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First modification to my blazer, what should it be?

W

WantedaDodge

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So what should the first offroad modification be that I should make on this truck? This is an '84 Silverado.

Let me tell you what some of the options are...
Locking Differential, Tow package, 350 4 bbl, 700R4

Not sure of the gear ratio, but I would imagine they would be 3.55s or lower with a "locking rear differential" BTw, does that mean limited slip, or did they have an actual locker?

I'm gonna tune it up, add an auxillary tranny cooler and change all the lubes first thing.

I plan on adding headers and a dual 2.5 inch exhaust eventually, but what type of things should I do to the suspension and such? It has good 31x10.50R15s on it right now, I'm not gonna lift it till those go bald.

It will be getting bumpers too...

Sway bar disconnects? steering box brace? and different bushings?

Thanks guys!!! I'm a little lost here in chevyworld.... :D
 
First take the swaybar off and throw it away.

Next, get the bolt on steering brace on there.

After that, go to the junkyard and get a pair of 3/4 ton axles and start building them in your garage in your spare time.

By the time your tires are bald your axles will be ready. Then order suspension + tires and swap your new axles in.:D
 
After a real fun ride to the hospital and a few weeks relaxing at home watching skin grow back, my recomendation is a fire exstiguisher. They are cheap and alot more fun then watching the other mods go up in flames.
 
84_Chevy_K10 said:
First take the swaybar off and throw it away.

Next, get the bolt on steering brace on there.

After that, go to the junkyard and get a pair of 3/4 ton axles and start building them in your garage in your spare time.

By the time your tires are bald your axles will be ready. Then order suspension + tires and swap your new axles in.:D
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What he said, building axles right now :thumb:
 
Well, Wait a second... This is my daily driver... Also my tow rig. I don't feel good about throwing away the front sway bar!~

I'm gonna build a 12 bolt front up for it eventually. 12 bolts f/r will be plenty tough enough for the type of wheeling I do.
 
WantedaDodge said:
Well, Wait a second... This is my daily driver... Also my tow rig. I don't feel good about throwing away the front sway bar!~

I'm gonna build a 12 bolt front up for it eventually. 12 bolts f/r will be plenty tough enough for the type of wheeling I do.
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K5s are not tow rigs. If you bought that for a tow rig, sell it now.

there is no such thing as a 12 bolt front, and a 12 bolt rear is weaker than a 10 bolt.
 
well maybe you should know what I'm towing... I've done this stuff before. It's just my car to the race track and short trips with my 19 foot sled boat. I also ocassionally have to pull a 20 foot scissor lift of a small fork lift. Oh yea, I also have a 2 place snowmobile trailer that I pull up to the mountains 4-5 times a year.
Someone told me they had 12 bolt fronts, if not, I'll get a D44... D60s are pretty heavy and since when have 12 bolts been weaker then 10 bolts? I've used them in Goats, chevelles and camaros and the 12 bolts are always the better rear end.
 
The 12 bolt in cars is not the 12 bolt truck. The 12 bolt truck has better axleshafts than the 10 bolt but the weak spot is the pinion bearings (and that is what failed on mine) It might not be weaker, but it's definitely no stronger as an assembly than the 10 bolt.


The 8.5" 10 bolt is actually quite desirable for cars as well. Unless you have mondo horsepower in a car you're not going to break an 8.5" 10 bolt. Don't confuse that with the 8.2" 10 bolt that was likely factory in the Goats, Chevelles, and Camaros you speak of, they're not the same.

Honestly, I wouldn't even think of pulling a car trailer with a K5. I might catch flak for this, but it just wouldn't be fun to pull that at all. I wouldn't pull my own car trailer with a 1/2 ton long box pickup. A K5 would be downright scary.

The snowmobile trailer will be fine.
 
you can tow with it......its just not *made* to really tow a alot of weight. Heck, I had a Ranger w/ a V6, and i did mild towing with it-no problemo....and i'd bet $1 our beloved Blazers can handle a LOT more than a ranger...
 
js4x4 said:
you can tow with it......its just not *made* to really tow a alot of weight. Heck, I had a Ranger w/ a V6, and i did mild towing with it-no problemo....and i'd bet $1 our beloved Blazers can handle a LOT more than a ranger...
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My Ranger has a longer wheelbase than a K5 Blazer.
 
I pulled my car with a dodge dakota before, a short box standard cab f150 and a Chevy 3500 silverado dually. I think this blazer will hold up just fine for my towing purposes.

