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K5 Land Yacht Build

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32K views 192 replies 20 participants last post by  1965burbb  
#1 ·
Well, I've been lurking on here for quite sometime and figured it's time to start my build thread....
This is my first time building a dedicated trail-only rig, but certianly not the first time with a wrench in my hand. Anyways, a little background about the truck, I have always had a soft spot for full size chevy's (k5's in particular) and jumped at the chance to pick up my relatively clean 89 from my aunt. Who was unfourtnatley selling to pay for medical bills for my uncle, who had a stroke last year. Never the less, I was a happy owner of my new-to-me blazer at a great price.
When I brought her home she was all stock
Jasper Rebuilt TBI 350
Slipping 700r4
np241
31" all terrains
:blah:
 
#2 ·
I apologize for the lack of pics in the beginning, I literally drove it home straight into the barn and started taking it apart. I waited a while to start this due to my sloth like build speed, Ill try to bring you guys up to date. First thing i did was grab the sawzall and hack out the stock axles.
 

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#4 ·
Yep it is, it was originally from alabama,i think most of the jeep trails will have something to say about that though :teehee:.... its going on tons, getting a "flexy" leaf set up via a spring swap, 37s with beadlocks, etc. I did find some rot though...stay tuned
 
#5 · (Edited)
Shorty after selling off the ten bolts, I picked up a set of 3/4 tons. When I got em home I found out the rear 14 bolt had a gov-bomb in it. Being a college student with a job only allows me to make it home to work on the truck every third weekend. The the next logical step was giving a call to Advantage Drivlines in Jackson. They swapped out the carrier and welded up the spiders for 25 bucks :thumb: (more on that later). The gave them a quick coat of rattle can black and threw em under the truck...
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#6 ·
Next i picked up a set of 17" marsh racing beadlocks from another member on here who's name is eluding me (thanks if your reading). They were a little rusty and a baby blue that I was not a fan of (no offense). So I cleaned them up and painted them to match the blaze. It was winter of last year so i had to heat them up on the grill at my house at school before i painted them outside. Should have seen the neighbors faces...wish i had a pic of that lol, but they turned out pretty good. The GF picked the color, and it was a perfect match!

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#7 ·
While buying the wheels i was asked if I needed a set of tires to go with them, I said "sure do". This ended with me driving home with a set of 37" Red Label Krawlers :beerbang:

First one mounted and bolted up...
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My torpedo heater helped with the mounting process, as did a variety of pry bars, BFH's and body weight. By the last tire I had the routine down smoothly.

She's sitting on all fours!
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#10 ·
A few more shots, my 9 month old lab-zilla "Ruger" posing as if he built it.

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Poser Shot in the snow..

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Shortly after this all hell broke loose. I was planning on building this in stages as the money came in, but I guess my blazer just wanted one tons.
As I mentioned before I had advantage drivelines do some minor work on my axle being that I didn't have time with school and work. Well I picked it up three weeks later when I was home, and assumed it was full of fluid, as I was told if it comes back dry "it will have a tag on it". My mistake, come to find out, no tag, and it was dry. I took it for its madien voyage around the property and a grinding began. Unsure if it was the "slight" intoxication or the pure lack of thoroughness on my part or a combination of both that caused me to miss where this was coming from or what. By the time I located the problem the next morning the axle was feeling as bad as I was. Learned a lesson the hard way :whiz:
 
#11 ·
Well, after a good cry, the search was on for a 14 bolt FF, which is what should have been my first step anyways. Before pulling the toast axle out I noted a cv rear shaft was in order as my d.s. angles were horrible as expected.

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Nice exhaust huh?
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#12 ·
I ended up with a saginaw style flange for my hack n tap, since I wanted to do away with the slip yoke before my new driveshaft. Bought a 7/16 rapidcut bit from precision tool and it worked very well, cut like butter once I got through the 1/4" or so of hardening on the end of the output shaft.
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Tapping the shaft was a different story. I knew my crappy harbor fright tap would most likely be obliterated in the process, so I purchased a craftsman set for the job.

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The craftsman tap started the first few threads but was shortly destroyed, turn over the box and it says made in china. I understand it's tapping harded steel but i figured it would hold up much better than it did. I assumed most of thier stuff was made in the U.S. still? Especially when quality materials are a must i.e. in a tap set. :confused:

Luckily the HF taps finished the job and I returned the craftsman set the next day. The store clerk informed me that they are having a ton of problems, and a lot of returns since craftsman has started outsourcing some of their tools to china. Which was the first i have heard of it.

