My Project-2000 Zr2 Blazer Solid Axle Swap

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rennat_2006
Posts: 124
Joined: Thu Feb 17, 2011 8:44 pm
Location: Pasco

My Project-2000 Zr2 Blazer Solid Axle Swap

Postby rennat_2006 » Sat Mar 12, 2011 5:39 pm

Finally getting around to throwing my junk on here, Heres what ive been working on and killing the bank account for the last few months.
2000 Chevy S10 Blazer Zr2
-High Pinion Dana44 out of a 79 Ford F150 SuperCab. Outer C's have been cut off of the tubes, Pinion angle set then welded back on to give me 4.5* of caster at ride height. Jeep knuckles and 1/2ton chevy outers with mile marker hubs.
-Factory 8.6" 10 bolt with wheel spacers/adapter to convert to 6 lug.
-4.88's in both diffs with a lockright in the front and welded up spiders/carrier in the rear diff.
-Sky manufacturing front spring crossmember
-4" lift Jeep Wagoneer springs up front, Stockers with a Add-A-Leaf and a 3" block in the back currently but it is only temporary until i order a set of 6" lift Alcans.
-Full crossover high steer using Jeep flattop knuckles, Sky manufacturing 1 7/8" thick arms, 1/4" thick wall tierod and draglink, Chevy TRE's all around, and a wagoneer drop pitman arm.
-Astro van steering box
-35x12.50 Super Swamper Trxus m/t's with 15x10 Eagle Alloy MT classicII knockoff's.
-Np233c with JB conversions SYE kit with 1350 CV flange on the rear output. NP231 fixed front output shaft with 1310 CV Yoke.
-Rear shaft will be 1350 CV, Front shaft will be 1310 CV.
-Rocksliders welded to the frame rails.
-ABS modulator has been removed as with the factory master cylinder, 3/4ton master cylinder took its place.
-Gonna build some bumpers for it and throw a winch in the front one.
Im sure that im forgetting things but i will update later on.
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The rest of the pictures are herehttp://s201.photobucket.com/albums/aa142/rennat_2006/Blazer%20Solid%20Axle%20Swap%20and%20Parts%20Pictures/

Pretty much done with the SAS now, Waiting on my SYE kit which should be here next week then to order drivelines.
Last edited by rennat_2006 on Thu Apr 14, 2011 7:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
2000 Zr2 Blazer with HP Dana 44. 4.88's, 36's, Beadlocks, Welded rear, SYE, CV driveshafts...

OldGreen
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Postby OldGreen » Sat Mar 12, 2011 8:08 pm

Interesting. . .little tall though???

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Lurch
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Postby Lurch » Sat Mar 12, 2011 8:17 pm

Looks good. Think I would pull the blocks out of the rear and drop the front to match.
You can follow me.... but it's gonna hurt ;)

I'm not so bright
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Postby I'm not so bright » Sat Mar 12, 2011 9:05 pm

Looks great How much motor you going to run?

One thing , If your going to crawl around under it with no front axle at least throw a tire under there or PM me for some real jack stands! A good friend was found dead under his car a few years ago! :(

rennat_2006
Posts: 124
Joined: Thu Feb 17, 2011 8:44 pm
Location: Pasco

Postby rennat_2006 » Sat Mar 12, 2011 10:30 pm

Blocks are gonna be gone just gotta order springs.

I'd like to lower it but since my pinion angle and caster is set at the current ride height it would be a lot of work.

There was stands under it when I was working on it, not the ideal ones though. I've had a rig fall on me before, long story but its not something I mess around with because the fear is definetely there.
2000 Zr2 Blazer with HP Dana 44. 4.88's, 36's, Beadlocks, Welded rear, SYE, CV driveshafts...

rennat_2006
Posts: 124
Joined: Thu Feb 17, 2011 8:44 pm
Location: Pasco

Postby rennat_2006 » Sun Mar 13, 2011 1:03 pm

Sticking with the 4.3l for now but there are plans for a built 5.7l in the near future.
2000 Zr2 Blazer with HP Dana 44. 4.88's, 36's, Beadlocks, Welded rear, SYE, CV driveshafts...

rennat_2006
Posts: 124
Joined: Thu Feb 17, 2011 8:44 pm
Location: Pasco

Postby rennat_2006 » Thu Apr 14, 2011 7:34 pm

Little bit of an update...
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Took the wide chain, wide chain gears, and fixed front output shaft out of a np231 and installed all of those parts in my np233. Then buttoned it back up with a SYE kit from JB conversions. Front output is a 1310 CV yoke and the rear output has a 1350 CV flange.

Driveline was shipped out Monday so maybe tomorrow if im really lucky but probably early next week.
2000 Zr2 Blazer with HP Dana 44. 4.88's, 36's, Beadlocks, Welded rear, SYE, CV driveshafts...

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White trash
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Postby White trash » Thu Apr 14, 2011 8:01 pm

If you drop down the front hanger and put the shackles in the frame instead of under it you can keep your angles happy and still have arched springs so you can have good uptravel without making your springs go negative. :wink:

rennat_2006
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Location: Pasco

Postby rennat_2006 » Sun Apr 17, 2011 2:23 pm

Drilled a hole 2" higher in the front crossmember and set the springs there. Dropped me an inch and i went from 5.5* of caster to like 7* so no problem there. Im going to order some 2" waggy lift springs to replace the 4" ones that are on it now so with dropping the springs in the crossmember and the 2" springs it will drop it a total of 3".
2000 Zr2 Blazer with HP Dana 44. 4.88's, 36's, Beadlocks, Welded rear, SYE, CV driveshafts...

