Hello all, I just bought a preowned 1998 Chevy Blazer LS 4x4 and I'm thinking I'd like to raise er up a bit. I've never attempted something like this before (only done basic as-needed work on past vehicles), so I'm looking for advice as to how to best proceed. I've watched a few tutorials on replacing shocks, and that looks simple enough to me. But, I understand lifting can be a little more involved. I'm pretty mechanically inclined, but don't know all the proper names for the various components, so hopefully you can bear with me!

Iin my bit of research thus far, it seems like my best bet for lifting this girl up is going to be a suspension/lift leveling combo. I'm thinking 2-3" should be plenty, as I'll be swapping the tires (P235/75R15 105S, that means they're 28.5" I think?) for some larger ones and that should get me plenty of lift. I just want to increase off-road abilities but not necessarily push limits. I have a Haynes manual on the way in the next few days as well, and I'd like to get my parts ordered and start working on it soon.

I've been told that the pitman/idler arms need replaced as well as inner and outer tie rod ends. Which brings me to the following questions:

1. I think I should replace as much as I can regarding steering to get a fresh start down there. But it looks like some of the parts that come in a full steering/suspension kit may also be/need to be supplemented with the lift kit (control arms/ball joints maybe?). Am I close? HA! And can someone(s) recommend a good kit for this with my mods in mind?
2. As far as the lift kit goes, can you recommend one/some? I'm especially interested in quality AND a complete kit (as few surprise needs as possible!)
3. What about tires? As I said above, I'd like to be able to go off road a bit. I don't need to climb boulders and ride up and down ravine walls necessarily. I'll be spending most of my time on the streets most likely. But should I decide to go on less traveled roads, or off road, I want them to be capable.

Hopefully I'm not asking too much, and hopefully I can find some answers here. I'm going to keep looking around the forums, but I thought asking directly might be the fastest way to get what I'm after.

Thanks in advance!

 

There is a really good "sticky" thread on doing lifts on our Blazers. Be sure to go find that.

As for the basics of lifts, you can do it with minimal parts but will eat up your ball joints or go all the way to a 6" with lots of parts.

I chose a bit of a middle path on mine. (see my build thread).

As for your specific questions, here are my answers. But be sure to ask yourself if what worked for someone else is what you need and would be good for your needs. For me, I wanted a bit more peace of mind when off pavement. This is very different those who want to go full off-roading and really push their trucks to see what they can do.

1. I think I should replace as much as I can regarding steering to get a fresh start down there. But it looks like some of the parts that come in a full steering/suspension kit may also be/need to be supplemented with the lift kit (control arms/ball joints maybe?). Am I close? HA! And can someone(s) recommend a good kit for this with my mods in mind?
   1. ​​​​​Lift kits for our trucks tend to come with new upper control arms that provide a better angle for the upper ball joint. This prevents them from wearing out prematurely. Since you will be down there, you'll want to take the opportunity to at least check the idler arm and pitman arm. The idler arms on our trucks are notorious for wearing out fast. My take on the latest consensus is that the best regarded brand of parts for the idler arm is Proforged. You can also find an adapter so that you can add an idler arm for a 1-ton truck. I have the parts for that but have not installed it yet. Pitman arms seem to not go bad that much but it should be checked too.
      
      You will also want to check the rag-joint that joins the steering wheel shaft to the steering gear. You will likely find it loose after at least 15 years of driving. Many of us upgrade to a universal joint replacement. Flaming river is one brand and others I think have repurposed ones from Cherokees. (There are threads on this.)
      
      And you will want to check the lower ball joints and perhaps even replace them if only because they are not too expensive and they are harder to replace once everything is back together.
      
      You will need to get longer shocks. Be warned that if you have a ZW7 premium ride suspension like I do. The rear springs are softer and rely on the shocks for supplemental support. I had to add extenders to the shocks to use the proper type.
      
      Finally as for parts to check, look at the front hubs. This is also a good time to replace them if there is a hint of wear on them.
      
