Hey fellas, My name's Jack and this thread will hopefully point me in the direction I'll need to be in before I get back home from my deployment so I can engage on making my 85 K5 into a trail reliable rig that can also hit the road to get there and back.
My current setup:
Suspension:
85 K5 Blazer sitting on 39.5 TSL's 16.5" wheels with a great looking stance, but once you start to look at it, it's obvious that the stance just looks good, nothing is truely close to being a capable wheeling rig. The rear is setup with about 3-4" blocks with giant overloads in the spring packs...not sure what the springs are from or the size. The spring hanger is stock tho. The rear axle is a 14 bolt. I'll identify this more later. I'm pretty sure it's SWR. I don't know the gears, but was told it has an Eaton Posi unit in the diff. The front looks like it has lift springs or possibly rears off of somethng. I'll have to identify this more as well. Looks to be a HD D44 axle. I am pretty sure it has about a 2" body lift maybe 3" and the fenders are cut to clear 42's from what i was told.
Engine/Trans/Case:
400 SBC bored .030" over to 406 ci...The engine runs strong. I've roasted the tires that are on the truck. I have some pictures for identifying the transmission and t-case. I would like to believe that the guy that sold me this truck was (to put it nicely) uneducated about vehicles, cause the wiring was a spliced nightmare. I still have a lot to do, but spent a few hours re-wiring just about everything under the hood. The transmision seems to be holding up just fine, but the t-case is probably shot. Either that or i have some blown hubs. I think my 4wd is jacked up either in the T-Case or in the axle somewhere. I will dig into this more when i get home so that i can jack the truck up and try to diagnose the problem (if someone knows a sure-fire method of determining where the problem is, i'm all ears) I got stuck on a 40* bank cause the front tires wouldn't spin letting me off and the rear was on gravel so i was just digging ruts.
Interior/Exterior:
Interior is pretty rugged. Seats are beat up pretty bad console is done for, no rear bench, the dash is weather beaten and cracked, Bezel is junk, door panels are nasty, no headliner or carpet or rear side panels and probably just going to replace everything. If someone knows a good website for where to get replacement interior stuff, i'm all ears...i don't need it to cost me an arm and a leg tho. Exterior isn't too bad somebody got a little carried away with cutting the fenders and a couple small rust spots, but i'm not too worried about that right now. Someone obviously made the front bumper it can stay for now until i get rid of the body lift.
Steering:
The steering is jacked and i think it's associated to the brake problem. The rear brakes are disconnected because the previous owner said that one of the drums is siezed up. I'm going to be going with a disc conversion and have planned on it for a while, so I haven't connected them to test this, plus i haven't drove the truck much. But here's the problem i'm having with the steering. I can't turn the steering full lock not sure if the pump is going out or if there's a problem with the steering box or what, but i turn the wheel and it turns maybe 1/3 in one direction and probably close to 3/4 in the other. The power steering fluid isn't low. I turn the wheel and the tires just don't go. I believe i'll have to figure out how to diagnose this as well. I wouldn't mind doing a hydro assist steering setup tho, but i guess i should figure out if the pump is shot or if the steering box is crap. Plus when i'm going about 35 mph as i'm slowing to make a 90* right turn, the steering goes out and won't respond to wheel corrections until i let off the brakes. ??? idk what the hell is going on there. Does any of this sound like a brake booster problem or a pump problem or something...i'm kind of lost. but if you guys think i should just re-build my brake system first and then try to tackle the steering problem, i'll start there.
What I'm looking to accomplish.
1st - Get the brakes fixed. Disc Brake conversion for the rear end and re-do the front brakes. Get them fully operational. Need to know the best place to get replacement parts. I found a place that sells the disc brake calliper brackets for the rear axle. But i'll need to find someone that sells 75' Chevy Rotors and Callipers then i can piece together the brackets and plumbing from the local auto part stores. Rebuild the front brakes...(don't know if i'll need to buy new callipers and rotors as well, but we'll see.
