I have my grandpas 88 k5 and drive it regularly. It's just about to turn over 80k original miles and runs great. I just got her repainted and spiffed up, but ever since reassembly, I'm having horrible electrical issues.
These cons are rather quickly becoming features rather than bugs thanks to manufacturers not only using spit to glue new trucks together but saving on the spit as well with each passing year
I sold mine a couple years back and I miss it everyday. Dude sweet talked me down and it was worst deal I made truck had no rust 1 dent that was small like golf ball size. Everything worked and I used to take my top off alone and it weights more then I do. There amazing and I'm looking for another now. Great vid
I admire your 87 just as much as my 86 and they look almost identical and both from sunny California... but now in oregon. I love the video's you have posted and made my day your K5 again all sexy like...
For the window, lube the cable,regulator, and tracks. Mine is fast now and I done it 2 years ago. Speed, re gearing is a must even with stock size tires. Mine had 2.73, yes 2.73 not 3.73. The top, I installed 4 folding surface mount boat cleats to my top and an electric winch in the trusses of my garage. It’s literally a 5 minute one person job now.
@62guitarguy Luckily mine has the 350, I couldn’t imagine the 305😂 I drive in D most of the time so it doesn’t hunt between 3/4. I’m currently building a 370 “LS” (6.0 lq4 .030 over) and a 4l80e to swap in hopefully next winter, I’m painting the truck this winter. 500+ NA crank hp and 4.56s shouldn’t have a problem getting 33s rolling after that.
@@deegan727 I put a 383 and a 4l80e in mine . One thing I hate about the 4l80 is if you downshift it going down a hill , it just free wheels, no engine braking. Apparently they are made this way and can't be modded. Wish I would have known that before I installed it. I would have got a 5 speed stick. Luckily I have 4 wheel disc brakes. Love your truck!!!
EddieC1982 , My 91 is super easy, just push on the back of the seat lightly and the back flips forward and the whole seat springs forward . Then you just push the seat back after the passenger enters, or the rear passenger can grab the seat back and pull it and it locks into place. Your rig is a Silverado, it should have this feature. Maybe something is locked up in the mechanism .
Had a k5 89 in the early 90s best car I ever had! A spme kind of dealers special imported 1990 to sweden, lockers, warn winch and a little lift on 35s and a gas preheateter. Great piece of equipment, way better than anything i owned after. I sold it after a couple of years and a lot of miles. Still miss it! Bought it with mudders on in the winter, first 4wd i drove.. gave me a scare when I tried to break and turn into my bushroad.. I past the crossing with a couple of hundred meters.. that gave 18 year old me rhe experience that Nordic studded tires are more important than 4wd on the road 😂
Had a park ranger 75 k5 Cheyenne and a 87 k5 Silverado. When i had the 87 k5, i found another top and cut the fiberglass(very carefully) 1" from where you bolt it on to the roof. Fiberglassed where it curved then came straight down. 1 1/2" thick and added a bracelets on the bed, reinforced the fiberglass with large steel washers. Molded a Silverado sliding glass on it. Painted the same color as the truck. Pin brackets for the backseat, even thou no one ever use it. I could turn it back and forth into a truck/blazer. Wished i had never sold them.
I bought my blazer from Portland Oregon, it’s an 88 . They don’t treat there roads there and they’re not all rusty. I live in Pennsylvania . It wasn’t cheap to ship it , but well worth it. I paid 14 grand for it and we stripped it down and painted it. Not a dime size area of rust anywhere. After we finished it , it looks brand new . New bumpers tires trim rings , a few interior part and it literally looks brand new. It’s blue , not the most wanted color but the underside and no rust makes it worth it. Thought I would share with everyone looking for one of these my find and hope you find a solid project or finished blazer to enjoy as us.
I've also got an 88 and just repainted it blue just as it came from the factory. Mines the dark deep blue, I've seen others that are a lighter blue I'm not as much a fan of. But sounds like we've done and have pretty much the same truck. Yours a stick? Mine runs the small block and sm465 4 speed. Great for off road, but as a daily driver it takes a lot of energy to drive. Stiff clutch, gearshift has what seems like two feet between gears, and it's just a lot of mass to keep on the road sometimes
I have a 1984 K5 I won't even think of selling it , there is nothing stock about it . I've had mine for about 30 years it will start when nothing else will, luv it screw a new truck I'd rather have and old one any day. Enjoyed every minute of it.
I had a 86 jimmy and man there are days that I wish I still had it. It wasn't perfect but it paid for itself a hundred times over. I had that break issue but it was simple adjustment of the rear drum breaks that fixed it. If I ever had the money I would totally get one again but would fix all of those cons and make it better.
You should paint the aluminum frame around the quarter panel windows black. I did mine and they look soooo much better. The window fames are easy to remove to paint. The frames are really easy to disassemble if the screws are not rusted. If the screws are rusted it's a SOB.
I’ve got a 77 (6” lift on 35s) but not nearly as nice as what you’ve got……yet. I agree with your list for sure. The passenger seat on mine flips forward with one handle, makes it pretty nice to get in the back.
