1972 K5 Blazer Advice
 

i got my hands on a nice 72 k5 im wanting to turn into an off road beast. i live in the middle of the desert with great trails and very close to Moab, UT. i want a trail rig that can also rock crawl and conquer Moab but still want to keep it street legal. i need advice on a few parts since pretty much all articles i find are for jeeps (nothing against jeeps)...



what to do for suspension? (best lift kit, how high to go)

what to do for axles? (i was thing D60 for back, D40 for front)

what to do for engine? (probably go crate engine, how big is to big, gm has great engine choices)

Don't go crazy on the lift (maybe 6-8" max) if you want to crawl rocks, since you'll find yourself off-camber pretty often, and you don't want to end up on your lid.

For axles, I would use a 14-bolt for the rear and a Dana 60 for the front. They're both pretty easy to find, but the Dana 60 can be kind of expensive. 14-bolts are dirt cheap, though. Of course, you'll need new gears, lockers, etc.

I'd probably go with 38-40" tires, unless you want to trim your fenders (and I wouldn't on a classic like you have).

You don't need a ton of HP for rock crawling, so a crate 350 is probably fine. If you want more torque, a 454 will fit right in. Either way, I'd put a fuel injection setup on it (either aftermarket or later model OEM). But resist the urge to put a big cam, etc. in it. It's much more important that it will idle smoothly and run reliably all day.

Moab is awesome. I'm hoping to be back there in a few weeks.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/blazerf...115f3c8691.jpg

I wouldn't want to do this with too much more lift, lol.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/blazerf...12d18bd40d.jpg

Im kinda looking for it to be "A Blazer of all trails, but a Master of none" i guess you would say. Go to the store or take kid to school, Valley of Fire dirt gravel road, maybe some gettin dirty in the mud, able to do some decent Moab trails, and overall have fun. I dont like to be in a box....theres so much to exploore outside that box haha

Yeah, most of my experience is rock crawling, lol. Mud is fun, but I hate cleaning up afterwards, and I hate all the dried mud dropping in my eyes when I'm working under my rig.

i dont have much eperience at all rock crawling. ive done some spead out maybe basketball size-ish in regular stock truck and some ver minor stuff on a 4 wheeler but to be honest i wouldnt call any of my experiencees rock crawling technically. so i guess im pretty crazy to want to just go to Moab and jump in head first ey. although i do bring along with me something that most people dont have these days...Common Science. [although not so common anymore]

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/blazerf...98fe5cbf64.jpg
I sure miss my 72 k5....