i have a 94 s10 blazer,i take it in the mud all the time but im just not havin enough fun cuz its all stock and i dont really know too much of what kind of parts i need to lift it for a reasonale amount of money...like i know the names like torsin bars ,shackles,etc,i just dont actually know what those parts are or anything,so if anyone could help me out explain parts and what i would need to lift the blazer a decent height

 

Woo for muddin!

First off torsion bars are what gives your front end spring, as opposed to traditional coils. They're long bars (about 5 ft) that run from behind the front doors, inside the frame rails, up to the front wheels. They are connected to a plate that moves with the wheel, and the plate twists the bar. The 'torsional resistance' (resistance to twisting) of the bars gives your front end the spring. When you crank the torsion bars via the bolt at the rear of the t-bar, you basically twist the bar a little more than stock, and that transfers the force to the plate up front, which pushes down on the wheel, which lifts the front end!

Shackles are simply a part like this:

Shackles attach the leaf spring to the frame of the vehicle at the back of the leaf spring. This is opposed to leaf spring hangers, which attach the front end of the leaf to the frame. The pic is from an xterra, your shackle on the Blazer is very straight, but that gives you an idea of what it does.

SO..to LIFT: You can buy longer shackles to lift the rear, anywhere from .5' up to 3' of lift in the back. Then you have to lift the front end to match. Torsion bars do not offer the most lift of most suspension systems, but it is the easiest to adjust. You simply climb under the truck, and tighten the torsion bolt to lift, or loosen the bolt to drop (one full turn of the bolt gives ~.25' of lift up front).

You can get more lift by doing a Superlift 6' kit, or a Trailmaster 5' kit...these give you a front differential drop bracket, as well as torsion bar relocation brackets to give you the huge lift with less strain on the front end suspension and steering components. Also you can combine the common 2' shackle and tbar lift with a 2' body lift to give you a lifted look, with bigger tires, but you wont really increase your ground clearence. SL6 and TM5 are the only ones to increase ground clearence.

THIS link lists availible kits for our blazers, as well as handy information on tire sizes to match the kits. Also use the SEARCH function to find oodles of information on anything up there you're curious about.

 

thanks,and the leaf springs are the sheet looking parts stacked on top eachother behind the rear wheels right?

 

That's them! They actually start before the rear wheels, right where the frame curves up to the rear wheel well, and arch across under the axle, up to the shackle behind the wheel. Each leaf has it's own force keeping it arched, and when you stack them together to make the spring, they add up to support the rear end, and give you a soft ride.

I guess I should also mention you can lift the rear end (instead of shackles) with an Add-A-Leaf kit. It is simple an extra leaf that you add into the leaf pack to give you ~1' of lift in the back.

 

tahnks again,whats the most extra leaf springs you can add,and is there any other t-bar available thats mae for lifting mor than 1.5 safely?

 

if i crank up the t-bar only like an inch will it mess up the alignment at all?and when i go to tighten the t-bar do i need to jack the truck up?

 

As far as I know the best you can get out of an add a leaf is 1'...unless your leafs were worn out and sagging, then a new leaf can arch the pack back up...but still only 1' over stock.

You can go higher than 1.5' with the tbar, supposedly up to 3', but you will need a new torsion key to do so, but all the key does it let you crank past what the stock setup allowed. You SERIOUSLY risk your front end components at 3' of t-bar lift. I would say stick to 1.5' or less.

As for how to do it, yes you need to have the front end jacked up to adjust the bolts. Search for tbar tutorial or how to...there's a few on here with pics.

And you will need to get an alignment afterwards. I had mine checked after I went up 1.5' and it was only off a tiny amount, so I chose not to pay the $70 and get the alignment. I'll get it done eventually though, don't get me wrong