Newbie buyer's guide?

[bolognablake]

This may be a dumb question, but I'm on the look out for a K5 once I get my Tacoma sold, and I was wondering if there was a good buyer's guide or a good thread out there some where with info on what to look out for, what drive train combos came with what year, ect.

I found some a good bit of info by searching, I just wanted to know if there was something that brings it all together.

 

[muddermilitia]

don't know of any buyer's guide. If you like the full convertibles go with an early k-5. Otherwise I recommend a 87-91 because they will be fuel injected. 89-91 will have serpentine belt and the np-241 t-case which is a little better then the np-208 found in the earlier blazers. I would avoid the early to mid 80s blazers because the 700r4 transmissions in those are known to have problems

 

[lectric80]

You just need to tell us what exactly you would like to get out of the Blazer. If you want something for hard core mostly off road use, then an earlier version is going to have the beefier drivetrain and possibly the NP205. If it is going to be seeing a lot of street driving, then as muddermilitia said, a late 80's early 90's is going to be a better bet.

Another thing to consider is with gas prices going up, and no way they are going to stop, the later fuel injected versions get much better gas mileage than the older ones. Even if it is only a few miles per gallon, every little bit helps.

We can answer drivetrain, and powertrain questions, but we need more information to help you decide what to look for. The year of Blazer you want is also going to have an effect on what problem spots to look out for.

 

[Leper]

Look here
http://coloradok5.com/specs.shtml

Just buy my Blazer and you will be done.

 

[bolognablake]

Look here
http://coloradok5.com/specs.shtml

Just buy my Blazer and you will be done.

You have to buy my Tacoma first.

Thanks guys. It's not going to be my DD, but it's not going to be a hard core rock crawler either, just something I can wheel and drive on the weekends.

I'll probably lean towards an 89-91. Run 4" of lift, 35" M/T's and some type of selectable locker.

 

[Thunder]

I'll probably lean towards an 89-91. Run 4" of lift, 35" M/T's and some type of selectable locker.

Good choice. By 89 K5s had all the upgrades to the 700R4 trans, 241 xfr case, also they have 30 spline axles. The Front 30 spline axles are a little stronger than the older 27 spline axles. Plus I think they have the best looking grills.
If you go with 35" tires plan on installing 4.11 or 4.58 gears. I think the highest ratio they came stock with was 3.73. I would not go taller than 33s with 3.73 gears with a 700R4 trans.

 

[bolognablake]

Good choice. By 89 K5s had all the upgrades to the 700R4 trans, 241 xfr case, also they have 30 spline axles. The Front 30 spline axles are a little stronger than the older 27 spline axles. Plus I think they have the best looking grills.
If you go with 35" tires plan on installing 4.11 or 4.58 gears. I think the highest ratio they came stock with was 3.73. I would not go taller than 33s with 3.73 gears with a 700R4 trans.

Which ratios were most common?

 

[Thunder]

As far as I know they came stock with 3.08, 3.42, 3.73. I am sure you could get other ratios on special order.
If you find one with the factory towing package it most likely has 3.73.
As for which ratio is most common I dont know.
My 89 has the tow package. It came with 3.73 Gears, Hd springs, Aux trans cooler, aux oil cooler.

 

[bolognablake]

As far as I know they came stock with 3.08, 3.42, 3.73. I am sure you could get other ratios on special order.
If you find one with the factory towing package it most likely has 3.73.
As for which ratio is most common I dont know.
My 89 has the tow package. It came with 3.73 Gears, Hd springs, Aux trans cooler, aux oil cooler.

Cool, thanks for the info.

 

[muddermilitia]

As far as I know they came stock with 3.08, 3.42, 3.73. I am sure you could get other ratios on special order.
If you find one with the factory towing package it most likely has 3.73.
As for which ratio is most common I dont know.
My 89 has the tow package. It came with 3.73 Gears, Hd springs, Aux trans cooler, aux oil cooler.

2.73 is also another gear ratio that was available

 

[blazin_blazer]

i had 2.73's in my 80 k5, the 3/4 tons are 4.10's....i find myself bumping it up into neutral all the time....2.73 w/31-10.50 to 4.10 w/33's ...33's w/4.10..in drive, it feels like 2nd gear w/31's w/2.73's...not used to it yet and shift into N going down road b/c it feels like 2nd used too!