New first gen, need some suspension advice

[chevyin]

Hey guys. Ive been into the 73+ blazers for a while, but recently bought a 72 tub/frame Im gonna build up. It gonna run 40's, 14ff rear and D60 front, question is what suspension combo should I run?

This wont be a mall crawler, but its my only first gen, dont really want to trim fenders on this one. I want anything from trail riding to sand dunes (I live in Pismo) and be able to drive on the road between them. Im guessing 10-12" of lift for those 40's. Here's the thing, I have quite a few spare parts, but mostly for the 73+ models. I have a set of DIY4X shackle flips and HD shackles and 8" lift springs, but again both for 73+. Also have ORD zerorates (+1") Another complication, Im going with a bigblock so Im gonna need a body lift (guessing 2").

Id like to do a combination of shackle flip/lift, springs, zero-rates and the 2" body lift to acheive the 10-12" of lift... I think. I would like to use parts I have if possible, but I can get new if needed as well. Just want to get the height right (reading that I should do +2" lift in rear to avoid sag for example) and make a nice all-around off-roader out of this thing. Should I do the shackle lift setup for a softer suspension, or more spring lift for a stiffer one? Again, general use (trails/sand/mud).

What do you all recommend for a suspension setup? Thanks in advance guys.

 

[vtblazer]

Sounds like your heading in the right direction with the plan.
Check out Alcan for the spring lift, they ride really well on the road.

Longer slip joint w/1410 yolks on the front axle would be a good thing to have in addition to the cv jointed rear shaft you'll need with that kind of lift.

There's two or more 'fitting tire' threads going on in this section that might be of help also.

Running 40's and not cutting will mandate at least a 10" lift for sure.
You might think about some trimming just to make everything happy though.

The 2" body lift will go along way towards helping with the BB install too.

Post up the progress pics when you get them, going to be a fun build for sure.

 

[Yukon Jack]

Your rear springs will be useable lengthwise. The shackle flip could be used if you change to a 73+ spring hanger for the front of the rear springs. The front springs will be too long unless you move the rear spring hanger back a bit. You could use the zero rate with no problem.

Your best bet on the bbc swap will be to use a 73+ engine crossmember. That seems to help with the swap in regards to oil pan clearance and I think it helps some with the firewall issues. Burt4x4 used that crossmember and only had to massage his firewall a bit. I used the stock crossmember in my 69 K20 and even with a larger than 2" body lift I still had MAJOR firewall issues. I ended up having to cut into my firewall to get my engine to fit.

You could move the engine forward but then your front driveshaft angle gets bad - of course with the amount of lift your going for you are going to have a bad front driveshaft angle anyway.

Sounds like a great project you have planned and will enjoy watching it progress.

 

[makovai]

I'm currently doing the 3/4 ton RG swap as we speak. I have 39x18 mickeys that will go under it. My little avatar shows them mounted in the front. I have 8" springs with a 3" body lift and the clear ez'ly. I'm having way more problems with the width then the height. I do have a set of 38x15.5 swamper as a backup incase this doesn't work. My biggest issue is the 12" of tire that sticks past my fender wells.

I guess my point is that 12" with no fender hack you are considering should work fine with no rubbing at all. I hate rub.

 

[RGV72BLAZER]

welcome to the sweetest line of the blazer family, the first Gens. with 10-12 of lift, it may not be much of a trail rider, but would work alright for sand dunes, since there isn't many off chamber situations. but either way with that much lift you're gonna feel plenty tipsy. good luck with the project...you'll have a ton of planning & $$ ahead of you.

 

[CDA 455]

My rule of thumb is: For every inch you go up, you should also go out same.

Like Stallone() said, you're going to feel tipsy if you lift just for the sake of clearing those meats. The wheel wells are 36 inches at the base so any upward articulation with 40's will definitely re-arrange sheetmetal !! Good luck and keep us posted with pics, etc.

 

[RGV72BLAZER]

Like Stallone() said

soon that's gonna be my nickname...


but yea kept the lift short or else keep your rig as a DD or show rig...which i won't mind b/c there won't be many nice Gen1 left soon

 

[Greg72]

40's with no trimming???

You could do it, if you didn't want to wheel it....lift it REALLY high (and stiffly sprung) and be done with it.

The problem are those sexy "stocK" fender openings..... go take a tape measure and look at the width of the openings you have to work with. It's a LOT less than 40" across.

Meaning that any flex and clearance for tires has to occur completely OUTSIDE of those wheelwells if you don't want the tires to hit sheetmetal.

Ironically, by the time you install something like a 12" lift spring under the truck, it will be SO stiff that you won't have to worry much about flexing out the suspension and rubbing everything.


I feel your pain brother....but there is no way to save the sheetmetal and still keep the CG low enough to make it even a reasonably good wheeler. You might want to start thinking about ways to mofify the fenders in ways that are "aesthetically pleasing" and still preserve the look of the 1st Gen, but give you more room to work with..... this was the whole motivation behind my "pizza sliced" fender experiment on my '72. Conceptually, the idea works well...and on actual trails and articulation ramps it allows all the flex I want (over 1000* on the RTI) without rubbing.

Something else to consider....