So I bought this K5 that someone started to convert to 2wd...

[floyd]

Since I have always wanted a 2wd 69-72 blazer to cruise during Hot August nights. A friend found this local on CL... (yes I bought it.....$800!)



The front has a stock front crossmember bolted(loosely) in, and the rear it has the 4wd six lug axle flipped on top of the leafs...

So heres my questions....
-How can I measure to make sure the front crossmember is in the correct spot?
-Opinions on putting the truck arm suspension in the rear( Im not planning on bagging it ever,got a 51 5 window on bags already....). I just wanna get it to sit right an cruise it!
-to get it to sit right on a modern set of 20s what is a good amount of drop for the front and still have a decent ride? ( I know rear will be experimenting because of the leafs....)
-since 6 lug rotors are available and 6 lug wheels are alot more popular due to all late model chevy trucks and tahoes are six lug.... are the offsets on the late model wheels gonna work or be too narrow?
-this truck is in need of a rear patch panel and a drivers floor section,seems blazer stuff doesnt really exist.What can I use?
rust pics


ok last question....should I feel bad about using my 72 LB c-10 for a parts vehicle...?

[bouncytruck]

This article from sport truck might help with the front cross member. http://www.sporttruck.com/techarticl...wd_conversion/

[floyd]

Originally Posted by bouncytruck

This article from sport truck might help with the front cross member. http://www.sporttruck.com/techarticl...wd_conversion/

Thanks for the link..... I found the measurement and mine looks like its in the correct spot.

[70cst]

Originally Posted by bouncytruck

This article from sport truck might help with the front cross member. http://www.sporttruck.com/techarticl...wd_conversion/

Good read

[floyd]

Originally Posted by 70cst

Good read

its a good read....but if you are gonna convert one...dont be scared to stretch the wheelbase front and rear to help center the tires in the fender openings...the factory did a terrible job... my front crossmember is forward of the stock position and the rear axle is at least an inch back...

[AHowe88]

Love the wrap! How many hours did the install take you?

[floyd]

Since Summit racing is local to me I found this panel for long beds repair.... can I cut that down and use it to fix my blazer?
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/AMD-755-4067-8L/

Also are truck floors the same? my 72 c-10 has the same rust...will this fix the blazer floor?

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/GMK-414350567AL/

[Kurt L]

i would flip that blazer and find a two wheel blazer to cruise in. why destroy a 4 wheel drive not many of them left here in jacksonville.but thats my .02 worth.

[floyd]

Originally Posted by Kurt L

i would flip that blazer and find a two wheel blazer to cruise in. why destroy a 4 wheel drive not many of them left here in jacksonville.but thats my .02 worth.

Since it already has the front crossmember in it....and the rear is flipped on top of the springs there is no going back..... IF I wanted a 4wd they are still fairly easy to find in nevada/california...

I was hoping for a few simple answers since im anything but a newbie to building cars....for example...(a car I finished a week ago....)


Or maybe a truck?


I just kinda figured this place would be more help.....

[Wasted Income]

Originally Posted by Kurt L

i would flip that blazer and find a two wheel blazer to cruise in. why destroy a 4 wheel drive not many of them left here in jacksonville.but thats my .02 worth.

FLOYD,
You can follow along with my build. I'm making slow but steady progress to converting a mint 4x4 to a 2wd with trailing arm rear.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...=529064&page=3

Warning: If easily offended by "destruction" of a factory 4x4, please don't click

[floyd]

Originally Posted by viking427

The stock 67-72 C10/Blazer/Suburb 2wd coil spring 12 bolt rear is what you want. It rides (and can be made to ride) much nicer than leafs and they're still plentiful. 67-70 2wd were 6 lugs, 71/72 were 5 lug. 6 lug will limit your wheel choices somewhat, lotsa guys change to the 71/72 5 lugs for this reason. No, the late model 6 lug wheels wont fit, too deep on the backside & the wheel tucks in too far ..looks silly even with spacers to make them fit. stock wheels with correct offset/backspace thatll work for you are 67-87. 2/4 drop should be all you need for 20's. 67-72 GM truck (C10/20/K10/20/Blazer/Jimmy/Burb) for your floor patches, 69-72 blazer for your rear patch (due to differences in curvature of panel in that location). 2 wd and 4 wd frames are different and a fair amount of changover will be needed (adding crossmembers, bracing) to convert it to 2wd. Id probably keep the 4wd frame & leaf setup if you just want to fix it up a bit for a low buck cruiser.

