Hello from Morongo Valley

[farfromhome63]

Hey Guys,

I'm Steve Ive been lurking for a while. I used to have a ram but I am back to Chevy's, I just acquired a pretty nice 78 blazer. It was my dads truck and he decided it should be mine! Pretty sweet bday present!
Any who, I wanted to see what your opinion was considering id like to change up the suspension a bit.

Here is what I know, It has a 4 inch lift from trail master or tough country. The rear has blocks.
Its got a front 8 lug d44 and a 14bolt rear axle. new 35s and the drive train is all redone banning drive line yadayadayada...

I want to do some prerunning maybe some crawling. Not really racing it but I want it to perform. I was tossing around some link ideas maybe rad arms in the front. some Deavers in the rear.

I also thought the simplest route might be deavers all around??? I have no experience with deaver but I know you can make a leaf work decent with a nice res shock. and the correct valving of course.
what do you all think?
Sorry for the long winded post.

Thanks -Steve

[Blanco]

Welcome to the site! :D
Can you post some picture of your B-Day present?

[farfromhome63]

I pick it up tommorow, I will take some pics.
Funny thing is Ive been a member since 07 lol. Aka Lurker...

[Blanco]

I pick it up tommorow, I will take some pics.
Funny thing is Ive been a member since 07 lol. Aka Lurker...

LOL! you've been lurking from the start huh!?!?! http://bestsmileys.com/lol/5.gif

Its about time you came out of the shadows.. :D welcome! & dont be so shy, as you should know by now we all try to be as helpful as possible to all.

[farfromhome63]

you mean to tell me this place isnt like pirate????

[Blanco]

you mean to tell me this place isnt like pirate????

No we wont talk a bunch of crap to you for asking silly questions if thats what you mean & I edit mean behavior & language as much as I can.

But you should already know this by now if you've been lurking all this time.

[farfromhome63]

lol I did just making sure. Well I look forward to sharing my project with you guys, I know youll appreciate what I doing.. trust me I know what you guys have been up to. No good!

[farfromhome63]

http://img842.imageshack.us/img842/8219/20110605162112.th.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/842/20110605162112.jpg/)
http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/6973/20110605110905.th.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/231/20110605110905.jpg/)
http://img831.imageshack.us/img831/4268/20110605090939.th.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/831/20110605090939.jpg/)
Anyone know who makes that shock?

[Blanco]

How much smog equipment is required on that year?
Look like a nice toy. :cool:

[farfromhome63]

It has egr charcol canister, a cat, thermal tube to the aircleaner. and a few other things. None of it really sucks power. The engine has 10k on it. as far as I know its a small block with an rv cam and headers with an performer intake.
Its not slow but it doesnt really get out of its own way... not sure what it is..

[farfromhome63]

Oh almost forgot it was my dads truck.

[farfromhome63]

Cleaned truck out and removed front sway bar flexes a bit more now. also rides a bit better. I have to get a new battery tommorow. well see how it goes after that.

[farfromhome63]

Well head gasket is toast..

[farfromhome63]

Well its been a while guys.. done some work on the blazer.

Replaced Head gasket and drove it for a bit.
Changed up the front springs and that helped a bit(i added springs with more arch to help with droop.

Popped a tire broke a few more things etc.. broke frame at steering box..

Now I have the steering box repair kit from ORD going to install sat.

I am ordering some springs from ALCAN for the front.
Does anyone have any experience with them? I get some weird responses in email I just wonder if its because he things Im not serious? I really like the price, they are 300 cheaper than deaver which allows me todo this now..

[blue dog]

No experience here with Alcan, but a good set of springs that are tuned or dialed in and a good set of shocks that are dialed in will make all the difference in the world. Good luck.

[retroblazer]

No experience here with Alcan, but a good set of springs that are tuned or dialed in and a good set of shocks that are dialed in will make all the difference in the world. Good luck.

Alcan should be capable of getting you something, but is it really that much cheaper after shipping? One of the biggest improvements is to put a set of rear springs up front on a K-5.

[farfromhome63]

Hey Chris,

its around 550-570 with shipping to my door. Deavers are 750.. I talked to Stephen watson at ORD and he said the problem with the rear leaves up front is the spring rate is to low which makes them a floppy noodle.
Alcan makes the spring with the front part of the eye stock length so I maintain the factory front hangar, the rears get moved back a few inches.
Im actually glad you chimed in because id like to know what your truck rides like?
Thanks guys!

[retroblazer]

Hey Chris,

its around 550-570 with shipping to my door. Deavers are 750.. I talked to Stephen watson at ORD and he said the problem with the rear leaves up front is the spring rate is to low which makes them a floppy noodle.
Alcan makes the spring with the front part of the eye stock length so I maintain the factory front hangar, the rears get moved back a few inches.
Im actually glad you chimed in because id like to know what your truck rides like?
Thanks guys!

Ignore what Watson says, he only knows what he is doing 99% of the time. The stock frt. springs are too short. The rear conversion results in a more workable spring length, if you have to stiffen them, easy enough. You could even run them soft and add a coil-over off a front hoop. If you haven't read CK5's website on this, you should, although it sounds like the Alcans may be the best place to start.
Not to harp of the Deaver thing, but they are local to you and if you need to make adjustments, they will be easier work with. If I assume that shipping from CO to CA is equal to the taxes we pay in CA, then I would ask what is the actual difference in the springs? Is if leaf count or thickness, or quality?

You ask how my Blazer rides. The first thing that comes to mind is "pay my entry fee to a race and hop in the right seat to find out yourself", but I would have to say that the Blazer is great in the dirt, but is a lousy highway cruiser. The steering has a ton of bumpsteer. My steering box is mounted inside the frame rails, so the drag link is short. It would not be a good daily driver.
Don't forget, once you get more travel up front, the driveshaft will become critical. Jesse at High Angle Driveline can take care of you on this matter. He is one of the few that has a suitable long spline shaft that works. It will almost equal the cost of your springs.

[farfromhome63]

Well what does an entry fee cost nowdays?

I spoke to alcan a bit more. basically the difference is the price, it seems that they build them the same way everyone else does maybee a little softer in the end.
I have a driveshaft guy down in hesperia who does some koh rigs..
I understand the deaver thing but the price I quoted was with shipping, deaver is 750... that is enough difference to pay for one shock or almost my driveline.
Im going to see what happens and I will report back.

[farfromhome63]

well I thought about it a lot and decided that I need steering and brakes before I can upgrade the springs. Also shocks.
I need todo crossover steering, longer brake lines and also may try some longer springs from the junkyard first. I cant justify spending that money on springs that may or may not work for me.. Ill just save and go deaver sounds like the best bet in the long run.

[retroblazer]

The entry fee for a VORRA short course race is about $400. That's three heat races per day.
I actually have the Deaver springs in question under my the front of my 94 Sub. with cross over steering. You are welcome to drive it. I don't know when I'll be down is SoCal since it such an expensive pig to drive, but if you have some reason to be in SF, I'm only a couple of miles off I-5.

[farfromhome63]

Got any pictures? Of it or the blazer front setup?

[farfromhome63]

So I fixed a few issues with the blazer. and took it out for a spin on sunday.

I was doing really well and ended up on some mountain dirt roads kind of rallyish.. and my throttle cable broke. boy that woke me up! I rigged it and got to autozone and got a new spring.

Im really happy with it right now, I welded the rear diff so its basically a spool and I changed up the front springs so it has a little bit of play.
We fixed the broken frame at the steering box with a ord repair kit and that made it night and day.

Im going to have to hold off on the springs for now cause I have a little one on the way. so Ill try these rear springs up front first and see where that gets me.