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Qs from the new guy

Col_Sanders

Col_Sanders

3/4 ton status
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I am not new to owning my 87 K-5, just new to having money to build up on it. That being said I know what I want to do with my Blazer (weekend toy with the ability to be driven daily and do medium difficulty trails in Virginia ideal 4" lift and 35" tires) I want to drive it to the trails and drive it back. No trailers here.

Right now the truck is sitting on 31x10.50R15 Savero? all terrain crap tires with the belts showing through, it has no lift, but it has a ton of room still left and even with full articulation they are not really near rubbing. Will 33x12.50s fit on it with the right backspacing on the wheels or is the 32x11.50 the max? I wont be doing any serious off roading for quite a while so I am not too worried about the tires rubbing unless they will do it when street driving.

Also as far as axels go I hope to someday upgrade to 14 bolt/Dana60 combo but dont have the money right now. Is it worth it to find a 12 bolt from a 70s Blazer with a cheapo locker and have it installed next year when I lift it or will the little 10 bolt do fine for now as long as I dont go too crazy and get too throttle happy? I just want something to get me by until I can afford the big stuff. Is there much difference in the 1/2 ton 12 and 10 bolt rears? Thanks for the help.
 
first off, max tires with no rubbing is 32x11.5's on the stock 15x8" rims. You can squeeze 33's if you trim the fenders back a bit and don't mind very slight rubbing on the backsides. As for now, just do a shackle flip from ord so u can reuse ur stock springs in back for 4" and get the Tough Country 4" Front kit. Boom, 4" all around and almost no axlewrap. and the hardest part will be the shackle flip, which isn't hard at all if you have a drill and some basic hand tools. (maybe a welder if u wanna weld in the flip brackets, but isn't necesary for what u want to do) as for using the stock 10bolts. be very gentle with even 33's. heck, i blew mine ip on an ice patch last winter (limited slips will make matters worse) But remember, when ur on a budget, do things one step at a time. get the front kit first with some blocks and a set of ord zero rates (they're only 40 bucks for the zero rates and u can buy decent lift blocks for like 30 bucks at any good parts store) Then when you're ready, swap out the blocks for the shackle flip (keep the zero rates to level everything out) Buy a set of 33's, mount to ur stock rims, and go have some fun. oh yeah, almost forgot, just don't get too flex happy, lest u spit out a driveshaft. happy trails!! :thumb:
 
I think he was talking about buying springs for the front and blocks for the rear. It's the cheapest lift to get.
 
I hear ya on not being able too afford 1 tons right now, but 3/4 tons are a good alturnitive. I picked up a set of 3/4 ton axles a couple of years ago for a whole $250.00.
 
Im with Z3PR on this one... 3/4 ton axle swap is the way to go. Its cheap, it will (probably) get you lower gears and its a lot better for offroad use. The ff14b rear is practically indestructable (especially with 35s) and will always "get ya home" even if you break the front end. Do a lot of searching/shopping and you'll score some 3/4 tons cheap.

As far as the lift goes, cheapest route would be a DIY shackle flip in the back (4") and some used 4" lift springs up front. People sell 4" springs all the time (they are upgrading to taller springs, longer springs, or links...) purdy cheap. I sold my Rancho 4" springs for $50.

j
 
Yeah I know the question has probably been asked a million times but when underway sharing a 1 meg internet connection with 5000 other people isnt the fastest thing in the world and browsing for the answers would take forever.

Thanks for the answers...I may have enough money to do the lift, but military pay isnt all that great and my r/c hobby doesnt help the matter any. DIY doesnt work very well for me though since I dont have a house/garage. I have moved 4 times in 3.5 years and still dont have anywhere to really be able to work on my vehicles. I have a friend with a 14bolt rear he will sell but I will probably have to wait on the install. I wanted to pick up all the parts while in TX since they are a lot cheaper in 4x4 Truckville TX than here in Virginia Beach. I also wanted to do the diffs and lift at the same time since I would think it would be cheaper because they have it all off anyway.

If anyone knows of a good junkyard in Dallas, please let me know since I will only have a couple days when I get there on leave August 7 to pick stuff up.
 
