For a trail rig i will never run off the shelf lift springs in the front or rear; 52's, 56's, 64's, shackle flips, and kurt's b52 bracket is the only way to go.
CK5
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Modification you would "NEVER" do again...
- Thread starter Metal Twister
- Start date
- Joined
- Mar 3, 2000
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Have a body shop do body work and paint on a rig I want to do tougher trails with, and one more vote for "I should have started with a buggy!"
That makes four of us.
Burbdood 74
Giver of not a single damn...
I'll never put an MSD ignition box in any of my rigs again. I had an 86 F-250 with a rebuilt 460 in it and after 6 months of driving it, I bought an MSD 6A box. I never really noticed any difference between the stock Duraspark II ignition and the MSD ignition as far as performance goes. And to make matters worse, the MSD box died 4 months after I installed it.
I'm sure that there's plenty of folks out there who love 'em and run 'em without a hiccup, but I'll never do it again.
I'm sure that there's plenty of folks out there who love 'em and run 'em without a hiccup, but I'll never do it again.
Stomis
Professional Amateur
Theres no point in having an MSD box with a stock motor. MSD boxes come into use when you have 1) High compression 2) heavy boost 3) very high revs 4) an msd box dependent dizzy.
To add one to the list of things never to do again: Waste time on my interior.
All sorts of work/mods/prep so I could daily drive a rust prone older vehicle in a rustbelt winter.
It's a fools errand and you're just destroying a nice older vehicle. Get a newer beater and save the old one for the good weather.
It's a fools errand and you're just destroying a nice older vehicle. Get a newer beater and save the old one for the good weather.
stumpbuster
1/2 ton status
$1200 12 bolt rear- still weak
$2000 Dana 44 front- still weak
you win
$2000 Dana 44 front- still weak
you win
shovelbill80
1/2 ton status
winch bumper....i don't and didn't wheel enough to justify the expense, not to mention the added weight and heavy springs that road like **** 95% of the time. this truck will be getting a front reciever hitch and cradle mounted winch that i can flip/flop front to back as needed, when needed. as i get older and wiser practicality beats my "wants" all the time...........
I can sympathize with Chevy 305 and his lament of any "rust prevention: or "converting" magic paint being a waste of time & cash,and I agree with the :buy a newer beater" suggestion VS ruining an older classic truck...of all the money and time I wasted trying to restore rotboxes or preventing a good truck from becoming one,it was a fools errand,no doubt!..
One "upgrade" I wont soon do again if ever,is to go thru the BS of swapping a anual tranny in place of an automatic--it took me a week of 6pm to midnight to rip the steering colum and brake booster out and put clutch pedals in my '72 K5,and get it all to work!...weeks of parts hunting in junkyards & swap meets getting all the trinkets I needed together,then having to deal with driveshafts that wone fit now,because the transfer case for the 4 speed had different yokes,etc..then being totally dissapointed when I took my first ride,finding out you really only have THREE "useable" speeds,first was useless for the street,second gear was too low and third too high,and fourth was too --with 3.08 gears a 4 speed is not a hot setup!~..I had to pull the tranny out TWICE in three months time to replace JUNK Borg-Warner pressure plates also,and gave my left leg a permanent chalrey horse pushing that 12" clutch in ....
If I ever do another automatic to manual swap,it woint be ME doing it!--I'd just pay someone else too,or better yet,buy a truck that already IS a manual tranny equipped one!..(and no more dump truck non-synchro crashbox SM465's for me,give me a 5 speed with five "useable" gears for street use!)..the SM465's are great for crawling off road or heavy use,but they suck for a daily driver IMO--especially in city traffic..
I have bought lifted trucks and removed all that "add on" stuff and returned them to stock--I've never understood what the big attraction is to lift kits and big tires,other than "oh that looks so cool" factor..in fact all they usually do is ruin the truck for everyday use,ride hard,shake,wobble,vibrate,and put excessive stress on many stock parts like axles,and lift blocks are just plain dangerous..I prefer a stock truck with a decent ride you can drive at 65 mph without it sounding like an airplane and shaking itself apart...
One "upgrade" I wont soon do again if ever,is to go thru the BS of swapping a anual tranny in place of an automatic--it took me a week of 6pm to midnight to rip the steering colum and brake booster out and put clutch pedals in my '72 K5,and get it all to work!...weeks of parts hunting in junkyards & swap meets getting all the trinkets I needed together,then having to deal with driveshafts that wone fit now,because the transfer case for the 4 speed had different yokes,etc..then being totally dissapointed when I took my first ride,finding out you really only have THREE "useable" speeds,first was useless for the street,second gear was too low and third too high,and fourth was too --with 3.08 gears a 4 speed is not a hot setup!~..I had to pull the tranny out TWICE in three months time to replace JUNK Borg-Warner pressure plates also,and gave my left leg a permanent chalrey horse pushing that 12" clutch in ....
If I ever do another automatic to manual swap,it woint be ME doing it!--I'd just pay someone else too,or better yet,buy a truck that already IS a manual tranny equipped one!..(and no more dump truck non-synchro crashbox SM465's for me,give me a 5 speed with five "useable" gears for street use!)..the SM465's are great for crawling off road or heavy use,but they suck for a daily driver IMO--especially in city traffic..
