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78 Blazer Buildup by Shaffers Offroad

Incredible!

Can't get enough of builds on the forum like this!!!:bow:

Makes me want to tear into the Sub and Change a bunch of stuff!!:doah:

Extremely well done!:waytogo:
 
sincity78 said:
Thanks for the comments guys!


oLsm4zS.jpg
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Is that on the way up to Hunter Lake? Owenst7 told me that he ran into you on that trail. Did you make it all the way to the lake that day? I'd like to make it up there sometime in the dead of winter. Perhaps you'd want to break trail?

K5 Jess said:
That first pic is sick! You n Colby should wheel sometime :waytogo:
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sincity78 is who I got my first set of slider windows from. Then, my truck was broken into, so I ended up buying a second set from some crack-head in south Reno... :doah:
 
colbystephens said:
Is that on the way up to Hunter Lake? Owenst7 told me that he ran into you on that trail. Did you make it all the way to the lake that day? I'd like to make it up there sometime in the dead of winter. Perhaps you'd want to break trail?
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It was! I didn't make it too far that day. Dry snow with ice not far down and too much air in the tires. I need to get up there when there's some fresh snow!!
 
Have you tried the Garson rte.? I really like that route too. Starts in Verdi. That's where my Sig pic is from.
 
I've never done the whole loop either, but I think the answer to your question is "yes." Apparently it's a loop that goes from Caughlin Ranch up over the mountains and comes doen Garson Road and ends at the fire station in Verdi. I've only done HLT in winter time, so I've gone up to the lake from the Caughlin Ranch side, and I've attempted it from the Verdi side - but haven't been successful yet on that side. I've been up there (the Garson Rte.) 3 times this season - it's real pretty. One evening, coming down the mountain, I saw a herd of deer. I was able to count 97 deer, but it was dusk and many more must have been blending into the shrubs and such. Pretty cool. :D

Also, if you're interested, I'm thinking about putting together a small group of Chevy guys to do a snow trip that goes from Verdi, through Dog Valley, and up to Border Town. I'm thinking probably 3-5 trucks. I don't like big groups. It would also be possible (and perhaps more interesting to me) to do a loop that goes out and around Dog Valley and back to Verdi...
 
every single time i see a picture of this rig.. i wish i had my own garage.. i would rip into mine so fast. i love this build so much.
 
Joel,

Any chance I could convince you to post a closeup of the upper front shock mount arrangement? :deal:

I'm curious to understand how the bolt holds the upper shock mount in there.... it looks like the forward-side of that hanger is completely blocked off so there'd be no way to get a nut on there. Is that sleeve threaded perhaps?? :dunno:


(yes.....I'm studying your build VERY carefully for obvious reasons right now!)



-G
 
Awesome stuff. May be late but congrats on the cover and centerfold. Everything that truck has going on is pure shwing worthy as Wayne and Garth would say. Lol
 
Thanks.... That explains it perfectly.


-G
 
Modblacksmith said:
Grate build, subscribed.
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That kind of made me laugh, since the build is completely finished already... :D

It did make me wonder though if there have been any refinements to the original design of the truck, or any areas of its performance that are scheduled to be changed in the future? :dunno: The whole thing seems to function really well, but you never know....


-G
 
Greg72 said:
That kind of made me laugh, since the build is completely finished already... :D

It did make me wonder though if there have been any refinements to the original design of the truck, or any areas of its performance that are scheduled to be changed in the future? :dunno: The whole thing seems to function really well, but you never know....


-G
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a few things have changed over the last year or so:

- added a ls376, truck was underpowered for how capable it is

- new motor trashed the monster th350, so had hughes performance build an as-strong-as-can-be th350. (moving to an th400 or 4L80 would have required too much additional work to make it fit)

- moved the trans cooler to the front of the truck. this was huge. despite the size of the cooler the location near the firewall and header kept it from cooling as efficiently as needed
 
sincity78 said:
a few things have changed over the last year or so:

- added a ls376, truck was underpowered for how capable it is

- new motor trashed the monster th350, so had hughes performance build an as-strong-as-can-be th350. (moving to an th400 or 4L80 would have required too much additional work to make it fit)

- moved the trans cooler to the front of the truck. this was huge. despite the size of the cooler the location near the firewall and header kept it from cooling as efficiently as needed
Click to expand...


Nice!

Are there any quibbles from a suspension point of view?

I am currently in the midst of a very similar suspension build (14" fronts, 16" rears) and was curious if you ever feel like you needed more wheel travel than what you have. I imagine for technical rock crawling that's probably just about the ultimate....perhaps for high-speed desert running you might wish for more ultimate travel...?? :dunno: Right now I'm fighting like crazy to get 6" of front bump travel, but it is a real packaging challenge. It would be interesting to hear your feedback on how you feel the front suspension does sucking up bumps and whether you hit the bumpstops very often...

Any issues with bumpsteer? Either on the street or trail? I've been told that most well-designed panhard/draglink setups will FAR outperform a conventional leafsprung/crossover steering setup that many of us are used to. I'm not sure if you drove a truck with leafs and crossover and could compare the two... but I'd be curious to get feedback.


-G
 
Greg72 said:
Are there any quibbles from a suspension point of view?

I am currently in the midst of a very similar suspension build (14" fronts, 16" rears) and was curious if you ever feel like you needed more wheel travel than what you have.
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Uptravel is more premium than total wheel travel.. It's nice to keep the COG low and still have decent uptravel. I do hit my bumps fairly often (I only have about 2" before contact) and have considered shortening their stroke from 4" to 2".


Greg72 said:
Any issues with bumpsteer? Either on the street or trail?
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Nope! I had leafs w/o crossover before and the steering is MUCH MUCH better now.
 
Holy moly I wish I had that much money to put into my Blazer. Best K5 I've seen yet.
 
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