Stacey David takes a stock '88 Blazer, Project Big Blaze, and completely swaps out the front and rear axles before lifting it 6". Then, it gets a new wheel and tire combo.
I picked up a rust free '91 for 1500 CDN peso's but body has some bad dents that will take some work and has 3/4 ton axles in it with lift. Power train is stock. One prior I got for 750 and rust free body.... One in the pic has been in the family for a couple decades plus.
What I find ironic is on this truck, the steering is utilizing the push-pull drag link and they didn't change it. Yet many years later, Stacey is on Gearz and when building the Stunt Double his exact words are, "This funky drag link that Chevy came out with, this push-pull thing...that is awful." Oh how times change.
At this point, $1600 bucks here in Canada will get you the rusted frame a K5 once sat on..... Gone are those good old days of affordable fun. Now they've fallen into the "I know what I've got" category, next to Cummins Dodge trucks, Toyota 4Runners, and even Jeep XJ's.
No one's yelling, everyone knows what they're talking about and everything is going as planned? I feel like it was done wrong. Lol! Lord knows no project of mine worked out this way haha.
We've got a guy where I live that has a Ford Dually that he hauls his trailered drag car (a 67 Fairlane) with. When he hauls his car to the strip, it's got the classic 4 wheels on the back. When he uses it for just cruisin', It's got one mean set of fat tires on it. It's an older truck and it's got a built 460. It has no problem lighting up those fat tires. I think they're actually a tad bit wider than the duals. Next time out, I'll get pics.
I like it when the guy in red works by himself it's more interesting cause he has a main concept of redoing it all not jus a quick fix and done he has pride in his work
I remember when both of those guys hosted. I've been watching this show for years. I haven't seen a lot of the episodes of Trucks, but I've seen just about every episode of Gearz, though.
Ive got a squarebody suburban, i love it cuz ive got 3 kids, and its still shorter than a crew cab short bed truck. Ive got 8 seats in the dsmn thing, its a beast, not as agile as im used to but man is it cool & like i said, its the shortest version of any of them with 4 doors.
I really wish you guys would put these in full build on videos. It’s so hard to follow the build trying to find part 1 till the end. I was watching an s10 build then couldn’t find the end so I watched whole build and didn’t see how it came out
OMG...i finally get it! Mel was the show and go guy whereas Stacy was the technical know-how. All of their shows "try" to follow the same model. I always found it odd that Mel moved to be the Exec. Producer of the show when Stacy was still in front of the camera
$1,600 price tag LOLOLOLOLOLOL I wish you could find them for that now. That Blazer would run you closer to $26,000 today The Square Body market has sky rocketed!!!
I remember back when you could get a decent k5 blazer for $1600. Now you can't even buy a rotted one for less than $5000. Just like diesels and Jeeps the K5s are now considered the new gold standard of overpriced 4x4s.
Does anyone know if you change your gear ratio on your truck should you change install a torque converter with a different stall speed or does it affect your torque converter at all
Mel has had a decent career after this show. I didn't add the math until today that I saw him as the reporter in Rob Zombie's Halloween in 2007 and all six seasons of Justified as a background Marshal
10:00 One of the weak points of the front axle is the spring mount brackets at the rear of the front springs. The metal is so thin that they tend to bend and break especially when you upgrade to larger tires. You should have changed them out for better upgraded brackets to prevent that. Unfortunately the only real work you see on this program is how to order parts and bolt them on. You don't see any real work being done like your average backyard person would do. It would have been cheaper and better to have found some used Ton axles, had them rebuilt and installed them instead. You probably would have spent about half what they spent on those 2 axles and they would be 5 times as strong.
This bog blaze got sold off to finance other projects..they guy took off all the good stuff for his rig ..swapped all the crap back in a nd sold it back off...project crazy horse and copperhead got sold off to fiance Stacey's new show gearz
That was a while ago. I felt lucky to have bought my K5 in 2010 for $1500. It came with a parts Suburban, and the paint was rough and the interior stained, but it was a running, driving truck with a good body. They're just getting less common. I used to be able to go to the pick-and-pull and see at least half a dozen square bodies just a few years ago-now it's a surprise to see one.
The money they spent on that custom Dana 60 rear when they could’ve simply found a later model 14 bolt from a wrecking yard... & I know GM Dana 60 fronts are hard to find, but that 10 bolt is gonna have a hard & short life with 4.88’s & 37’s. ...& they didn’t go to crossover steering? Still a cool truck...
@@andyclemente4205 2 wheel drive was parallel with eachother front and rear. The 4x4 trucks blazers and burbs had a wider front end making the rear narrow. Reason for that was for much better turning radius, a stock k5 blazer has the same turning as a mini Cooper, why? Because better turning on, and off road. Short wheel base ans further better turning than most. But not only does it help with getting around tight trees, snow, mud and clay the front and rear tracks are different. So the ruts made from the front tires doesn't drag the rear with them. Which makes driving in snow and mud is more stable. Front and rear would make almost 2 separate ruts so the rear isn't following the front and vs
@@andyclemente4205 it doesn't have to be but gm designed it that way for a reason and have used that design from the 70s all the way into the brand new trucks and suvs. Its still there but they worked harder to hide the look
@@jonnysprojects6549 ohhh, I was half joking, heh. but certain GM 3/4 ton trucks have dana 60's up front vs 8-lug 10bolt. typically with a gm 14-bolt out back (and the plow shape it has killing ground clearance). I'd simply order new dana 60's front and rear in 8-lug than finding a rare thing even on north america. check out pic's of gm 14-bolt to get an idea of the joke I made ;)
@@zarkeh3013 Depending on the use of the truck a semi-floater 14 bolt out of a 3/4 ton for the rear may be the ticket. Some of them come in 4.10 ratios with a G80 locker, they're strong enough for 40 inch tires, and they're a lot lighter and have better ground clearance than the full-floater. Main caveats are they aren't as strong as a full-floater, and there are fewer parts for them and they tend to be more expensive.
Wouldn’t the posi-trac work best in the rear , and the air locker up front ?? I think he got his lines wrong , that makes no sense 🤷🏼♂️ PS - the chrome wheels look stupid , definitely shoulda went with black , and neither the wheels or tires are wide enough , needs a wider stance , it looks too heavy and I’m sure it rides like it
That'd be my choice. They probably wanted to showcase different products. A posi will do well in the front if you don't want the expense of a selectable locker but at the same time you deal with snow or tight turns and don't want the squirrely handling or other issues from putting a true locker up front.
If you're doing crawling or anything else where you want that instant lockup, a selectable locker is the way to go. A posi is a good all around choice, though. Probably sponsored by ARB...
