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90 chevy truck, 96 s10 blazer going bluggy

71K views 136 replies 22 participants last post by  ssyork 
#1 · (Edited)
So I started with my old 1990 3/4 ton DD. In the winter of 2006-2007 it got SASed and the box shortened, then beaten up. The wife and I had our second kid so I needed more seats and I wasn't going to put another full size body on. A friend suggested that I do a s10 blazer body and on it went in December of 2008 and made its first big trip to moab in march of 2009. In the 2009-2010 winter I put the 241/205 doubler in which can be found here. http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=871556
This winter I am finally tired of my front spring hangers being a snow plow, so the front frame is getting chopped and 3 or 4 linked. I am now leaning towards 4, but we will see how it goes. Also some other goodies added in.
The list of parts-
Ruffstuff Brackets
Ballistic fab joints all around
ballistic D60 truss
Hereticfab heat treated links
Psc full hydro, single ended ram
Virgina 4x4 double capture, springless steering arms w/ bushings from WFO made by Reid Racing
16" ORI's from blacksheep
BB TBI
comp cam
custom chip
Pics are when it was a DD, First trip out on the SAS to South Dakota, right before blazer body went on, first trip on blazer body, one from last summer showing my snow plow out front
 

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#2 · (Edited)
The Saturday after Thanksgiving I started taking apart my running, working truck. Now I have the front clip and core support off, and the frame chopped as of last night. Just playing with the tape measure and eyeballing what the layout of everything is going to be. Also debating about using 2"x3" tubing for the frame or 1 3/4" DOM. Going to use 1 3/4" for the exo and probably for the shock hoops as well. Any thoughts?
 

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#10 ·
Yea my low is pretty stupid. It's fun to screw with though. I really like double low 2nd and 3rd. Little lower than single low 1st and 2nd. Someday I hope my tires will grow up. I keep buying other stuff though. Looking for a tire sponsor for a family trail rig if anybody is interested! We could do a full wrap of the truck with your logo:D
 
#15 ·
Yes sir I will be there, already saving up for it, this year we will need to actually get together and run some trails. The CO2 tank has got alot of use its not so pretty anymore.

Looking forward to progress pics on this.

One more thing I would use the rec. tube on the frame, seems to be easier to mount stuff off of.
 
#19 ·
Lowrider yes, headache rack even better. Here are the link calculations for those that don't read the general. Any input is greatly appreciated.
I can adjust my upper links, with length, hieght from ground @axle from 24-26" and also at the frame from 25.5" to around 29". Also I have some play at the axle on the horizontal separation from around 9-10". Was trying to keep it around 9 so the angle stayed @ or above 40*. Lower links don't have much room for adjustment. Thanks for the help.
 

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#20 ·
Not a ton of progress, been busy with the tape trying to figure out the links. Here is last night though. Got the exhaust out of the way, the old shackle mounts cut off, the front axle cleaned up and the Ballistic truss touched up to fit how I want it to. I hate grinding.
 

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#21 · (Edited)
Is there a reason you have your uppers so much shorter then your lowers?

The problem with having shorter upper's is it plays hell on your pinion angle as the suspension cycles.

I would also try getting the anti dive down to 80% or there abouts, You may run into the body of the vehicle wanting to lift off of the suspension when your front tires come up to a obsticle they have to climb instead of just roll over.
 
#22 ·
Thanks for the input. I really don't have a reason for them being shorter. I just played with the calculator and wow. Going from 32" to 35" takes my max pinion angle from 12* to not quite 5*. And I have the room to make that happen. The numbers look great when I lower my frame side lower link down 2 1/2". That means it will be hanging down below my already low frame, that is at least flat right now. Better to have a flat belly or better AD/AS numbers?
 
#25 · (Edited)
Yeah my belly has been "slid" over quite a bit w/ my 36"s, South Dakota can be brutal. Make good use of my pinion guard too.:grinpimp:
I got the pinion angle down to around -3.75* and 5.26* on the other end of travel. I am running a HP D60 and 1410 joints, w/ a CV on it. So that should be acceptable. Total of not even 10*. I'm liking the way its looking. Thanks for your feedback.
 
#26 ·
So not a lot of progress. Got the truss welded to the axle, but ran out of nickel rod so only about 80% to third member. Then I tigged the rest. Let me start with I am no tig welder, I just like using it when I can. So any constructive criticism would be great. Also I have pretty much just taught myself through trial and error. Picked up my 2"x3" for the frame rail yesterday and ordered 7 sticks of 1.75" .120 DOM for the exo cage. They told me steel is jumping in Jan pretty good so buy now if you need some. I did get some parts in. Here is a pic of the new 2.63" Ballistic joint housings. A 1 9/16" socket works great for beating the bushings in. Then I took an old D44 hub socket and ground 2 of the tits off and a little around the edge and it fits great. Best use for a D44 socket IMO:flipoff2: Next to the Ballistic joint is a 7/8" then a 3/4" one just for reference.
 

