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Blazer's Tow rigs

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Update

Spent a hundred or so on the A/C worked great...... for like a week. Piece of crap......

Towed Twinkie down to Moab 7 mpg going fast or slow
just about died, trailer brakes suck and brakes on this truck suck. Car merged in front of me at like 65 then hit its brakes had my drivers side not been vacant would have been a mess.

Was making a funny noise going downhill coasting in gear did it twice. Sounds like you are trying to put it into park at speed. No idea what that was.

So think that this was its last time towing down to Moab
quoting from another source @Stephen Suburbans can tow but are not good tow rigs. So it is done being my tow rig.

Of course winning the solid axle swap kit at BB19 helped a bit in this decision
 
oh and other side not tire on trailer fell off as in broke the studs and hit a Postal truck and a F250.......... luckily I was only doing about 40 and was not on the freeway yet.
 
Exciting is not what came to mind when it happened.

So after a bit of thought and stuff, have decided to make this everything Twinkie is not. A rig to drive in the snow, in the rain, and just to take up into the mountains. Figure a set of 37's. Some sliders, bumpers, off road lights maybe even a RTT.

Of course all this ideas depend on money...... so may not do anything.
 
kgblazerfive said:
Exciting is not what came to mind when it happened.

So after a bit of thought and stuff, have decided to make this everything Twinkie is not. A rig to drive in the snow, in the rain, and just to take up into the mountains. Figure a set of 37's. Some sliders, bumpers, off road lights maybe even a RTT.

Of course all this ideas depend on money...... so may not do anything.
Click to expand...

I've kind of got those same plans based on using my wifes ranch truck that's being retired. It's an 06' crew cab short bed but the idea is a comfortable full cab, mild lift with some lockers and a winch, and some basic body protection stuff. My goal is a truck that works well on Hells Revenge and is taxed a slight bit on something like Golden Spike. It's not meant to do harder trails than those and in fact if I can get the family up in the local mountains 3-4 times a summer with it then it's served it's purpose.

If you care I might have a line on a "left hand drive" dana 50 from an Excursion. it was in a fire some some of the soft bits are crispy but the hard parts look good.
 
kgblazerfive said:
Exciting is not what came to mind when it happened.

So after a bit of thought and stuff, have decided to make this everything Twinkie is not. A rig to drive in the snow, in the rain, and just to take up into the mountains. Figure a set of 37's. Some sliders, bumpers, off road lights maybe even a RTT.

Of course all this ideas depend on money...... so may not do anything.
Click to expand...

miniwally said:
I've kind of got those same plans based on using my wifes ranch truck that's being retired. It's an 06' crew cab short bed but the idea is a comfortable full cab, mild lift with some lockers and a winch, and some basic body protection stuff. My goal is a truck that works well on Hells Revenge and is taxed a slight bit on something like Golden Spike. It's not meant to do harder trails than those and in fact if I can get the family up in the local mountains 3-4 times a summer with it then it's served it's purpose.

If you care I might have a line on a "left hand drive" dana 50 from an Excursion. it was in a fire some some of the soft bits are crispy but the hard parts look good.
Click to expand...

You guys just described exactly why I built my suburban. I wanted something more comfortable and mild than my K5 crawler. Sure, my K5 I can fit my whole family into it and go hit a trail, but what I found is the times I took my family, they never wanted to hit the harder trails that the K5 is built for. So I went through the whole hassle of towing my K5 to a place to hit a trail that wasn't really a challenge at all (and in all reality, was kinda boring and way less comfortable with exposed cab, no real heat/ac either). So I decided to pick up this 3/4 ton BBC suburban for freaking cheap and do a SAS on it with a "lower" lift and moderate tire size.

So far I've used it to tow my boat to the lake (does it just fine), I've taken it hunting and fishing in the mountains, and I've taken it to the grocery store too, haha. It goes down the road just as good, if not better, than it did when it was stock. And I plan to take it snow wheeling cause you know, it has rear heat for the kids :waytogo:. I've been very happy with it so far. I built some "sliders" for it, and plan to do bumpers and probably a lunchbox locker in the front and possibly a posi in the rear and be done

1.jpg
 
Kay86K5 said:
You guys just described exactly why I built my suburban. I wanted something more comfortable and mild than my K5 crawler. Sure, my K5 I can fit my whole family into it and go hit a trail, but what I found is the times I took my family, they never wanted to hit the harder trails that the K5 is built for. So I went through the whole hassle of towing my K5 to a place to hit a trail that wasn't really a challenge at all (and in all reality, was kinda boring and way less comfortable with exposed cab, no real heat/ac either). So I decided to pick up this 3/4 ton BBC suburban for freaking cheap and do a SAS on it with a "lower" lift and moderate tire size.

