[AJ]

here are a few pics of my labors yesterday.... Thanks to Blazinzuk for his assistance with the U-Bolts! :deal: :thumb:
Here is a pic of the stock front spring hanger

Stock spring length

New spring length..

Comparison of the springs.. I used a rear spring out of a 1976 3/4 ton chevy van. The only difference between the van and blazer rear springs is a bigger overload and the van springs are only 2 1/8" wide.

Grinding away at the rivets on the front spring hanger...Torch was out of Oxy!

New location for the front spring hanger..Still need to weld it on.

Had to do a quick trim to get the tire back on... it moved the front axle 4" forward.. I like the way it looks!

Here it is sitting level... Raised 4" front and rear. With the tires, it has about 8" lift over a stock rig on stock tires.

going to do a writeup once I finish all the details and get my other axles under it... have lots more pics!

 

[big94GMC]

So you're using '76 3/4ton Van rear springs on the front of your Blaze? The comparo pic is the front spring you removed with the van rear spring?? How did you compansate for the narrower springs?

 

[AJ]

So you're using '76 3/4ton Van rear springs on the front of your Blaze?

Yep! :deal:

The comparo pic is the front spring you removed with the van rear spring?? How did you compansate for the narrower springs?

I am cutting out some 9/16" thick washers out of some really thick walled tube that blazinzuk gave me. The tube hole is exactly the bolt size and the tube itself has the same outside diameter as the spring bushing. I am cutting the tubes just a hair smaller than half of what my gap measures so that I can put a piece on each side of the spring eye to center it, then once I put them in, I will tighten the shit out of the bolt to take up the slack so that I won't have any road wandering issues. :thumb:

 

[muddinmike]

ppppfffffffffffftttttttttttttt you chevy guys and your 52" springs.


I always knew i was 5" longer than everybody else in the frontal unit region :finger:

 

[AJ]

ppppfffffffffffftttttttttttttt you chevy guys and your 52" springs.


I always knew i was 5" longer than everybody else in the frontal unit region :finger:

Shorter and thicker is better than long and skinny (pencil) any day! :finger: :finger:

 

[big94GMC]

""79 Bronk. 57" leafs all around, locked front and rear on one ton gear with 5.13's what more could you need?""

.....A chevy.


AJ, how far forward did you move the hanger? Have you addressed the issue of steering linkage, driveshaft, and other clearance issues??

 

[AJ]

I moved the hanger about 4 inches forward. The top pic is the hanger in the stock location, and the 6th pic is the hanger in the new location. Your hanger is held in place by 6 rivets, 4 in the "Pocket" area and 2 on the outer "flange". On your body mount are 6 holes and your stock location uses the 4 rearmost holes. I simply moved the hanger to the furthest forward two holes and bolted it to those holes. Where the "flange is on the hanger. I will weld that to the frame once I get all the nitpicky details finished and I am sure that I won't need to take it off again. I have another set of axles that will be going under it once I finish lifting the rear with a shackle reversal, and the front axle already has a crossover steering setup with all the things I need. My front driveshaft will have to be lengthened, and I will have to use shims under the springs to make my pinion angle more u-joint friendly. I also need to get longer brake lines as well.. This is a very simple and straightforward lift to do, but its all the other little things that go with it that take the time and money.

 

[big94GMC]

A'ight - didn't know if you were gonna get interference from the draglink on the pass. side with the new springs.

I thought about using my 52's up front (I'm putting 63's out back with shackle flip), but since I don't want to decrease my approach angle AT ALL, I'm gonna keep the front hanger in the stock spot and use 6" Tuff Country's up front, and a zero rate to push that axle forward 1".... But I dig what ya did, dude!!! 4" forward looks P.I.M.P.!!

BTW, how much overall lift did those 52's net you by themselves?

 

[AJ]

BTW, how much overall lift did those 52's net you by themselves?

4"!
:deal: :thumb: :beer:

 

[AJ]

Here is a pic of the front hangers, you can see the change in the approach angle is negligible..

as you can see with these two pics, the driveline is too short, and so are the brake lines.

Here is a pic of the spacers I will use for the springs.

and here is a pic of the front spring rear hangers, the angle isn't the greatest, but I think it will work for right now, at least until I can get Kert's 6" hangers.