# Blower Blazer Build



## Maverick4x4

I'm building a blazer to blow snow at our cabin. I've used a '91 yj to plow the driveway with varying results the last few years with lots of stucks and dig-outs (the jeep has chained 33's and rear locker). Approx 20' of snow falls per winter. I gave up on the jeep last winter and used a big walk behind snowblower with better results, though it was a workout. Thought about getting one with tracks.

Owners in the area pay in to keep the main road cleared, then the side roads are extra. I decided to spend my money on equipment rather than pay this extra amount year after year. Plus, it can be used to earn money clearing other side roads for the weekenders (we're just not there to plow early in the morning for the 'rounders).

Additional bonus...if done right, the blazer can be a great 4-wheeling rig, and/or a rig for my 15yo to wheel in over the late spring/summer/fall. We'll see how this whole thing works this winter and what he wants to do when he turns 16 next summer.

Blower: I started with a killer deal on a Hanson blower with Western Ultramount, then needed to find something to mount it to. They are heavy and the literature "requires" a 3/4ton truck. However, the front ends on 1/2ton and 3/4ton chevy's are the same when it comes to the axle housings. The springs are different. I figured a blazer gives better maneuverability and will be easier to fit in the garage with the blower still attached. If it doesn't work, I'll get a 3/4ton.

Rig: I found a sweet '90 Coca-cola white and red blazer with mismatched axles (3.42 front and 3.73 rear) and also found set of '90 3/4 axles (10bolt, sf14). I toyed with picking up a FF14 I saw with 4.56 and Detroit to match my (forsale) D44 w/ 4.56 and lockright. However, I can see the front axle firmly planted with the weight of the blower and snapping the axle shafts/u-joints. The 10bolt/SF14 will be adequate.

The blazer was super clean inside and out, had a new engine and tranny, and tons of power. No wonder it blew the stock 3.42 10bolt. I was also happy to see the blazer already had the 3 leaf front springs. I spent a morning test driving another lifted blazer, then stopped by and picked up the axles and the Coca-cola Blaze and headed back to the office.

Blower, check. Rig, check.

Now for the gizmos to turn these doodads into assets.

Mount: The blower side is a Western Ultramount. The truck has a universal mount with bolt on pockets that accept the stingers on the blower side. Western #63900. Just missed the truck side mount on ebay. Gotta keep looking. Cool - went to get the pic of the one I missed, and it was listed again. Click!

Wiring and controls: blower controls will come with the blower, need to get ultramount controls. $$

TAD: I was wanting a locker and hoping for a gov-lock. When I was buying the axles we noticed some old pitting/chips on the spider gears, but the ring/pinion looked great. I figured I'd buy a lockright...and ended up as the only bidder on one on ebay. Check.

Tires: I'm told skinny snow tires do better than flotation. I believe this advice is based on plowing parking lots and paved surfaces. My mountain snow experience is that there is no bottom, only gravel then muddy clay. The plow jeep would get into crusted snow and bury itself in seconds. So skinny or fat, tall is best...but depends on how much lift I can put on the blazer. Opinions?

Lift: It can't be too high for the mount. Measured the truck last night. 13-15" to where the mount would be. Measured the blower stingers this morning, they could be up to 20" high (super cool adjustable system). So I've got 5-7" to work with. That means 4" of lift and 35-37" tires. Q78-16LT might fit without lift? 315's? I'll be looking for used tires since it will be running chains anyway - but that means no rubbing will be allowed. Looks like up to 4" will work, but stock would work too, if the tires will fit. Rear shackle flip best?

Shocks: who knows...ya, it will need some. Front has double set up...necessary?

U-bolts: ya, I need those.

U-joints: special adapter ones to fit rear SF14 to stock driveshaft. Unknown - is the SF14 pinion longer, requiring the driveshaft to be shortened? Maybe the lift will help? Does the shackle flip move the axle forward a little vs a block?

Stereo: Every rig needs tunes. Thinking ipod based system. An 800w amp, a 10" speaker box in the back, speakers in the dash, and 1/8" jack or ipod dock.

Counterweight: Yes, some kind of way to hang a few hundred pounds off the back, or maybe some concrete buckets inside the back.

Strobe: yup. I use a green one out on the mines, is there a better color to see in a blizzard? Don't need a snowmobile running into me.

Brett


----------



## Triple L

Looks like a cool project... How many HP is the blower?


----------



## Maverick4x4

Good question.

I think it's the 27hp; I hope it's the 35hp. I should be able to check on it tomorrow. Either should work...albeit slow and slower. If it's the 27hp then I'll try it before upgrading to the 35hp.

I know from the seller that it's too gutless to use for the main road. It's just too slow for how long the sections of road are (each owner takes a section of the main road). Hopefully it will be adequate for my driveway and access road, and perhaps some of the other side roads.

It would be cool to mount a hydraulic pump on the 350 and have it drive the blower through quick disconnects. It would have to be a 40-50hp pump that could run at lower engine rpms and not blow up at freeway speeds.


----------



## sweetk30

nice build project.

if you want some specific blazer info look at www.ck5.com. tons of info there. and i am there a lot same screen name. Thumbs Up


----------



## BigLou80

Maverick4x4;1328425 said:


> It would be cool to mount a hydraulic pump on the 350 and have it drive the blower through quick disconnects. It would have to be a 40-50hp pump that could run at lower engine rpms and not blow up at freeway speeds.


I would set up some sort of electronically switched PTO so when your going down the highway the pump isn't spinning at all. You will also need to add some sort of a hand throttle to hold the engine at a given RPM as your not going to get 40 HP at idle My guess would be more like 2,000 to 2,500 RPMS. lots of old power line trucks from that vintage had them installed. All in all it sounds like a pretty cool project you have going there.


----------



## Triple L

Sounds like it would be a whole lot easier and cheaper to swap out that kids size 26hp motor for a 40hp kohler command and be done with it...


----------



## DareDog

for light get orange one, people can see you easier.


----------



## DareDog

kinda a long same thing but this one i think was home built.










http://www.plowsite.com/showthread.php?t=91146

here is blower like the one you have pictured

http://www.plowsite.com/showthread.php?t=120666


----------



## Maverick4x4

sweetk30;1328543 said:


> nice build project.
> 
> if you want some specific blazer info look at www.ck5.com. tons of info there. and i am there a lot same screen name. Thumbs Up


Thanks!