Thanks for the reply...

I was wondering about the bed patch panel.....it seems all I could find was a long bed that said it needed to be modified to work with the short bed to fit. I have noticed some guys on here using a new short bed,bed side as a blazer replacement ...so if that the case would this panel work for my repair?
http://www.brotherstrucks.com/prodin...number=RLB9S00

I have all of the 5 lug stuff off on my 72 c10 long bed as well as the coil/truck arm suspension.... once I get the blazer in the shop on the lift Ill decide if this is gonna be an all out build or a quicky and keep the leafs out back.

Originally Posted by Wasted Income

FLOYD,
You can follow along with my build. I'm making slow but steady progress to converting a mint 4x4 to a 2wd with trailing arm rear.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...=529064&page=3

Warning: If easily offended by "destruction" of a factory 4x4, please don't click

I have actually done some reading around and seen your thread. I dont mind cutting up a vehicle to build what you want......tastefully of coarse.... not every chevelle,camaro or nova was an SS.... but everyone has one...why not have the blazer you want...

I prefer my 4wd to do amazing things....this is how I wheel..

http://i1003.photobucket.com/albums/..._IMG_39031.jpg

[viking427]

Originally Posted by floyd

The front has a stock front crossmember bolted(loosely) in, and the rear it has the 4wd six lug axle flipped on top of the leafs... So heres my questions....
-Opinions on putting the truck arm suspension in the rear... I just wanna get it to sit right an cruise it!
-to get it to sit right on a modern set of 20s what is a good amount of drop for the front and still have a decent ride? ( I know rear will be experimenting because of the leafs.
-since 6 lug rotors are available and 6 lug wheels are alot more popular due to all late model chevy trucks and tahoes are six lug.... are the offsets on the late model wheels gonna work or be too narrow?
-this truck is in need of a rear patch panel and a drivers floor section,seems blazer stuff doesnt really exist.What can I use?

The stock 67-72 C10/Blazer/Suburb 2wd coil spring 12 bolt rear is what you want. It rides (and can be made to ride) much nicer than leafs and they're still plentiful. 67-70 2wd were 6 lugs, 71/72 were 5 lug. 6 lug will limit your wheel choices somewhat, lotsa guys change to the 71/72 5 lugs for this reason. No, the late model 6 lug wheels wont fit, too deep on the backside & the wheel tucks in too far ..looks silly even with spacers to make them fit. stock wheels with correct offset/backspace thatll work for you are 67-87. 2/4 drop should be all you need for 20's. 67-72 GM truck (C10/20/K10/20/Blazer/Jimmy/Burb) for your floor patches, 69-72 blazer for your rear patch (due to differences in curvature of panel in that location). 2 wd and 4 wd frames are different and a fair amount of changover will be needed (adding crossmembers, bracing) to convert it to 2wd. Id probably keep the 4wd frame & leaf setup if you just want to fix it up a bit for a low buck cruiser.

[PHAT TONY]

That pick-up actually looks pretty good to be choppin up for this Blazer, sell it for cash infusion lol. Truck repair panels should work fine.
Can't imagine ANYPLACE that 2wd Blazers are easier to come by than 4wd!

[floyd]

Originally Posted by PHAT TONY

That pick-up actually looks pretty good to be choppin up for this Blazer, sell it for cash infusion lol. Truck repair panels should work fine.
Can't imagine ANYPLACE that 2wd Blazers are easier to come by than 4wd!

