Put your Blazer on a diet

[tRustyK5]

A couple of parts I have weighed.

Front sway bar = 23 lbs
Hard top for 76-91 with slider glass = 188 lbs

Weighed my dead stock 90 Blazer recently too. It's pretty low on options,but I'll list what it does have. AC is about the only option that carries a weight penalty, it also has power rear glass, but I'm unsure if that is any heavier than the manual rear glass. I does have a Warn 8274 on a flimsy Warn front bumper. I'm 'guessing' that weighs about 100 lbs over a plain stock front bumper.

Weight on a Gov truck scale is as follows. Front axle weight was 1260 kg, rear was 1030 kg. That was with me sitting in it and 3/4 tank of fuel. No spare tire, no tools, but full interior minus rear floor covering.

1 kg = 2.2 lbs.

Total was 2290 kg or 5038 lbs. Subtract my clothed weight ( 170 lbs) and the extra 100 lbs up front and you get a baseline of 4768 lbs. The seat postion of the driver is about dead center, so as near as I can figure the front/rear weight (subtracting winch and bumper, and my weight) is 2587/2181 (54.2% fr, 45.8% rr)

Any changes I make I will re-scale and post up.

Plans are to swap in the NV4500, but not the doubler and add the one ton diffs. Likely H2 rims and not sure on tire size, brand etc.

Rene

 

[Adventurous 4x4]

Thought I would share a most recent pic that I have of the progress. A little more has been done but no pics......yet.

Lost a bunch of wieght....it's now on its tires and off of the stands and the ride hieght is 3" taller...even after I removed zero rates from rear.

keep in mind, I am putting the floor and dash in first before I do the door bars.

I like it. I am getting ready to do mine sorta along the same lines. Got any more pictures?

 

[BGKYK5]

When I weighed my mostly stock '89 K5 with AC, top with sliders, and power doors locks and windows (the only "upgrades" were the 32" tires and a bunch of rust), I got:

Total: 4880
Front: 2580
Rear: 2300

So pretty close to your numbers Rene.

 

[Sandman]

Well, I've got mine chopped down quite a bit these days and I'm real happy with the performance.

I'm still running a 454 with a doubler, 1 ton axles, and 44" tires but I'm still below 5,000 pounds.

I've got an aluminum radiator, winch rope, fiberglass and aluminum panels and most of the body is gone. I also have a lexan windshield.

I want to go to aluminum rims, cut it all off at the B piller and link it up and I'm seriously thinking of losing the 454 and going with a 5.3 or 6.0. Those engines are getting really cheap and they make great power.

Here is a cruddy pic of this weekends snow run:

And another side view:

Overall it performs great. I can idle up double whammy in Moab and it was plowing snow halfway up the grill on this run.

However, the front is way heavier then the rear so I'm thinking the 5.3 and moving the radiator and other coolers back to the rear to help balance it out.

 

[Stock Jimmy]

Moving weight too the rear.

Od questin.. maybe a good idea. Not sure. plz add your input ty.
But My question and idea is.. Is it legal to move your rad to the rear for street use in anyway? And how much weight can you really take out of the engine bay? I removed the entire rear of my Jimmy with a swz all And I can still get an inspection sticker. But as you said thw front is still way too heavy. Now wiyh me being at 4324 pounds and all that in the front.. How much weight can i move from the front too the back? I of course have no heat or ac already.Trans cooler, rad battery... What other items can I move cak? ty btw Im a power to weight junky and keeping it with all the weight in the unsprung Rolled my last build Not this one lol
Ty all plz post all ideas about weight tranfer. ty

 

[Hogback Fabrication]

How would moving the radiator to the rear save weight? You can get rid of a little bit of sheet metal but you add all of that weight and more back via longer coolant plumbing and added coolant fluid capacity.

Why try to move more weight rearward?

Weighed mine recently at 26XX front and 16XX rear, all iron SBC, 465/241/205, GM D60 up front and FF 14 bolt in the rear. That weight bias might seem extreme but it's great at climbing, it keeps the weight transfer closer to 50/50 on steep uphill stuff.

50/50 is for race cars, four wheeling is a completely different world and on climbs that's far from what you want

 

[BadDog]

Yes, great for climbs. But remember, what goes up, must come down.

And that nose heavy bias, with weight pretty high to clear tires etc, when you are nose down off camber and the low tire slips off into a hole... whoo boy, hang on! What a ride! Ask me how I know...

 

[Stock Jimmy]

How would moving the radiator to the rear save weight? You can get rid of a little bit of sheet metal but you add all of that weight and more back via longer coolant plumbing and added coolant fluid capacity.