That's a great site! I think I'm Maverick over there, I haven't logged in for a while. Was gonna browse around a little today. First day to just hang out in several weeks.

ck5 has become my goto place for chevy tech. I used to have all that stuff in my head from decades reading 4x4 magazines, but now I can pop over there when I get CRS Syndrome.

I've wanted to do a mild blazer build for a few years, had a beat up '74 with a 396 in it. Parted it out many years ago (parts still live in my '81 scrambler and the 396 is stored for a future hotrod project). Then in recent years it's been hard to justify (said scrambler and other vehicles) So this is a nice excuse.


----------



## Maverick4x4

Triple L;1328565 said:


> Sounds like it would be a whole lot easier and cheaper to swap out that kids size 26hp motor for a 40hp kohler command and be done with it...


Absolutely! Easy is good, leaves more time for ridin' the sleds!

If the 27hp doesn't cut it I'll go with a bigger engine like the 35hp on the website or this 40hp kohler that you mention. Heading over in a few minutes to look at it.

Where would I source the 40hp Kohler from?

Thanks,
Brett


----------



## Maverick4x4

Here's a couple pics of the road that I'll be blowing. Part of the driveway is shown above. There's a couple other side roads that are like this one.


----------



## Chris112lee

If you do have any issues with the front axle, a 1 ton dana 60 will bolt in.

You may also need to upgrade the front spring, rear mount, as many use only a 7/16ths bolt, and I have broken my fair share.


----------



## Maverick4x4

D60's are kewl, got one in the jeep. There were a couple in the ads I looked at, hoping it's not necessary. But definitely an option.

Thanks for the heads up on the front spring rear mount, I had no idea. Is that the spring side or the frame side of the shackle?

The goal of the project is to be able to continue to use the cabin in the winter without going broke, and to balance budget, effort and time. A walk-behind with tracks will do a great job of clearing the driveway and $2000-$3000/season will clear the road. This is sometimes shared with neighbors, sometimes not. Spending that money over the next few years (not to mention the last few) will just piss me off when I look back on it. Spending that money on something like this will actually put me in a position to make some money back over time is much better.

So as part of that balance, my self-imposed (ok, wallet imposed) criteria of doing this build is to size the components to be adequate, no more, no less: Goldilocks, if you will. Not too big, not too small. Big enough to do the job, small enough to not break the bank. The killer deal on the blower is what kicked this whole project off, the usual price was too much, as was the entry fee to a skid steer and blower setup. Those are the bomb up here.


----------



## sweetk30

88-91 blazer/suburban/crew cab went to the bigger bolts and bushings on the front spring rear shackles in the spring and frame hanger.

visit www.offroaddesign.com for a nice hd shackle kit and new bushings for both the frame and lift springs. thay also are a vendor for tuff country lift kit springs. if 4" is wanted thay offer a hd version for just the thing you need. the hd version is for heavy bumpers / plows / winches.

anything you need fast info wise just ask me . i got most in my head or know were to find it fast for the 73-87-91 style gm solid axles.


----------



## pmorrissette

You got a nice big hitch on the back of the blazer...I would fab up a box to put a few hundred pounds of counter weight in it, or you can always install a sander/spreader.


----------



## Maverick4x4

Score! It actually is the 35hp engine.

Holy cow, more wires than the space shuttle! Can't wait to get all this figured out and hooked up.


----------



## Chris112lee

Couple trailer plugs, couple plow plugs, and a welding lead lol nice...


----------



## Maverick4x4

Ok these are my guesses based on what I saw
(left side)
1- The big 2 prong is the power to the hydraulic pump.
2- The one below that goes to the lights, and appears to be able to mate to the one next to it. (#4)
(middle)
3- 7-pin appears to go to the blower engine box. Dunno what it does.
4- The one below goes to a box next to the pump - controls the pump?
(right side) 
5- "welding lead" goes to the blower engine box
6 & 7: 4-pins go to chute control and engine control

We'll hook it up next weekend and figure it all out. Also find out what comes with the system and what I need to buy.


----------



## Maverick4x4

Maverick4x4;1329582 said:


> Ok these are my guesses based on what I saw
> (left side)
> 1- The big 2 prong is the power to the hydraulic pump.
> 2- The one below that goes to the lights, and appears to be able to mate to the one next to it. (#4)
> (middle)
> 3- 7-pin appears to go to the blower engine box. Dunno what it does.
> 4- The one below goes to a box next to the pump - controls the pump?
> (right side)
> 5- "welding lead" goes to the blower engine box
> 6 & 7: 4-pins go to chute control and engine control
> 
> We'll hook it up next weekend and figure it all out. Also find out what comes with the system and what I need to buy.


Hooked it up on the current owner's truck today to check it out and make it run. Didn't wanna run very well. Gotta clean some electrical connections and get good gas.

Follow up to above: 
#1, Need to buy, part of ultramount. Best source?
#2 Need to buy, part of ultramount. Best source?
#3 Comes with blower
#4 Need to buy, part of ultramount. Best source?
#5 Comes with blower, for motor starter
#6&7 Comes with blower, controls chute and engine.

Also: Lockright came, installing in axle tomorrow, along with new brakes and wheel cylinders (cheap and easier to do now with the axle sitting on the trailer)

Still waiting for the Western truckside mount to arrive...maybe tomorrow?

Debating on lift for blazer. Want enough to clear 35's, but don't want front too high for Ultramount. The mount seems to have quite a bit of adjustability, but less than I thought when it came to connecting and disconnecting from the truck. The truck is a lowrider ('08 chev dmax dually with dinky tires).

Oh ya, scored a set of H2 rims, tranny cooler and tranny gauge today. Traded a D50 with blown spider gears.


----------



## Maverick4x4

Spent some time this afternoon cleaning off the axles and installing the lockright. Stupid passenger side c-clip gave me a fit. Got it installed...we'll have to wait until the axles are in to see if I got it right.

Still waiting for the plow mount to arrive.