From experience wheeling a stock truck , AND being poor . I found I had a lot of fun with 32x11.50's . If you want to save money and do somethings that don't require a garage , its easy .

Don't worry about the swaybar until you lift it , stock truck will flex with it ( have proof pics )

Buy new tires or good used ones .
Buy a lockright for the 10 bolt ( if open diff ) , a 12 bolt isn't neccessary .
Cut down or get shorter bumpstops .

I went through many fun wheeling trips with a stock truck and had a blast .
And then later after I had all the parts ahead of time , lifted my truck with members here :D
 
Hey I was in the Navy on the GW. So I lived in Va Beach for 4 years. I had a shortbed K10 and a K5 while I lived there. You aren't going to find much for trails unless you head west to the Shenandoah (or however you spell it, hope you know what I mean) area. The most fun I had wheelin' there was the Outerbanks in North Carolina.

So I would keep the axles you have. Just do some good maintenance on them.

Get some 33" MT/Rs or BFG A/Ts. Unless you really like the mud, then you might want to look at some M/Ts like Dunlops (good if you don't have a lot of money to spend). If you don't want to trim the fenders, you'll need a little lift. I wouldn't lift the truck more than 3" if you do. Get leafs in the front, blocks for the rear. That will mean shocks too. That's why I would not lift it. To clear 33's on the street I had to trim just a little from the rear of the fender.

Spending money on the locker would be better than lift in my opinion. When you do the locker replace bearings and seals too.

Get the axles and lift when you move back to Texas where you can get some serious wheeling in. Or do the axles if you manage to break the 10 bolts. The 12bolt is not any better than the 10bolt.

Get some sort of onboard air system for when you play on the beach. If you air down your tires to at least 20psi, lower to like 15psi would be even better, you'll never have a problem. I've seen so many people get stuck, they didn't air down, so you tell them to do that and they just drive out of the situation (unless they really buried it).
 
diffs I can understand, but don't have someone else do your suspension install. A leaf sprung suspension is pretty simple, and having someone else do it would not only cost a bunch of $$$$ for shop time, but also be a wasted opportunity to learn something useful about your rig. If you DIY, when your rig breaks on the trail you'll have a much better idea how to fix it. If you have a shop do everything for you and you break, you're a helpless noob waiting for some jeep guy to come along and rescue you. :crazy:

j
 
jekbrown said:
diffs I can understand, but don't have someone else do your suspension install. A leaf sprung suspension is pretty simple, and having someone else do it would not only cost a bunch of $$$$ for shop time, but also be a wasted opportunity to learn something useful about your rig. If you DIY, when your rig breaks on the trail you'll have a much better idea how to fix it. If you have a shop do everything for you and you break, you're a helpless noob waiting for some jeep guy to come along and rescue you. :crazy:

j
Click to expand...
I agree. You can do the work on any of the bases at the Auto Hobby Shop. I always preferred the one on the Air Base in Va Beach, damn it can't remember the name of that base; it's been over 6 years now. It was better than Norfolk's.

Oh and I'd recommend Tuff Country or BDS.
 
I have been stationed on the Truman for 3 years. I think Virginia is the armpit of the US. So humid. But anyway, I wanted to do the diffs and lift at the same time. My dad has a friend that owns a shop in TX but he isnt much help since my dad refuses to help me get everything done and I am 1400 miles away. Its really hard to do things from this far away with no cooperation or help from my dad. I wish I had the money to get everything done now but I got a little horsepower hungry on my engine. As for doing work on base....I hate having people stare over my shoulder. I am not a people person. I really hate dealing with people I dont know.

I do have a friend that owns a house about 20mins away and he told me I could use his garage. I think for now though all I am going to do is 33s and a cheapo locker in the rear until i can save up enough to do the lift and diffs. I was at least hoping to be able to find the 14 bolt/d60 in TX when I am there but I dont think I will.

I have heard of some good little trails in Chesapeake. I dont really know anyone with 4x4 around here so I cant do much too serious. Hopefully when the Blazer gets up here I can actually go find some people and things to do.
 
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