85 k5 m1009 build 64" spring ?'s

[Kevmohara]

chevyman7579 submitted a new Build:

85 k5 m1009 build 64" spring ?'s

Well I've been lurking on here for quite awhile and figured I'd start a build thread on my my1009 since I had to get rid of my last project. A lot of the stuff in my thread will seem like band wagon upgrades or whatever but a lot of it was already done or in order for my previous k5 and I love to just tinker anyhow. I traded a 06 Honda 450r I got for next to nothing for the blazer, an 80 gallon air compressor, and a 220 Schumacher welder . Enough talking I'll show you some pics of it.

View attachment 160415

View attachment 160416

Read more about this build here...

 

[Kevmohara]

The plans for it
Axles
Dana 60: already have scored complete for 250$
-spool, 456 gears, shaved, high steer, plated knuckles, 35 spline outer, Yukon lockouts (in the works) only need the lockouts for all the parts
14 BFF: already have it as well
-welded, shaved, discs, pinion guard, home brewed diff cover (done)
Suspension/steering
Upfront:
B52, ez inches, hydro assist and cross over/ high steer (have everything)
Outback:
Shackle flip, 56 or 64 springs, and ez inches ( have everything but the springs)
ENGINE/TRANS TCASE
5.3 out of an 01 pickup
have a fuel injected blazer tank and the harness, cam, tune
TNA cross member (don't have yet)
Keep th400
241 tcase (have) JB Conversion SLE (don't have)
TIRES/WHEELS
38.5×12.5 16.5 TSL's
TMI diy bead locks(3/4 done)

Any advice or criticism is greatly appreciated as I've only built a couple trucks so far.

Does anybody know how I can upload more then 5 pictures at a time on my phone? I have a computer but all my pics are on my phone so more convenient.

 

[y5mgisi]

Upload them to photobucket.com and then link them here.

 

[blazinzuk]

Don't spool the front with flanges and longer leaf springs it will play hell with your steering, even with hydro assist

 

[Kevmohara]

progress

Some pic whoring Sorry about having to make new posts every 5 pics hope to get that figured out here is pics of the 14 bolt build I just finished saturday, I did the small 13 bolt shave on my 14 I put in my blazer back in high school but I wanted to do the full shave. I also did the disc brake conversion on that 14 as well which is where I robbed the parts, the brake stuff only had about 300 miles on them. Diy4x disc brackets, all new bearings, welded the spiders, chassis unlimited pinion guard (only 49 bucks) the diff cover got the skull and fill plug from ballistic fab. They sent me an extra duplicate order so I got 4 skulls and 4 fill plugs payed for 2 . Another thing I found back in high school can't remember if it was 1/2 or 3/4 ton but the calipers for a 78 suburban had a much larger piston then the identical pickup so I've always used those. For the diff shave I cut it with 4" cut off wheel, smoothed, housing, ground the ring by letting the grinder spin it in the housing (no pinion or axles) so it spun very easily and I took my time so the ring never got hot at all and it's perfect completely around according to a dial indicator, pretty heat housing laid material on housing and welded it around the cut area then heated the material and formed it over the weld underneath and around the housing and welded all the way around, post heat, didn't wrap it like everyone says but I think it will be OK. Also welded the axle tubes while I was there. The spring perches are cut off because this was going to be for my last project.

 

[Kevmohara]

spool

Im going to be running lockouts not flanges do you still think it's an issue? Part that sucks is I had a diff and gears already in the 60 and traded to a guy off pirate4x4 named capewinnebago4x4 for a carrier with 456s but he screwed me and everything he sent me was pitted so badly none of it was salvageable so I got the spool to save money. Do you think I could just make a panhard type bar off the engine cross member to counter act any kind of steering issues?

 

[Kevmohara]

Also I got tired of working on my axles on the floor so I made a mount that bolts to my semi Trans jack and it's great

 

[blazinzuk]

One of the times I broke my detroit it locked up on one side like that one was always engaged like a spool would be. I could turn good to the non broken side. The side that never let go I could barely turn at all. A guy I know put a spool in his jeep front axle. Even with hydro assist it took him forever to turn. Was constantly locking and unlocking his hubs.

The longer springs make the problem even worse

 

[Kevmohara]

One of the times I broke my detroit it locked up on one side like that one was always engaged like a spool would be. I could turn good to the non broken side. The side that never let go I could barely turn at all. A guy I know put a spool in his jeep front axle. Even with hydro assist it took him forever to turn. Was constantly locking and unlocking his hubs.

The longer springs make the problem even worse

That sucks well I unfortunately already have it all setup shim wise I'll run it and see what my options are for maybe keeping the axle in place and if it turns out to be a total pita ill just have to break down and spend the money for a real locker thanks for the info

 

[Kevmohara]

Upload them to photobucket.com and then link them here.

I'll have to make a photobucket account and give that a try thanks

 

[Kevmohara]

started on the 60

Got the knuckle reinforcement welded up

 

[Kevmohara]

Not quite as clean as Kurt's turned out in the writeup he did but it should work

 

[y5mgisi]

Looks good!

 

[Kevmohara]

Thanks at first I was going to make all the pieces until I found out Diy4x has a kit for like 30 bucks and the only thing you have to do is shape it as you weld so for the time it's worth it.

 

[Kevmohara]

Unfortunately no progress after work last nite or for the next couple days busy at work and family comes in for a few days. Going to see if I can put my old man to work helping me get my axle in while he's here either way I'm sure he will be down to watch while he practices 12 ounce curls. Here's what kept me busy late last night and probably tonight

 

[Kevmohara]

dana 60 shave help

So I'm planning on shaving the dana 60 this week so I can get it all assembled but my question is would I be ok with using 3/8" plate for the bottom or should I go thicker? I already have plenty of 3/8" laying around and a bunch of 1/4 if welding 2 pieces of 1/4 together with plug welds and around the outside would be ok I'd do that just curious on opinions. I used 1/2" on my rear axle but don't have any 1/2 left and my metal supplier has a minimum charge for 1/2 so I'd have alot of extra I don't need and probably won't need again. Any help would be appreciated. And the pic shows where I plan to cut

 

[Kevmohara]

Maybe even higher and just cut out a small channel for the ring or even shave the ring like I did the back and go alot higher. Once again questions comments or concerns are appreciated.

 

[Kevmohara]

small update

So this weekend I spent most of my time dicking with shop tools, the ram on my engine hoist took a **** , the hoist is all bent up anyways from over loading the hell out of it so I'm just going to get a nice one. I decided against doing a full shave on my 60 because you can cut a 1/2" chunk off without getting into the housing at all and if I were to shave the ring down to where it is flat across I would only gain a 1/4" more of clearance then where I'm at once i use 3/8" plate on the bottom. So it didn't seem justifiable to me **. Here's a pic of the piece cut off and you can see the top orange line on the right is where it would be if I did an actual shave then add 3/8" to that and it's barely above where it is now.

 

[Kevmohara]

Since the hoist was broke I had to get creative with getting my 14 bolt off the axle stand to get the 60 on. Just hooked a strap to some steel that runs down the rafters and lowered the trans jack and let the axle down. Also got my gears almost completely set up in the 60 but i lost the thrust washer for the pinion so once that's here I'll get the last pinion shims setup on the pinion. I will say of all the axles I've setup the 60 seems to be a big pita. As always any questions or feedback is welcome if there's any tricks or something I'm doing wrong chime in.

 

[john myers]

spool

Spool in front ,bad idea.Up here in Canada you would not be able to steer on slippery surfaces.JOHN.