So for my K5 ,i had the driveshafts lengthened and rebuilt . Regeared to 456. Took off the hard top for a soft topper. Replaced the heavy tailgate with a pickup tailgate . Led bulbs in the guage.
One of the weaknesses of the the square bodies from 1973 through 1988 for the pickup trucks and 1991 for the Suburbans and Blazers is the hood buckling due to insufficient bracing and the strength of the hood hinges. You see quite a few of them with hoods that are kinked on the side
The biggest weakness on my blazer was the rear window keyed switch did not roll the window back up, had to use the switch on the dash panel, loved that blazer.
The door pins were always an issue from 73 thru 91. That is the reason you see so many of them that you have to lift the door as you close it or it will hit the frame instead of latching.
@@johnmilligan2964 looked like a solid retirement plan in my younger days, never had many issues with that truck, used to own a 93 k2500 5 speed & it had terrible door pins.
out here in Holland the gas stations are small so if i pull up next to the pump i can't open my door IF the gas filler was on the driver side. So for me this is no con. Lube the hell out of your tracers of your rear window it will help and just put led lights in your gauge cluster. Could be also you have a little vibration in your driveshaft what kills the cross yoke. One real con i would mention is look out for a bended hood and push it to the back when closing , regards 78 - K5
You need to be a mechanic to fix driveshafts, just need to lube u-joints; Need to setup springs to be happy, no overload thick bottom springs, need shackles at 45 degrees for comfort. Not too tall since can be tippy and teeter. No brakes do not pull to the side. Put good gearing and they go esp. with standard transmission. Forget all the princess nonsense! One of best looking vehicles! :)
On the later model blazers, to take the tops off, you had to take the interior apart to remove the two bolts running upwards into the fiberglass topper, Chevy must have been tipped off that in the 90s they were requiring a 3rd brake light hence the broncos sold after 91 did not come advertising a removable top.
Back in the day I owned a 1981 K5 Silverado Blazer. My only cons were the door mirrors (blind spots) and the door hinges/springs gave out. I made the mistake of putting 33 inch Dick Cepek tires on it (great tires) not realizing that it came from the factory with 2:73 freeway flyers which made performance dismal. I wish I still had it as it was a stud, kept my family safe. It not only looked good but would reliably go anywhere I had the nerve to take it.
In a meth infested neighborhood, difficult to remove parts are a good things! As its widely accepted to be difficult to do on drugs. Haha! thanks for the video.
The galvanize on these was pretty horrible. I took my 91 down to bare metal, full frame off resto. The galvanize was bubbly and peeling off everywhere. There were some random spots where the galvanize was stuck tight, but I ground all of it off cause it's garbage. Resprayed everything with 2 coats of epoxy primer. GM had a lot of paint issues with their early attempts at galvanizing.
Speaking on the rear seat access, I got an 84 and that mf is so easy, it’s just trying to get it to latch. People always think it’s gonna break. I love mine. I want to build mine into an all rounder vehicle. If I want to go rock crawling, it can do that, mudding, does that with flying colors. Whoops are my issue, it’s just too short to get it to no throw you everywhere
If you can get that K5 in your garage you can use what the Hardtop Jeep guys use to lift their tops. You can use a ceiling hoist system. Lift off drive out and leave the top in the air. When you want to put it back on just back into the garage under it and lower it back down. 1 man 2 to 3 min job.
I've got an 87 Jimmy. For entry into the back you have to push on the back part of seat towards the dash and the whole seat should slide forward. Passenger side seat only though
@@ariegt Yeah, my 91 is super easy, just push on the back of the seat lightly and the back flips forward and the whole seat springs forward . Then you just push the seat back and it locks into place. EddieC1981 rig is a Silverado, it should have this feature.
Don't forget the frame cracking behind the steering box. Of course this is a common problem with most square bodies. There's a company in Colorado, Off Road Design, that specializes in square bodies and has a fix for it.
I had a 78 K5 Blazer. You touched on two pet peeves of mine. The rear window, worst design ever. You're right about rolling it up and down and potential for leaks BUT the worst is that driving in the rain, anywhere but particularly dirt roads, makes it impossible to see out of the rearview mirror. Every SUV I've had since, except for a Suburban with ambulance doors, has had a windshield wiper. Was it really that hard for GM to figure out? Ahhh, the "removable top". After I took it off the second time, I made a blood oath I'd never do it again. Heavy as hell, leave it off long enough at it loses enough shape to make it nearly impossible to get back on right. Talk about leaks! had to loosen and move enough to adjust the rubber strips several times. NEVER AGAIN. On a minor note, it was a rattle trap from the day I drove it off the dealership lot. I'm convinced it was mostly the spare tire mount, inside, but never could completely fix it. Oh, and the gas cap, spot on! Although, I'm pretty sure, since my first Suburban, the gas cap has been on the driver's side.
True. Compared to my family's 1974 bronco the new bronco is a total piece of crap. It's a damn joke and should be considered a blatant insult to a real 1st gen bronco.