Why try to move more weight rearward?

Weighed mine recently at 26XX front and 16XX rear, all iron SBC, 465/241/205, GM D60 up front and FF 14 bolt in the rear. That weight bias might seem extreme but it's great at climbing, it keeps the weight transfer closer to 50/50 on steep uphill stuff.

50/50 is for race cars, four wheeling is a completely different world and on climbs that's far from what you want

Sorry didnt mean lost weight moving the rad. And your right.... I gained weight with hose and liquid
Plus your VERY right about hill climbing being front heavy.. I swear no hill is too steep. Im thinking the stock location seems better now. cause being unprotected it already looks like an ac unit at a day care lol
ty alot for that info.

 

[Stock Jimmy]

Yes, great for climbs. But remember, what goes up, must come down.

And that nose heavy bias, with weight pretty high to clear tires etc, when you are nose down off camber and the low tire slips off into a hole... whoo boy, hang on! What a ride! Ask me how I know...

As well you are also right My last run up Sleepy Hollow was terifieing on the trip back down!! hehehe

 

[Stock Jimmy]

As well you are also right My last run up Sleepy Hollow was terifieing on the trip back down!! hehehe

Gonna keep my Battery in the back though. Is there anything else I can either delete or make lighter or move to the back for weight tranfer or reduction?
I oddly am keeping cast steel exhaust manifolds for exhaust scavaging they help with. I know the dont flow well. But good for low rpm.

 

[Hogback Fabrication]

Yes, great for climbs. But remember, what goes up, must come down.

And that nose heavy bias, with weight pretty high to clear tires etc, when you are nose down off camber and the low tire slips off into a hole... whoo boy, hang on! What a ride! Ask me how I know...

Sure, but you can usually power out of a nose-over. Everything's easier going downhill

A low COG is more important than basically any front/rear weight bias.

 

[BadDog]

Agreed, but sometimes that's not an option. I was only making the point that you can't just build nose heavy for a climber, unless you have other options going down. And as I said, sometimes (fairly frequently out here) terrain doesn't allow you to "power through" due to ledges, boulders, etc. I would NOT want to take a nose heavy climber over "No Left Turn" in Moab!

My old rig was about 60/40 and worked well. Radiator in the front but moved back a bit, with not much else up front but the motor and the skinned out cut down hood/tube. Battery, gas, and any other mobiles (tools, lunch, etc) in the extreme rear. And *everything* kept as low as possible. There were times I couldn't see how it managed to NOT roll, but it would just ease on through. Others, WTF!

 

[74kay5]

She just tipped the scales at 5200 even

 

[muddermilitia]

Whats the story on the gas tank? Fuel cell? I want to move mine up eventually

 

[74kay5]

Whats the story on the gas tank? Fuel cell? I want to move mine up eventually

Looks weird I know. I don't have a bed anymore so I dropped it in from the top and wanted to store stuff on top of it so I flipped the skid upside down and welded tabs to rear bumper and shock mount. The tank doesn't hang down below the frame rails anymore.

 

[CanyonAB]

That's an impressive machine! I keep adding weight to my current truck (Blazer is not registered yet), but since it's small it's still only around 5000lbs (GMC Canyon). I'd be willing to bet that my '77 Blazer is lighter since it's bone stock.

 

[79chevyk10]

Okay finally done!!! Only took from 3/09' to 11/11'. Never intended it to take this long, but started a business shortly after starting this.............so I'm very pleased with the results.
I have not wieghed it yet, but it feels and wheels like it is much much lighter.

 

[79chevyk10]

Well, I do have to admit that it may never be done done.

Wires need to me cleaned up, last switch needs to be purchased and installed, and skids need to be made and installed.

Turned it into a flatbelly, pushed the drivetrain up 4". Rear driveline angle is extreme now but seems to be working just fine after its first beat down.

 

[big dan]

Okay finally done!!! Only took from 3/09' to 11/11'. Never intended it to take this long, but started a business shortly after starting this.............so I'm very pleased with the results.
I have not wieghed it yet, but it feels and wheels like it is much much lighter.

I love the way this thing turned out. do you have any more pics of the change? maybe some pics without the skins? and if you dont mind how wide is the widest point on the body?

I recently chopped up my 86 k10 and did something very similar to this, though it only took about 2 months it doesnt look near as good but it smacks a lot of trees so I didnt want to spend too much time making it pretty, just functional.

 

[big dan]

heres before and after pics of my rig, never weighed it but it is a whole different animal when it comes to wheeling simply because of the weight loss