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What shock length and other parts do I need for 4" spring lift?

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Grantshire

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Picked up a nice set of 4" lift springs for my daughter's M1009 the other day, front and back, but all I got was the springs. I have ordered new bushings (old looked good but thought it was a good idea anyway) but still need to buy shocks and what ever else needs to be changed. I am a Jeep guy (FSJ, CJ and M715):p: so messing with a Chevy is new territory for me.

Have always been partial to the Edelbrock IAS shocks, run them on all my Jeeps and love the way they ride and handle, but I think they got out of the shock business last year. Can someone give me a collapsed and extended shock length for an 86 M1009 K5 Blazer, front and back? This rig will not see offroad/wheeling use, just muddy/snowy fields pulling my daughter's small horse trailer. It will have a set 35" BFG AT's from my Scrambler (Chevy and Jeep are both 6 on 5.5"); rear fits fine without the lift but front needs the lift to go above the stock 31", and any steering modifications required when doing a 4" lift on a Blazer.

I could do a 4" lift on one of my Jeeps in my sleep but not sure what all needs to be addressed on a Blazer. All advice, assistance, words of wisdom, parts information, etc. are appreciated.:bow:
 
jms said:
Can't help w/ M1009 shock length, but if you're not after max. articulation, why not use a shock spec'd for a 4" lift? Personally, I've had good luck with Procomp MX-6; I've replaced them recently with Bilstein 5125. Also, there's a recent thread about using Superduty shocks...

Steering corrections: options are raised steering arm or drop pitman arm. Drop pitman arm may not be enough to bring the draglink parallel to the front spring and cut out bump steer.

Brakes: you may be able to just drop the brackets for the soft lines. I'm partial to longer steel braided lines, but many peeps prefer to use front lines from a 1/2 ton Chevy, '92-99 (they're longer than the stock Blazer lines). Best to search the forum a bit, the NAPA part #s are floating around somewhere.

Hard to predict whether the driveshafts will be happy. If there are vibes after installing the lift, a cheap fix is to drop the t'case crossmember by 1" and see if that fixes things. CV driveshaft is a $$$ solution. Dropping the case might fix the rear d-shaft angle, but will make the front worse. I've ran my truck like that for years w/o much of an issue.

And you'll probably get some grief for towing with the stock rear axle, or running 35's w/o re-gearing. At the least, an auxiliary transmission cooler would be a good thing to have.
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Thanks for the information and input, looks like the K5/Oh-9 issues are the same as Jeeps. Issues surrounding a Jeep 4" lift differ depending on wheelbase. I was hoping the Blazer wheelbase was long enough to "get by" on some of this for a non wheeled rig. Not much of a dropped pitman fan so I may have to look at crossover steering or other corrective measures. I have looked at the brake lines and they will probably be long enough when dropped, if not, I will replace with braided.

Somewhere down the road I plan a 700R4 conversion with different axles and gearing. It gets an average of 16 mpg combined city/highway now with the 3.08 gears and 35" tires. It is a slug off the line (I like that since there is a teenager behind the wheel) but cruises happily at 65-70 mph. I would think a 700R4 with 4.10 gears would improve acceleration and highway mpg.

Not really worried about towing the horse trailer because it is not the typical American trailer. The European trailers are very light and balanced to have very little tongue weight. They are designed to be pulled by small European cars with small engines and high gears. I have seen a stock Mercedes 240D, small BMW, and Volvo sedan pulls this trailer with ease. Even so, external tranny cooler is always a good idea.

Thanks again for the help and advice.
 
i would think hard about the 700R4 swap. I was considering it myself for a while, but the general consensus is that for full size blazers, especially with lifts and bigger tires, they generally arent thought of as being strong enough.

more common for overdrive gears are a 4L80-E transmission. The only problem there is the computer controls are expensive. you can get around this by installing a full manual valvebody. which was also my plan..... until i was educated about the NV4500 which is my current plan. If youre not doing any serious wheeling, i have read about a guy who installed the less expensive NV3500 transmission (which also arguably has better gear ratios) and was enjoying it quite well.

guess that would all depend on if your daughter can drive stick or not.
 
the 3.08 gov bomb'd 10b will not be happy with 35's.. consider swapping to some axles with 3.73's and an open rear if you want to stay half tons and with the th400. I would highly recommend a 3/4 ton swap.. 35's are a heavy tire and a Blazer is heavy.
 