Also pondering suspension choices. I've had a few people recommend the Tuff Country HD 4" springs. That seems like a good approach for the front. The rear is another issue. The stupid slip-yoke on the transfer case becomes a vibration source with any more than a couple inches of lift. Blocks are the cheap and easy lift, but then the driveline angles are all wrong and hard to recover from on a short wheelbase like a blazer. Shackle flip to the rescue...along with a custom CV style shaft. The budget is groaning on that one.


----------



## USMCMP5811

Maverick4x4;1333998 said:


> Also pondering suspension choices. I've had a few people recommend the Tuff Country HD 4" springs. That seems like a good approach for the front. The rear is another issue. The stupid slip-yoke on the transfer case becomes a vibration source with any more than a couple inches of lift. Blocks are the cheap and easy lift, but then the driveline angles are all wrong and hard to recover from on a short wheelbase like a blazer. Shackle flip to the rescue...along with a custom CV style shaft. The budget is groaning on that one.


A cheap and easy fix for the slip yolk issue: On the tranfer case cross member, there are (4) inch and a half aluminum spacers on the bolts to the frame, between the bolt heads and crossmember. Remove these spacers and place between the frame and the crossmember. this will lower your transfer case and give you a better driveline angle and is recomended with a lift of 4" or more. Thumbs Up


----------



## 2COR517

Cool project....


----------



## sweetk30

USMCMP5811;1334003 said:


> A cheap and easy fix for the slip yolk issue: On the tranfer case cross member, there are (4) inch and a half aluminum spacers on the bolts to the frame, between the bolt heads and crossmember. Remove these spacers and place between the frame and the crossmember. this will lower your transfer case and give you a better driveline angle and is recomended with a lift of 4" or more. Thumbs Up


first off there steel not aluminum.

and 2nd that is how our style trucks get a broken frame in that area from now making 4 tiny pressure points. it flexes and blows the frame out.

and also tilts the front shaft up for a harder bind to the front c/v head.


----------



## sweetk30

whell if you want 35" tires and less drive line problems think this over.

2" hd front springs and 2.5" shackle flip in the rear.

then do a 1" body lift kit with new body bushings as i bet when you tear open the old stuff the rubber is old / nasty and worn out. http://www.offroaddesign.com/catalog/oneinchlift.htm

this will get you 3" of total lift. then you might just need tiny bit of fender trimming on the front fenders at the firewall area. and 2" lift on suspension wont create so many problems.


----------



## Maverick4x4

It already sits a little higher than a lot of blazers I've seen, I wonder what a 1" body lift would do. I wondered if it already had a bit of a body lift, but it doesn't. It has 3 leafs in the front, possibly an add-a-leaf in the back but I'm not sure.

Hmmm, cool site. TC has many height options.


----------



## 2COR517

Maverick4x4;1335761 said:


> It already sits a little higher than a lot of blazers I've seen,* I wonder what a 1" body lift would do.* I wondered if it already had a bit of a body lift, but it doesn't. It has 3 leafs in the front, possibly an add-a-leaf in the back but I'm not sure.
> 
> Hmmm, cool site. TC has many height options.


It would increase the distance between the frame and body by one inch.


----------



## Maverick4x4

2COR517;1335779 said:


> It would increase the distance between the frame and body by one inch.


Ya think?  That was a test, to see if anyone was following along. You got me, gotta give you credit.

Rephrasing to express what I meant: I wonder how much it would help, ie, how much taller tire, etc, along with possible side effects, etc.

Brett (still chuckling)


----------



## sweetk30

on ck5 there is http://coloradok5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=170627

search it for blazers and body lift and 4" lift and 35" tires. lots of pics.

also for those non mebers who cant see some pics a 4" suspension and 1" body lift will clear 35" tires no problem on this body style gm.


----------



## USMCMP5811

sweetk30;1334046 said:
 

> first off there steel not aluminum.


Hmmm, then every blazer I've owned and worked on all must be aftermarket spacers on them.......... 



sweetk30;1334046 said:


> and 2nd that is how our style trucks get a broken frame in that area from now making 4 tiny pressure points. it flexes and blows the frame out.


Never once ran into that problem. The body's go long before the frame does...... If you're flexing the frame that much to break it, you're doing something wrong.



sweetk30;1334046 said:


> and also tilts the front shaft up for a harder bind to the front c/v head.


Once again, the amount that it moves the front shaft at the CV joint, is well within tollerances. In fact, Let me edjumacate you: Folloe the link and go to page # 2. Rough Country even shows what I'm talking about...........

http://www.roughcountry.com/install/145S.pdf

*TRANSFER CASE LOWERING INSTRUCTIONS*

For ½ & ¾T 1980 and later model years on 4" and 6" lifts, the transfer case is lowered by using stock
mounting hardware on the transfer case cross-member.


----------



## sweetk30

not going to start a war here.

i have a few sets of the spacers in my tool box right now and the magnet sure sticks to them just fine so there NOT aluminum. see pics #1 and #2 rust on spacers .

go to ck5 and search for t-case drop pics and sit back and look at the frames that are blown out in that area. also think about it. its all in the pressure per square inch . you put the spacers in there and its just multiplyed the psi on the 4 holes over the flat t-case crossmember sitting flat there. see pic #3 drawing of were frame starts to break from to much pressure in small area. and pics #4 and #5 of broken frame with temp fix to limp home .

thay even tell you in the next step to gring the c/v drive shaft head . think about this why grind it in the first place unless you just made the angle to steep to begin with. yes a lift kit does this to start with but adding the drop to the crossmember dosnt help . lots of guys have done the drop and find later thay eat front shafts up from the maxed out angles.

and just becuse somesome says to do it dosnt make it right . would you jump off a bridge if someone told you it was the way to get down below.?

also ruff country is about the cheepest lift kit out there and stiffist. so thay prob dont care what happens to your ride in the end.

its all a matter of opinion's here and i hope i "edjumacate" you a little bit today. as i have been playing with these trucks for over 15 years and a mechanic on vhicles for about the same . and i have fixed lots of screw up stuff just like this.


----------



## USMCMP5811

sweetk30;1337582 said:


> not going to start a war here.