Yeah thats my issue...would love to have started with a 2wd but I have actually ever only seen one for sale ever...and it was super rusty. And for the most part stuff doesnt rust here...it only gets imported!

Around here decent running 2wd,fairly rust free) long beds are $1500-$2000 all day long.... I cant build a motor and a trans for that..... I have never taken a good running truck apart to make one that doesnt....its a good old truck and Im gonna miss it,best riding vehicle I own. I hope the blazer rides as good with all its parts!!!

After more reading around here you guys talked me into swapping the rear suspension and going to 5 lug!

[mcmlxix]

73-87 front crossmember is a bolt in deal and has more aftermaket options... (drop spindles and bigger brakes)
Modern 6 Lug wheels dont usually fit because of offset and hub diameter...

[blue 72 gmc 4x4]

Nice 55! Can we see some more pics of it too!?

[floyd]

Ok so I started the deconstruction of my 72 donor truck today and have a couple questions that the article in the second post above didnt cover....

-Are the steering boxes(2wd to 4wd) different or can I just swap the pitman arm? I have both but was just curious....

-when converting to the trailing arm suspension in the rear does the blazer frame have the holes already in it for the stock trailing arm crossmember?

-Since there are no holes in the 4wd frame of the idler arm, I assume its just a measure and drill new ones in the correct spot to make it happen?

I did use the search function.....

[mcmlxix]

The 2wd and 4wd box is different... the pitman cannot be swapped. You can get any box from 69-87 c10 c20 c30 but there are still small differences in the power steering connections. SAE vs metric on the newer boxes...

For the trailing arm swap, I think you're just going to have to swap the crossmember over with measurements. I dont think there are any pre drilled holes....

[OLD K5]

Sweet cars you have restored. Can't wait to see how your Blazer ends up.

[floyd]

Started to take both the blazer and the truck apart a few days ago....didnt find any real suprizes other than the front crossmember in the blazer was in wrong....luckily it was only bolted in with 3-3/8ths bolts. Used the measurements from the truck(engine trans and front sheetmetal off) and set it in the correct spot,drilled and bolted it up.

Since this is planned to be my lo-budget pimpin II project Im planning on re-using as much stuff off of the 72 LB C10 as possible.... Ill start taking some pics and do a build thread for you guys in the next few days.....

[notsolo]

Here is what I did with my conversion, mostly used parts from 2wd cleaned repainted.... Side by side frame spec's help... (Thanks Rod.)..some modification needed to add coil spring perches...and relocate trans mount, and shocks. Keep it going.... Ed.

[Wasted Income]

Good info, thanks Notsolo

[floyd]

I have been making pretty good progress but have decided to keep the leaf springs out back for now.... since the flip had already been started(just bolted, no welded on axle pads yet....)

I wasnt really happy with how the axles on top of the leafs set in the fenderwells(wheels are offset alot to the front of the fender opening)....

So I bought a new set of axle saddles,offset drilled the axle centering hole 1",this stretched the wheel base slightly but centered the rear tires much better....



So now my only question I have is... can I swap the axleshafts and drums from my 5 lug 2wd axle, into my original 4x4 axle?

[notsolo]

Wheel centering looks good, check overall wheel base measurement center axle to center axle should be 104"...leaf springs already installed keeps the project moving. I also would like to know 6 lug axle to 5 lug axle swap

[floyd]

Originally Posted by notsolo

Wheel centering looks good, check overall wheel base measurement center axle to center axle should be 104"...leaf springs already installed keeps the project moving. I also would like to know 6 lug axle to 5 lug axle swap

I measured the wheelbase today and its right at 105", the rear looks right so Im gonna keep it. i put the engine/trans in and hung the front sheet metal front looks good too. But Im gonna have to go to summit and get some dropped spindles to have the front match the rear...

i have done some searching here but havent found a for sure answer on the 4wd rear axle being the same shafts as the 2wd...