Suspension work done

[68Timber]

I bought Western Chassis 2" drop shackles and Belltech 3" drop spindles and a set of Belltech shocks and went at it at a friends shop. Nothing went as planned.

The upper and lower control arms were removed, media blasted, primed and painted satin black after getting new ball joints and bushings. Rod ends were replaced as well.

First, much thanks to Paul who owns the shop and Dale who went over the top making a custom tank filler tube. Both of them never hesitated to back up and do it right no matter what we came across. There were plenty of obstacles and funnys along the way but I'll stick to what was done.

First off, my truck in Paul's shop:



LCA, ready for paint:



The fuel filler tube really took some work. The bracket on the tub that the tower clamp secures the stock filler tube was chiseled off and relocated to the rear edge on the outside of the fender well. If I didn't describe that well, see pics. Dale used sections of scrap exhaust pipe available to cut it and ended up with five sections tacked together for trial fit. It was spot on so it was welded up, painted a fleck paint, and mounted. It is longer, it's harder to get in place, and some of the paint got rubbed off to primer. But its in there and it does not leak.

Dale, rightfully proud after his effort. You know you have a good bud when he's making it as perfect as if it were going on his car:



On the truck, on the lift, full droop. Despite what it may look like, it will clear hyper-extension or full on-the-bump-stops compression:





The Belltech 3" drop spindles just plain wouldn't work with 15x10 rallys with 4.5" backspacing. I sent them back and bought a pair of Ground Force 3" lowering springs. The factory spindles were media blasted and painted and put back on the truck.

Truck on the ground:






Now the wider track in front is bothering me and I'm trying to decide how to address that. I'll know soon.

Engine next...

[tobiahr]

I was thinking about getting the 3 inch spindles but was worried about clearance myself. What exactly was causing the issues? I've got a set of 17 inch wheels someone owes me so i may get the spindles anyway.

[68Timber]

The problem with 3" drop spindles is that the spindle is moved up 3" and with 15" wheels you have clearance issues with the lower control arms. Depending on the back-spacing, 15" wheels can be used with a little grinding on the lower control arm.

If you're going to use 17" rims, it is not an issue. Go for it.

[dieselarmy13]

Love your Blaze, and love your avitar. You should give 2.5'' spindles a try. Just a thought....

By the way, you are one lucky man to have a friend with a shop like that.

[blazn79]

Looks good Bro, here's some pics of mine before she gets dropped,
I'll post some pics of the suspension work while it's getting done
doing a 5/6 drop!

H.

[tvblazer78]

That is very cool, your the first one that I have seen that has done that on the gas tank. Good job..

[68Timber]

Thanks, Trav. I'd asked them to help put the lowering stuff on. Dale called me back, they'd decided if it was going to be done, may as well go through the front end and rebuild it and do everything right. I was more than happy with that. The front and rear have settled, it's about an inch lower front and rear now. I've just got to decide how to handle the front track width. I've got an idea, I just need to another price.

blazn79, that's a good looking truck. You got a better engine than I did, mine's still all stock. For now. Post some pics when you lower it!

[blazn79]

Thanks Blazin, It didn't look like that when I got it, believe me
it had headers on it and it was dirty but lots of scrubbing and cleaning!
My oldman had a set of OE Exhaust manifiolds from a chevy truck that I had blasted, then had my exhaust guy mount them when he did the exhaust
and it looks good now, luckally the valve cover paint wasn't peeling or chipped
so they cleaned up nice and I picked up a can of GM Corporate blue for the
block and painted the brackets black and alt. silver threw on some K&N's to let the the quadra-bog breath and she runs like a champ now!