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White trash
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Postby White trash » Sun Apr 17, 2011 2:37 pm

Thats a nice band aid but you'll end up with brake dive and when your front tires are cresting a ledge the axle will try walking out from under it. Shortening the shackle will help with this but then you can end up with a bad shackle angle and quick choppy movement from them and severly limited suspension travel. Raising the shackle mount up into the frame and leaving the shackle long for smooth movement and running arched springs is the only way to do it that fixes all the issues at once. Of course it is the most difficult, the best method usually is.

Just some advice from a guy that has screwed up enough to know the right way to do it. :wink:

rennat_2006
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Location: Pasco

Postby rennat_2006 » Sun Apr 17, 2011 5:36 pm

Thanks for the advice :D
I think what im going to try first is to replace the 4" springs with 2" springs(2" springs are still arched) and see how it does out wheeling. If it feels top heavy and unstable then definetely gonna have to bring it back in for surgery. It wont be easy to move the shackles to up in the middle of the frame or so because of how i built the mounts i have currently in there to definetely not go anywhere, It can be done though and if that is what needs to happen i will have no choice.
2000 Zr2 Blazer with HP Dana 44. 4.88's, 36's, Beadlocks, Welded rear, SYE, CV driveshafts...

rennat_2006
Posts: 124
Joined: Thu Feb 17, 2011 8:44 pm
Location: Pasco

Postby rennat_2006 » Sun Jun 12, 2011 3:40 pm

Another update...Took it out to hover last night for a little shakedown run. Dont have a front driveline yet but im very impressed with how it flexes and how it did playing around in the canals out there. I made it up every one of them besides the ones deep in the tree's between the main ones.

Gotta figure something out with my draglink though. Ive got sky 1 7/8" thick high steer arms on it currently and ive have bent my pitman arm up as high as i can without it hitting the frame rail and while flexing my draglink is still hitting on the passenger side leaf spring. I know that i can get spacers and longer studs but id really like to avoid this because it is just more leverage on the knuckles. Anybody got any other idea's?

Bunch of pictures and video's are uploading right now, Post them shortly.
2000 Zr2 Blazer with HP Dana 44. 4.88's, 36's, Beadlocks, Welded rear, SYE, CV driveshafts...

rennat_2006
Posts: 124
Joined: Thu Feb 17, 2011 8:44 pm
Location: Pasco

Postby rennat_2006 » Sun Jun 12, 2011 7:59 pm

Heres the first batch...
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2000 Zr2 Blazer with HP Dana 44. 4.88's, 36's, Beadlocks, Welded rear, SYE, CV driveshafts...

rennat_2006
Posts: 124
Joined: Thu Feb 17, 2011 8:44 pm
Location: Pasco

Postby rennat_2006 » Sun Jun 12, 2011 9:58 pm

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2000 Zr2 Blazer with HP Dana 44. 4.88's, 36's, Beadlocks, Welded rear, SYE, CV driveshafts...

rennat_2006
Posts: 124
Joined: Thu Feb 17, 2011 8:44 pm
Location: Pasco

Postby rennat_2006 » Sun Jun 12, 2011 9:59 pm

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2000 Zr2 Blazer with HP Dana 44. 4.88's, 36's, Beadlocks, Welded rear, SYE, CV driveshafts...

rennat_2006
Posts: 124
Joined: Thu Feb 17, 2011 8:44 pm
Location: Pasco

Postby rennat_2006 » Sat Jun 23, 2012 9:21 am

So its been a long time since ive done any sort of updating here.

I ended up lowering it a bunch from the last pictures that i posted here. Redid the front axle rear shackle mounts and dropped it down like 2 inches or so. This was not easy because of how the frame has a bend in it but im very happy with the ride height now.

Also picked up a set of 15x8 rally wheels from another member here and made them beadlocks 8)
Here is how she sits now on some bald 36" Iroks
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Trimmed rear fenders and flares
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Another update is that the lockrite up front is LONG gone! I screwed it up the first run out to juniper after getting the front driveshaft in it, Rebuilt it and put it back in. It would never ratchet it would just clunk, bang, and skip but wheeled with it like this a few times then blew it up again out in the sand. For those who are familar with how the lockrites are setup the pins and springs go into holes into the side gears or whatever they call them. Well i busted all 4 of the pins out of the holes, I thought that the pins were supposed to shear off but they didnt it actaully broke out the holes on the gears themselves. Broke both of the front locking hubs also.
2000 Zr2 Blazer with HP Dana 44. 4.88's, 36's, Beadlocks, Welded rear, SYE, CV driveshafts...

79chevy39.5's
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Postby 79chevy39.5's » Sat Jun 30, 2012 8:00 am

May I suggest a Spartan for the front the pins go outside the spring instead of like the loc rite making the pins much bigger. I have a Spartan up front and a rear loc rite only because I got it for pennies but the Spartan is my first choice for a auto locker for the reason you mentioned and fact that locrites get destroyed where as I have not heard of Spartan being broken

Wrench
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Postby Wrench » Sat Jun 30, 2012 9:03 am

I second the Spartan choice.

And I believe it is the only kit that comes WITH a new hardened pin.
Paul
'84 XJ, '19JL

rennat_2006
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Location: Pasco

Postby rennat_2006 » Wed Jul 04, 2012 8:40 pm

Probably just going to leave it open until i can afford a ARB or Yukon zip locker. If a smoking deal comes up on a spartan i may jump on it but ive found the locking and unlocking is very hard on shafts, joints, and hubs.
2000 Zr2 Blazer with HP Dana 44. 4.88's, 36's, Beadlocks, Welded rear, SYE, CV driveshafts...


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