Neither am I, it seems as though we're of two different opinions and may just have to agree to dis-agree



sweetk30;1337582 said:


> i have a few sets of the spacers in my tool box right now and the magnet sure sticks to them just fine so there NOT aluminum. see pics #1 and #2 rust on spacers .


I've owned a few of these trucks and EVERY one of them have had Aluminum spacers.



sweetk30;1337582 said:


> go to ck5 and search for t-case drop pics and sit back and look at the frames that are blown out in that area.


And how many of these "blown out" frames were actualy from mis-use and the snot having been beat out of them. How many of those frames were paper thin in those areas from years of salt, mud, and other such ooze sitting on top of the cross members and not properly cleaned and maintained?



sweetk30;1337582 said:


> also think about it. its all in the pressure per square inch . you put the spacers in there and its just multiplyed the psi on the 4 holes over the flat t-case crossmember sitting flat there. see pic #3 drawing of were frame starts to break from to much pressure in small area. and pics #4 and #5 of broken frame with temp fix to limp home .


Refer to above



sweetk30;1337582 said:


> thay even tell you in the next step to gring the c/v drive shaft head . think about this why grind it in the first place unless you just made the angle to steep to begin with. yes a lift kit does this to start with but adding the drop to the crossmember dosnt help . lots of guys have done the drop and find later thay eat front shafts up from the maxed out angles.


The minor grinding is for lifts of 6" or more of lift. At that amount of lift, the front axel, as well as the rear, must be re-clocked to bring the drive line angles back to with in tollerances.

I have run all my blazers with 4" lifts with the T-Case drop. never once have the frames cracked, nor have i had to grind or blown out the front shaft. I have had to replace frnt U-Joints after 130K on them from normal wear and tear. Proper maintenace goes a long way.



sweetk30;1337582 said:


> and just becuse somesome says to do it dosnt make it right . would you jump off a bridge if someone told you it was the way to get down below.?


You're comparing apples to moon rocks. No Company os going to recomend an action, that could, as you claim, cause castitrophic failure of a part of a vehicle that is nessacary for the safty and proper handling of an ON ROAD vehicle. to do so, would open them up to huge liability and they would be out of business and bankrupt after numerous Tort litigation.



sweetk30;1337582 said:


> also ruff country is about the cheepest lift kit out there and stiffist. so thay prob dont care what happens to your ride in the end.


Once again, see my post above. It isn't just Rough Country that calls for this modification. Rancho, Skyjacker, Trail Master, and others call for it as well. I used Rough country as an example.



sweetk30;1337582 said:


> its all a matter of opinion's here and i hope i "edjumacate" you a little bit today. as i have been playing with these trucks for over 15 years and a mechanic on vhicles for about the same . and i have fixed lots of screw up stuff just like this.


I have been wrenching on vehicles for the better part of 25 years now. I have lifted, wheeled, plowed with, modified and just about every thing else under the sun you can think of to do these vhicles and others like it for about the same amount of time.

Once again, I think this is an area where we'll just have to agree to dis-agree....


----------



## Maverick4x4

No progress this week, too busy at work. Haven't even been able to websurf. 

Got some snow on the mountain already, it will melt but more is coming...so I'm a little nervous about getting this all together by the end of November. Right now I'm leaning towards Tuff Country HD front springs and a rear shackle flip and rear CV shaft, though it seems the t-case lowering spacer might have to be used due to time constraints. 

What is typically done on the front? Spacer?

Or not...I may just end up with no lift at all this season, and simply running a 31" or 32" tire with chains.

The weird thing is that it already sits a little higher than stock. Gonna get some underneath pics and post them up.


----------



## USMCMP5811

Maverick4x4;1340013 said:


> What is typically done on the front? Spacer?


Your truck has leaf sprung, solid front axel. the only proper and safe way to achive more height in the front is to replace the factory springs with new lift springs. (Tough Country, Rancho, Trailmaster, Skyjacker etc...)

What ever you do, do not, and I mean, DO NOT use lift blocks on the front axel.


----------



## Maverick4x4

USMCMP5811;1341450 said:


> Your truck has leaf sprung, solid front axel. the only proper and safe way to achive more height in the front is to replace the factory springs with new lift springs. (Tough Country, Rancho, Trailmaster, Skyjacker etc...)
> 
> What ever you do, do not, and I mean, DO NOT use lift blocks on the front axel.


I was referring to the front driveshaft


----------



## Maverick4x4

Trying to find out what wiring harnesses I need to order to mate to the Ultramount. Wasn't having a lot of luck with descriptions or pic on vendor sites. Thinking I need to go look at the truck setup again and take better notes.

Finally found some good stuff here:
http://www.equipmentspecialistsinc.com/cms-display/western_ultramount_harness_kits.html

Says all GM use the 29070-1 module, with 3 ports: A, B, C. 
1519 63900 1973 - 1991 4x4 Suburban 2500 29050 & 26641-1 Adapter (1A/2A) OR 29051 (2B/2D)

I have no idea what 1A/2A or 2B/2D refer to...can anyone help?

Googling the part numbers and images led me to ebay, where there is actually a description. Hooray!

29051 on ebay:
NEW IN BOX WESTERN OR FISHER SNOW PLOW LIGHT WIRING HARNESS KIT PART# 29051 (2B OR 2D OR HB-2)

THIS PLOW LIGHT WIRING HARNESS KIT IS FOR MANY POPULAR VEHICLES THAT USE THE NEW MODULE SYSTEMS. THIS KIT DOES NOT INCLUDE THE MODULE. THIS HARNESS KIT WILL INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING:

PART# 26357 - (PLUGS TO PORT A) - THIS IS THE 11-PIN HARNESS FOR YOUR PLOW LIGHTS.

PART# 28464 - (PLUGS TO PORTS B & C) - THIS IS FOR ALL OF YOUR VEHICLE LIGHTS AND IS MARKED ON THE WIRES.

PART# 29047 - (ADAPTER PLUG) - THIS CONNECTS YOUR VEHICLE LIGHT HARNESS FROM THE MODULE (PORTS B & C) TO THE MAIN SNOWPLOW CONTROL HARNESS.


----------



## affekonig

This looks like a fun project and I'll be following. I'd think all you'd need would be the truck side Ultramount wiring to get that going and that should be easy enough to find/order. It looks and sounds like you know what you're doing so I'll stand back and watch from here on out.


