Hey. I just bought my k5 blazer in november of last year. so far i've loved it. The guy i bought it off of let it sit for a while before i bought it so i have since replaced the alternator, starter, and when the fan ripped through the hood, i had to replace the rad and water pump. The tires i replaced when i was pulling my buddys 2wd dodge out of a ditch with about 2- 2 1/2 feet of snow. They were weather cracked and ripped while spinning i suspect. I was pretty impressed with the performance of the 4x4. I put on 31x10.5 15r toyo open country A/T's. Anyways. The reason i posted this is that I bought a 6" rough country lift kit for it, and i was wondering if im going to have to buy a new driveshaft when i go to get it put on? And also, how funny does a blazer looks with a 6" lift on 31s ? haha. Thanks for the help

It will likely look pretty weird. As far as the driveshafts go, the kit should detail what needs to be done in this regard...

Alright cool. And also, The steering in the truck has been pretty sloppy lately. Sometimes (about once every 3 or 4 days) The steering gets kind of tight, and whines like its low on power steering but its not. Some times it will just randomly pull to one side. Could that be the power steering pump going? And should i get stabilizers to accomidate for the lift, or would it matter as im not going with bigger tires?

I have 33's on my K5 and the steering is VERY light, but works quite well. If yours gets tight, it could be signs of a problem with the pump sucking air or internal problems in the steering box itself.

cool. thanks for the help man. If I get bigger tires eventually, What gearing would I need to put in the rear? And I was wondering if anyone has heard anything bad about the 6" rough country lift with rear blocks. Also, What are the disadvantages to rear blocks as opposed to springs?

Lift blocks allow more axle wrap. I would stay with a spring lift if you can.

I have the stock 3.73 gears in my K5 (D44 front / 12-bolt rear) with my 33's and it moves along quite well. If I were to go to larger tires/lift, I would get 4.10's.

im at 6 and its fin fin

Well if youre blazer if anything like mine then you need to run true duals on youre blazer when you lift it or run it without a front driveshaft. This is because of where the Y-pipe on the exhuast is. It is like this on the newer blazers too my dad had to run his without his front driveshaft untill he got true dual exhuast. It was like this on my blazer as well that is why i bought dual exhuast before any other engine mod.

Cool, well thanks for the advice!, but the truck has true duals already. I guess I am replacing the rear drive shaft and the lift should be in by monday!

I dont know if youve already been told but many people have told me that swapping the 700r for a th350 once you got the bigger tires on is a good idea. I havent had any problems myself but my truck hasnt seen any real offroading. I also have to comment on the driveshaft dilemma, my dad runs a 6" on his blazer and he runs stock driveshafts mind you he hasnt took it offroad. My older bro has a 76 chevy stepside and he runs stock driveshafts with a 6" and hes only broke his driveshaft once and well i havent done anything to put any real stress on my driveshafts but im running stock ones for now.

Started out with a 6.2 diesel and 700R4. First thing that happened was a previous owner pulled the 6.2 and put in a 350 out of a '69 Impala. That setup was 'all right', especially after I got rid of the jerry-rigged electrical system and put in a take-out harness from a junked Suburban.
The 700R4 puked on me, leaving me with only first gear to motate with. I put in a Turbo 350, with an adapter to keep the original driveshaft lengths. This all went well for about another 10K miles, then the transfer case decided it wouldn't shift into anything but Low 4.
As to the tranny swap, the 350 does not have as low a first gear as the 700R4, and no overdrive, both assets that were sorely missed after making the swap. If you're dealing with an original '82 700R4, I'd really, really, really consider going with a later tranny of the same configuration!
If you go to bigger tires, you'll WANT the lower first gear just to get going, and it's a plus in the muck and snow when you're grunting around.
I've run an original 700R4 in an '86 1500 Suburban 4X4 as well as another 1500 pickup of the same year, and they've held up to some serious grunt work, both nearing 250K with regular fluid and filter changes and adjustment on the TV cable.

I know this is an old post, wondering how you made out. and added my 2 cents
Except for gear ratio changing of the axles to compensate for larger tires, with 6" suspension lift you probably want to get both driveshafts lengthend about 1.5". I did this on my '85 Stepside. 4" lift in back and 5" in the front to level it out. with 35" tires it looks proportionately correct.
It's been running fine that way since I did the Lift back in '86. In 300K miles and only had to replace the 'u" joints twice.
3 years ago I put all new fenders, doors and Steps on it ..new paint and bushwacker front flares.

Hey. Yea everythings in now... They said they cut the drive shaft and slid it into a metal pipe and welded it on... It seems to be working alright. The front shaft stayed the same length. I had to get new, bigger transfer case mounts because the Joint for the front drive shaft( comming out of the Tras. Case) was rubbing just a little on the crossmember, causeing a clunking/ticking sound... other than that just the extended break lines, drop steering arm(Included in lift) and had to make two sway bar drop mounts out of square steel tubing.. sorry as i might be forgetting a few little things, but we all forget some stuff:icon_wink:.. but that was the bigger things.