Rear suspension should be good to go now. Added a 3 degree shim and new u-bolts since the old ones had been on and off too many times and they were a little short.
CK5
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'83 K5 6.2L Diesel 64" rear springs. 3/4 ton axles. rear discs. Boring but works!
- Thread starter Truckman4life
- Start date
So the wife wanted to go tent camping to the desert so I decided to try and get the blazer done to take it as it's more fun. I started fri night after work and got the coolant drained and heater hoses replaced and then replaced all 8 glow plugs. Sure is easy when all the bolts come out for the inner fenders like they should. I changed both fuel filters and that was it for fri. Sat I ran to Napa and got a new mechanical temp gauge to replace my non-functional one. Installed it and put inner fenders in and front bump stops and wheels on. Filled the coolant and she fired up no problem with the new glow plugs. Zip tied the driver side headlights in since the mounts are all broken from the cow I whacked a year and a half ago when it was last driven. Took it for a test drive and the steering wheel needs centered a bit better. It makes a weird noise only when you let completely off the throttle. If I just rest my foot on the throttle it goes away. Comes from under the rear. Could a driveline angle that's not quite right cause a noise and not so much a vibration? Only thing I did was change lift blocks out back and add degree shims and I think my pinion might be pointed up just a hair more than it should. Didn't want to risk it so ended up taking the wife's yukon xl for a little four wheeling/camping. Did good in the blow sand and all over other than it sits too low.
Drove it to work today and I have an issue with the lights also. I saw a thread in the Garage with the same problem so I need to research. Dash lights inop, dome light works when I turn the headlight switch to turn them on, under dash light on all the time with headlights on but goes out when I manually turn the dome lights one. I'm thinking corrosion on a ground or at the headlight switch due to sitting for so long.
I'm so stoked to be able to drive this again though!
Drove it to work today and I have an issue with the lights also. I saw a thread in the Garage with the same problem so I need to research. Dash lights inop, dome light works when I turn the headlight switch to turn them on, under dash light on all the time with headlights on but goes out when I manually turn the dome lights one. I'm thinking corrosion on a ground or at the headlight switch due to sitting for so long.
I'm so stoked to be able to drive this again though!
Oh and @ZooMad75 I need to get my blazer or another bigger rig in good working condition for the desert. We got off at the Temple Mtn exit on 70 and headed towards Swasey Cabin and went under the highway to the north to camp near Dutchmen Arch. Then the next day went to Swasey Cabin and The Ice Box and tooled around. I have tons of exploring I would like to do down there and I really want to do Eagle Canyon.
We scratched the surface on that area when we went. Not all those trails are that tough but they are sure remote where it would be a long walk out if you are solo.
It is such a cool area to explore. As long as your Blazer is working good and reliable I wouldn't hesitate to explore with it.
Messed with it for a little last night. Drag link is as short as it will go and I'm off almost half turn on the steering wheel. I'll pull it when I get a chance and cut off some threads so I can go a little shorter. Installed my previously removed 1" drop on the t-case cross member and test drive and driveline vibration is better but not correct. The 3 degree shim and the 2" ford angled block have the pinion up too much. I'm gonna make some 1.5" flat blocks at work and install them and take the transfer case drop spacer back out. Tail light/dash light fuse must be popped as there are no tail lights. Will have to look into that further.
Hopefully these will get the rear where it needs to be. Whipped them up at work out of some 3/4" plate I had laying around.
Fancy
I do my best work when I'm getting paid for it! LOL
Swapped rear blocks and did some other stuff and got it working good enough
Been driving it as much as I can cuz I love it.
It's got a hot only coolant leak and it's not bad but I looked at it last night and the timing cover is leaking on the pass side where the coolant flows through it.
Been driving it as much as I can cuz I love it.
It's got a hot only coolant leak and it's not bad but I looked at it last night and the timing cover is leaking on the pass side where the coolant flows through it.
Just gonna leave this here for future reference.
https://matveynator.ru/f/9efda83135c6d53e16e47aab9a0122c4.pdf
https://www.dieselbombers.com/chevy-gmc-6-2l-6-5l/127207-6-2-6-5-military-repair-manual.html
https://matveynator.ru/f/9efda83135c6d53e16e47aab9a0122c4.pdf
https://www.dieselbombers.com/chevy-gmc-6-2l-6-5l/127207-6-2-6-5-military-repair-manual.html
Coolant leak seems to have sealed itself up for now. Just driving it daily most days til the snow flies then I'll probably mostly park it for winter to avoid the road salt.
Had free time at work so I decided to start on a grille guard. I still need to replace the broken grille and headlight buckets but work stuff is free so why not. I left tabs on top of the bumper to bolt it on with some 5/8" bolts way back when I built the bumper. Gonna do a cucv style one. The sides will be something like this with 2" by 1/4" strap.
I started with the uprights first. Cut some 4" wide strips of 1/4" plate and angled them down to 2" wide at the top. Drilled holes and welded 5/8" nuts on. Had some 3/16" by 1" stainless so I broke out the stainless rod and stick welded it around the perimeter of the uprights. I love stick welding with stainless rod. I'll have to test fit them next and see what I want to do for bars across the center. I might make the sides bolt on just in case I ruin one at some point.
Had free time at work so I decided to start on a grille guard. I still need to replace the broken grille and headlight buckets but work stuff is free so why not. I left tabs on top of the bumper to bolt it on with some 5/8" bolts way back when I built the bumper. Gonna do a cucv style one. The sides will be something like this with 2" by 1/4" strap.
I started with the uprights first. Cut some 4" wide strips of 1/4" plate and angled them down to 2" wide at the top. Drilled holes and welded 5/8" nuts on. Had some 3/16" by 1" stainless so I broke out the stainless rod and stick welded it around the perimeter of the uprights. I love stick welding with stainless rod. I'll have to test fit them next and see what I want to do for bars across the center. I might make the sides bolt on just in case I ruin one at some point.
Hey an update! Only took like 10 months. Ground bumper brackets to fit uprights and "adjusted" them to vertical with a sledgehammer. Threw some paint on. Need to decide what direction to go with cross bars for this middle section. Round, square, c-channel, how many, where at?
For now it stays this way. Ignore the broken grille and headlights. Lol.
For now it stays this way. Ignore the broken grille and headlights. Lol.
On your finished product, how close do your tires come to touching shock?
Also your running 14bff rear 69.5” wms?
What is backspace on your wheels and width of your tire, your still on 35”’s right?
I might look into running inside the bed as you did, were you able to seal this off very well with your boxes?
I haven't flexed it out for a while but I believe there's plenty of shock clearance to the tire. If I remember correctly the only place that got tight was the tire to the fender lip due to how far up the tire stuffs in the wheel well.
Yes 14bff 69.5" wide.
I'm running 315/75R16 tires(35-12.5). Wheels are 16x7 steelies. Not sure on the back spacing. I could go to a 37" tire but it would kill my low power 6.2L more and I'd probably rub somewhere. Plan is to do weld on beadwork to these wheels some day then they will be more like 9" wide.
It's kept most stuff out with the cardboard and rags I've had shoved around the shocks for years. Lol. I keep meaning to have our sheetmetal guy at work make me a steel box to seal it all in better.
I outboarded my shocks too, but lowered the lower mount to get more clearance so I didn't have to cut into the bed area.
I do have a body lift as well, so that also helped.
I do have a body lift as well, so that also helped.
Yep that's a great way to go to. Ford F150 style. It just limits the length of the shock and I didn't want lower mounts hanging down.
