I recently purchased a 1989 K5 Blazer (I loved them since I was a kid and bought it as a toy). The body is in excellent condition, the engine has 185k miles on it, but runs like a champ. I knew there was a crack in the frame, right at the steering box. I am assuming the crack happened due to the stress put on by the lift kit (the kid put a 4" lift on the front and a 6" lift on the back). I had the frame welded and it appears to be very strong, but when I had an alignment done, the mechanic had to tighten the steering box.

I am not a car guy, or mechanically inclined, so I want to know if this will continue to be a problem. Is there a chance the steering box will come off the frame, or the frame will crack again? I will not be offroading in it, just using it for hunting and camping trips with the family.

I apologize if my questions (or terminology) is ignorant. As I wrote, I am not mechanically inclined. I just want a Blazer that won't need steering issues fixed every couple of months.

Thanks

 

I had an 89 1500 that had the same problem, but it was 2wd so I think it's just a bad design flaw.

We welded a piece o plate to each side of the frame, guy I sold it to still drives it just like that. That was back in 97 or 98, so you should be fine.

Did you use lock washers? when we fixed mine I used lock washers and Loc-Tite on the bolts, never backed out.

 

Great. Thanks!

I'll have my mechanic put them on.

 

they actually sell frame repair kits as thats a common problem for those trucks. ive had it happen to 2 of my frames. when i was younger i had a guy down the street just plate and weld the heck out of it and it worked fine