Ok so I was gonna sell my blazer, tired of the smog stuff etc and I was getting tired of the fullsize rig on some of the trails, its dooable but want something smaller. I have a 64 CJ5 that I was building into a DD/trail rig so never planned to make too many mods. Well I just bought a 74 CJ-5 that is almost done, that I am gonna build for my daily driver. Now im considering going back to my plan of putting the 64 CJ-5 on my K5 frame, running gear etc. Ive looked around a little and seen a couple rigs that looked horrible on a K5 frame and some that were ok. Who has seen this done, or have pics of it. If it ends up getting to the point that it looks horrible on a K5 frame I may build my own frame, but the K5 frame would be easier and faster. Any thoughts?
CK5
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K5-cj5
- Thread starter K5-CJ5
- Start date
Sounds like a waste of a k5 to me 
What about a yj frame with your running gear in it? Can be had fairly cheap and boxed. Ive seen a couple scouts on k5 frames but not a jeep. One looked clean, other was hack. Main issue was frame humps in wrong spots and the blazer frame looked a little "tall"
Ehh. I don't like jeeps, just a personal thing. Every guy around here with a 2" lifted XJ with some mud tires thinks its the best damn thing ever. So It ruined them for me lol.
An xj isnt a jeep so dont lump them in with us
I know people with wranglers the same way lol. Just personally I like a k5. But I'll watch whatever you go with.
B.N.Z.MTNS
Elevation 8,500’
Same around here. Most Jeep guys I bump into on the trail think that nothing else is worthy of Colorado wheeling.
I like the vehicle's themselves and they have a great design mechanically. It's the attitude of most that bothers me. Plus I think its cool to see full size rigs on the trail, I grew up tumbling around in the back of a 1980 Cherokee Chief so I'm partial to full size rigs.
MrSchaeferPants
1/2 ton status
I've read a lot on K5/s10 mixtures. I think if done well, smaller bodies on full size frames look nice. It works well because the K5's frame is so much narrower than the body, so smaller body vehicles actually have the frames on the outside. The general consensus seems to be just put the running gear on the jeep frame instead, but that's the whole boxed frame thing, no idea what the CJs are. But in that case, might as well sell the K5 and just buy axles. Not sure what side drop the CJ transfer case is, but if it's not passenger side, then you'd might as well go with another kind of axles. I think jeeps are driver side drop right? Get j10, cheif, wagoneer running gear.
But then really, as small and light as the cj is, it doesn't really need 1/2 ton + axles unless you're going big tire crawler.
And if you're just going for the look and cool factor, go ahead and drop that CJ body on the K5 frame, may have to chop up the frame to shorten the wheel base so the wheel wells line up. I mean, if you already have the K5 and the CJ, and going no where with both, hell why not. That's the whole point of projects.
I feel ya, I still have thoughts in the back of my mind of a Bug on a K5 frame
But then really, as small and light as the cj is, it doesn't really need 1/2 ton + axles unless you're going big tire crawler.
And if you're just going for the look and cool factor, go ahead and drop that CJ body on the K5 frame, may have to chop up the frame to shorten the wheel base so the wheel wells line up. I mean, if you already have the K5 and the CJ, and going no where with both, hell why not. That's the whole point of projects.
I feel ya, I still have thoughts in the back of my mind of a Bug on a K5 frame
This. Every time I head into the Rockies, I end up dragging a jeep to the pavement. And more than my share of subaru's. The jeeps look cool with that factory lift and 37" tires. But you need bigger axles.
Last trip with some friends, I pulled a jeep for 5 miles up hill. Then hooked a razor onto the back of it. The jeep guys didn't want to pull the razor. "Too hard on my trans."
My truck is just a stock drivetrain.
I would build a frame. I have seen a 5 on a blazer frame, didn't really look that nice. Of course nothing on that thing looked that nice so it might could be done better.
But building a frame for the CJ is easy, lots of work overall but not to many crazy things you got to worry about and lets face it these Chevys frames aren't the best things out there either.
But building a frame for the CJ is easy, lots of work overall but not to many crazy things you got to worry about and lets face it these Chevys frames aren't the best things out there either.
Irish1941
1/2 ton status
Dude you rock!