      
2. As far as the lift kit goes, can you recommend one/some? I'm especially interested in quality AND a complete kit (as few surprise needs as possible!)
   1. I think the only lift kits currently being sold new are from Rough Country. They have a 2.5" kit and a 6" kit. There was another, I think Superlift, but you will only find it as NOS. I went with the RC upper control arms (but not the IFS drop parts) since there was no welding involved to use them on the truck like would have been required with the Superlift(?) kit. This welding had to do with the mounting of the shocks I think. I did not get the new keys for the torsion bars but I'm thinking I will likely do that and get a longer pair of rear shackles as my lift is not quite as high as I like.
      
      
3. What about tires? As I said above, I'd like to be able to go off road a bit. I don't need to climb boulders and ride up and down ravine walls necessarily. I'll be spending most of my time on the streets most likely. But should I decide to go on less traveled roads, or off road, I want them to be capable.
   1. For tires, you can go up to 31" with a torsion-bar type lift (a simple lift) but some cutting of the metal around the fender openings in the front will likely be needed. Also, with 31" tires, you will loose some range for the turning because they will rub against the frame rail. This in principle could be solve with spacers but using spacers for the rims or rims with different backspacing could add even more strain to the hubs.
      
      I am using 30" tires on mine. I had both the 31" and 30" tires test fit and the 30" ones required no trimming and I retained full range of turning.
      

Hope this helps. Keep us posted. This is the place to get help!

 

For the range of lift you are looking for a body lift will be the easiest and cheapest way. A huge plus for the body lift is that it doesn't change the geometry of the front end. I don't know if anyone still makes body lifts for our Blazers, but check with BDS. They might have one sitting in the back corner of the warehouse. I forget the name of the other company that made them. Hopefully someone will chime in with that info shortly.

 

As far as body lifts go, Zone Offroad still offers a body lift, and I believe that you can still get a Performance Accessories branded one as well.

 

Thanks, Christine. You provided a lot of helpful info. I checked your thread when you posted your reply, and I'll be referencing it as I go. I'll probably have more Q's for you. In the meantime, something else has come up which I'll get to momentarily.

Thanks for the feedback. My real concern is for clearance more than appearance. Does a body lift provide any advantage for off road application? So far, the most I've seen it may help with is wheel well clearance for larger tires. I do intend to put slightly larger tires on when I replace the ones I have now (soon, as they're getting close to needing that due to a current alignment issue).

Alignment issue:
So I took her in for an alignment, because she's pulling to one side a little bit. They had it in there for 40 minutes and came back saying they couldn't do an alignment because the adjuster was stuck in place. They charged me twenty bucks and sent me along my merry way! meh... So my plan to replace a good deal of the linkage seems to be the right idea.

Current problem:
I park on the street outside my apartment, and there's been a LOT of vandalism and theft recently. Two nights ago, after I'd gone to the car wash to flush my heater core to try to get some heat blowing (was only getting cold air, now it's just warm) someone tried steal my baby. [see pics] She came with an alarm, but I'm pretty sure I forgot to lock her up, and they got in. Lord knows what the hayl they thought they were doing, but they royally screwed my ignition, destroyed the wires underneath, and generally left me stranded. (I have AAA, and I'm going to tow her to my buddy's.) They also absconded with my new toolbag (+ impact driver, new ratcheting wrench set, and OH YEAH.. my HAYNES REPAIR MANUAL! The jerks!)

So now I've got this to tend to before I can move forward with anything else. Has this happened to anyone here, or do you have any experience with replacing this stuff? I'm thinking I can go to the picknpull and get the harness. But I'm not sure what other electrical components are damaged? What can be repaired vs must be replaced? Since I don't have the Haynes on me, I can't even check IF there's sufficient info on this section like a schematic?

I'll probably hoof it up to the parts store today if they have another copy there.

Can anyone guess or tell what pic-3 is of? is has a white, toothed half-wheel on the side. I can get a couple more pics if that would help figure it out.

Anyway, I appreciate y'all! Thanks for stopping by my post again!



Look at my poor ignition!

Column shroud broke.

I don't know what this is!

 

Oh man, that sucks! The third pic is part of your ignition harness. Doesn't look like the person who did that had any idea what they were doing. Got all their auto theft lessons from TV.

 

I think I would pick up a complete column at the junkyard.