I ordered my wheels and tires today. I have a friend who owns Dirty South Customs here in Charlotte, He matched all prices I could find on the internet. I had to order the rims because they dont have my bolt pattern in the warehouse. I ordered the Black Rock 942 in matte black 15 x 8 with 4" backspace and the Mickey Thompson Baja MTZ 31 10.5 15. Rims, tires, mount, balance, black lug nuts, and tax = $1100.00. I think that is a smokin deal! Now I just have to wait 3-4 weeks to put all my stuff on.

 

Well we are beginning week 4 in the wait for wheels. In the mean time Ive done nothing to the truck....I havent had too, thank goodness. I have been spending my weekends renovating the lake house. I have pulled a large trailer every weekend and I now must say.... This is one of the best vehicle's I've had! I love everything about it. . Not like a rock... more like a glove. LOL

 

Alright! Wheels and tires arrived Friday. I hope to have my sons Buick out of the garage by mid week. We Rebuilt the heads . Then I will start this Blazer project. My factory shocks are so bad, it has eaten my left rear tire down to the belts on the edge. The center of the tire still has 3/16" of tread left. I sure it is from pulling the trailer so much. On the highway it sways like a boat.

 

I almost have the BL done. Ive read some forums on installing the kit. Iv'e read lots of things like how some people put their kit on in 4 hours, nuthin to it. Well I call bull s***. I am a very experienced mechanic and have spent 20 hours in the garage working on this kit. Granted, I did put on new shackles, shocks, torsion bar turn and new tires but still I am not done yet. I am doing the project by myself which does add some difficulty. I am also picky at getting everything remounted correctly. Anyhow now I am sort of upset about my wheels. They have a 4.5" backspace and I think they stick out a little TOO far. Tell me what yall think please. The front look like they are going to rub, I'm afraid to try.

 

Awesome truck! Sucks about the body lift taking so much time. I, too, have read the stories of people doing them quickly but then I look at the humongous instruction sheet and lose all hope I had of accomplishing it quickly.

I don't think your wheels stick out too far at all. I just put on 4" BS wheels and think it's perfect.

Also, is that a standard Load Warrior or does it have the extension in the middle?

 

Yes it has the extension in the middle. It was a stock rack off a limited edition ford explorer they made in 2003. The guy had it in his attic, never put it on. He said its ugly. I said yup it sure is ....I'll take it!

 

Why does it matter if the tires stick out to far? The more room you take on the road the better!

Looks awesome man.

 

We'll I was afraid of that. 4.5 backspace and 31's are not a good idea. Even with all that lift they hit bigtime.

 

Body lift ALL done, bumpers and all. I am very pleased that the cutting went smooth. In fact it was the easiest part of the whole project. Went and picked up a new 18 tooth per inch saws all blade (6" long I think). Dont let the saws fence ride on the body, hold it out an inch or so or the blade will start smacking the inner wall which is the driver footwell, dont wanna cut it plus it doesnt scratch the paint. I removed the inner fender mount bolt temporarily because the attatched washer is rather big. I cut just in front of the bolt hole. Going to reinstall the bolt . I made a small cut first, forward of where final cut will be just to test the smoothness of the blade and to get a feel for it. It cut smooth as silk! Then I mounted a angle bracket along with the fender bolt to help remount the inner wheel well metal. Later Im going to prime the cut area and cut a piece of rubber to fill in the missing area. It ended up with almost 2 full inches of clearance when turning. No rubbing ANYWHERE. Now Im pleased I went with the 4.5" backspace because it doesnt rub on the inside either ( frame or sway bar).

 

Nice man! Could be a twin of the '01 Blazer I bought a cpl months ago! I know the Pewter color is common, but I like it with the black accessories, thats one of the reasons why I got mine.

I got lucky, (I guess) both my fenders have small dents in them, enough that I want to replace them. so, I am going to cut my new fenders before I paint them, and leave the inner lip. Just fold it back down and weld it to the new lip edge, ad a lil filler piece to the end, and it should look factory!