't know how they will fit with tires in relation to the fenders probably for some time, which I will get to in my next post.

IMG_0459.jpg

IMG_0455.jpg

IMG_0456.JPG
 
Update cont.

Well I won't be buying a new set of 35's for the 17inch wheels anytime soon because I bought a set of hummer h2 wheels with tires. I wasn't looking forward to dropping 1400 dollars on new tires so I grabbed these off craigslist for 400. Should last a while at the rate I drive.

The only problem is my current lugnuts would not work with these wheels and the ones included with the tires are metric. Not sure the technical terms needed to describe the difference between the two, but the pictures are pretty explanatory. After doing a bit of searching I found people using mid 90's dodge lugnuts on chevy axles with these wheels. Anyways I grabbed a couple of these at Autozone and they look like they will work. Found them online cheaper in sets of 10 from Rock Auto. Hopefully they get here soon so I can see how they look on the blazer.

They are:

Dorman #611 162

or if you are at the auto zone

2002 Dodge 2500 cummins 4x4 lug nuts

IMG_0465.jpg

IMG_0462.JPG

IMG_0464.jpg

IMG_0463.jpg
 
Yeah.

I did it on my 1988 Suburban. I had H2's on it, but I switched to these wheels.

IMG_20130521_161921_zps8b7eaf57.jpg


Martin
 
Those do look good. I already ordered non-conversion lug nuts, but I will have to keep my eye out for some of those center caps. Might be awhile because I don't make it to the junkyard very often.

I don't really like the way the stock h2 ones look.
 
Yeah, the stock H2 hubcaps are ugly, and you would have to cut the front and the rear.

Martin
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest Posts

Top Bottom