My 86 K5 build

[Kay86K5]

It was pretty warm today, so got some work done on the 52 swap

4'' lift springs removed

New 6'' shackles installed

Ground off rivits on factory shock mount

After holding up the ford shock towers, I realized that my rearward mounts wouldn't really work because there were a lot of cables and wires there. My blazer came with duel shock mounts in the front from the factory. So I decided the more forward facing mount would work better. So I ground off those rivits (I am so sick of freaking rivits) and mounted the tower so it was about 1/4'' - 1/2'' away from the steering shaft.

I think that will be a pretty good location, especially b/c I am moving my axle forward 1 1/2 inches. I am still waiting on bushings to show up, and then the install will be complete. I still have to trim the lower part of the ford towers, but it was getting cold and I was sick of it...so I will finish this later. Then I will flex it out and make some measurements for shocks.

 

[joliver]

are you planning to bolt the shocks on the axle in the stock location or are you welding on some shock tabs?

 

[Kay86K5]

are you planning to bolt the shocks on the axle in the stock location or are you welding on some shock tabs?

Stock location for now, I might weld on some tabs later. I might have to grind down a little of the top portion of the shock mount on the d60 so the body of the shock doesn't hit it, but that's no biggy. I will wait to do this until I get the shocks to see how much (if any) I have to grind off.

I also decided to only set my axle forward 1 inch now with the EZ inches. I read a couple people say that the further you push out the axle with the EZ inches, the more chances of axle wrap you get. And since the only real reason for the EZ inches is to get the tire symetrical in the wheelwell when at stuff so I'm not contacting anything, I think 1 inch will do just fine.

 

[Kay86K5]

52 swap is done. Got the ford shock towers all trimmed up too. I ended up trimming the rearward part of the towers too or else the shock would have contacted it when stuffed, but that was no biggy. I installed some 14'' travel shocks in the front and they seem to work perfectly.

Springs installed

All bolted up and on it's feet again

Shackle angle looks pretty good to me

And some flex shots. This ditch didn't even let me get full droop, but it still looks bad a

 

[Kay86K5]

Also gave the blazer a much needed wash. This thing actually cleans up pretty well for a wal-mart rattle can job . I know this isn't really anything, but I like pics. And I figure the more pics the better

 

[82355]

Did you drive it much yet with the 52's?

Martin

 

[78SWB]

Looks great man. So when are you building a rear bumper?

 

[K5 Jess]

Ssshhhhhiiiiiaaaatttt! I thought you painted the whole truck there for a minute! looks good wet

 

[Kay86K5]

Did you drive it much yet with the 52's?

Martin

Just did today. It is a lot smoother of a ride than the 4'' lift springs. I was getting a little death wobble, not too bad, but enough to notice. I already have the spring and bushing kit from ORD. I think I will go through everything and tighten everything up again and see what happens. I can still drive it down the road alright though.

Looks great man. So when are you building a rear bumper?

Thanks dude. We are hoping to get the rear bumper going here in the next couple weeks. We have all the tube to do it, just need to get it going. When are you going to start your swap??? I'm excited to see that!

Ssshhhhhiiiiiaaaatttt! I thought you painted the whole truck there for a minute! looks good wet

Haha. Thanks man. That's why I put that pic on there!

 

[78SWB]

When I get some extra cash haha. I'm going to buy some wheels and tires tomorrow but the A bomb is next on the list.

 

[Kay86K5]

My bro and I finshed up the sliders today. We built some brackets out of 1/8th inch plate to go from the main tubes up to the body supports.

It's really sturdy now. No movement at all

 

[Kay86K5]

Then we went to a pile of rocks over by my bro's house and we found a spot where we could get full droop

 

[78SWB]

Damn that thing flexes

 

[Kota4bye]

looking good

 

[Jester1]

Hows the ride, steering, and roll with that setup?

Damn, that thing looks good.

 

[mrk5]

Are you sure those are the springs you bought from me? They look too pretty.

Looks like your brake lines are close to acting as limiting straps.

The 52's are soft. If you ever have the money to buy some $100 shocks, you'll be much happier. I didn't have any of the poor driving characteristics others complain about. Expensive I know, but worth it for a road warrior IMO.

 

[mrk5]

BTW, I like the silver sliders on the matte black truck.

 

[Kay86K5]

Thanks guys for the compliments!

Hows the ride, steering, and roll with that setup?

Damn, that thing looks good.

The ride is a lot softer and there is a bit more body roll than before just because of how soft they are. The steering seems to be about the same. I does feel like it has a little more play in the front end that tries to throw it into death wobble, but from what I've read, that tends to happen when you do this swap. Later I will do hydro assist whenever funds permit and it should eliminate that, so for now I might just get a more heavy duty steering stabilizer and make it work for now. I can still drive it down the road at 65mph and feel safe, so It'll work.

Are you sure those are the springs you bought from me? They look too pretty.

Looks like your brake lines are close to acting as limiting straps.

The 52's are soft. If you ever have the money to buy some $100 shocks, you'll be much happier. I didn't have any of the poor driving characteristics others complain about. Expensive I know, but worth it for a road warrior IMO.

Haha, yeah I already had to remove the center pin to do the EZ inches, so thought I may as well paint em up to look perdy . The brake lines are pretty much perfect. If they were half an inch shorter than I might be in trouble. Maybe one of these days I will put a high doller shock on, but that is out of my budget for now, so these will work for now, but that is definatly something to consider, thanks!

BTW, I like the silver sliders on the matte black truck.

Thanks Scott! That's what I call my "bling-bling" on this rig

 

[mrk5]

I was scrolling back through the thread and noticed you used the Harbor Freight bender. Interesting thing is that I have one but never used it. It came in the back of a parts truck my brother-in-law bought. Looking at what you've done with yours is inspiring me to take another look at it. I just don't know if all the pieces are there given it was just lying forgotten in the back of a parts truck.

I was also reading your discussion on pipe vs tube. I used sch40 pipe on my sliders and they have take a serious beating and I don't think they even have a dent. The big advantage to DOM is the fact that it can recover some from a bend and it has more accurate ID and OD. Obviously those a big benefits for links, cages, and chassis. But there are other places where the right pipe can be used as well.

On a couple of occasions where I needed something bent at a 90* or greater bend, Kert @ DIY4x has made me the piece for a reasonable price. Luckily it hasn't been anything that couldn't be shipped reasonably. He did the stinger on my front bumper and a fancy grab bar on my dash.

Any chance you could get a 90* bend with that HF bender? I'm guessing if so it will be a large diameter.

 

[Kay86K5]

Very true Scott, I too think that when it comes to links, cages and stuff like that, that DOM is the most preferred, but like you said, when it comes to tube bumpers, sliders and stuff that is meant to be bashed, using this cheaper pipe in a smart way to get some protection on your rig for cheap. Just making sure to cover possible weak points in bends with bracings can go a long ways for a lot cheaper with this stuff.

I am glad to hear that people like what I did with just some HF tools for my bumper and sliders. It's kinda gratifying .

90* bend would maybe start to kink it on the inside of the bend. You might be able to get away with it with a larger diameter pipe. You should refer to Deuling for that one, he has used these HF benders a lot