We dropped the back yesterday w/ the new Leafs from Husky, new shackles
and hardware from LMC, McGaughys 73-87 flip kit and belltech nitrodrop 2's
I had a set of DJM 88-98 shock extenders from a previous build that I shortened to work on the shock mounts on the rearend
and it came out kick-ass we put it back on the ground
and the 15's were tucked about an 1/2 inch behind the rear quarter, Next Tues. we'll be doing the front w/ DJM 3" Control arms and a 2" coil w/ Belltech
nitro 2's and a 1 3/8 belltech swaybar!
I'll get some more pics next week when its all done!

H.

[73k5kid]

Has me itching to lower my 73, all in good time

[blazn79]

If it's 2wd it's a must do!
I can wait till mine is done next week, stay tuned in for updated pics!

H.

[jdurant]

Hey man, your Blazer is looking good!
I wish I would've spoken up before now. I wasn't sure before, but I kinda saw that coming with the 10" fronts. I never understood why you didn't just refinish the 8"s for the front since they came from the factory with a narrower trackwidth in the rear--which really drives me nuts. What's your idea to fix it at this point? I'm about to send you a pm.

[68Timber]

Originally Posted by dieselarmy13

Love your Blaze, and love your avitar. You should give 2.5'' spindles a try. Just a thought....

By the way, you are one lucky man to have a friend with a shop like that.

Thanks, man. About my buds? Don't I know it - I'm just a parts swapper, they're the mechanics who made it look good and went the extra mile for me.

[68Timber]

Originally Posted by jdurant

Hey man, your Blazer is looking good!
I wish I would've spoken up before now. I wasn't sure before, but I kinda saw that coming with the 10" fronts. I never understood why you didn't just refinish the 8"s for the front since they came from the factory with a narrower trackwidth in the rear--which really drives me nuts. What's your idea to fix it at this point? I'm about to send you a pm.

Chalk that up to inexperience. In my time I've had two K5's for daily drivers for a combined total of 11 years. But both the previous two were 4x4's. So lowering these 2wd trucks is new ground for me. About ten years ago a friend stopped by in a 2wd Blazer and his wheel/tire combo filled the wheel-wells and were flush with the body. It looked like a K5 slot car. I don't know what he had, but that was the look I was shooting for...

Right now I'm thinking about taking two of my original rallys for powdercoating and getting 235/70's mounted up. They are .2" lower than the rears and have a 9" section width. That should make it look "right".

If anyone is thinking different, stop me now, the power coaters and tire guys are starting to love me.

[Hoods69BadBowTie]

Damn looks good sitting closer to the ground I like it.

[68Timber]

The truck sat at Paul's shop longer than anticipated because I had to return the drop spindles and go with springs, and the rear shocks sent were too short. In the meantime Paul asked me what I was going to name it - funny timing because after all the time I spent over his media blaster and painting parts black and blue, I already knew. Bruiser. Hence the screen name change.

The truck is going to sit until March, I'm old and don't like to work in the cold. And even if I were younger, it's too cold to paint the engine bay. A 500 hp 383 crate engine is in the works and my cousin is working on a TH400 to take it plus spray. Before I pull the engine I've got to get 4.10's in and an Eaton Posi installed.

I haven't posted lately, but the project is far from dead. The truck may be named Bruiser, but the effort itself has been dubbed PROJECT TAILGATE.

I hope to have some updates soon.

[tvblazer78]

Sweet post some pics when you get time.

[jdurant]

I didn't even know you were painting it. I second the motion to post pics.

[68Timber]

It'll be repainted eventually, but last. The engine and transmission are next. The painting I was talking about were the suspension parts when we were dropping the truck - everything was media-blasted and painted either satin black or corporate blue.

Nothing will change for a few months. When it warms up I'll pull the engine and paint the firewall and the rest of the engine bay. Then it'll be ready for the crate engine and TH400. I plan to run it ugly (as-is) after that and have fun beating up on other stuff with my bad paint and cracked seats. Then it'll be time for paint/upholstery/carpet. It'll be a lot more fun on the street while it sounds like it might be something but looks like nothing.

[BigDaddyDave]

Looks good!