So far I've used it to tow my boat to the lake (does it just fine), I've taken it hunting and fishing in the mountains, and I've taken it to the grocery store too, haha. It goes down the road just as good, if not better, than it did when it was stock. And I plan to take it snow wheeling cause you know, it has rear heat for the kids :waytogo:. I've been very happy with it so far. I built some "sliders" for it, and plan to do bumpers and probably a lunchbox locker in the front and possibly a posi in the rear and be done

View attachment 316315
Click to expand...

My inspiration :)
 
miniwally said:
I've kind of got those same plans based on using my wifes ranch truck that's being retired. It's an 06' crew cab short bed but the idea is a comfortable full cab, mild lift with some lockers and a winch, and some basic body protection stuff. My goal is a truck that works well on Hells Revenge and is taxed a slight bit on something like Golden Spike. It's not meant to do harder trails than those and in fact if I can get the family up in the local mountains 3-4 times a summer with it then it's served it's purpose.

If you care I might have a line on a "left hand drive" dana 50 from an Excursion. it was in a fire some some of the soft bits are crispy but the hard parts look good.
Click to expand...

I am so far from doing anything on this, but yes, maybe, one day....
 
Since I'm IFS curious, my plans involve keeping the front IFS (read custom A-arms etc). I debate on linking the rear or just having my brother do his leaf spring thing.

I do have thoughts of re-producing the KISS method of vehicle building that is the SAS, shackle flip and let it ride, then my IFS curious thing comes out of the closet again.
 
My rear has a locker in it already, which makes it harder to put a Detroit in it.. I have a line on a disc braked finned 14 bolt which will probably go in sooner then later. The front end really open to just about anything. Really depends on the T-case I go with. Have to change mine because it is an electric shift, just needs to be VSS because of the 4L80 that is in it now. The swap kit is for GM based width axles so think I have to really follow that.
 
Keith, is your case autotrac? Or just the electronic shift without auto mode? If it's the latter, you should be able to convert the front output to a fixed yoke or flange.
 
miniwally said:
Since I'm IFS curious, my plans involve keeping the front IFS (read custom A-arms etc). I debate on linking the rear or just having my brother do his leaf spring thing.

I do have thoughts of re-producing the KISS method of vehicle building that is the SAS, shackle flip and let it ride, then my IFS curious thing comes out of the closet again.
Click to expand...
In another forum I'm on, all of the guys that lifted their 90's trucks with an ifs lift eventually scrapped the ifs and went with an SAS, even on primarily street driven trucks. They just got tired of throwing money at it, not that an axle swap is much cheaper...
 
kgblazerfive said:
Exciting is not what came to mind when it happened.

So after a bit of thought and stuff, have decided to make this everything Twinkie is not. A rig to drive in the snow, in the rain, and just to take up into the mountains. Figure a set of 37's. Some sliders, bumpers, off road lights maybe even a RTT.

Of course all this ideas depend on money...... so may not do anything.
Click to expand...
That's exactly what I want the suburban to be.
I have no interest in rock crawling per se.
I might go to a blazer bash or 2 in my lifetime but I want a capable overlander, and although 37" might be overkill, I have them and they are becoming more common so finding replacement on the road should not be impossible
 
miniwally said:
Since I'm IFS curious, my plans involve keeping the front IFS (read custom A-arms etc). I debate on linking the rear or just having my brother do his leaf spring thing.

I do have thoughts of re-producing the KISS method of vehicle building that is the SAS, shackle flip and let it ride, then my IFS curious thing comes out of the closet again.
Click to expand...
I have an ifs setup from a 3/4 ton suburban that I was trying to reengineer for my van for a smoother ride.
My design has longer arms and coil springs instead of the torsion bar.
Not sure I will ever get to it but it is something I would like to do
 
imiceman44 said:
That's exactly what I want the suburban to be.
I have no interest in rock crawling per se.
I might go to a blazer bash or 2 in my lifetime but I want a capable overlander, and although 37" might be overkill, I have them and they are becoming more common so finding replacement on the road should not be impossible
Click to expand...
I think that's because these days the guys with the Rubicon Jeeps are throwing 3.5" lifts on and running 37's. Seems to be pretty common at least based on the 4x4 club I'm in.
 
@kgblazerfive aside from the brakes how did this tow? I guess specifically I'm curious about the power of the motor. I'm assuming it's a 454; I skimmed back thru the thread but didn't see for sure.
 
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