Now I want the cans where my gas tank is! Problem is I need to find another place for my gas tank. I did weld up some tabs on the spare tire carrier so I mount a jerry can on there, though.

 

Been slow here with my upgrades. Too many personal distractions to be able to get to the truck.

However, before the snow came, I wanted to do one last inspection of the truck to know if I should do any repairs now before the snow came and I would be down to only one vehicle, my Blazer.

The main symptom was apparent extra play in the steering wheel. So I wanted to make sure the play was not due to any failing components in the linkages or hubs. Well a check under the front end showed me that all the linkages were fine, there likely was some play in the steering gear, but not surprisingly my idler harm had vertical play in it. Grrr.

I've been meaning to do the 1-ton upgrade forever. I even tried to get it done last year. However, back then I found that the new idler arm to centerlink cone bolt used a nylock nut which would rotate the cone bolt when I tried to tighten it. (I've since learned of special nuts that act as seating tools for these fittings.*) Also, I'm much more a fan of the cotter-pin way of doing things. I also found that the 1-ton adapter bracket would not fit. Double Grrr.

But back to the current idler arm; it is a Moog one, supposedly better than the OEM types, that I installed about 27k miles and 6 years ago. I guess this shows that the 1-Ton idler arm upgrade is well worth doing. Now to find the time to do it.

* The tools for seating the cone studs for the front end connections are J-29194 and J-29193. I was able to pick up a J-29194 which I think will work on the pitman arm and perhaps the idler arm too for about $15 total. However, these normally go for over $50. So if any of you find yourself with the nylok type nuts, find a standard nut of the same size and pitch and use it for seating the cone stud. Then hopefully there will be enough friction to allow the nylok nut to go on.

 

Hi Christine,

I have the same exact Yakima cargo box and also have the issue with opening the rear glass. What cross bars did you get that allowed you to mount them more towards the front of the vehicle? I am looking to do the same as you. Thank you!

 

Hi,

I had to do a bit of digging, but this is what I found.

The rack system is the Yakima Railgrab model. This is no longer available from Yakima, but I think you can find them on eBay and you can get some of the spare parts for these at Yakima.com. Just now hen I first looked up what rail system would our Blazers, it did not lead me to what I have and instead sent me to their TimberLine system. These look nice as they attach by going all around the rail although they are kind of expensive. (https://yakima.com/products/timberli...109.1705456518)

If you go to the support page and click on the Technical Lookup link, you can put in the information about your vehicle and then you can navigate to the railgrab system info.

So after digging a at Yakima.com and looking at my records, I confirmed that I have the Yakima Railgrab system with the round bar using the small sized claw to attach it to the factory rail. (See the attached instructions.) I then arranged the stock cross bars to help take any load of the Rocket box.

I've attached a picture and documents that I think could be useful.

Hope this helps!

 

Hi all,

It has been awhile since I've added to my build thread, but now I have time to report on the installation of a Red Head steering gear in my Blazer.

My original steering gear was getting loose with quite a bit of play in the steering wheel. It was quite noticeable when I was in the woods driving in the snow for hunting season. It felt like the truck had its own mind with regard to which way to go when the front tires got caught in a rut.

When looking at replacement gears, I first thought about trying to find a NOS one from GM but no luck. The next option was one from a place like Cardone. These were likely fine, but for the work it takes to install, I thought I'd pay a bit more for something better. This led me to Red Head (https://redheadsteeringgears.com/) and Blue Top (https://bluetopsteeringgears-com.3dcartstores.com/).

Both Red Head and Blue Top have gears for our Blazers and both rebuild their gears in a similar manner by machining out the grooves for the ball-bearings and then using the next size up in ball-bearings so to have minimal play in the gear. If I remember correctly I was told or read that Blue Top was started by someone who might have worked at Red Head.

I went with Red Head for a few reasons, mostly practical. Both sounded like they provided a good product at similar prices. What tipped the balance for me to Red Head was that I was able to pick up the gear (and drop off the core) personally as they have locations that I happened to be not too far out of my way (Auburn WA and Post Falls ID). Also, Red Head allows 60 days to get the core back to them instead of the 30 days by Blue Top. The total cost of the Red Head gear with sales tax was about $350.

While I was at it, I also replaced the power steering hoses.

Since the installation, I've put on about 700 miles on the gear that included a round-trip across the widest part of Washington state. It worked great. The steering is still not as crisp as that in my 82 Prelude or even my 68 Mustang. I attribute that to the large tires and the steering damper I installed.

Below is an outline of the basic steps, tools used, and hints and tricks I'd pass on to anyone doing a similar replacement. I'll attach pdfs of the service manual pages I used, but the overall steps are pretty straight forward.

The basic steps for the removal are the following:

• Disconnect the pitman arm from the centerlink
• Disconnect the hoses to the power steering gear
• Loosen the three mounting bolts holding the steering gear to the frame rail
• Remove the steering gear by rotating it and pulling forward. To facilitate its removal I removed the oil filter and the oil lines to the remote oil filter bracket.

Installation is the reverse of removal with these few caveats:

• You will need a new seal for the remote oil cooler lines
• Now is a good time to do an oil change and lube the rest of the suspension parts.
• Getting the mounting bolt on the pitman arm though the hole on the centerlink is a pain. Also be sure that the surfaces of each are clean.
• You should also clean the threads of the mounting bolts.

