Blazer Forum - Chevy Blazer Forums - Lift Kit for 2000 Chevy Blazer LT

Quote:

Originally Posted by tylerlsmith (Post 697084)

DonL,

Thanks for the info. Yea I'm not sure which lift I should go with, the body lift sounds more reasonable but I hate looking at the frame underneath. Anyway, do you have any links for either lift? Also what did Christine do to the control arms and shackles?

Wow, I must be getting famous (or infamous??). LOL A link to how I did my lift is in my signature below.

But to answer you question; I used longer shackles in the rear, and installed the Rough Country upper control arms in the front along with a torsion-bar crank. With the new upper control arms the geometry for the upper ball joints is better. Also, the Rough Country upper control arms use Chevy 1/2 ton pick-up upper ball joints. I installed new longer shocks in the front (one of the OEM ones was bad anyway) but for the back because I have factory self-leveling shocks that you cannot get in extended lengths that are used with special rear springs, I installed extenders for the upper mounting points for the rear shocks. I found these on eBay.

As for parts wearing out, after two years (done in 9-2016), this is what I've had to replace which might or might not be directly related to the lift:

Upper ball joints: (9-2018) The left one wore out due to grease contamination. The ball joints that came with the RC upper control arms were ungreaseabe. Since I was at it, I also replaced the right side which turned out to be fine. I don't think the lift was responsible for the failure. The replacement Moog ball joints are greaseable. The lower ball joints seemed fine along with the rest of the front end joint components.
Left front differential output seal: (9-2018) This seal started leaking several months ago (I think). This could be related to the lift as the CV joints are are a much greater angle now. However, the truck is 18 years old now. I went ahead and replaced the output bearing while I had the cover off but I think the bearing was likely ok. (It was while doing this repair I found the bad ball joint.)
Inner band of inner CV boot on right front drive axle: (5-2017?) This came off perhaps 6 months after I did the lift (5-2017?). I blamed the relaxation of the boot material and the extra downward force on the boot due to the larger angle of the axle. This was easily fixed by packing more grease into the joint and securing it with a 4" OD hose clamp.
Inner band of inner CV boot on left front drive axle: (9-2018) This I noticed looked a bit loose so I installed a regular hose clamp on it like I had on the other side as a preventive measure. Well, the screw mechanism on the clamp stands too tall above the band and it hits part of the frame. In the process of messing with the boot, I managed to accidentally remove the original band. Right now I'm waiting for a band installation kit that will allow me to install a permanent band that is tighter the the original. I suspect this could be related to the lift.

Hope this helps.

Christine

P.S. Regarding options for alternate upper control arms, Superlift used to sell some but apparently they no longer do. At the time I chose the RC ones since the installation instructions called for no other changes to the vehicle whereas the Superlift upper control arm installation required welding a new bracket for the upper attachment of the shocks. The Superlift upper control arms used the stock style ball joints. This information might be useful if you find a set of the Superlift arms.