So, just wondering about a few things. I have 120,000 miles, and never plan on selling my Blazer. I am a handling enthusiast by far, and can no longer stand my Blazer's lack of cornering skills. However, selling is not an option because I'm forever attached to it. All I can do is go to whatever lengths neccessary to make it meet my new found requirements that it handle and not rattle from every part imaginable.

Now, I'm actually not ok with lowering, I'd like it to really look stock. Maybe 1 inch lower would be ok. It starts to vibrate at 70MPH, and by 75MPH it is intolerable how hard it shakes. It's been aligned frequently, and this does not fix the vibration. All the front end is up to date with polyurethane bushings, new idler arm, pitman arm, ball joints, cv joints, etc. The Ford Exploder is actually much more suitable for highway driving, which is unacceptable of course. The point is, there's nothing that needs to be replaced or worked on within my stock Blazer to make it handle cornering and highway speeds better. My question is just pretty much, what can I do to make this things handle significantly better than stock? I am about to install polyurethane body mount bushings probably, but I fear that still wont take out enough body roll. I also feel that aluminum bushings would be a little damaging to the vehicle in the case of a big pothole or something. Does anyone know where to make huge improvements in this vehicle's handling? I can weld and do everything neccessary.

Thanks,
Brian

 

A larger diameter sway bar is probably the quickest way to stabilize the truck...the problem for most of us with that is that we have no way to attach it (read: fab new mounts). With your welding ability, this shouldnt be a problem. Maybe look into the sway bars for larger trucks/sedans to get a start.

When I lifted my blazer, I actually found it killed the body roll. I can take corners pretty quick with minimal to 0 body roll...now the safety of such a corner/comfort to the passengers is another story, but for me knowing its coming and watching my speed, I love the stiffer ride.

That leads to another idea...new shocks. Perhaps a shock known for it's stiffness?

 

Yeah I got spoiled riding in my friend's '93 300ZX all the time, which handles like it's on rails. Heavier duty sway bar sounds good, I may even go as far as to get one from a Silverado 3500 or something. Probably Silverado 3500 shocks too. I have new Gabriel Ultra shocks on it, which were supposed to be the stiffest Meineke had, but still aren't stiff enough for me. I was looking at these coil spring lowering brakets, which obviously I can just put together at a hardware store for a 50th of the price: http://www.jcwhitney.com/COIL-SPRING...3409_10101.jcw
Though I don't want it lower, 1 inch would help with aerodynamics and cornering probably enough to justify it (maybe).

Also this: http://www.jcwhitney.com/ROADMASTER-...3409_10101.jcw (maybe?)

I too love stiff rides, and it wont get too stiff.

 

I had a Nova moment with the coil spring thing, my bad. Too many projects at once.

 

Hey Man,

I think you are looking a bit in the wrong direction as far as fixing this vibration problem. I can easy drive my '95 blazer at 85, 90 mph with no vibration. It just sounds like you have a problem that really is not specific to having higher/newer grade parts, but rather something that is just worn out, first of all. I'm going to take a guess that you have not had the truck since new, and I'm going to further guess that since you had to replace the shocks that they were pretty worn out. Now, if that was the case, then if they were like that for a long time and the truck was driven on alot of rough conditions, the sway bars and the torsion bars could be loosing stiffness. Your leaf springs could be as well.

With that vibration, you might check some of the steering components as well. For instance, is there play in the steering wheel? Have you checked the wheel bearings?... (these seem to wear out frequently on these trucks).

I have only added Gabriel Ultras (all around) on my truck and they are stiffer than my worn out shocks, but they are not a very stiff set of shocks. If you really want to test things out, you could get some ranchos, or some pneumatically adjustables. Remember, shocks are there to stop bounce, not roll.

 

I'm not too sure on what kind of vibrations you have been having at higher speeds but have you had your tires balanced recently?

 

how about the u-joints? Driveshaft?
both would cause a vibration at the speeds you spoke of