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Put your Blazer on a diet

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So lets assemble a "Virtual Blazer". Body mods, Drivetrain, everything.

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drivetrain

250 I-6
SM465/241 SYE
Disc'd 12 bolt rear, alloy shafts, detroit and 5.13's
D44 front with CTM's and alloy shafts, detroit and 5.13's

6 cylinder is another 150 lbs lighter than a small block...you can run a header to save a bit more weight and gain a few ponies

465 is about 175 lbs, but the 6 could really benefit from the granny first gear

241 weighs next to nothing and has a great low range

D44 is at least 150 lighter than a D60

12 bolt is probably 200 lbs lighter than a 14 bolt

There's 500 lbs in the drivetrain itself.

skinned front clip and hood

Fabbed lightweight aluminum dash...prolly gonna lose 50 lbs there

Roof chop (BTW I weighed my steel half top using the shop digi scale...it weighed 93 lbs)

Soft top for weather and heat

pick-up tailgate

37" MT/R's on aluminum rims

cage the front ignore the back

leaf springs, DT8000 shocks which are long travel, decent valving, cheap and don't weigh a ton.

8000 lb winch

40's are cool, but heavy and so are the steel rims.

Anyways, this would obviously be a crawler rig and not a mud rig. The under diff clearance with 1/2 ton diff's and 37's would be similar or better than 40's on one ton diff's. With alloy shaft's and CTM's they'd be quite durable with the 37's and not weigh a ton.

The 6 has a lot of off idle torque and combined with the 4 gear and 241 it'd crawl pretty decently. With the 5.13's it'd have a 92:1 crawl ratio.

I figure it's be a 4500 lb or less rig when done, with fuel, driver, and minimal spares.

Rene
 
There should be a classification for "Real world rig" That would be different for everybody though. This is where mine is headed. Everything on it to this point is street legal. It will be driveable year round in the winter as well as in the summer. Capable of carrying 3 pass. plus one driver. Although I would probably rather trailer it for the longer trips just to keep wear off the tires and in the event of breakage that would not be easily trail fixed and then worthy of the interstate.
 
OK then.

- Real Truck
- Mall Cruiser
- Street legal
- Mud truck
- Trail Rig
- Rock Buggy
- Rock Rig

Any ideas for definitions or more catagories? /forums/images/graemlins/ears.gif
 
I think the I-6 makes more low end torque...and you could swap a 4.3 TBI on it for FI.

Just thinking out loud, the reality for me is one ton diff's, a diesel and 40's with a full body.

Rene
 
whats the tech differences between a rock buggy, and a rock rig? cause right now im torn on trail rig, with rock components /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
Good question. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

How about, a Rock Rig still has some body parts and can be recognized ass the original vehicle but has been lightened up and modified (like mine).

A Rock Buggy is a tube frame job.

I forgot about Truggy. /forums/images/graemlins/doah.gif
 
Miniwally really brings up some good points. While I know this discussion is pretty much only hypothetically to most people, where does the quest for more trail capability stop?

First of all, once you get the ultimate (by the current standards) trailrig that can easily conquer every existing trail what do you do? I personally think it would be pretty boring having a vehicle that could walk over the hardest trails out there.

The next issue is giving up streetability, whether it's just comfort or legality, in order to make the rig lighter. With a fullsize you ARE going to be walking on the edge in both of these aspects. A big issue in my area is that you absolutely have to drive on public roads to get to the trails, even if you tow the rig on a trailer. We even have trails that require a 10-15 mile drive from the parking lot to the trail so besides just the legality aspect you have the comfort issue. I don't need cloth seats and A/C but if anything driving in the winter (it can stay below freezing for weeks or months on end here) or rain on the highway can really suck. Slow moving on the trail is one thing and my stock Blazer heater makes plenty of heat even with the top off and entire back open, but as soon as you get past about 35 mph you might as well turn the heater off because it ain't helping at all.
 
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I personally think it would be pretty boring having a vehicle that could walk over the hardest trails out there.

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No such animal exists, at least not for the trails around here.
 
even if there were such a beast, we'd just go after trails that now we look at and say, never.
 
That's exactly where I'm at...trying to build the best dual purpose rig I can on my budget and in my spare time. I don't compete, and my truck is still my DD and will be for a long time to come.

I'm already on the edge of legality in a number of areas and outright not legal in a few other areas.

As anti-CK5 as it may seem I'm currently working on making my truck more suitable for it's main purpose. I'm looking at an overdrive manual tranny and some 37" radials...possibly *gasp* paint. /forums/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif

Rene
 
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No such animal exists, at least not for the trails around here.

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Well I don't know Russ I have had many "qualified experts" Read Dumba$$es tell my that my buggy can probably go anywhere. /forums/images/graemlins/histerical.gif

How about
Truck/blazer/whatever
Truggy
Buggy
Comp rig

I understand everyones different points about legality and such. Through a weird chain of events it is looking more and more like my buggy is actually street legal or near street legal in the state of Colorado. I still don't drive it on the highway if I can help it. The drive back from Pritchet canyon this year twice was very nerve racking.

