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'83 K5 6.2L Diesel 64" rear springs. 3/4 ton axles. rear discs. Boring but works!

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Truckman4life

Truckman4life

3/4 Ton Status
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Location
Cleveland, UT
Truckman4life submitted a new Build:

The spud wagon! Front springs, D44 vs 10 bolt?s

I've been meaning to start a build thread for a while and now I'm finally going to do it. Here's some backstory. I bought my 1983 Diesel K5 in 2007. It belonged to a kid who got it from his grandpa and didn't care for the diesel engine. I scored it for $500. It was 100% rust free and looks like it got a single stage repaint at some point. Odometer read roughly 60,000 so I'm guessing its got 160,000. It was all stock with bald 235s and an old school warn winch bumper and 6,000 lb winch with no cable. I should have just got it fixed up a little and drove it but I had some axles and a lift kit for a '69 3/4 ton sub laying around. I installed the 8 lug ten bolt front and 14 bolt ff rear both with 4:10 gears and a 6" all spring lift kit. It had the shorter front leaf springs for a 67-72 so I moved the fush and made it work. I threw on some 315/70R16 BFG mud terrains I scored off a buddy and some 16x10 no name aluminum wheels. Then I got married and moved several times and had a few kids. The truck pretty much sat this way unfinished until around 2012.
View attachment 195062
At that time I replaced all wheel bearings and races and installed new rotors/calipers/and pads all the way around with some Ruff Stuff rear caliper brackets. It has 3/4 ton front calipers and 1/2 ton rear calipers to try and give the front a little more braking power. I believe there was a slight size difference in the pistons. I also added some braided stainless brake hoses and the full rear axle hose kit from ORD. In 2014 I moved to Moab and decided it needed to be changed from a nice lifted street/trail truck to a functional off road vehicle to take the kiddos wheeling. I started by removing the 8" lift rear Tuff Country springs and picking up some brand new used 5" lift 64" rear springs. I couldn't find any bolt on 64" spring install options so I chopped up my front hangers and boxed them in and then welded them to the frame as far forward and as high up as I could.
View attachment 195063
View attachment 195064
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Read more about this build here...
 
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I found out later TnA Automotive now makes a bolt on front hanger for this same spring swap. I was going to use TnAs rear no lift shackle flip but after getting some advice from ORD I decided to use a factory style tension shackle but go to a longer one for more swing. I moved the factory hanger back where it needed to be on the frame and installed 6" hd shackles from ORD. I gusseted the hangers and welded them to the frame. I still need to do some rear shocks but right now it has roughly 10" of rear travel.
 
Rear hangers
Blazer 010.JPG

Blazer 012.JPG
The rear axle is moved back about 2" I think. The front is also moved forward a little due to the shorter springs. I think the wheel base is at 105" currently. Next up was the brakes. I wanted the 4 wheel disc swap to perform the best that I could make it. I always want more braking than needed. I already had hydro boost due to the diesel engine. I installed a master cylinder off a 1983 Chevy P30 step van with a diesel, hydro boost and rear disc brakes. It has something like a 4mm larger piston than my factory mc for more braking force. I also installed a disc/disc prop valve from Summit Racing. The rear brakes come on a little before the front as it sits now so I still need to add an adjustable rear prop valve to turn them down so the fronts lock up first. It has plenty of brakes though and will lock up the 35s no problem and stop on a dime.
 
Nice location to live.

For a proportioning valve, go with a dual unit. Both the front and rear system goes through it.
 
The plan right now is to add rear bump stops and rear 12" travel shocks. I will probably cut holes in the floor and run the shocks from the u-bolt plate up though the hole and fab some upper hangers to put them outboard as far as I can. I also have 1 1/2" blocks in the rear. I need to take some measurements and see where the shocks will fit. The front will stay the way it is for now and probably get a 52" spring swap later or some ORD custom springs to bring it down to about a 4" lift. I shortened a rear longbed driveshaft and lengthened my front driveshaft to work. I'm sure there's some stuff I'm forgetting so here's a bunch of pics.
Blazer 001.JPG Blazer 002.JPG Blazer 003.JPG Blazer 004.JPG Blazer 005.JPG Blazer 006.JPG Blazer 007.JPG Blazer 013.JPG Blazer 018.JPG Blazer 019.JPG Blazer 020.JPG Blazer 021.JPG Blazer 022.JPG Blazer 023.JPG Blazer 024.JPG Blazer 025.JPG Blazer 032.JPG

Blazer 033.JPG
 
ktmoutfront said:
Nice location to live.

For a proportioning valve, go with a dual unit. Both the front and rear system goes through it.
Click to expand...
Yeah I installed a factory replacement disc/disc one from Summit Racing. I believe its a PV2 for four wheel discs. It still has too much braking going to the rear though so I need to add a manual one to the rear circuit to turn them down some more.
 
I bet man. My wife looked at a couple jobs in Moab. Utah just doesn't pay social workers enough though
 
I was wondering if the front springs would work out. Looks like they are fine
 
blazinzuk said:
I was wondering if the front springs would work out. Looks like they are fine
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But I'll bet you'll feel a vast improvement if you go back to stock length 47s with the original frame location, smoother on road too! Nice truck and nice location :D
 
I love living here, theres never ending stuff to do outdoors with the wife and kids. I've only taken it out to test so far but I'm real happy with the rear spring swap. It has about 10" of rear travel. The fronts are brand new still and I get about 5" of front travel. The front is kinda just temporary to get me going and I will end up doing either some factory length 4" lift springs or some 52" springs and an A-bomb. I need to get the front down at least 2" lower than what it is now.
 
Nice rig man it'll be fun to watch you build it up!
 
Are you measuring wheel travel from full droop to full compression? Those numbers seem a little low even for that spring combo. You'll think you have a new truck with a good spring on the front. And your proximity to Grand Junction sure helps with delivery on heavy things like good springs...

You live in the reason I did the first set of custom springs on my K5. Just kicking around camping between there and canyonlands was beating me up way more than I liked so I started figuring out cool stuff to make a K5 ride better.
 
Stephen said:
Are you measuring wheel travel from full droop to full compression? Those numbers seem a little low even for that spring combo. You'll think you have a new truck with a good spring on the front. And your proximity to Grand Junction sure helps with delivery on heavy things like good springs...

You live in the reason I did the first set of custom springs on my K5. Just kicking around camping between there and canyonlands was beating me up way more than I liked so I started figuring out cool stuff to make a K5 ride better.
Click to expand...

On the front I measured my travel on the shock shaft, basically fully compressed to fully extended just flexing it out until I spun a front tire and a rear tire due to open diffs. On the rear I measured from the frame to the axle tube fully compressed on one side and fully extended on the other side. Both front and rear springs are brand new and haven't been broke in at all. I think your the one I talked to at the vendor expo last year that advised me to stick with the factory style shackle and go as long as I could for more shackle swing. Im sure if I measured at the actual wheel to say the fender lip it would be more due to being farther from the pivot point of the axle. Blazer Flex.jpg
 
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