64" springs in a 72 Blazer

[OLDCHEV4X4]

I know what ya mean drunkbus. I placed my 1st order with the local spring shop on Aug 1st. and they sent me 7 wear pads of the incorrect type. 7!! After sending them a sample of what I had and them sending me more wrong stuff, I finally compromised on a pad, and received them yesterday Aug 22.
It took 22 days to get it all figured out.

[special-K]

Wear pads are very complicated high tech items that require complex use of a measuring tape which requires elementary school level math to read.

[OLDCHEV4X4]

I am going to get back on this tonight. I was sidetracked by a little weather event.

[special-K]

Huh? I figured you finished it up while it was raining. Can't wait to see how it turns out.

[duallyjams]

Where are the finished picture's as I am sure you are ready to go. With all this rain it should be good n sloppy. Have any bridges been washed out the would impede our trip up. ( Tim lost your number in a new phone transfer.You have room for me in your ride )

[OLDCHEV4X4]

Its not finished yet, but I am working on it. I refuse to give up. The weather has put me behind schedule so the pictures will have to wait.....sorry.
Its is going to be some wet, muddy racing!

I'm not sure about the route up there. Rt 322, 147, 225 is how I go.

[special-K]

I bet the trees will be jumping into the trail more with the slicker slop. I better wear my gooloshs.

I have the whole back seat empty,James. You and John can fight over shotgun.

[OLDCHEV4X4]

I just got back from work, machining some bushings, leaf spring center bolts, and some angle blocks. The front mounts are in, the rear mounts are in and the springs are bolted in and sitting on the axle. So I need to correct pinion angle and weld a couple gussets in.

I ended up not using the original front mount and making one out of 1/4 plate. The original mount couldn't go foreward enough without hitting the body mount. And I wanted to keep it up as far as possable, making one was the only way. For the rear hanger I used the front mount from the 95 donor truck and cut most of the top legs off, and welded it to a 1/4 plate to space it out to match the front. The shackle flip is incorporated into the set up at 30 deg.
The right rear is a little lower cause the spring pac is weaker and sags. 2.5" lift looks good, driveshaft spline travel looks good, shocks are verticle, my plumb bob marks are within 1/8". I am gonna put some limit straps on so the shocks dont get ripped off.

Still have a lot to do.....I dont have a driver seat yet!
Gotta get some rest.

[special-K]

Sounds good! I was thinking you'd end up making the front mount. Little tight there.

[duallyjams]

7-11 has great passenger seat I'm sure Jeff wont mind

[special-K]

Let's see how these work tomorrow. only need to go a lousy 7-miles...real lousy

[special-K]

Good work,they held up just fine:

[70custom20]

Originally Posted by OLDCHEV4X4

I want to put 64" rear springs from a 88-98 Chevy 2500, on the rear of my 72 Blazer. Anybody have any experience doing this? I also want to do the shackle flip.
I got the springs and the front hanger off the 95ish chevy. They are 4/1 and I am gonna remove the 1 (over load). I have them all apart and am wire brushing them and painting. Have new bushings, stock shackle, center bolts (they were metric) and am trying to get the correct wear pads. The spring shop sent me 3 different kinds and all of them were incorrect. Mine are square with a 9/16 nub.

Anyway, how many leaves should I run? Should I find a 5/1 pack?
How far foreward, or backward do I have to move the hangers? It looks like a body mount is gonna be in the way of the front hanger. I want a 20-30 degree angle back for the rear shackle. The rear cross member might need to be relocated.

The 95 spring hanger will have to be spaced out to match the stock front hanger. I dont have a exact measurement yet, but looks like about a 1/2 inch.

I want to keep the axle in the exact same location and have the same 2.5" lift.

Soooo, does anybody have any tech to post up?? Some pictures would be even better.

Randy, I would assume that a 64" spring conversion would have to be a little bit easier on a longbed. It sounds like something I'd like to do with my pick up, to try to improve the ride a little bit. I measured the rear springs on a friend of mine's '05 GMC 2500, and they measure 64" as well. A couple of questions for you or anyone: would the springs from a newer truck like an '05 work, or is there some reason an 88-98 truck would be a better candidate for a rear spring donor? What was the reason for using the front spring hanger from the '95 truck you got the springs from? can't the factory front spring hanger be used? what is the main reason for the shackle flip on the rear spring hanger? to eliminate the use of lift blocks? Would a street driven/tow rig be fine with rear lift blocks, or would a shackle flip benefit that type of truck as well? Sorry if any of these questions sound like newbie questions, I'm just not very well versed on swaps like these. Thanks, Kurt

[OLDCHEV4X4]

I chose the 88-98 64" springs cause that's what was available. As long as they are 64" long and 2.5" wide I don't see why they wouldn't work. The spring center pin is in the center too. (32x32).
The front spring hanger on the Blazer was too big. I couldn't get it far enough forward without hitting the body mount. On a LWB truck you might not have this problem. So I made a front hanger.
The stock original rear hanger couldn't be used for a shackle reversal. So i got the front hanger off the parts truck to use in the rear position. It had to be spaced out 1/4".
The shackle flip gives more travel and in some cases more lift. I had a 2.5 to 3" lift already and didn't want anymore, so I moved the hanger around till I got it where I wanted it. 25-30 degrees back with all the weight on it.
Lift blocks promote wheel hop. I hate lift blocks. I would rather use springs or a shackle flip than blocks.
Hope this helps a little Kurt.