LTK5

[CTA791]

CTA791 submitted a new Build:

LTK5

The goal of this build is to transform this truck into a street-legal trail crawler. Something fun to cruise to the beach or around town, but also hold it's own on the trails. 40" tires is the plan. Making that "streetable" is gonna be fun. I'm creating this to keep all the pics/info from my build in one place. Follow along...or don't.

Small backstory, my dad owned this truck back in the day. Sold it to a friend of his who drove it a while, but it ended up parked in a barn for about 18 years. The truck was given to me by this family friend in 2016.

Mods (so far):
-CUCV 1 ton axles (14 bolt + dana 60)
-Lugnut 4x4 disc brake kit for 14 bolt
-Diff covers
-14 bolt pinion guard
-Crossover steering arm and drivers side cap (springless)
-Perches/shock tabs/plates/u-bolts for 14 bolt
-Plates/u-bolts/studs for dana 60
-Threaded tube inserts and TREs for drag link and tie rod (haven't built these yet)
-Rear shackle flip
-DIY4X A-bomb
-DIY4X front shackle brackets
-DIY4X 6" shackles f/r
-DIY4X ez inches f/r
-56" Suburban leaf springs
-1" body lift and bushings (not installed yet)
-Smitty X20 10k lb winch (not installed yet)
-2014 L83 + 6L80e 2wd 80k miles (not installed yet)

View attachment 304737

Read more about this build here...

 

[CTA791]

The truck had been sitting in a barn for 18 years. Drug it out with the tow rig. One of the rear drums was seized up. Had to go retrieve better tools. Got the brakes taken off the rear and got the truck loaded on the trailer. First time it's been moved in a looooong time!

 

[CTA791]

Gave her a good pressure washing. Scrapped the gas tank. Carb was seized, probably fixable. Pulled it, intake was totally corroded on the inside. Pulled the plugs, and a couple cylinders were full of water. Oil pan had water in it. The truck sat in a barn all those years, it wasn't getting rained on. I guess just years of condensation. The plan the whole time was to LS swap anyways, so I didn't go any further on the factory small block.

I sourced a set of 1 tons locally. Came out of a CUCV. Kingpin Dana 60 front, 14 bolt rear. 4.56 geared. Detroit locker in the rear. Got those cleaned up and painted. Lugnut 4x4 disc brake conversion on the 14 bolt. New pads/rotors on the Dana 60. New diff covers. New kingpin bushings. Crossover steering arm and springless caps. Spring pad width is different on the rear of the one tons, so I cut/smoothed the factory pads and shock mounts off the 14 bolt. I've got the inserts and TREs to make new tie rod and drag link, but still haven't done that...

 

[Smokinthehippies]

Looks good so far

 

[CTA791]

Obviously, linking these 1 tons would be sweet. It'd also be a lot more time and money to make it happen. The goal of this project is to build a "streetable crawler", and in all honesty, it will likely get driven on the street a good bit. With that in mind, I went to the internet looking for various suspension setups on K5s and how they performed.

I found a build that I really liked on the interwebz. I've got to give credit where credit is due, and that credit goes to Steve Kay. I'm sure he's on CK5, but I don't know his handle. I read through page after page of his build thread, watched all of his videos to see how it performed on the trails, and decided that I wanted to model my suspension setup after his.

So I sourced all the parts to do the 52/56 spring swap and get the 1 tons under the truck. If you're interested in doing a swap like this, DIY4X is the place to go. Kert is a wealth of knowledge about these trucks, and makes some killer and BEEFY parts.

Not that anyone will care, but I'm the editor for Busted Knuckle Films YouTube channel. We decided to do a little "build series" starting with this suspension install on my K5. If you wanna see all the parts I used and watch an amateur install them, I'll link the video below:

 

[Fastereddie]

Sounds like the start to a sweet build.

 

[CTA791]

So cool the people you "meet" on the internet. I actually reached out to Steve Kay about his build. Turns out we have very similar hobbies. We still chat about truck stuff from time to time, hes got a couple other sick builds besides the K5. Super nice guy, I promise one day this rig will be done and I'll be out west to meet up and wheel!

I plucked this truck out of the barn summer 2016. I found the 1 tons that fall and got them cleaned and prepped. Started a business. Truck sat for a while. That suspension video was shot in 2 days summer of 2017, and the truck has, basically, been sitting since then.


Built and sold a RZR. Bought the wife a JKU., got it setup the way I want it.


Had my first kid.


Closed a business.
Moved shops.


