Thanks Les! That will be a huge help, still a long way to go until I start assembling this thing again. I should have been more clear in my last post, but I'll go into some more detail here. I plan to run the Dana 60 front with a 14-bolt rear (full float), the junkyard near me doesn't have any 14 bolts right now though. I just don't like how low the 14 bolt hangs down, all in all, it does seem like the best option for the rear and there are shave kits to get a little more ground clearance out of them. I plan to run 38 or 40" tires with the minimal lift possible to still allow good flex, this will require a fair bit of trimming but I think it looks better than having to lift it 3 feet so the tires clear the whole body. I really like how this was built for motortrend, they used the same axles for an s10 truck with a 3-link and it turned out awesome. I plan to do a triangulated 4-link front and rear with a full-width truss on both so the axles will take up a little more room on mine, still need to figure out the transfer case and steering but that's a while down the road.

 

A pretty trick setup on that S10. Looks like a fun build for you. Let me know if/when I can help with the gear setup.

 

Thanks Les! I will definitely be looking for your help wherever you can. I'm so excited for all I will learn here, and going to try and get some tips on my welding (possibly a new welder) so I can do it all myself. I will keep you posted as I do more work to the axle and get the ring and pinion out, I'm hoping my impact has enough ugga duggas for that pinion nut at 250 ft-lbs, or else I'll be in for a treat with that!

I forgot to mention, that keeping her road-worthy will also be a must. That's part of the reason I'm doing a 4 link rather than leaf sprung front, I want to be able to go on many road trips all over with it once it's built and keep it as my daily driver. It will probably take more than a year to gather all of the parts needed to build this axle how I want, but this is the final form I have always dreamed of!

 

Well I haven't stopped working on the blazer lately, just been so busy with school! I'm set to grad in a few months now. Anyway, before Christmas there I was driving to school one morning and found my battery reading 12v and light came on shortly after, it would go up to 14v for a few seconds then back to 12v, thankfully it made it all the way an hour back home on sole battery power and I got a new alternator in.

Project over Christmas break was repainting the front bumper, it came out awesome! Few days of grinding the old stuff off then prep for the por 15, then black farm paint on top, then clear coat on top. I had to put the POR on inside since it was way too humid outside, and I stayed up all night painting the one day. I also got some new front speakers in over the break, the same Alpine line as the rear, I was replacing them because I thought the passenger side was blown, turns out it's the tweeter that's blown in the dash. Unfortunately, the Blazer was down over the break as the day after my last Final exam I came out to wash the blazer and noticed a pool of oil under it, turns out the oil line from the filter to rad started leaking because it was rubbing on my front skid plate. It gave me some huge flashbacks to when my engine blew on the first drive after my exams were over 2 years ago, it's like it always gets me to where I need to go then lets me know there's a problem!


Now most recently I have finally dropped my trans pan and replaced the filter and pan, the pan was dented in 2 places from scraping on rocks so I figured I may as well replace it, I was stuck for a while with getting that filter in! I thought it was in, go to put the pan on, and the pan would hit the filter, it took me forever and putting the old pan back on to realize I just needed to push the filter in further.


Lastly, I have been getting out in the snow lately!

 

Good to see ya! Congrats on nearing graduation. Got any work prospects yet?

 

Congrats on getting your Blazer going.

What are you studying?

 

Thanks guys, good to hear from you! I'm studying Mechanical Engineering, and honestly, I need to get on searching for work prospects! I worked as a summer student for the last two years at an HVAC and plumbing firm for high-rise buildings and I have already been invited back after I finish school but we will see. I would love something in the auto industry as I'm more interested in that, there's just not much work around here.