I still have my Tow rig daily driver that I will use when the trail is easy or the weather is really that bad.

When we were on Gold bar rim and Hells revenge this EJS in the rain and mud I did at times wish I had brought my truck. Then agian playing around on those trails was way more fun in the buggy.
I think as a general rule for vehicles
it comes down to what you want to do and what you need to do it.
Steve Fox, and Stephens ORD blazers are a good place to get started.
Both of their vehicles have gone through several distinctly different build levels finishing with truggy or near truggy. They have gone this route because of what they desire to do with their vehicles. Ask both of them if they wish they had every different version of their rigs back and they would probably say yes. Because every different build was good at one thing and okay at another and really sucked for yet another.
 
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OK then.

- Real Truck
- Mall Cruiser
- Street legal
- Mud truck
- Trail Rig
- Rock Buggy
- Rock Rig

Any ideas for definitions or more catagories? /forums/images/graemlins/ears.gif

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Howa bout "mud truck/rock crawler"
Thats what my blazer will be eventually /forums/images/graemlins/peace.gif
 
My ideal truck would be as follows

Engine/Tranny/T-case: 350 HP LS1/ 700R4 with manual VB/NP241

front axle: Dana 44 35 spline with superiors, CTMS and an ARB

Rear axle: Ford 9" with 35 spline axles and ARB and disks

Tires would be 39.5" Iroks on aluminum beadlock wheels. We run this combo on my dad's truck and they weigh just a tad bit more than my 36" Iroks on steel wheels.

I would use a full convertible truck if possible with a soft top and a truck tailgate. Would run manual windows and fiberglass fenders with Dzus fasteners to take them off on the trail or make a removable front clip similar to what my friend runs on his 73. Use 1.75 .120 DOM for the main area of the cage and run 1.5 .090 DOM for bracing and non impact areas. Run PRP seats and a 22 gallon fuel cell to keep wieght low. I would also entertain the idea of replacing the back half of the frame with tubing and boxing the frame but use dimple dies to remove material but also retain strength.

Also ditch the dash, run only gauges necessary for the truck. Like tach, OP, temp, tranny temp. run an aluminum dash like tRusty said. ditch the factory heater and run a mojave unit from flexalite. I would run a M8000 with the winch rope to further cut down on weight. Also run an aluminum radiator and replace the factory core support with a support made from 1.5" and 1.25" tubing.

I chose the LS1 because they make great power and are completely aluminum with fuel injection, i choose the 700r4 over a TH350 because you would be able to run deeper gears and make use of OD, AND my truck with 700/241 combo has a lower crawl ratio than my buddy's truck with a 465/205 combo on 4.56's and worn out 38" TSL/SX's.

For suspension I would run 52's up front, 63's in the rear with Fox triple bypass shocks to eliminate the needs for bumpstops. just need to run limit straps.

Ok rip apart my build.
 
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even if there were such a beast, we'd just go after trails that now we look at and say, never.

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That's the problem, we don't have an unlimited number of trails available to keep up with the increasing capability of the vehicle. It is most likely a little better situation out west, but here in the midwest you are really limited in what is available. The closest things resembling an actual trail that will challenge more than a stock SUV is already 2 hours away, and once the vehicle capability exceeds those trails you are looking at 6-8 hour drive to get to something harder. That much of a drive and/or committment to go wheelin' can really limit how often you can go.

I've talked to guys around here and see them on this board all of the time who seem possessed with making the biggest and baddest trail-taming truck around, but then wind up only going wheelin' once or twice a year because they are either too busy adding another gee-whiz gadget or the only trails that challenge them are too far away to go on a regular basis.

With that said, I don't have anything against the extreme trucks or buggies, and if you like working on them more than driving that's fine with also. Hell, my truck would have been considered pretty extreme just a few years ago (1-tons, locked f&r, 38's) but now is just the average build-up.
 
my previous hobby was snowmobiling and snowmobile racing, same situation there, buy a nice sled, travel hours to a nice snowy place, spend a load of cash on lodging and gasoline, then ride for a week. Its great but you only get to do it a couple times and its big bucks. Someday I will take it up again, when I can afford to.
 
Hmm had a thought, after caging, since it adds rigidity, chop out the firewall and replace it with aluminum sheetmetal. Move it back a little bit, gain some clearance for easy trans work.
 
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ditch the rearsprings replace em' with coilovers and links


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<font color="blue">Links and coilovers are actually heavier than leaves.

My 71 clocked in at 4687 lbs at the dump with a soft top, smitty bilt 6 pt cage, 31 gallon tank and 36s. There was no spare and nothing inside. I was surprised
 
I took some 75lbs. estimated out of the front of mine with the narrowing job. Maybe more. I got all the sheet metal in my pickup and I'll run it across the scale before and after the dump.
 
it has already been mentioned but if you plan on keeping a front clip or even narrowing up your front clip go with fiberglass.
my front fenders weigh about 5 pounds each now and the hood is probably around 20 pounds.

next month I plan on narrowing these up so it will lighten them up that much more.

and if you like to keep a dentless rig fiberglass is real easy to fix and doesnt dent it will just flex around a rock.
 
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