Blazer has been sitting in my driveway since. I've piddled on it here and there, got the 350/th350/np203 pulled out.


Traded tow rigs.


Started looking for a power plant. I knew I wanted an LS/6L80, but I couldn't find it. People either wanted way too much money, or it'd have 150k miles on it. I got serious about it earlier this year. Finally back in May (almost 2 years since I last worked on the Blazer), I found a motor/trans. It's actually a Gen V L83 (5.3L) mated to a 6L80 out of a 2014 Sierra 2wd with 80k miles on it. I guess on the next Knucklehead Garage video, we'll be name-changing to LTK5 instead of LSK5


Nabbing a motor has re-lit a fire under me to get this project done. This week, I stripped the rest of the brake and fuel lines out of the frame, and took out all exterior wiring harnesses. Knocked out the factory front bumps and upper shock mounts. Got it loaded back up and taking it to a friends shop to get some stuff done/prepped for the motor/trans swap. Stay tuned!

 

[ZooMad75]

I thought the first pic looked familiar. I remember seeing that Busted Kuckle Garage video quite some time ago and then it fell off the radar with no updates. Then I recognized the Busted Knuckle name when one of our own here at CK5 went on the Trail to Sema trip last year with one of your cohorts. So in a sea of Jeep content on YouTube it's refreshing to see squarebodies get represented on the tubes. Then it stopped... Glad you are getting back on it and moving forward with it. Plus coming over here is a bonus. You'll find we have a ton of info to share when it comes to these trucks.

Keep up the good work!

 

[nvrenuf]

Welcome! I really enjoyed that build video and have been anxiously awaiting the next installment. The barn-find back story is real cool too!

Saw you guys moving around Stony Lonesome the first of April, looks like the same JKU I saw in the group.

 

[deadman]

Was wondering about this truck. Glad to see it back in the picture

 

[imiceman44]

I am

Obviously, linking these 1 tons would be sweet. It'd also be a lot more time and money to make it happen. The goal of this project is to build a "streetable crawler", and in all honesty, it will likely get driven on the street a good bit. With that in mind, I went to the internet looking for various suspension setups on K5s and how they performed.

I found a build that I really liked on the interwebz. I've got to give credit where credit is due, and that credit goes to Steve Kay. I'm sure he's on CK5, but I don't know his handle. I read through page after page of his build thread, watched all of his videos to see how it performed on the trails, and decided that I wanted to model my suspension setup after his.

So I sourced all the parts to do the 52/56 spring swap and get the 1 tons under the truck. If you're interested in doing a swap like this, DIY4X is the place to go. Kert is a wealth of knowledge about these trucks, and makes some killer and BEEFY parts.

Not that anyone will care, but I'm the editor for Busted Knuckle Films YouTube channel. We decided to do a little "build series" starting with this suspension install on my K5. If you wanna see all the parts I used and watch an amateur install them, I'll link the video below:

Pretty sure you mean @Kay86K5 .
His name is Steve Kay and he built a k5 and a k30 crew cab.
Look up his builds here.

 

[CTA791]

Pretty sure you mean @Kay86K5 .
His name is Steve Kay and he built a k5 and a k30 crew cab.
Look up his builds here.

That’s him! Thanks for the tag, he’ll be glad to know I’ve finally created a build thread. Now to get this project back on track...

 

[obijuank5]

I watched that video it seem like forever ago. Cool to come across an update. I have a thing for white blazers.

 

[85k5witha6.2]

Glad to see progress on this thing. Subscribed.

 

[Kay86K5]

@CTA791 real cool to see you start a thread over here. And I’m even more excited to see some updates on this thing. I watch the YouTube video every month or so. And as soon as its ready, we will for sure plan some sort of wheeling trip. That would be a blast!!

Cant wait for more updates

 

[85k5witha6.2]

I’m glad I’m not the only one who has watched the video several times

 

[Big Ray]

subscribed!

 

[nvrenuf]

@CTA791 hurry up and get it running, some of us are thinking about a ride at Stoney Lonesome this fall.

 

[78SWB]

Awesome build! Will definitely follow along.

 

[CriticalAction]

Definitely going to follow this one! Do you plan on keeping the DOD/AFM? I'm interested to see you get it together and how you like the 6 speed. Theoretically it should be the best of both worlds with an over 4 to 1 first and double overdrive but everyone that I have talked to in their factory 6 speed trucks doesn't like them... However this was also in 3/4 tons with the 6l90. Maybe the 6l80s behave different in some way?