Post Installation:

• Because the power steering hoses have been removed, the system must have the air removed. I was able to make an adapter so that I could put a vacuum on the power steering pump and remove air trapped in the system. I then followed the instructions for bleeding the system. (see attached)

Parts Used:

• Steering gear: Read-Head #18510, three-turn, three mounting holes
• O-rings for steering gear if new hoses not installed (came with steering gear)
• Captured pair of O-rings/seal for remote oil cooler lines to remote oil filter assembly
• Replacement PS hoses, including spare hose for bypass to PS fluid cooler (NAPA p/ns)
• 1/2” or 5/8” ID hose to use as rub-protection on hoses (scrap)
• About one quart of power steering fluid was needed to top off the system when done

Special tools needed/used:

• Torque wrench that is capable of 185 ft-lbs for the pitman arm to steering gear nut. I got a loaner from local auto parts store.
• 16mm = 5/8 flare nut crow foot with 3/8” drive breaker-bar for power steering pump pressure hose to power steering pump outlet fitting on the back of the power steering pump. Best would have been a flare-nut crow-foot with a longer lever arm so that ratchet wrench could have been attached directly to it. The ratchet wrench head was too wide to attached directly to the crow-foot, hence the use of the breaker bar. See pictures below
• Pitman arm to centerlink puller
• Pitman arm to steering gear puller
• I purchased and used a J-42640 Steering Column Anti-Rotation Pin, but I don't think I needed it.
• Large socket for pitman arm to steering gear nut: 33 mm (?)\
• A Mity-Vac and modified sink drain stopper for bleeding the PS pump.
• Set of stubby flare wrenches would have been useful, specifically 5/8” = 16 mm.
• A couple pans for catching leaking fluid and lots of paper towels.

Suggestions:

• I as able to remove pitman arm from center link with steering wheel locked in center position
• If lower intermediate shaft doesn’t slide up and back far enough, check if orange rubber collar on shaft overlaps lower lip of plastic cover over upper third of lower intermediate shaft. This had slipped on mine and didn't allow me to move it up and out of the way. (see picture below)
• Trial fit power steering hoses to power steering pump to make sure threads are clean of paint. I had to chase the threads after the gear was installed.
• If you have Flaming River u-joint for coupling to steering wheel shaft, drill the pilot hole for locking set screw before mounting steering gear. I was able to do this after installation but i it was harder to do.
• If you have OEM style “rag-joint” coupler between steering gear and lower intermediate shaft, be very careful of alignment of splines as getting off by a spline or two would be easy and steering gear and steering wheel will not be centered. This is a good time to replace it.
• Try not to let steering gear rotate while installing pitman arm. The required torque will cause it to rotate. Use a vice to hold the pitman arm if possible. The steering gear will be centered from Red-Head and you will want to keep that setting.
• Removing oil filter and oil cooler hoses from remote oil filter will make getting gear in and out easier. (Good time to do oil change and suspension lubrication)
• Use a power steering gear return hose that connects to pump that has the hose material pre-bent. There is not much room in the engine compartment so you'll want to use high-quality parts. I used NAPA but the return hose was basic straight hose clamped onto the solid part. The original had bends to it. The installation of this hose took some fiddling so that it was not kinked or twisted.
• If using non-bent return hose that connects to pump, it very likely is long enough so that you can cut off enough to also have enough hose for power steering fluid cooler.
• You will need 3 hose clamps for power steering hose (3/8” ID)
• Follow advice in manual for bleeding PS pump

The tools used to disconnect the pitman arm from the centerlink (upper left) and to disconnect the pitman arm from the steering gear (center bottom)


The original alignment of the pitman arm to the old steering gear for future reference.


Picture from above of a 3/8 breaker bar and a 16mm crow-foot I needed to get the power steering hose detached from the back of the power steering pump.


Picture from below and from the front looking back of a 3/8 breaker bar and a 16mm crow-foot I needed to get the power steering hose detached from the back of the power steering pump.


The intermediate shaft showing the black plastic end piece and the orange rubber collar. On mine, the black piece had been pulled away and up the shaft from the steering gear and the lower lip no longer was inside the end of the rubber collar. This prevented me from sliding the intermediate shaft up and back. This picture shows the correct placement along the intermediate shaft.


The steering gear installed and about to attach the hoses. Be sure to chase or clean the threads on the steering gear to get rid of any accumulated paint. I had a hard time getting the fittings started and I was fearful of stripping the threads. The gear comes with a tag warning that the warrantee is voided if the adjustment bolt is changed. This is marked with a purple marker.


Evacuating the power steering reservoir with the Mity-Vac.


The modified tub stopper. The face facing the camera was placed over the top of the reservoir face down.


Cut-away steering gear at the Red Head steering office.


Display of steering gears. They also rebuild manual units.

 

Very nice write for something I really don't want to do ever. On the bright side, if I ever do need to to it I get to buy new tools. I don't have any of those open wrench things that fit on a breaker bar.

 

Thanks!

It wasn't so bad after I figured out how to get the hose off the back of the pump and why the intermediate shaft was getting in the way.

I did the write-up to help others learn from my experience .

BTW, the job I want to avoid is replacing the fuel pump!

 

Fuel pump is a PITA but pretty straight forward. Just make sure whoever you lowering the tank with the jack knows how to do nice and easy. I'd like to say you can trust your dad, but when that tank lands on your chest full force with half a tank of fuel, it's not a lot of fun. Once I got my breath back, I was worried more about ripped fuel lines than broken ribs or my sternum.

Oh, and when that pump does go out, there is always at least a half of tank in it. Guaranteed!