----------



## Maverick4x4

USMCMP5811;1341450 said:


> Your truck has leaf sprung, solid front axel. the only proper and safe way to achive more height in the front is to replace the factory springs with new lift springs. (Tough Country, Rancho, Trailmaster, Skyjacker etc...)
> 
> What ever you do, do not, and I mean, DO NOT use lift blocks on the front axel.


Oops, I meant front _driveshaft_

This is what I found on another forum:
http://www.4wheelparts.com/Lift-Kits...9&t_pn=SUP4310


----------



## Maverick4x4

Some pics of the underside.

I'm trying to figure out if the rear has an add-a-leaf added, or if, suddenly, in 1990, after 20 years of making tail-dragging half-ton trucks, Chevy suddenly decided to fix the problem. Doubt it.

The 2nd leaf seems to be an add-a-leaf, making 5 leaves plus overload.

Moving to the front, I know that some "heavy" 1/2ton pickups came with a 3-leaf front; I didn't know that blazers did. Is there a plow package? RPO VYU? I'll have to check the codes. The 3pack doesn't seem to be doing much. I added a 3rd leaf to my '74 and it sat pretty flat, even holding up a 396.

There's no obvious evidence that this formerly had a plow on it, but I could take a closer look.

Also, the pic of the transfercase output shows the slipyoke to be a little extended, indicating to me that it's not at stock height.

I think that this weekend will be "install axles time", whether or not I lift it.


----------



## Maverick4x4

I did a lot of thinking last night, carefully considering the difference between getting around on 31's vs 35's up on the mountain, which is what is driving the decision on the lift kit. I just think about the ease and confidence I have in the Scrambler vs ANY other vehicle I've been in up there. Even in the chained up eXcursion or stupercrew it's sometimes iffy getting up the last hill. In the Scrambler (chained up 39's) it's like, "what snow?"

If I can find some 9-16's that would rock, but even old school mud-terrains or swampers would work. The chains take care of the ice/packed snow issues, and the tire size/diameter will help keep me from getting buried. I'm surprised I haven't gotten a lot of input on tires and sizes yet (or did I miss it?). Does everyone do most of their plowing on paved surfaces?

By a stroke of luck, the guy who sold me the axles sent a text today asking if I wanted to buy the 4" lift that was with the axles (springs, blocks, arm, etc) for $150. Score!!! Just need to find some shocks and U-bolts.

(15 minutes later)

Found 4" shocks at Autozone for $34 and U-bolts at a local place that sells lift kits. The U-bolts won't be much more than if I go get them made to order at the local spring shop. btdt too many times. By the time I take all the measurements, drive out there, wait around, drive back, I could have made some easy money at work listening to tunes.

Looks like an axle swapping, blaza-liftin' weekend. Hope the snow holds off 'til Sunday. Maybe I'll have to play hooky on Friday.

My neighbor with the blower called me last night, she's taking it to the shop to fix the high-idle switch, won't let me pay her 'til it's running perfect. Sweet!


----------



## USMCMP5811

Maverick4x4;1341789 said:


> Oops, I meant front _driveshaft_
> 
> This is what I found on another forum:
> http://www.4wheelparts.com/Lift-Kits...9&t_pn=SUP4310


Depending upon the size of your lift and from your post about getting a 4" lift, you will be fine on your front shaft and will not need to lengthen or space your front shaft.

As to your rear spring question, If I remember correctly, the blazers came factory with a 5 pack rear leaf. The one thing in your pics that isn't factory is the double nutting of the U-Bolts which tells me that the truck may have had a lift or other spring work done at one time. The wear mark on your slip yolk looks like normal wear to me as the shaft does travel a good 1nch to an inch and a half with normal suspention travel.


----------



## FBN

This project sounds a lot like the blazer I built 2 years ago. It was an 86 with a 305, 700R4, 208 and a set of 3/4 ton axles with 4:10's and a gov lock in the rear out of my old 2500 plow truck. I ran 2" lift springs with 33/12.50/16.5 BFG all terrains and had no clearance issues even with a 8' Meyer on the front. The wheels did have a little more backspacing than usual though. Here's a picture.


----------



## Maverick4x4

That's a great looking truck, and like you say, very similar to this build. In my humble opinion, that's how Chevy should have built them.

How do you like your blazer overall? What would you do different?

What kind of terrain do you plow in? How do you like the gov lock? (I loved the one in my '99 burb, I could control the spin and lock it when needed)


----------



## FBN

I'm on Long Island so the terrain is flat but that Blazer was the best driveway truck ever with the short wheelbase and 8' plow. I had to use it in 1 storm before the axles and suspension went in and it was a turd stock. The only reason it got sold is I needed something with a bed for a major landscaping project at my house. Best part of the Blazer I think was the low first gear of the 700R4 with the 4:10 axles, wasn't a big fan of the gov lock as it always seemed to kick in at the wrong time.


----------



## Maverick4x4

FBN;1343622 said:


> I'm on Long Island so the terrain is flat but that Blazer was the best driveway truck ever with the short wheelbase and 8' plow. I had to use it in 1 storm before the axles and suspension went in and it was a turd stock. The only reason it got sold is I needed something with a bed for a major landscaping project at my house. Best part of the Blazer I think was the low first gear of the 700R4 with the 4:10 axles, wasn't a big fan of the gov lock as it always seemed to kick in at the wrong time.


At the wrong time huh?

I still remember the clunk/jolt of the one in my burb. And the protest from the clutch pack as it propelled the burb up a steep hill or over a ledge using the single tire with traction.

I was a little hesitant about running a locker in this blazer, and ultimately did it because of the stuck factor and other intended uses of the blazer. I had a lockright in the back of a cherokee and a samurai, and a detroit in the back of my jeep, with a lockright and then a detroit in the front. They have always behaved well in the snow, especially deep snow. But it takes knowing that you are driving with an auto-locker.

My hesitation is because while turning, the inside tire will have the power while the outside freewheels. If the inside can't get it done, then it (and the carrier) will "catch up" to the outside tire and behave as a spool, causing a little slippage between each tire and the snow, which can both tear up the snow pack a little bit, and ironically, result in less traction than if it was open. Of course, this isn't a whole lot worse than the tire scrub from all 4 tires when turning sharp while locked in 4 wheel drive.

