Wanting to buy a K5/1500 blazer and need advice.

[Bravo2]

All I found so far here locally in the last week is a 85 thats got a 305 motor, probably a 208 transfer case, and I know its got over drive so it must be a 700r4 trans. I know the auto hubs in front in are gone and need replaced. The guy wants 2200.00 says he don't want to take less than that. Paint needs painted sometime and has 2 small dent areas that looks fixable. Its black with red interior. I know I would replace the motor in it for a 350 motor.
I do like the rims and aftermarket grill on it though. It appears no rust on the body and interior is in pretty good shape for a old truck. Think the body is whats got me sold on it.
I found a 89 or so model today not forsure if for sale yet but will find out tomorrow and its already raised a good 4" or so. It has rusted out places on both front fenders. But overall I like it just hope its a 350 in it and its forsale. Its black with a bluish gray interior. If its a 350 and cheaper than the 85 model I would jump on it forsure providing I can buy it,lol.
I also found a 89 model today thats got a 350 FI in it but needs new tires and sat for 3-4 yrs,needs bench seat,needs cleaned up and a paint job and so on. It be 2 weeks before I find out what the automotive shop wants for it since he will be selling it basically for what he has spent on work he done to it and owner never paid and since recently deceased. this one is white with red interior and needs painted asap more than the other two forsure.
I want to have a black blazer preferably with a 350 motor prefer a FI one. From what I read a 400 turbo be best but I don't think i got that option in any of these listed. I don't know what axles are in these listed. I think all most likely have a 208 transfer case and read the 205 is most likley what everyone wants. dana 60's with 35 spline axles in front and rear be nice but don't know if I can find that here not looked yet. I guess a 14 bolt and dana 44 be fine. I'm not sure whats on these blazers stock?
I don't know which is more desirable a 85 model or a 89 or so model? Is there a certain year preferred due to stock components? Is the 89 model with side by side headlights that are smaller any better brightness then the 85 model which is 2 sets stacked one high beam and one low beam but lens are little bigger then the 89 models I looked at or does it not really make any difference other than looks?

 

[B_to_C]

Welcome to CK5.

The 89 is more desirable. It will have TBI (Throttle Body Injection) and a 241 transfer case instead of the 208. All the of the blazers you are looking at had 10 bolt axles front and rear stock and either a 700r4 auto transmission or a sm465 manual transmission.

It took me 6 months to find a blazer that matched what I wanted, so don't feel like you have to settle for what you see in the first couple of days (unless you REALLY need a vehicle RIGHT now...in which case you probably shouldn't be buying a rusty 20 year old truck anyways)

I don't know about actual light ouput from headlights but I certainly do like the looks of the 89 grill a lot better than the 85.

Good luck!

 

[Bravo2]

Any of the blazers have a heavy axle besides just 10 bolt axles like say a dana 44 or something in any of the years of the blazers made?

I think the 89 white blazer is a 350, it had a sticker in front of the fan that had a "DH" and below that it said 5.7 liter, so I'm hoping its a 350 motor the guy thought he was told it was a 305 but the sticker says differently.

Now the black 85' blazer it had a aftermarket grill which was the nicest grill I seen on one. Looked like a kinda chrome horizontal lined grill look. Now the guy says that it has 308 gear in the front and rear in the 85 blazer. That seems high end for a 4x4 but I don't know whats common in them either.

I am already having a ahrd time finding aftermarket bumpers/brushguards for these models in 70's and 80's. The arb design is sharp but they do not list one foe anything past the 90's. 4x4 iron makes a nice cool looking rear bumper. Anyone know who makes bumpers and brushguards for the old blazers?

 

[resurrected_jimmy]

All blazers will ride on 10 bolt axles or 12 bolt rear and D44 front. The Dana 44 axle isn't any stronger than a 10 bolt so don't get hung up on looking for a HD axle combo. Differential gear can be as high as 2.73 or low as 3.73 and once in a while you find 4.10's. Find a good solid truck and customize it to your liking. Billit grill inserts and bumpers are easy enough to find and shouldn't be a deciding factor in the vehicle you buy. The search feature on this site will provide you with a wealth of info on every aspect of these vehicles. There are several vendors here that specialize in bumpers, rock sliders, tire carriers and all sorts of parts to dress up and protect your truck. Try looking on lmctruck.com for a bilet grill insert. As stated above, do not settle for what you find right now if its not what you want. Good examples of K5's show up for sale fairly often so if you r not in a hurry, hold out and learn more about these vehicles before you buy.

Welcome to CK5

 

[AFUFO]

My 88 jimmy was sitting on a lot for 5 years.. paid 2900 before gas prices rocketed. Could get for half the price now. Body mostly good, exterior perfect cept for some surface rust which i am taking care of with rust bullet. You should probably hold off on buying a blazer, you should research more. Give it a couple months =). There was a bit i didnt know to check on mine, im on 35s(10 bolts) with 2.73 gears.. still goes though but the tranny is stressed. I wasnt happy with what i ended up with for the price after i started learning.

Dont make a mistake and buy the first you see. Check around a bit. Check online listings such as Craigslist.org , autotrader, cars.com, ebay.. etc. Even Myspace has a classifieds area.

And also
10 bolt front, and d44, as said...same strength overall..
The first years had a D44 front, and 12 bolt rear (12bolt a little stronger and bigger than 10b), then in late 70s(pretty sure late 70s..76-80), they didnt have the d44/12b anymore. 10 bolts were standard. Unless your going bigger than 33s shouldnt need anything stronger. Iv seen 44s on 10bolts however they are street-only trucks.

Also if you read a bit more you will find a TH400 (never offered in the K5s stock) will be overkill for a stock 305 or 350. TH350 is the average choice for smallblock.. i think up untill the late 70s they too were stock in the K5s, TH350s i mean.

Hope this helps.

EDIT
Check Ck5.com , on the menu to the left, click specifications.. =D

 

[NewUser]

like everyone else has said unless you absolutley HAVE to have something to drive right now dont jump on the first thing that comes along....ive done that before and after i jumped on something then a couple days later something even better came along and i ended up kicking myself for not waiting

i started looking for a K5 and about a week later ended up buying this one

heres a link to the rest of the pics http://s12.photobucket.com/albums/a221/BeeMopar/Blazer/ ...the bottom 3 are what it looked like when i first found it.....i paid $1200...down from the asking price of $2000 but im having to have the 350 rebuilt next week due to a couple bad rod bearings


Keith