What's new
CK5
Register an account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.

Flexing out the Old Girl

D

Donovan

1/2 ton status
Joined
Feb 17, 2000
Posts
524
Reaction score
1
Location
Arvada, CO
Here are a couple pictures of my piece of SH*T blazer flexing. I have a lot of work left to do like install those shocks, put in a crossover steering with a new swaybar. I need to get the 14 bolt out back and so on. That front tire is 42" off the ground if you are wondering. I hope this photopoint link works I just got the account tonight.
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=1461652&a=10988972>http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=1461652&a=10988972</A>

Donovan
 
Cool pics.How are those spring perchs working.Are those the front springs you made.Hows the transfer case adapter going.I'll have too get up there one of these days and take a look at the rig and pick up that case.
 
Give me two more weeks Dan on the case and it will be all yours. Now I have to get it down. Yes those are the spring rockers from BC Broncos and they work awesome. You will have more body sway with them but nothing you can not handle.

Donovan
 
Donovan, what kind of front shackles are you running?

Also, where did you find a K5 with that much rust in Colorado?
smile.gif


Steve
gears.gif

1990 K5 with stuff
 
I built those front shackels to get the longer springs in. That is a Colorado Blazer. My parents bought it new in 73 and had the Body work redone in 84 but the guy didn't do the job real well but I don't really care because it is just going to get beat up. I had more front articulation before I put the rear pivots on but now the rear is working better. The front flexs about 3" less than before the rear pivots. Come on up to Wheat Ridge and check it out and see what you think Steve.

Donovan
 
Good idea on those rear perches...my question is that are they built strong enough, meaning the u bolts and center bolt? The u bolts look on the smallish side, ditto with the center bolt. Also, is there a way to lock them down when you're not wheeling? I could see them pivoting when you don't want them to when cornering or sidehilling perhaps. What are your thoughts Donovan? I'm not try to bash them, cause they really flex well, but I'm just trying to find out more. Thanks.

ken
 
I have the same thoughts about the side hill but any time that you get more flex the worse the side hill lien you get. I have not put it on yet but I will add a locking setup to it. So I will keep you all posted on that.

Donovan
 
I guess my first question is: Just how much sway are we talking about? Do your tires touch the inside fender in the rear when they are tucked? How much are the piveting pads?

GOT ROCKS?
 
Okay Ken here is my thought on the pivots. Yes I thought the u-bolts was a little small but that is the way Chuck from BC broncos made them for me so I will not complain about it. If this is a problem I will let him know and maybe we can get it changed for 1/2 to 5/8. But lets think about it for a minute why do you need 5/8 u-bolt? You are now taking all of the stress off the u-bolts because the spring pack is not trying to twist in the spring perch. Look at the picture and think about what the u-bolts are going though if the pivot was not there and the spring was bolted to the perch solid. I hope that makes sense. Next the center pivoting pin is 7/8" which might not sound like it is that big but think about what keeps your springs from coming out of the mounts. It is a 9/16 bolt that holds the front of the leaf pack in. If that broke the springs would come out and you would have major problems. So in theory the 9/16 front spring bolt will brake before the 7/8 pivot bolt will. I sure hope I am making it clearer for you guys I just can't explain it on the computer and well as I can in person. BigDaddy as for the sway I have not problem so far with the sway in the back but I have not put more than a mile on it so time will tell. The instruction say that if you don't like it you could add a rear sway bar with some disconnects and it will handle very close to stock. That is all I can tell you for that right now. Also the rear shock will play a big roll in the sway effect. So keep that in mind. The shock should be mount as straight up and down as possible with no lean to the center of the truck. And yes the little 31" tires hits the inside of the fender well so I don't know what I will do when I put the 35" on. I think wheel spacers are in the future. Here is BC Broncos website and look under suspensions for the pivots. <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.bcbroncos.com>http://www.bcbroncos.com</A>. I can't believe nobody asked about the front spring? If you guys have any questions I will try to answer them.

Donovan
 
You explained it well, Donovan. The only other thing I can think of is if you mount a shock straight up and down like they say, you will limit your available wheel travel. The idea others on this board have of angling shocks to make them not be the limiting factor in wheeltravel is a good one. Seems to me if you mounted a max travel shock of say 13", thats all the travel you're gonna get. What you have on there now has way more than 13" of travel, right? Whaddya think??

ken
 
OK I'll bite. What was your recipe for the front springs again? Type slow I'm not a fast reader
laugh.gif
You used a full size Wagoneer spring for some of it didn't you?
I'm looking at replacing my old Rancho 4" front springs. How much lift did the front springs give you?