2nd - Suspension
Rear - I'm looking at the Sky-Manufacturing shackle flip kit: http://www.sky-manufacturing.com/new/detaproduct.php?id=87 I really like this and to achieve the amount of lift to be able to stuff 40's I will determine springs and shackles either as suggested, or as i think I need. I want a flexible suspension for any terrain so a low spring rating around 390 should be good to compensate for the weight of the truck and amount of flex i'm trying to get. I'll probably /\ the rear shocks to be able to help with this as well so either a custom or fabbed up shock hoop will probably be necessary for this.
Front - will probably have to wing this after i get the rear setup. I may not have to do much to the front but i'll see what others think about it. But i like the suspension height...just want to lose the body lift
3rd - Steering if i have to i'll go with an aftermarket pulley new steering box and hopefully the shaft is good. Then find a place that either sells a kit for hydro assist or piece one together...whatever is functionally efficient and not too much money. Plus I would like to go with a hi-steer kit...i've put these together before and really like the clearance these allow for flexing.
4th - 4wd I would like to get this functioning properly...i'm not too familiar with classic Chevy T-Cases so I may not even have a problem, but the Gear illustration on the top of the shifter is missing, so I'm not sure if i have it in the right gear position when trying to engage. I could just disconnect the rear drive shaft from the yoke on the diff and play with it. (I KNOW I KNOW...rookie, but i've been building rock crawlers on toyota chasis and their running gears for years and i'm just getting into classic Chevy trucks so if possible...please cut me a little slack. I have thick skin and am a quick learner tho).
5th - Interior Would like to have a pretty decent set of panels and dash. Seats need to be re-done and probably just rhino line the whole floor. just something to prevent rust from going nuts. I"ll probably sand it down and do it properly.
I'm open to all suggestions and contructive criticism. I have thick skin and don't take things personally so if you have something to say...by all means, but hopefully that's not an invite to flaming. I'm not new to forums by any means...I've been on forums since 2000. I have administered www.fullsizechevy.com and was (still am) a Super Mod on a TG.com as well. (I'm also a member **inactively for the most part** on many other forums all related to trucks) I was referred here by John Baker out of San Antonio who used to have a couple pretty nice Blazers, so i'm here to learn. I know there have been thousands of differant builds and ways to do things...i'm sure in the toyota world, i've set that bar many differant times, but like i said. I'm new to building classic chevy trucks and am hear to learn, but would like to have a capable rig worth of just about any terrain.
Thanks, Jack
My current setup:
Suspension:
85 K5 Blazer sitting on 39.5 TSL's 16.5" wheels with a great looking stance, but once you start to look at it, it's obvious that the stance just looks good, nothing is truely close to being a capable wheeling rig. The rear is setup with about 3-4" blocks with giant overloads in the spring packs...not sure what the springs are from or the size. The spring hanger is stock tho. The rear axle is a 14 bolt. I'll identify this more later. I'm pretty sure it's SWR. I don't know the gears, but was told it has an Eaton Posi unit in the diff. The front looks like it has lift springs or possibly rears off of somethng. I'll have to identify this more as well. Looks to be a HD D44 axle. I am pretty sure it has about a 2" body lift maybe 3" and the fenders are cut to clear 42's from what i was told.
Engine/Trans/Case:
400 SBC bored .030" over to 406 ci...The engine runs strong. I've roasted the tires that are on the truck. I have some pictures for identifying the transmission and t-case. I would like to believe that the guy that sold me this truck was (to put it nicely) uneducated about vehicles, cause the wiring was a spliced nightmare. I still have a lot to do, but spent a few hours re-wiring just about everything under the hood. The transmision seems to be holding up just fine, but the t-case is probably shot. Either that or i have some blown hubs. I think my 4wd is jacked up either in the T-Case or in the axle somewhere. I will dig into this more when i get home so that i can jack the truck up and try to diagnose the problem (if someone knows a sure-fire method of determining where the problem is, i'm all ears) I got stuck on a 40* bank cause the front tires wouldn't spin letting me off and the rear was on gravel so i was just digging ruts.
Interior/Exterior:
Interior is pretty rugged. Seats are beat up pretty bad console is done for, no rear bench, the dash is weather beaten and cracked, Bezel is junk, door panels are nasty, no headliner or carpet or rear side panels and probably just going to replace everything. If someone knows a good website for where to get replacement interior stuff, i'm all ears...i don't need it to cost me an arm and a leg tho. Exterior isn't too bad somebody got a little carried away with cutting the fenders and a couple small rust spots, but i'm not too worried about that right now. Someone obviously made the front bumper it can stay for now until i get rid of the body lift.