Complete..
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#15 ·
The truck sat like this for some time as I was busy with summer, riding at the dunes, building a track in the backyard, and work. As I got time I started stripping out the carpet and interior to prep for bed-lining the floor. When I picked up the truck, the rockers were a little soft, so I was anxious to see how much rot was actually hidden under the carpet, this is what i found..

Rear floor pan,
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Front floor pans along kick panels,
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#16 ·
Dont have any pictures of the front but it had been patched previously. It wasn't the best job but they are pretty solid for the most part. Im still debating which way to go on this, so opinions and advice are welcome. The way I see it right know I have three options..
1) Try my hand at body work, replacing the outer edges of the floor, along with outer and inner rocker boxes. Then add frame mounted sliders underneath.
2) Cut out rockers completely, weld sliders to the body (bottom of the door jam would be the slider). Still having to fix parts of the floor.
3) This is the one Im leaning towards most, Boatside it, which would eliminate the need to repair 95% of the rust as it would just get cut out to make room for my bracing.

What do you guys think??
 
#17 ·
Number 3 would be your best bet, if you're going to do trails and rocks. :thumb:

It might get tight on some of the trails. so hope you are okay with a few dents. :( Make sure you do some fab work to the frame around the steering gear box, they like to brake.

here is a pic of my old Blazer. it was fun.

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#18 ·
Good lookin truck you have there, and thats what I was hoping to hear. It will spend most of its time on said trails n rocks. Dents don't bother me, In fact I will welcome the first few with open arms, that way I wont feel as guilty when I cut up the fenders and core support when its time for the front taper job :sonicjay:

Im aware the steering box area being a weak link in the frame, Im thinking plate on the outside and inside of the frame, possibly adding extra bracing to the front crossmember :confused: (crossover and hydro assist in the near future)
 
#19 · (Edited)
The last few months I have been gathering parts for the k5, I also changed my mind about the leaf setup (I think I may have undiagnosed ADD). Anyways I realized I on was on my way to building a rig that lacked the flex I needed (rough country lift springs, need I say more) and had a high COG, which didn't suit it's intended use. So now she's getting a 52" spring swap, the rear 52's are loosing the add-aleaf and being transplanted to the front. I should be sitting about 4" higher than stock now.
The rear is getting a set of 56's out of the rear of a 2500 Burb.
The 56's have an offset center pin, but no worries there, switching the sides on the shackle flip will solve that...
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#20 ·
Ok, You'll be up to date in a few post so bare with me, like i said above Ive been rounding up parts more than i have been workin on it lately. Picked up a couple important parts recently. Got a great deal on this brand new crossover set up. .250 wall DOM drag link, 1 ton TRE's, steering arm, and a new 2wd steering box w/pitman arm...
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Well the GF wanted to take a random trip to cedar point, I told her as long as make one stop and pick up a dana 60 I had my eye on. Stock LP 60, 4.10 gears, 1 bad u joint. Bought a truck part while making the girlfriend happy, win-win :sonicjay:

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#21 ·
Lastly Picked up a lincoln locked 14 bolt with 5.13's, gave her a shave and welded on new perches. Also threw the t-case back in. I had a blast wrestling the rear end under the truck, the gravel barn floor wasn't very helpful either.
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Partially welded, excuse my crappy welding :(
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Installed...
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Since the axle incident, my truck leaves me reminders now :teehee:
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#23 ·
Ill try to have this turd polished by then, I should get a lot done over winter break. If you wanna help my my Snofari dreams come true, you'll help me setup my gears, as soon as brown santa delivers me my goodies :finger:
 
#26 ·
Sweet. I'm down. Now it looks like there'll be more than two blazers at Snofari! All tho were still gona be outnumbered... damn jeeps And it looks like we'll own a press pretty soon too. Let me know when the goodies arrive.
Click to expand...
Not everyones cool enough to be part of the club :teehee: Nice, more tools for the shop/apartment. As far a goodies, thick cut 5.13s and a master install kit. Was gonna order it tonight but couldn't find standard rotation thick cut gears on Ron's website. Im gonna give him a call tomorrow and see if he can get some in for me.
 
#32 ·
Very Interesting, Seems to be popular with the samurai guys. Trying to find a review by someone who had it in a 60. Seems like the amount of forgiveness it gives would be similar to a locker, steering wise. Im gonna look into this deeper...
 
#35 ·
The price is right, the 60 I just picked up has a set of antique superwinches on it. Wouldn't be a bad idea to upgrade to slugs now, and run the spool while saving up for a selectable locker. I would have to do my hydro assist a little sooner, if i wanted to turn. Decisions decisions...
 
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