Rene

m_gordie.gif
 
Okay Ken I shouldn't have said straight up, but angled forward or backward but not to the center of the truck. This is because you lose to much of the shock dampening because they are not compressing very much pre-wheel travel. I am going to mount my shocks in the stock forward position. The shock mounts on the axle will be mounted 2" closer to the center of the axle housing and the top mount will be mounted 2" out farther on the frame so that the shocks will not contact the frame or springs. Now lets look at wheel travel. I measured the that I had 26" of articulation at the outside of the tire. So let say that the distance between the left outside tire and the right outside tire is 74". So I have 26" of up travel on a 74"distance. Now let look at the shocks. The distance between the left and right shock is only 30". So if we do a ratio which looks like this 26=74/X=30

You mulitply 26x30=780 and then you mulitply Xx74=74X. Then you divide 780/74 so you can get X by itself. You now have X=10.54". So my shocks will move 10.54" at 30" apart. When I had it lifted in the air I measure that I would have 10" of travel. So I know that I should be in good shape. I will give it 2" more up travel and 2" more down travel. I hope that the ratio thing was explained good enough. Look at this picture of Steves shocks and you can see that you only have 4-5" of articulated travel with them, but them them mounted in the stock location or close to it you will have twice the travel with them. I will also mount the mounting bolts parallel with the frame I think this will keep the bushings from binding in the shock itself.
rearshocksonramp.jpg



Donovan<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by coloradok5 on 01/17/01 07:22 PM (server time).</FONT></P>
 
For a second there I thought I was back in college, but then I woke up again. I understand what you are saying, I thought about doing the same type of set-up. I have decided to mount them in the same manner as Steve, just because I think it will allow a little more droop. I am no engineer, so I could be completely wrong. After you get your shocks on, try lifting it up again and see if there is any difference.

GOT ROCKS?
 
Steve what did I do wrong on the Picture? It wouldn't pull it up the way I did it?
tRustyK5 the front springs are the top two leafs are 84 Cherokee and a 2.5" Rubicon Express Add a leaf and the bottom 4 leafs are 77 wagoneer springs. That is a total of 7 leafs.That gave me a 4" lift. The frontend weight of my blazer is 2630.I had a hard time trying to find the right springs from the junkyard. Also the shackles are mount now at a 45 Degree angle for a nicer ride.

Donovan
 
Donovan- I am curious about the axle wrap you are getting with those. Is it any worse than with the stock set up?

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.blazen91.coloradok5.com>http://www.blazen91.coloradok5.com</A>
Protect the land FOR the people
Not FROM the people
 
Donovan
On the rear pivots, I noticed that the top bolts are flush with the top plate, first of all how thick is the plate? Do the bolts fit snug into the plate or is it drilled so that you can get a socket in there.

Nice flex'n !!!

<font color=blue>Professional <font color=red>JEEP EATER</font color=red>, it's a population control thing.</font color=blue>
 
So what is the total length of the front springs and what is the distance from the front hanger to the center bolt? Did you end up having the axle move a little forward?

Thanks

Rene

m_gordie.gif
 
Blazen91- Which one are you talking about axle wrap the front or rear springs. If it is the front springs I don't know yet but it will not be worst than any other aftermarket spring. Now if it is in the rear I have A Caddy 500 engine in it and I did get on it they other day and I didn't see any axle wrap but I will do alot more testing and romping on it to find out.
4Gunz4x4z- The top plate is 3/8 thick and it is countersunk with a allen headed bolt. So you use a allen wench on the bottom and a socket on top.
tRustyK5- The total length of the springs are 51.5" and the center pin to the front bolt is 23" which stock is 23.5".

Donovan
 
So when can i come down and check out the old girl?



<A target="_blank" HREF=http://WWW.SMP.COLORADOK5.COM>http://WWW.SMP.COLORADOK5.COM</A>
 
You just had an extra space in the image tag like this [image ]
Let's wheel that thing this summer!!

Steve
gears.gif

Mall-Running poseur 4x4 with curb-feelers
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest Posts

Top Bottom