K5 body lift questions
 

Hey guys, I am thinking about doing a body lift on the blazer. The problem is that I live in townhouses so I only have the parking lot to work in. I was just wondering what the biggest body lift(if any) I can do with minimal modifications needed. I have seen that you need to extend steering arms and what not for the 3" body lift, but would you have to for a 1" body lift? I guess what I want to know is if I can just un-bolt the cab mounts and slide 1" pucks in without a problem or will there be mod's needed no matter what? I want to know because if mods are needed either way, I will go with the 3". Thanks again for the help!

If I remember right, you can do 2 inches and be okay, but don't go jumping it or go mudding too hard core.

Stretching things like that out are always gonna cause you to lose a little play room. If I were you, I'd go all the way with the 3 inch and go ahead and do the modifications. Even with the one inch, thats gonna limit how rough you can be with bouncing up and down. But thats just me.

Oh yea, It limits the off road use?? I do like playing off road a lot, and also going to the annual mud drags/ bogs. Is it because they are rubber that limits how rough you can be? I seen a 1" kit online that was all machined aluminum pucks, do you think that would be pretty solid or still just as weak? Thanks for the info so far.

It just causes more leverage on the bolts. I had a 2 inch body lift on my last offroad k5 without any probs but I really didn't get crazy just mud

I like your thought process. Just unbolt and slide in the pucks lol. Take into account broken body bolts and everything else.

List of things tou have to mod. You have to cut and weld a extension in your trans shifter linkage. Move your van shroud down. Adjust your filler neck hose for gas tank. And torch the plastic out of your steering shaft to extend it 2 inches and cut or remove the torsion bar spring for rear tailgate. :) I did mine in like 10 hours BUT my truck was being built. No engine. No gas tank etc. AND 3 bolts broke off in the floor of a 36000 mile no rust blazer lol. Good luck :)

Sorry for misspellings. I'm on my phone can't edit van should be fan lol

You wrote that all on a phone? Pretty damn good I'd say, that woulda taken me at least a half hour to accomplish on its own! Haha, Yeah I like to think I can do anything until I get in there and realize its a lot more than I figured. Thanks for all of the info though, I Think you saved me a lot of time because I don't think they would let me use a welder/torches in or around these town houses. The landlord already complains about me changing oils, breaks ect. I did the transfer case without a problem though. I think there bi-polar or somethin. It will get done but I think it'll have to wait for a garage. My Idea= :icon_urinal: ... for now... Thanks guys

I built mine from 2 inch pipe cut three inches long with washers welded on each end of the pipe. Worked great. I extended the shifter linkage and cut the spring assist for the rear tailgate like said before but Installed an electric fan and removed the shroud. The fuel neck had enough slack and needed no modification. The steering linkage also needed no modification. It extended out and has no binding in it. The transfer case shifter was a little problematic but i just remove the plastic cover from the floor board and it still works and shift ok. Its just a mud truck so looks were not an issue for me

i am running a 3" body lift on my 87 K5, and i didnt have to extend my shifter on the 4x4... maybe i just got lucky or something, but there very right this doesnt end up being a just removed the bolts and slide the pucks in. mine made me realize how much rust was actually holding my truck up.. of the 10 body mounts i think i got 4 out the right way, everything else was torched and cut out.. the gas filler neck was a littl sketchy.. but i managed to get the extension on it. as for burning the steering shaft plastics.. that was the easiest part of the whole thing. if you have bad cab mounts... this is the time to take care of them also... i installed new mounts. and actually had to install new cab support metal pieces also.. and weld them in.
i hate the gap it gives, for looks perspective, but i love the fact of the access it gives to throughly clean up your frame. and even change the spark plugs from the wheel wells.. instead of from under the hood.. and it also makes putting headers on alot easier... but this is just my opinion... if your building a rock crawler i probably wouldnt do it.. but i have had mine in some pretty hairy situations that will make most butts pucker.. and never had a problem with my body lift... stick to the instructions and use common sense... dont try to lift the whole body off at once... i worked 1 side.. 1 puck at a time!

hope this helps


Ck1500

thats a good point. makes it easier to get at everything. vents on the trans and transfercase. fuel lines or wires at the top of the tank, trans bolts are wayy easier. etc etc etc