After the roll rebuild. (NOT HAPPENING)

[GRINCH]

I have (We, Super Supporting Wife) decided to rebuild the Blaze..

It took us almost 10 years to get the last one the way it was. However, I do want to make some changes now for the type of wheeling we do. Mostly snow wheeling and mild trails.

How it happened. http://coloradok5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=245408

What I had.


14SF rear w/disk brakes, Superior Axle shafts, Eaton E-locker
10 Bolt Front w/Eaton E-locker 4.10 Gears.
Rear ORD Shackle flip plus Overload springs & Tapered Zero rate, 7-8 “ Lift
Front 4” lift springs with Zero Rate moving axle forward.
Dual batteries with ACR Setup (Thanks Ryoken)
HAD Drive shaft 241 slip yoke eliminator
12,000 Winch attached to DIY4X Custom built bumper.
350 Vortec Motor with Edelbrock MPFI, Thorley Headers Built 700R4
37” Maxxis Creepy Crawlers (For Sale), Just switched to 36” IROK’s
Coolers, ORD Geasable bushings, Headlight relays. ETC…..

What I didn’t like..
Too tippy feeling, Maybe to much lift and not flexy enough.
Soulution: 2-3” Lift in front 4” in rear.

In 4 low it had too much torque to start out in the snow with out spinning. 4 High was to high in the snow when aired down. Truck would not move in the deep snow.
Solution: Re-gearing would make 4 low worse but would take care of 4 High. If I add a manual valve body to the tranny I could start out in 2’nd. Which would give me a drive ratio of 18 versus 34. Cheaper than re-gearing and I think it solves my problem.

I will be putting some Bushwacker Cut-outs on to clear the 36”. I plan on cutting the fronts a little more also.

The Donor vehicle is a 1990 GMC Jimmy Still needs to be Streetable. Not a DD but driven to the Trails.


Questions I need answers to.
I would like to add crossover steering. Can it be done with only 2-3 inches of lift?

Will it be easier to pull the bodies off and do a swap to my frame? Or pull axles, motor, x-fer case and tranny?

Remember this is a budget rebuild. I don’t know what I’m getting from the insurance company. Donor cost 2300. (Many sellable parts) New 33/1250 MT/R’s and Rims, Interior, Motor, Axles for Boat anchors or Jeeps.

I will be selling a bunch of stuff to fund the rebuild. :

 

[muddermilitia]

Personally, I think it would be easier to swap bodies. Just make sure your frame wasn't tweaked during the roll. Glad to hear you are going to rebuild rather then get out of the hobby, good luck!

 

[dfl701]

good luck with everything! glad to see yall are rebuilding!!!

 

[wayne]

Yes crossover can be done. I have sagged 3" front springs with crossover.

Mine right now is 3" front's with 4" rear's and 37's. I have a 1" body lift that I added last year just to help clear the t case. The below pic is no bodylift.

 

[wayne]

I'm sure you know the trans will shift extremely hard with a manual valve body. If your frame is fine then just swap the bodys.

 

[GRINCH]

I'm sure you know the trans will shift extremely hard with a manual valve body. If your frame is fine then just swap the bodys.

What about the automatic/manual valve bodies? I heard the manuals shift hard but now I'm hesitant. We do travel some icy roads to get to the trails. Banging second could break the rear end loose.

So far it looks like the frame is fine.

 

[shaun89]

awesome man, im glad to see ur getting right back up! i couldnt do that,id be too upset my girlfriend was totaled

 

[73redblaze]

hey wayne become a member so i can PM you

 

[Hogback Fabrication]

You can run crossover steering with much lower lift than 4" but you'll need to limit uptravel.

With a bent draglink, the steering will probably clear the engine crossmember regardless. The real limiting factor is contact between the draglink end and the driver side leaf spring, bumpstops can always prevent that (I'm running crossover at roughly stock height).

 

[tRustyK5]

hey wayne your not a member so i cant PM you but i was wondering, you have two diffrent bumpers in the two pics...and they're both awesome.

Edited...

Keep the whoring for parts out of the Garage please.

Rene

 

[73redblaze]

geeze ppl really need to pay there dues.... haha noted. and i like ur edit

 

[73redblaze]

i havent been called a whore in a few years now... its refreshing... anyway back to the topic

 

[wayne]

What about the automatic/manual valve bodies? I heard the manuals shift hard but now I'm hesitant. We do travel some icy roads to get to the trails. Banging second could break the rear end loose.

So far it looks like the frame is fine.

I don't know if there will be much of a difference between the manual/auto to the full manual. I don't know if this works on a 700r4 but in th400's and th350's I always run Ford ATF. It makes the trans shift harder and has less of a chance to foam. My stock th400 in my K5 will bust the tires loose shifting to second on wet pavement if you are getting on it.

 

[wayne]

Edited...

Keep the whoring for parts out of the Garage please.

Rene

I must have missed something. Either way he can't buy either. I hacked up the Warn bumper and used part of the winch mount when I made the tube bumper.

 

[tRustyK5]

yes...said whoring was edited out.

Rene

 

[lectric80]

Glad to hear you are starting a new build. For what it's worth, the body swap will be much easier than trying to move everything over to the new frame.

 

[GRINCH]

Any tips or tricks doing the body swap? Or just start tearing into it. I will start with the blazer first and then the donor jimmy.

 

[MTMike]

Dennis - you might look into doing a 52" spring swap for the front and a shackle flip for the rear, with crossover (and maybe even ram assist) That's the setup I did on mine, it offers about 4" of lift all around, but (at least to me) feels very stable. Yet it rides like a Buick and flexes like mad! When the truck had 12" of lift back when I first got it, it felt very tippy and unstable, but with the suspension I have now it feels really solid.

Just a though....... If you're curious, next time you're in my neck of the woods hit me up and we can go for a quick run, even around the block so you can feel it.

 

[muddermilitia]

Any tips or tricks doing the body swap? Or just start tearing into it. I will start with the blazer first and then the donor jimmy.

Unbolt the master from the booster and support it, then bolt booster to new cab and reinstall master, that way you dont have to bleed out any lines. Also label all the wires you disconnect so you aren't confused when you're putting it back together

 

[colbystephens]

I've done a body swap - it wasn't too terrible. the difficult part is figuring out how to lift the new body up high enough to get it onto a frame that's sprung with no weight on it! i ended up hanging mine from a cherry picker and a rafter-hung geared engine hoist. i attached at the cage - which may not help you. just TAKE YOUR TIME. those blazer bodies aren't light, and they'll hurt/kill if they fall on you.

I read up about how many people it takes to lift a blazer body - lot of people said 5 big guys would do. Guess I don't know the definition of big because we had 5 guys and we were lifting a topless, full convertible blazer body with no glass and no tailgate and we could hardly get the damn thing off of the trailer. let alone lifted high enough to get it onto a new frame!

additionally - i am surprised to read that you feel you have too much gearing for the snow. i've never experienced that, and everyone i see always wants more gearing. the guys that go the farthest in the snow around here have dual tcases and are engaged in SUPER low so that they simply crawl ontop of the snow instead of spinning tires. the way i see it, the slower you start, the less likely you are to end up spinning the tires and losing traction. the best snow rig i've ever seen had gearing so low that you could see the individual teeth of the gears engage by looking at how the tire was moving.

what's been your experience with that? can you elaborate/explain?