Well I have made the first strides to upgrading the blazer for my cross country grad trip! I think I will be working on it from here on out now. I decided to go with a lithium second battery, and wait until you hear this, 100ah! I also got a 40A Renogy charger with a battery monitor, I'm hoping my 100A alternator has enough for the charger but if not I may have to upgrade to the 200A version. I have also thought about a 1000w inverter to complement the setup, but I just dont know if I will get much use out of it other than for emergencies where I need to use a drill or grinder out in the middle of nowhere. I plan to run a fridge pretty much 24/7 while on the trip along with lights and my stereo while setup for the night, I'm thinking I'll have a 3 way switch for the stereo so I can seamlessly switch between the starter and second battery. I'm just thinking if my charger was sending 40A trying to charge the second battery while I'm still pulling 10A max for the stereo from the second battery I would really only be charging with 30A opposed to pulling the 10A for my stereo off the starter battery. Next on my list is a roof top tent, I'll be sad to see the roof rack go as I love the look but I can't sleep in the roof rack unfortunately lol. Then I'll see what to do about my spare tire... I havent even touched on the 3 row rad and red top steering box I also have planned (I never wanted to buy a house anyway). Christine I saw you also just got a red top steering box in! I'd love to hear what you think of it. I'll keep you guys updated as I get working on the second battery setup.

 

Hello everyone! I finished school last friday, the trip across Canada is closing in now with just 60 days until I leave. I have some BIG updates to share with you guys! I was so busy with finishing up my degree in the past month I hardly had time for anything but studying. I still managed to source a lot of the parts I need to start working, the 12v system is about 90% complete now, if I started explaining all that's going on we would be here forever, so here are some pictures from along the build.


So that's the 12v system, I really just have to secure the box to the floor and fabricate the battery hold down. Next up I'll be doing the big 3 on the primary battery and finally running the wire all the way to the back then it will be operational. The exciting news doesn't stop here folks, I went all out with the naturenest hard shell roof top tent! I was able to get a small discount from them in exchange for sharing my thoughts after I install it, I have only had it open in my garage so far but it seems solid. I'm currently waiting for some grommets so I can drill some holes in the tent and install an Anderson connector to give power in the tent, after that I should be able to mount it. I was originally thinking of making a new roof rack to carry the tent mainly to have the tent sit closer to the roof with no gap between, I'm now on the fence about this and decided I'll put the tent on and see how it all looks. The tent is definitely a little big, it will take up the whole roof and then some on my small 2 door.


Onto the next ongoing project, I secured a 53 qt fridge that I'm making a slide for, additionally, the slide will have an extra drawer that will pull out below and hold my camping stove. I have a rough design in mind using the same plywood as for the 12v system and a few 2x2's, I plan to get those pieces cut out and assembly started in the next few days here.


Last honorable project coming up is the 3 row aluminum rad with dual electric fans, this will be a big upgrade as I plan to have the whole front apart and weld up the rad support at the same time where it has been cracking.


Now you guys will never believe this one, in true blazer spirit, she again broke (for the THIRD time) on the first drive after my last final of the term. I'm happy I'm all done with school and that tradition now too LOL. Anyway, it did me better this time than other times, my Kenwood head unit just stopped working, it had been losing power when I turned up the volume lately and one time it cut out and never turned back on. So I have a new JVC head unit coming next week that also has Apple carplay, which will be nice on the trip. As far as the spare tire relocation goes, I'm hunting for one of the swing-out tire carriers but they are far too overpriced on eBay, I have found one thanks to a conveniently taken picture of a blazer on the pick-n-pull website, but it's in Alberta. All hope is not lost as my girlfriend is currently there and said she could try to go and pull it in a few days, we will have to see about that.

Aside from the above projects, I have to replace both cv axles, along with the passenger side cv axle bearing, rear axle shaft seals, hours on hours of wiring, and I have my eye on a redhead steering gear. Problem with the redhead is I'm looking to drive there but my steering box is so loose right now I don't even want to drive 6 hours there, the box is also maxed out for adjustment. I have 60 days to get all of this done, preferably less as I plan to take it on a test drive prior and make sure all systems are a go, I have turned working on the blazer into my full time job for these 60 days.

 

Looks like some nice work on the 12v system. Congrats on the graduation!!! Have fun! Keep us posted.

 

call summit racing and order energy suspension motor and trans mounts. I’m done with rubber. Installed new motor in my first blazer at 92k due to water flood and then not changing oil. At 136k I sold and two weeks later the guy came to me telling me I sold him a bad truck. I laughed and told him you flooded the engine in the weekend flood. Long story short I agreed to pull motor and swap for him for 600.00 if he brought me a good motor. New mounts at 92 k were broken already and that would have been about 18 months of life and 44k miles. I do drive my vehicles like I stole them , especially at the age of 24