A (tight) gov-lock would be the best application for what I'm doing since it can be both open (95% of the time) and locked (when one back tire finds a hole).

The tight turning radius of the blazer was the main reason it was chosen over a burb or pickup.

Just got a text: rendevouz at 2:30 tomorrow to get my lift springs. Hooray!


----------



## Maverick4x4

Picked up the lift springs, blocks and steering arm. Stopped by a parts house and bought new u-bolts. Still deciding on shocks.

Picked up some 8-lug rollers from a friend on Saturday. Set my 15yo cleaning the axles while I rebuilt the wobbly steering column. Painted the axles, and now just waiting for some time to swap everything in. And get the rig safety inspected and licensed (might do that before the lift).

Been driving it around the neighborhood. Lots of power in drive, weird stumble/hesitation in reverse, like it wants to die. If you give it gas though it will lay a scratch. Sweet.

Oh ya, got a bunch of snow already up at the cabin, 12" or so. A family in a minivan slid off the road and into a pond, had to get pulled out of the back window by their friend. Made the local news.

Going to meet with my friend's mechanic tomorrow night that knows and will show me why the blower wasn't behaving. Better have my learning hat on...and my cameral to figure out exactly what Western/Fisher wiring/modules/etc are on the truck. Dunno if I mentioned it, but my friend won't sell the blower to me until it's running perfectly. Cool.


----------



## Maverick4x4

Taking the blazer under the knife tomorrow. Snow will be flyin' outside, but we'll be inside my friend's shop. Axles are painted. Picked up the conversion u-joint tonight, picking up the shocks in the morning. 

No word on the blower yet. It's at a different shop, heading over there on Monday or Tuesday.

Brett


----------



## Maverick4x4

Blower fixed and runs great. Got the wiring part numbers, just need to look up the module and get it all ordered.

Swapped a dana 50 for some H2 rims. Bling!

Found some tires with a unique tread and siping that I believe will do good on the mountain.

35x12.50r17


----------



## Maverick4x4

Maverick4x4;1354940 said:


> Blower fixed and runs great. Got the wiring part numbers, just need to look up the module and get it all ordered.
> 
> Swapped a dana 50 for some H2 rims. Bling!
> 
> Found some tires with a unique tread and siping that I believe will do good on the mountain.
> 
> 35x12.50r17


 Here are the rims. Was hoping to trade these or sell them and buy some 17x10" deep dish but I couldn't find any in the price range. The H2's are a steal for someone wanting to get into 8 lug 17" rims for GM/Dodge.


----------



## Maverick4x4

Here is the controller and module:


----------



## Maverick4x4

Lifted. Just a couple things to finish so it will drive.

Held up the ultramount under the front of the truck yesterday. Looks like it bolts in the tow hook holes...and in some holes that aren't there yet. Has anyone mounted one of these on their Chevy/GMC? Not looking forward to taking off the front bumper to get to the tow hook bolts.

The blower is at the house, need to pull the blower controls from the previous owner's truck, which is an '08 GM 3500HD dually cab&chassis with a Tesco dump bed. The front end sits so low, and the IFS is so soft, that it scraped a couple times on the freeway last night. That won't happen on the blazer, with a little ballast on the rear, that is.

The plan for the ballast is to make a simple rack that fits in the reciever hitch for several 5 gallon buckets of concrete. 5 gallons of concrete should weigh about 100lbs. If I can make it to fit 10 or so then that would be 1000 lbs on the back. Not sure how much ballast that I will need. Any other ideas?


----------



## sweetk30

correct socket and swivel impact adaptor and gun you can get the tow hook bolts out. 

and dont toss them away. guys over on the other site buy them if you dont reuse them. 

looks goooood Thumbs Up


----------



## FBN

Looking good. I had to drill some holes to get the Meyer mount onto my Blazer if I remember correctly. The bolts on the passenger side were a real PITA also with all the fuel lines in the way. I never ran any ballast with a C-8 blade but did try to keep the tank over half full. The Blazers have a pretty big tank and with gas at about 6 pounds a gallon it helps.


----------



## Dubl0Vert

With the gas tank in the back (like my old ramcharger) you could probably get away with 600lbs. weight is good, but its alot of pressure on the vehicle. expecially if you have any supplies on board, spare etc.

Looks awesome! I'm looking forward to the rest of the build and seeing the snow fly!


----------



## Maverick4x4

Thanks guys!

Update on the coca-blaza: I need longer front brake lines. And probably new calipers. The bleeds are frozen, so first I'll try and replace them with new ones and bleed the system. The front calipers and lines didn't get removed with the swap/lift so they should have been ok, but the brakes still mostly suck. Need to jack up the back and adjust the brakes by hand and see if that helps too. Rear brakes bled good, e-brake works. 

Haven't had a chance to work on it this last week. Spent the Thanksgiving weekend at the cabin with family, many hours snowblowing 2' of settled snow (was like concrete). Broke multiple shear pins on the Troybilt 5.5hp 24" snowblower. 

Also replaced the starter in the eXcursion: had the family all loaded up to go visit friend's new store in Midway, UT, EarthandEden.com and click/grind/whir/click/click. Called around to autopart stores, jumped on the snowmobile, borrowed friends car, drove to Heber, back to mountain, back on snowmobile (with starter in backpack), fixed 20 minutes later.

Hope to get some done this weekend (if the cabin is ok from the nasty winds today, 90-100mph).

Next focus: mount and wiring for the mount. Still haven't bought the mount controller and stuff. Not finding it on ebay...and not confident that I'll get all the parts that go together. Gonna head down to H&K (Tesco Williams?) or Intermountain Hydraulics tomorrow to get some pricing and a parts list. May have to just bite the bullet. $$. Aargh.


----------



## Dubl0Vert

congrats for still using shear pins! I know a lot of guys that switch to grade 8 bolts and regret it later.

Sucks about the starter...I did one on the beach 2 years ago.....that was a long walk....tide was coming in as I buttoned her up

Bleeders....check for Speed Bleeders if you can, they have a one way check valve that makes bleeding a breeze.