I just think leaving the sway bar on would be a good idea. Part of my job is delivering heavy equipment(boom lifts and such.) so I've pulled my fair share of weight, and quite a long way. I really like the shorter wheel base rigs cause they make maneuverability much easier.

Course, the nicest tow rig I've ever used was a 2005 3500 Dodge Cummins dually quad cab w/ an automatic. Man, that sucker pulled nice!
 
I personally find that with my trail rig in tow behind my current rig, I can still feel more of the trailer trying to jerk the truck all over the road in fowl weather than I care for. My next tow rig is going to be an extended cab shortbox or crewcab longbox to stretch it out just a little more.
 
84_Chevy_K10 said:
My Ranger has a longer wheelbase than a K5 Blazer.
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My Challenger that I'm pulling has a longer wheelbase then a blazer. my car trailer is fairly short though from the tongue to the axles. I've used the dakota several times, to pull this trailer. I'm not sure of the wheel base, but I don't think it's that much more then 106.5 inches. I'm really not that worried about it. It's got D rated tires on it, it will hold up fine.

I'll swap the axles when they break I spose. I'll go dual dana 60s when I do cause I want to be able to use the same gears and differentials in the front and rear!
 
84_Chevy_K10 said:
I personally find that with my trail rig in tow behind my current rig, I can still feel more of the trailer trying to jerk the truck all over the road in fowl weather than I care for. My next tow rig is going to be an extended cab shortbox or crewcab longbox to stretch it out just a little more.
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What is your current tow rig? Do you have a rear sway bar?
I've found a rear bar will help tighten things up in the wind and such without adding crappy ride like Air Bags.

If I can make disconnects, I might just put a rear bar on mine.
 
My current tow rig is an '87 Chevy C30.

It's got about 14 leaves in the back because it had a service body from the factory. Rear swaybar wouldn't do squat for it. I also use a weight distributing hitch. I have all the equipment I need to pull a trailer correctly, I just want more wheelbase, it's much safer.
 
I also have a weight distribution hitch for my car trailer. One thing though is I only plan on having to pull that down the interstate, not on anything too curvy. With the car and trailer, I doubt I got more then 5000 lbs of payload, should be to much trouble pulling it in a straight line.

A C30 is a one ton right? So you got a 1 ton short box? I didn't even know they made them... and know, a sway bar won't do much w/ 14 leaves!

Don't get me wrong, if I was gonna have a designated tow rig, and do a crap load of heavy towing, I would want a 3/4 ton truck, standard cab long box or quadcab(ext. cab) short box. But for just needing it maybe a couple times a month and mostly light duty towing I feel this truck is very capable.
 
You will be fine pulling basically what you have as long as t is 5K and less behind you. I would hope you have 3.73's but in an '84 I doubt it. You are probably like the rest of us "lucky" ones and have the terrible 3.08 or the god awfull 2.73 ratio. Seems very few got the 3.42 package and the later blazers got 3.73's mainly. The govlok comes with any gear ratio. If you plan on towing with it a lot I would swap to 3/4 running gear mainly for the extra braking. I noticed a huge difference towing when I went 3/4 ton and could stop loaded much easier, those small 1/2 ton drums really hinder towing performance. Another large towing benifet with 3/4 gear is that 4.10 ratio is standard and will be perfect for towing/DD'ing/wheeling with a 31 or 33" tire. I would look for the rarer 4.56 geared axles if you plan on running 35's. The lower ratio gears and much larger drums will easily help you pull a couple more thousand pounds somewhat safely. I have towed 8K a few times and even more on one ocassion. My k5 with a 10" lift and 35" boggers did ok but i was sure glad i didn'thave far to go. I had good braking and decent acceleration but the tall lift and wobbly tires made it a little iteresting above 45mph.

Swapping axles really improves towing performance with a K5 but there still isn't a replacement for length. I pulled 9K with my 2001 dodge cummins not to long ago and it was 10 times smoother than the K5 ever felt.
 
I don't think the gears are that high, maybe they are... Truck feels pretty good though.

I just can't believe it would have 3.08s though with a tow pack. I'll have to crawl under there and see... They did have axle tags, right?
 
I would say steering box brace kit first, swaybar discos (If you really have your heart set on keepin it), Definetley get a 14ff for the rear (especially since you are towing with your K5), When the tires go bald and you want to lift it I would recommend a 4" with a shackle flip in the rear with some 35-36" AT tires.:xmas:
 
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