Steering:
The steering is jacked and i think it's associated to the brake problem. The rear brakes are disconnected because the previous owner said that one of the drums is siezed up. I'm going to be going with a disc conversion and have planned on it for a while, so I haven't connected them to test this, plus i haven't drove the truck much. But here's the problem i'm having with the steering. I can't turn the steering full lock not sure if the pump is going out or if there's a problem with the steering box or what, but i turn the wheel and it turns maybe 1/3 in one direction and probably close to 3/4 in the other. The power steering fluid isn't low. I turn the wheel and the tires just don't go. I believe i'll have to figure out how to diagnose this as well. I wouldn't mind doing a hydro assist steering setup tho, but i guess i should figure out if the pump is shot or if the steering box is crap. Plus when i'm going about 35 mph as i'm slowing to make a 90* right turn, the steering goes out and won't respond to wheel corrections until i let off the brakes. ??? idk what the hell is going on there. Does any of this sound like a brake booster problem or a pump problem or something...i'm kind of lost. but if you guys think i should just re-build my brake system first and then try to tackle the steering problem, i'll start there.
What I'm looking to accomplish.
1st - Get the brakes fixed. Disc Brake conversion for the rear end and re-do the front brakes. Get them fully operational. Need to know the best place to get replacement parts. I found a place that sells the disc brake calliper brackets for the rear axle. But i'll need to find someone that sells 75' Chevy Rotors and Callipers then i can piece together the brackets and plumbing from the local auto part stores. Rebuild the front brakes...(don't know if i'll need to buy new callipers and rotors as well, but we'll see.
2nd - Suspension
Rear - I'm looking at the Sky-Manufacturing shackle flip kit: http://www.sky-manufacturing.com/new/detaproduct.php?id=87 I really like this and to achieve the amount of lift to be able to stuff 40's I will determine springs and shackles either as suggested, or as i think I need. I want a flexible suspension for any terrain so a low spring rating around 390 should be good to compensate for the weight of the truck and amount of flex i'm trying to get. I'll probably /\ the rear shocks to be able to help with this as well so either a custom or fabbed up shock hoop will probably be necessary for this.
Front - will probably have to wing this after i get the rear setup. I may not have to do much to the front but i'll see what others think about it. But i like the suspension height...just want to lose the body lift
3rd - Steering if i have to i'll go with an aftermarket pulley new steering box and hopefully the shaft is good. Then find a place that either sells a kit for hydro assist or piece one together...whatever is functionally efficient and not too much money. Plus I would like to go with a hi-steer kit...i've put these together before and really like the clearance these allow for flexing.
4th - 4wd I would like to get this functioning properly...i'm not too familiar with classic Chevy T-Cases so I may not even have a problem, but the Gear illustration on the top of the shifter is missing, so I'm not sure if i have it in the right gear position when trying to engage. I could just disconnect the rear drive shaft from the yoke on the diff and play with it. (I KNOW I KNOW...rookie, but i've been building rock crawlers on toyota chasis and their running gears for years and i'm just getting into classic Chevy trucks so if possible...please cut me a little slack. I have thick skin and am a quick learner tho).
5th - Interior Would like to have a pretty decent set of panels and dash. Seats need to be re-done and probably just rhino line the whole floor. just something to prevent rust from going nuts. I"ll probably sand it down and do it properly.
I'm open to all suggestions and contructive criticism. I have thick skin and don't take things personally so if you have something to say...by all means, but hopefully that's not an invite to flaming. I'm not new to forums by any means...I've been on forums since 2000. I have administered www.fullsizechevy.com and was (still am) a Super Mod on a TG.com as well. (I'm also a member **inactively for the most part** on many other forums all related to trucks) I was referred here by John Baker out of San Antonio who used to have a couple pretty nice Blazers, so i'm here to learn. I know there have been thousands of differant builds and ways to do things...i'm sure in the toyota world, i've set that bar many differant times, but like i said. I'm new to building classic chevy trucks and am hear to learn, but would like to have a capable rig worth of just about any terrain.
Thanks, Jack
.
less work for me