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#27 ·
Got the top plate welded into the truss. wanted to wait till the top was on before the middle gets welded to the third member and ran out of nickel rod the other day. It will get welded to all the way though. Have the pass side upper frame link mount tacked in so I can start in on the frame. I think the frame is going to hug the motor so the upper axle mounts will be outside the frame the whole way. Only thing the winch will have to frenched into the frame rails because it won't fit between anymore. Or it could sit on top. Any thoughts?
 

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#28 ·
So I've spent some time lately with ordering parts. I just wanted to say that Ruff Stuff, Ballistic and Shaffers have been great. So has Virgina 4x4. My order from Ruff stuff was missing a bracket, called them and Dan was all over it, even ordered a jam nut I forgot to get and threw it in for me. Small detail but he is at the top of the list next time I need something, and he gives Pirate members 10% off. Ballistic has been super too. Let me add to my order when i was waiting on joints to come with out charging any extra shipping. They stepped up and are giving pirate a 10% discount too. Shaffers has been a little slow to get me my stuff, BUT I said I was in no hurry and could wait till after Baja. Then to my surprise I got a phone call on Monday from Mike making sure the order was right and he threw in another set ($50) of bracket to help me out. Gotta love that. Virgina 4x4 has been great about getting back about questions on their new steering arms that should be shipping out today. Gave me a great price too with free shipping. Also when I was not sure on what length center to center I wanted they offered to send me a non drilled one and I could use it for mock up, then send it back when i figured out the length.:smokin: I PMed Poly about a set of brackets that i was going to use and they quoted me $90 shipped, got on their web site was $92and change. So i pmed back and ask what the pirate discount was and also about their facebook thread if you become a friend then a discount on first order. Was told that is the discount. So 2.8% when Ruffstuff and Ballistic are at 10%, Virgina 4x4 gave me free shipping and shaffers hooked me with a set of brackets. Just wanted to say thanks to the vendors who are supporting Pirate and it's members. It is clear cut who will be my first phone calls next time I need something, just depends on what part. Also clear to me who I won't even look at. just my 2cents worth.
 
#29 ·
Got a little more done after pulling the alternator on the wife's car.What a PITA. 2003 VW TDI. Took me 1.5 hours to get the damn thing out. New one won't be in till tomorrow though. Anyways I got my new tie rod cut down to 48", we will get exact when the arms show up hopefully tomorrow. I'm using 1 1/2" .250 wall DOM. I also am sleeving the end with some 1 3/4 .120, and also going to throw some as a gusset around the ram mounts. Mainly because i like the way it looks, but figured it couldn't hurt any either. The second pic is where I cut the frame off. I put a piece of 2" tubing in to fill the gap, gave it a little bit of down angle too. It doesn't look as nice as I was hoping. The frame has a little jog in on the bottom I had to work with and also I plated the frame when I put the SAS on. So there is another 1/4 plate butted on the inside, of the inner side of the frame. All in all it came out ok. Little paint and a few rock dings and it will look good.
 

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#30 · (Edited)
between being sick,kids being sick and waiting on some front end parts, not a ton has been happening. I did try and put my new hub on to replace the one I smoked in Moab, along with the spindle and bearings. Figured out it used the bigger studs so off to the parts store again. Now my pass front and rear will be the same lug size atleast. The front end is getting right now 1 new hub, 1 new spindle, new bearings and seal on both sides, new inner axle seals, full circle clips and bronze bushings (that I'm waiting on) instead of the plastic king pin bushings. Here is a quick pic of the difference on stud sizes.
 

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#31 · (Edited)
Got my arms from Virgina 4x4 yesterday and they are just sweet. :smokin: Here is a pic of them if you haven't seen their thread in the vendors section. That is a Ballistic 2.63" joint with the 1.25" shank on it for comparison. They are definitely the blingest parts I have bought for my truck. They are the springless version and I am still waiting on the brass bushings from Mad Mac.:shaking: ordered those Dec 9th. Here is one frame rail mocked up. there will be a bunch of gussets around the frame and link mount that all tie in when its done.
 

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#33 · (Edited)
I finally got a set of the elusive bushings in my hand! I've had some issues getting them in, but thats another story in another thread. A guy ordered 4 sets for us around here from WFO, made by Reid Racing, got here in 4 days. Awesome. Now I can get may axle back together and get cracking on this thing. :D

edit: I received bushings from Mad Mac on 1/25/11, like he said.The bushings are very similar. The Reid ones have the screw holes in the top and are supposed to be a harder material. Both nice products.
 

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#34 ·
If anybody is looking for a part number, here are the full circle clips /snap rings i picked up from US bearing supply. They where only $3.81 for a bag of 25, pretty cheap I thought. They had to order them, but it only took 4 days and was free. They are supposed to be .55 thick, the spicer half clips are .62 if memory serves.
 

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