Best of luck w/ the controllers! Hope you continue with the great progress.....This beast is gonna rock!


----------



## magik235

Dubl0Vert;1364966 said:


> Best of luck w/ the controllers! Hope you continue with the great progress.....This beast is gonna rock!


----------



## Maverick4x4

Pretty good day on the blazer. It will now pass inspection and drives 100% better.

Adjusted the brakes, got a battery hold down, new wipers, blinkers, etc.

After going back and forth on options, I embraced controversy and installed a spacer kit to lower the t-case. I know it's not the best, but it will work for now, and made an amazing difference. It appears that a CV will require cutting the perches and rotating the pumpkin, not something I can really do right now.

While my son was installing the spacers, I pulled the front tow hooks. They will not work with the plow mount, so they are for sale. Got a count on the bolts needed for the mount and went and bought them. Ran out of daylight to mock up the mount and drill the new holes.

Also have the list required for the Western/Fisher components required to attach and operate the Ultramount lift and lights, I'll pull the trigger on the parts purchase early next week.

Lastly, I need the bolts for the front driveshaft flange mount to the 
transfercase. What is the size? My plan was to head down to 6-States Disributors next week.


----------



## Maverick4x4

Got the driveshaft bolts. The front driveshaft/t-case interface will not be the failure point. Those are some big bolts for that job. Someone posted to me that it was 7/16". It didn't register in my head when I first read 7/16"...In my mind I saw 5/16". Bolts secured, just need to hook it up. 

Also need to break down the front hubs, inspect and grease them, and make sure there's lube in the diff. 15yo son is getting excited to get the blazer out and do some wheelin'! It is certainly looking the part. Need to get the longer brake lines on before we get too excited.

Also, pulled the trigger on the module/wiring/etc to make the Ultramount connect to the truck side mount and make everything work (reciever/lights/hydraulics). Brown Santa should bring it in a couple days.

I added up the costs so far, $2936 on the blazer/lift/tires/etc, $3125 on the blower/mount/controls/etc, for a total of $6061. I'll break it down in a different post.

Overall, pretty happy with project progress, especially with how much bang for the buck so far.


----------



## Dubl0Vert

Can't wait to see the blower lining up with this beast! It's good motivation while I'm servicing my dinky little 22" blowers. You should grab a 2500 badge next time you're by the pick-a-part!


----------



## 87chevy

Need some d-max hub caps for it 

You should have plenty of offset with those H2 rims, as you can fit a 315,75,17 on a dirytmax with them and just have to trim alittle


----------



## Maverick4x4

2500 badge good idea. I didn't even realize it had the 1500 badge on the door. Good eyes!

The rims turned out better than I thought. I have a blacked out version on my jeep. I wasn't going to run them but then I looked at some other blazers on CK5 that were running them. I had a gift cert to Discount Tires that I could have used, but the H2's worked out. I need to get the special lug nuts to use the DMAX caps. It could happen, once other functional stuff is worked out. The 35x12.50r17's fit nicely. 

It looks small in the pic, but is actually a lot taller than I thought it would be. It does however just clear a 7' garage door opening. Oddly, it's about the same height overall as my eXcursion, which is weird, cuz it looked about the same height before we lifted it, and it's a lot taller now. Or seems so (only 4" + 1.5" from tires).

Control wiring won't be here 'til Tues. I was really hoping to have this thing operational by Christmas, we'll be spending the week at the cabin. Lots to get worked out in a week.


----------



## Rusty Silence

This thing is going to be awesome.


----------



## Maverick4x4

Thanks Rusty, I hope so!

The clock is ticking, really hope to have this operational by the end of the week. Safety inpection is done, just need to get it licensed.

Pulled the blower controls out of the previous rig on Saturday. The rig was up in Park City and it was so nice up there, 39 toasty degrees vs a chilly 24 down in the valley full of winter inversion gunk. Hope it blows out soon.

There are 4 cables that will have to be routed from the cab through the firewall and engine compartment to the front grill. Three of the cables range from 1/2" to about 3/4" dia, each with several insulated wires in a single rubber sheath. One is a big ground cable. 

I think that I'll put the plugs in the front bumper where the license plate goes. Also looking at locations in the grill.

Regarding the firewall, it appears that the best location is to hole-saw a 2" hole just inside from the fuse block. Can't find any other handy locations.

Also spent a little time figuring out where the control box will live inside the cab. Seems that there is just enough room between the driver seat and the center console (grew up calling this the "jockey box" in the blazer we had) rather than hanging under the dash. Either location is easy to reach when driving. 

Also considering gutting the box and mounting the controls in an aluminum panel where the stereo would go. But I want it to have a regular stereo...or perhaps one I saw at Autozone that just has radio and aux input. Though sometimes it's nice to just have a CD in there. 

Need to also find a place to mount the lift joystick. (and need a mount).

I was plotting to take Weds off and try and get everything installed...but now it seems like it may snow that day. Rats.


----------



## Maverick4x4

Merry Christmas! What a busy week at work. Lots of deadlines and deliverables and an unplanned day trip out of town.

Got the blazer licensed on Friday, so at least we can drive it, but no other progress during the week.

Finally got a chance to work on it...on Christmas Eve.

I had hoped to get everything in and the blower hooked up. Not quite. Didn't even get to the wiring, the mount took what was left of the day after some unplanned Santa Clausing took most of the morning.

First, I had to readjust the drag link. When I did the steering column repair earlier, I put the ball joint back together upside down, so the steering wheel is upside down. I'll tear it apart and fix it when I have more time and/or next summer when it's a little warmer. The shop that did the front end alignment adjusted the drag link until the steering wheel was right side up...which meant that it turned really sharp to the left, and hardly at all to the right. DOH!

Then it was time for the frame mount. Fitted it up in...and it wouldn't fit. Plastic air dam (or whatever it is that bolts on the bottom of the bumper). Removed it. Then, bolted the front of the mount in, and put the mount together.

