Thrillbilly Build Thread! 89' K5 on 44's, & tons. New motor FINALLY put in!!!

[THRILLBILLY]

Well, I finally got around to making a build thread so bear with me on this trip and sorry for the rambling…

To start it off, here is the current state of my truck:



1989 K5 Blazer,
355 SBC, aluminum heads, 750 DP, with other screamin' mud machine parts in it.
700R4
NP208
4.56 Gears

Tires
44x18.5x16.5 Ground Hawgs

3” body lift

Front suspension/Drivetrain
8” Superlift springs
DIY4X E-Z inches
DIY4X extended shackles
Dana 60
Sky Manufacturing Crossover


Rear suspension/Drivetrain
6” Pro Comp Springs
4”Pro Comp block kit
14 Bolt FF

But first, I’ll give y’all the rundown on how my truck got to this state and became THRILLBILLY.

4x4’s run in the family. My dad had one when he was in high school and it was “the talk of the town” so he says. I believe him though, not only did he have just any lifted truck, it was lifted and on 44’s!

My Dad and his baby

My mom when they were dating

My oldest cousin getting sized up by the tire

So just like any kids dream, I had to have one just like it. Well, that dream came true just a little after I graduated. It came true in the form of a beat up 1989 K5 blazer. It belonged to an older friend of mine who was just out of the military and didn’t have a need for an old hunk of junk sitting in the driveway. At the same time I had recently pulled the 5.7 TBI out of what was gonna be my first truck so he offered the whole thing to me for $100. SIGN ME UP!!! I took him up on his offer and went to pick it up a few days later. Upon arriving to drive it home he said keep your money, I don’t need it. ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? A running K5 your just gonna let me have?! Needless to say it hasn’t been free since, and that’s where the building begins…


This thing was hideous… Rusted half cab, faded paint job, mismatched tires, missing ignition, missing front driveshaft, and a transmission that only had 1st gear. But dang was I in love! Luckily I only lived about 3 miles from his house so I drove it straight to the Walmart that was on the way home (flat bottom boat hanging out the back that was included) to pick up the essentials, oil, filter, air filter, $100 worth of fuel treatment etc. and headed home! I was in heaven.


I get home and surprise my parents with my recent vehicle acquisition... They were uhhh…. Surprised to say the least. My younger sister however, was just as thrilled as I was about it!

my sister

me and her bringing class to the neighborhood

 

[THRILLBILLY]

First things first, I ditched the boat so I could close the tailgate, changed fluids, found out that the governor gear was the reason I only had first gear, and began to hunt a set of matching tires down. Well there was no luck after a few weeks of searching so I called up 4 Wheel Parts to find out what kind of deals they had. Turns out I called just in time for the buy 3 get 1 free Pro Comp tire sale! I purchased 4 brand new 35x12.50x15 Mud terrains to put on my truck. Well I didn’t think about it at the time but this thing didn’t have a lift kit! Only a 3’’ body lift was in place so tire clearance was MINIMAL!!!

New tires!

After putting the tires on a just couldn’t wait for rain so I found a drainage ditch and got after it!

I tinkered with it here and there with my vague knowledge of 4x4s until one day, I lost reverse gear and then that really bummed me out. The truck sat, sat, and sat some more for 3 years at my uncles shop until I finally scrounged up enough money to rebuild the transmission. While installing the transmission I pieced together a 4” lift from some of my uncles buddies and had what seemed to be a brand new truck! Then little did I know that while sitting for 3 years with no kind of movement, a few valves seized up, then I blew a head gasket while trying to make it down a mud road with no 4wd still…

Well only being "a kid" at this point a removed the heads and replaced them with rebuilt stock heads from City Motors in Dallas. If I could only go back and actually build a motor like I want now!

My sister is always a big help!