K5dreamer said:
i would think hard about the 700R4 swap. I was considering it myself for a while, but the general consensus is that for full size blazers, especially with lifts and bigger tires, they generally arent thought of as being strong enough.

more common for overdrive gears are a 4L80-E transmission. The only problem there is the computer controls are expensive. you can get around this by installing a full manual valvebody. which was also my plan..... until i was educated about the NV4500 which is my current plan. If youre not doing any serious wheeling, i have read about a guy who installed the less expensive NV3500 transmission (which also arguably has better gear ratios) and was enjoying it quite well.

guess that would all depend on if your daughter can drive stick or not.
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Very interesting... It amazes me the different trains of thought between forums/boards and makes. I am on several other 4x4 boards specific to Jeep models I own, Scrambler, Full-size Jeep, Commando, and M715. The CJ crowd want to upgrade to Dana 60's and 14 bolt axles for 33" and larger tires and the Commando guys want to upgrade to CJ axles for the same tires. FSJ guys go for the 700R4 behind built 360 and 401 engines or a NV4500 and the M715 guys want school bus 5 speeds or the 4L80. It is interesting to hear the prespective from the full size GM point of view. I was under the impression the 700R4 could be built to handle the 6.2 without any issues. Yes, I would prefer the 4L80 but the stand alone computer is about a grand.

As for the NV4500, that is what is behind the 6.2 in my M715 and I have a spare under my workbench. But to be honest, I don't care for it as a daily driver. First gear is useless unless your crawling or pulling up stumps so it is really a 3 speed with an OD. I prefer manual transmissions with a closer gear ratio, especially behind a diesel since their power band is so narrow.

All moot points right now as my daughter doesn't know how to drive a manual (but wants to learn). For now it is the stock TH400, axles and gearing, lift and AC (Mom) have priority.
 
of course the 700R4 was used behind the 6.2L in civilian trucks, which is why i had been looking at the swap. should be direct bolt in swap if you find a doner, get the driveshafts, and all that jazz. I think the major worry with many regarding the use of a 700R4 in full size trucks is that its usually a matter of time before upgrades to lift, tire size, and power start to happen. A well built 700R4, with a good size tranny cooler, may be able to handle light use, but for towing a horse trailer, id be a bit worried. But to be completely fair, ive never tried it.
 
jms said:
Hard to predict whether the driveshafts will be happy. If there are vibes after installing the lift, a cheap fix is to drop the t'case crossmember by 1" and see if that fixes things. CV driveshaft is a $$$ solution. Dropping the case might fix the rear d-shaft angle, but will make the front worse. I've ran my truck like that for years w/o much of an issue.
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Do not do this. Dropping the tcase is not the way to fix anything and can mess your frame up.

You wont have rear dshaft issues with a 4in lift.
 
if you like a closer ratio manual, check out the NV3500, i do know of a guy on another forum that did the swap and was very very happy with it. I think for an otherwise stock M1009 id have no problems with putting that transmission in. But after talking to many on here, with the mods im planning to my M1009, and the crawl ratio that im after, i decided the NV3500 wasnt right for me.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Venture_Gear_3500_transmission

the gear ratios are down at the bottom of the page. seems there were wide ratio and close ratio versions of the transmission.

cant think of a much better platform for learning to drive stick than a diesel pickup. plenty of torque to avoid a stall, and so long as your not trying to race a ferarri, the long shift arm makes missing gears a bit more difficult. so knowing what gear your in and shifting is easier.
 
jms said:
:rolleyes:
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And I'm wrong? Its been discussed on here plenty of times. Hanging the torque of your drivetrain output on 4 little 1in pucks is a terrible idea.

And before you say it yes I am aware some trucks did roll out of the factory setup that way but common sense would suggest in proper installation on the assembly line.
 
dude if your just running a 4" lift which is what i run just cut the brake line brackets and let them hang u dont need em u do need a raised steering arm have fun gettin the old one off just undo the three bolts that hold it on and then beat the hell out of it beat it up and down until it pops off its gonna take atleast a 3lb sledge to budge it bds shocks are good shocks and pretty affordable use 2 degree shims front and rear on the leafs to lower the transfer case all you gotta do is support it undo the for bolts on the brace and put the spacers that are already on there in between the brace and the frame instead of on the outside of the brace like they come make sure u replace the old u joints and straps on the front and rear axle or youll just tear them out on your first trip around the block and unless youre planning on hardcore wheelin all the stock trans and motor and transfer case work just fine you dont have to do all the crazy swaps i drive mine pretty hard and dont have any problems with it oh make sure you use new u bolts and nuts too if you wanna save time gettin the old leafs out just go to the hardware store and buy new leafspring bolts and nuts and cut the old ones out tryin to get them out of mine was a nightmare so i just bought new bolts
 
I'm rebuilding an 84 M1009 that is in almost perfect condition. I purchased it without motor/trans/transfer. I am putting in a 91 J 6.2 coupled to a 700r4 w/208 TC. I was planning on using this truck just for driving around and wanted to ask opinions based on others factual experience. My donor diesel blazer (86', and no, motor did not come from this blazer) had 33" BF Goodrich tires on it. I would like to put them on this with the stock 3.08's. How will this truck be for just driving on the highway and general around town. Might plow just my drive using 4 low mostly. I would prefer to be at lowest rpms at 75 mph without truck being a dog or constantly shifting in and out of OD. This truck is intended for a daily driver with mileage and reliability in mind over off road performance.
Thanks in advance.
 
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