1. Drive shaft angle is important no matter what vehicle you lift. 2. I agree, putting the gas under the taillight would be perfect. 3. Tailgate - swap for Truck Tailgate no more glass and heavy tailgate. 4. Lol who doesn’t service their transfercase and axles? 5. Rust happens in some areas. 6. Dual shocks is absolute garbage. Ranchos are garbage. Go single mono tube billsteins. 7. Plop some Hp in it 8. Yeah 9. That’s from you having a bad alignment 10. I prefer dim gauges. Less distracting at night. 11. Door Hinge pins have to be changed. Buy a new striker they are $3 12. Yeah, the later models should have kept the jumper seat. 13. The tops are garbage. Soft toppers always. Hence the truck tailgate.
The original strikers last an extremely long time, easily over 100k miles, so a new striker is a much better investment over the goofy ass diy methods I see people posting on youtube using various kinds of soft plastic tube. Also, non rusted K5 are so easy to take apart, there is no excuse to not replacing the door hinge pins and bushings. Even the door latch assemblies are reasonably priced. My driver side was pretty worn out and I got a new one for $65 and it really works nice. Hard closing doors is something I can't stand. When I put in new door seals it made the doors quite a bit harder to shut . Hopefully they will smush down enough eventually and need a less forceful slam.
@@wims58ej make sure you put the door seals in the correct orientation. I put new seals in my new k5 and it was like that for maybe a month. But with regular use that has subsided. Although, Up north though that striker area usually gets rusted pretty bad. I’ve actually broken the entire piece off the door-jam trying to remove a striker. So I guess that could be a reason to just put pvc on it haha
Ahhh. The wonderful Chevy gremlins strike again! Think illogical outside the box Check the light switch those go bad than look into loose connections from computer to ignition wires.My issue was my actual fuel injector wires where arcing and causing all kind of issues.I spliced in new wires and injectors from LMC and no issues.Good luck
There really aren't any downsides to me lol, the gas cap should be on the driver side tho, I want to move mine to the driver side, it's a 77 so it doesn't have a door, therefore I feel like it would be cosmetically easier to do.
@@EddieC2000 That’s one I hadn’t considered. I’ll do the motor mounts and ball joints and see how that works. If it’s still bad, I might look into different rims.
My ‘88 had a mechanism on the passenger seat. Lay the seat back all the way forward. Once it gets all the way, there’s a mechanism that releases the slider and the whole seat slides forward and stays loose on the track. Pull it back then lay the seatback back. Mine is now non functioning but I haven’t messed with it to see what the issue is. So they actually improved for your 87 but it’s likely broken too lol.
When I went to buy my truck I was looking for a square body k10 or k20 but I found a 96k mile 1994 f-150 4x4 RCSB 5.0 5 speed 1 owner for a really good price so I bought it. I still love it and I love all old trucks and cars as i'm not a brand whore!
I got a con the fuel economy is probably the worst I ever seen on any vehicle. It seems like u can actually see the fuel gauge going down as your idling
Harder to find, but look for a diesel version if fuel economy is an issue. A friend usually got 20-22 mpg. Though that was when it was much newer and he did a fair amount of straight driving without stop and go. The downside is he had to absolutely floor it to merge into highway traffic. I joked it had a 0-60 that was measured with a sundial.
I've never been brave enough to try 😂. Actually I had it on the interstate for the first time in over a decade the other day and it did fine. I was doing 70-75 watching the gas gauge quickly drop to empty. It's not something I'd do regularly, but yes, they'll go hwy speeds
Ordered the pre bent pipes from summit racing. They can only fit on the sides I have them on. I tried numerous times switching sides they either would rub on the gas tank or frame.
@@EddieC2000 weird... are mufflers center/center in and out? if not maybe flipping/reversing mufflers or switching sides may help by moving outlet so pipes fit... not dogging on you, just trying to help a fellow k5 owner out.
C'mon now, let's get real. The newest square body is 37 years old. That's hardly "new". The K-5's were designed as utility vehicles, not cruisers. Wait 30 years and then check the cons on the GMT-900 platforms. You'll probably have more cons than pros.
4300lbs doesn't seem that heavy to me. Especially for. 4x4. My 2000 Silverado 1500 2wd extended cab weighed right at about 5000lbs (according to the scales at the scrap yard. (4900-5100 depending on how much gas was in it).
You should sell the blazer and buy something new. Half of your complaints are self inflicted or a direct result of your lack of maintenance and repair on a 34 year old vehicle.
Considering I've only had it less than a year I would hardly say that any of them are self inflicted from sitting in someone else's garage for 10 years.
You my brother have one clean and mean k5 that things a collecter keep that thing don’t u ever sell it pass it down to the kids it that little 20k u spent or less on that truck will hold family sentiment value down the road keep it keep it keep it
i love square bodies but the fact that they put a gas filler on each side is so freaking stupid. why make the customer move the truck to a different pump just to fill up the other tank. if they put both behind the rear license plate that would be perfect then it hides it too plus you can get gas at either side the pump is on. IDK why GM stopped doing this in their cars.
@@EddieC2000 yeah most old chevy and gm cars had the gas cap behind the rear license plate. like the c3 and earlier corvettes, camaros firebirds from like 1981 and earlier.