I have bought lifted trucks and removed all that "add on" stuff and returned them to stock--I've never understood what the big attraction is to lift kits and big tires,other than "oh that looks so cool" factor..in fact all they usually do is ruin the truck for everyday use,ride hard,shake,wobble,vibrate,and put excessive stress on many stock parts like axles,and lift blocks are just plain dangerous..I prefer a stock truck with a decent ride you can drive at 65 mph without it sounding like an airplane and shaking itself apart...
ok last one... converting a 14bsf to 6 lug, could have saved a lot of time, agravation, and money by just just buying the newer style and moving the spring perches.
COCHEV
1/2 ton status
Its funny how the overwhelming theme is "just leave it alone!"
Cornfield creations
1/2 ton status
Getting a cowl hood for the "cool Factor", can't see over it and it ruins the vintage look.
Starting with a blazer.
Yep.
I was thinking about this the other night after a conversation with my buddy who I was in the Marines with when I had my first truck and my first "my money". He kept asking if I was going to get all the appearance stuff I got back then for my '92 Blazer K1500. Sport mirrors, stick on window vents, headlight and tail light covers, fancy hitch covers, bolt on nerf bars, etc etc etc. Probably could have been half the way through a SAS for what I sunk into all that crap.
I'll keep them good looking and lord knows The Blazer needs a paint job BAD but I won't do that appearance crap. Make what it has look decent, protect the metal, tint the windows to keep it cool inside, and that's about it as far as I'm concerned.
Pointless "looks only" appearance BS. BAH!
(Unless you're doing custom stuff...that's just cool if you can do it. Tacoma tail lights in a K5 for instance.
)
I was thinking about this the other night after a conversation with my buddy who I was in the Marines with when I had my first truck and my first "my money". He kept asking if I was going to get all the appearance stuff I got back then for my '92 Blazer K1500. Sport mirrors, stick on window vents, headlight and tail light covers, fancy hitch covers, bolt on nerf bars, etc etc etc. Probably could have been half the way through a SAS for what I sunk into all that crap.
I'll keep them good looking and lord knows The Blazer needs a paint job BAD but I won't do that appearance crap. Make what it has look decent, protect the metal, tint the windows to keep it cool inside, and that's about it as far as I'm concerned.
Pointless "looks only" appearance BS. BAH!
(Unless you're doing custom stuff...that's just cool if you can do it. Tacoma tail lights in a K5 for instance.
)
ez-wiring 21 kit
while cheaper ($155) than the painless kit ($700)... im still working on it 2 years later.... im getting closer but not having the time hurts...
would have been better just buying harness pieces from a junkyard and cleaning them up on any issues....
I am not following ez-wirings instructions though..
they say mount the fuse panel, run wires and go..
well im cutting every wire and putting them through the factory harness...
that isnt what is totally killing me.. but not helping....
just need time.. like for time to stop for about 2 weeks!!!!!
while cheaper ($155) than the painless kit ($700)... im still working on it 2 years later.... im getting closer but not having the time hurts...
would have been better just buying harness pieces from a junkyard and cleaning them up on any issues....
I am not following ez-wirings instructions though..
they say mount the fuse panel, run wires and go..
well im cutting every wire and putting them through the factory harness...
that isnt what is totally killing me.. but not helping....
just need time.. like for time to stop for about 2 weeks!!!!!
you just explained your own problem. The Ez-Wiring kit is amazing for the price. If you do your research you can figure out how to do you wiring and have an entire harness done in a few days.
I personally think that re-wiring is one of the best mods that I have done.
The advantage here is this. I know what I want my hard core wheeler to do. Its pretty much buggy territory. I also know I loved driving a lifted blazer around town and just hitting the trails with it.
So I have been collecting parts and hope to someday have a nice blazer (with tons and lockers and 38s) that will only see trails and light rocks. A buggy of some sort, my recent zuk purchase may become this.
If you plan on going as far as some of us have gone, just keep your nice blazer and start building a buggy.
So I have been collecting parts and hope to someday have a nice blazer (with tons and lockers and 38s) that will only see trails and light rocks. A buggy of some sort, my recent zuk purchase may become this.
If you plan on going as far as some of us have gone, just keep your nice blazer and start building a buggy.
1BEATK5
1/2 ton status
i think i had more fun wheeling my stock height k5 on 35s than i have wheeling a huge truck on 42s that now breaks, and is too big for the trails around here
Adventurous 4x4
1/2 ton status
That is what I should have done. Now I want to get another K5 and build a nice driver.
Went from this:
To this:
To now:
These threads rock. Helps me talk myself out of a lot of "cool" mods that i dont' really need to do.
Biggest regret i have right now is not putting stainless exhaust tips on. My dual exhaust hasn't even been on the truck for a year, and the polished tips look awful.
Wish i could contribute (sorta?), but have thought through most of my mods (read: read too much about them on here) and really, have been pretty happy with them.
But then again, i'm runnning a "stock" truck.
Biggest regret i have right now is not putting stainless exhaust tips on. My dual exhaust hasn't even been on the truck for a year, and the polished tips look awful.
Wish i could contribute (sorta?), but have thought through most of my mods (read: read too much about them on here) and really, have been pretty happy with them.
But then again, i'm runnning a "stock" truck.