 

[THRILLBILLY]

I got it moving again and tinkered with it more and more, swapped gears from the 3.08s to 3.73s, had some exhaust work done, etc. until the next speed bump came along…

Wish I had some pictures of it but I’ve lost them through the years so I’ll give you a visual; 12 bolt rear end, doing 70mph down the road, the pinion nut lets loose allowing the pinion gear to fall into the carrier resulting in the most sudden and terrifying stop in my life!!! well I replaced it with another 12 bolt and another 12 bolt, and another 12 bolt, until 2 years later one holds together for what I need it for. FINALLY I had made it to a point where I was content, the front was re geared, to match the back I finally had four wheel drive, the truck seemed to be doing fine and we had some fun with it for the next year.

 

[THRILLBILLY]

and some more for y'alls viewing pleasure:

What rescued me:

added some color to the wheels:

 

[THRILLBILLY]

I was still missing what I really wanted though, a truck as big and bad as my dad had in his rompin’ stompin’ days. And so it began…

I gathered up parts here and there for about 4 months until I had what was gonna make my truck awesome!

Thanks to my sister, my buddies, and an abundance of energy drinks, we pulled an all nighter and had finally made my truck into a miniature Grave Digger!

 

[THRILLBILLY]

I purchased some old dry rotted 44’’ Gumbo Mudders to complete the ensemble.

 

[THRILLBILLY]

Well we showboated the truck around town for a few months, lit up the kids faces with a smile, and pissed off the eco friendly folks. It was pretty much mall crawler status at this point. We were back in the 2wd game because of the big lift and short front driveshaft, so we couldn’t go out and play like we wanted to. We got a big rain a few days later so we wanted to see what kind of mess we could make of a field runoff ditch… Then I finally got to experience what everyone including members on here had told me, about a 12 bolt holding up to 44’s, and how a dry rotted tire shouldn’t be ran on the highway…

 

[stockk5]

seems like a great build and i love the family history behind it. Thats why i love mine so much!

 

[THRILLBILLY]

I finally got some sense knocked into me to go 1 ton if I plan on running 44’s.

The result:

I also got a awesome deal on some new shoes:

 

[THRILLBILLY]

Now by this point were at its current state. Upgrades are slow right now being that I’m engaged and saving for the big day, but there are big plans on the horizon so stay tuned!

 

[THRILLBILLY]

seems like a great build and i love the family history behind it. Thats why i love mine so much!

Thanks man! If it wasn't for my dad I would have nothing to do with 4x4's and I'd probably be finding a way to stuff my 6' 4" 260lb self in a Honda CRX right now... haha

 

[eclipse85k10]

Your dad sounds like a good man. And I'm the same size and my favorite vehicle is my 89 sub

 

[THRILLBILLY]

Your dad sounds like a good man. And I'm the same size and my favorite vehicle is my 89 sub

Thanks, he has definitely helped me along the way!

And I won't have it any other way than fullsize!

 

[82K10SBC]

Looks good brotha!!! Glad I'm not the only monster truck on here!

 

[THRILLBILLY]

Looks good brotha!!! Glad I'm not the only monster truck on here!

Thanks man! We're few and far between nowadays! Haha

 

[Agent_Orange]

MI GUSTA, AMIGO!

translation....

THAT IS ONE BAD ASS TRUCK BRO!!!!!!

 

[wage92]

sweet build man, you said up front you have 8" springs, ez inch and shackle extension? how does the extension work?

 

[THRILLBILLY]

sweet build man, you said up front you have 8" springs, ez inch and shackle extension? how does the extension work?

All it is, is a shackle that is longer than the stock 4 1/2" one. It drops the rear of the spring down to move it away from the frame with the higher lift spring. It is used for many things but it will bet you some lift as well, just need to be careful with them and not get them too long as it will mess with caster angles.

 

[Brian_D]

whoa! nice!

 

[wage92]

All it is, is a shackle that is longer than the stock 4 1/2" one. It drops the rear of the spring down to move it away from the frame with the higher lift spring. It is used for many things but it will bet you some lift as well, just need to be careful with them and not get them too long as it will mess with caster angles.

how long are the ones you have installed?