"Last trip with some friends, I pulled a jeep for 5 miles up hill. Then hooked a razor onto the back of it. The jeep guys didn't want to pull the razor. "Too hard on my trans." Priceless!
Nearly everytime we go to the Mojave we find some heep stuck, or just plain busted 40 miles from pavement. Last time it was a Vegas cool guy who thought he'd show his new girlfriend all about offroading in his new Jeep Patriot.
After a half a day and an entire night of being stuck in a wash with a blown trans(now how'd that happen
), she rode in the AC comfort of the Blazer as we towed his ass to I-40. He killed the battery so he had to ride with the windows down for 30 miles of desert dust 10 ft off my bumper. Now a Jeep on K5 frame...might end up looking like a CJ8 Scrambler. Lot of work but I think it'd be cool. Make it longer and widen the body.
Or shorten Chevy frame to match the tub and then widen the body.
MrSchaeferPants
1/2 ton status
But why
I'd say the only thing jeeps and other small rigs have on us are size. Why make it wider?Had to look up the CJ8 Scrambler cause I didn't know what they were. Didn't know they made those, some look pretty cool, some look a little goofey.
Here's a vid of a CJ on K5 frame to get a look
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Wow.....that was hard to watch.
With EFI and some lower gears that would have been a 15-second video instead of 5-1/2 minutes!
-G
With EFI and some lower gears that would have been a 15-second video instead of 5-1/2 minutes!
-G
TheBeast_88K5
Banned
Spends $20K on rig... Can't go up a... I don't even wanna call that a hill.
MrSchaeferPants
1/2 ton status
Wow.....that was hard to watch.
With EFI and some lower gears that would have been a 15-second video instead of 5-1/2 minutes!
-G
lmao, you actually watched it all? I looked long enough to see what the body/frame looked like together. Once I heard him stall it a few times I closed it. Injection, probably what I love most about my K5 is the 6.2.
Spends $20K on rig... Can't go up a... I don't even wanna call that a hill.
Ah, give him a little credit, you know videos and pictures don't really show how big or steep a hill or climb is. That first bump is about as big as his tires, maybe 38s? And the hill looks taller than his rig, and maybe 15ft long, so I'd say it's quite a bit steeper than it appears. That's what I hate about posting my trail ride pictures, you're all excited about climbing some big hill and go back, and the picture looks like a prius would have scrapped up it just fine.
I would not put the cj on a newer yj boxed frame. I don't know how those frames fair by you, but up here they all rot from the inside out. Even all the tjs by me are rotting out. When I was looking for a wheeling rig one of the reasons I landed on a k5 was every blazer I looked at, even if the body was trash the frame was still in really nice shape.
If you had a cj-6 I would say go for it. The 5s are so short I think it will look a little silly. If you fabbed up a longer bed for it then I think you could start to have a nice looking jeep on a solid frame.
If you had a cj-6 I would say go for it. The 5s are so short I think it will look a little silly. If you fabbed up a longer bed for it then I think you could start to have a nice looking jeep on a solid frame.
To clarify, I'm not running jeep running gear, I'm running a tbi 350, sm465 241/205 doublers..... If I stay with a stock frame it's not gonna work..... I had plans to stretch the cj5 tub behind the drivers seats approximately 24"...it would be close to a scrambler in length as I recall. Honestly it will still be a k5 where it counts, but the smaller body is nice on tight trails. The width of the k5 frame is not an issue, just the rise of the frame. I thought about channeling the body to sit lower on the frame than others I've seen, since it will be getting stretched anyway. I may end up building a frame, really undecided. I would suspect the k5 frame and running gear would live happily with the weight of a cj5 tub. Even if I build a custom frame I'll still stretch the cj for more room and longer wheelbase.
Rottenk10
Registered Member
I grew up with my family having cjs I've seen a bunch of glass cj8 bodies on k5 frames. They maybe on the lite side but I've seen them on 33 grande a ten bolt at the badlands and at the cliffs. Bounce wrong and tires bite say byebye to the ten bolt. And yes cj are pass side drop the open top jeep didn't get driver side drop till the yj in 87.
I think the biggest issue here is that we are on a k5 enthusiast forum. And you wanna take a k5 body off and put a dreaded jeep body on