Passenger side sat lower than the driver side. This rig was in a wreck at some point, and the frame got a little tweaked. Or something. The rear parts of the mount didn't want to hit the frame at the same height. It looks like it's designed to fit the frame just ahead of the bump stop brackets, but there's a 2" vertical gap on the passenger side. Guessing that the front frame horn got bent up a little on that side, which changes the angle of the mount. Also, it had about 1/4" intereference with the bump stop brackets. On top of that, there are brake lines right where the holes need to go (somebody had warned me about that, thanks!)

The fun didn't stop there. All bolted in and forced into place, it became apparent that the mount was designed for the stock, flat springs, not arched springs. Part of the mount interferes with the spring. It's just a lip, and looking at it, the interfering part is not part of the load path, so it got targeted for a trim. We had just enough time to remove the entire frame before putting the tools away and cleaning up for the Christmas Eve family party.

This afternoon while the kids were playing with new toys I snuck out and trimmed the offending parts and put a little paint on. I had just enough time left over to cut the hole in the firewall. I found a nice 2" round spot with a divit in the middle, almost as if some Chevy enGineer planned it that way. After a little hole saw drama (hole saw grabbed, center drill bent/broke) I replaced the bit and finished the hole. I came in and fashioned a grommet out of some plastic from a Home Depot bucket and put the tools away.

With any luck, we'll get it hooked up tomorrow. Or at least get closer to finishing. What snow we had at the cabin has mostly melted, with no storms in sight this week. Last year we had over 4' by now.


----------



## Maverick4x4

Good day today. Mount mounted, cab side controls mounted. All Western/Fisher/Ultramount wires and controls mounted except light adapters (they arrive UPS tomorrow). The Western/Ultramount controls the hoist and lights only. The blower controls are separate.

We wanted to mount up the blower and hoist it before we drilled the holes in the bumper to mount the blower controls, just to make sure the hoist wouldn't be in the way. We'll install those in the morning, then fire it up.

The lift works now, and hoisted the blower right up. Heavy sucker! Squished the front tires, gonna need to put air in them tomorrow. Really need some ballast on the back. I'll stick the double dirt bike rack on tomorrow and load it up with some stuff. Maybe a 55 gallon drum of water, I'll throw in some RV antifreeze.

Yahoo!


----------



## Detroitdan

How much of the time are you lifting the blower? When you're blowing it's riding on the ground, right? I feel like the 1000 lbs mentioned as ballast is going to be a little on the heavy side, too much for that receiver hitch imo. Just like having 1000 lb tongue weight trailer, which is probably 40% more than it wa designed for. Or, Icould be wrong, and 1000 lbs will be fine. Just remember, when that weight of the blower isn't on the front, and you're just pushing it, you only need ballast for traction, not the counterweight. Just seems like a lot of leverage pushing down at the rear. 

Which brings me to my next concern. My Blazer has had some welding repair done behind the steering box, where the GMs were famous for twisting and bending and cracking, particularly on lifted trucks. Have you checked this area, and given any thought to reinforcing it? I know braces are available, I've bought them before. With the way that mount connects at the front of the frame stubs then again at a point further back, it looks like it's going to be trying to bend the front of the framerail. My Fishers mount front and then further back also, but the way they're shaped and gusseted it looks like it makes it stronger.

IDK, just thinking out loud. Well, not out loud, but you know what mean.


----------



## Detroitdan

Little confused by some of the stuff I've been reading here. I've owned and lifted many 73-87 Gm trucks, but I don't claim to be an expert, I barely get by. And SweetK30 is usually my go-to guy. My 91 has a 4 inch all spring lift with some kind of traction bars on top, and it is in no way enough to clear 35/12.50 BFG MTs. OK for street driving, but they hit and hit bad when I turn into my driveway, or hit the dip pulling into my parking lot at work. I've got to do something before I plow with it, probably throw some little tires on it, although I would like to lift the truck more. I usually add bodylifts, but the body mounts are pretty unhealthy on this one, so I don't even want to go there. So either trim the hell out of the already bent up fenders, or 6 inch springs. So how are you guys talking about clearing 35s with 3 inches? I'm not into extreme offroading and articulation, I dont go by what the magazines tell you you need, but I've had 35s on a few trucks, and always needed 6-7 inches to clear them.


----------



## Dubl0Vert

Looks awesome Maverick!! Sounds like your install was pretty typical...hitting a roadblock at every turn!! Best of luck with wrapping up the loose ends, can't wait to see more pics of the finished product. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!


----------



## Dubl0Vert

Detroitdan;1393390 said:


> I'm not into extreme offroading and articulation, I dont go by what the magazines tell you you need, but I've had 35s on a few trucks, and always needed 6-7 inches to clear them.


Don't want to flame here...but what you are suggesting is exactly what magazines call for...6 inches for 35s. I lifted my buddy's '87 1/2 ton silverado (still has the fuel injected 305!) with a 6 inch lift (he took the recommendation from 4wheel and offroad) and it dwarfed the 35" ATs. It needs 37s to look right, but I think he is leaning towards a shorter lift due to tire expense.


----------



## Detroitdan

Dubl0Vert;1393578 said:


> Don't want to flame here...but what you are suggesting is exactly what magazines call for...6 inches for 35s. I lifted my buddy's '87 1/2 ton silverado (still has the fuel injected 305!) with a 6 inch lift (he took the recommendation from 4wheel and offroad) and it dwarfed the 35" ATs. It needs 37s to look right, but I think he is leaning towards a shorter lift due to tire expense.


no what I meant was that the magazines would always call for more lift than you really needed to clear tires on a street truck, because you need more if you want to twist it all up on the Rubicon Trail. I remember you could squeeze 33 on stock but only needed a couple inches for it to look good. But I agree, 35s need a 6 inch or a 4 inch and a body lift. Or some serious trimming. My 35s are way too big for my 91.
I dont want to buy another 6 inch kit, I just got done putting in a 4, then taking it out and putting in a 6 on my 1 ton. And like I said, I dont think my body mounts are in any condition to come apart easily and install a body lift. Too many headaches once I start tearing into that. I wouldnt hesitate to put one in my 1 ton, it looks real good underneath. I suppose trimming the fenders and putting in those ORD 1 inch axle relocators might help. My lift seems to have moved the front backwards.


----------



## sweetk30

we got him covered on both ends of his build . Thumbs Up

here for snow stuff .

and www.ck5.com for blazer side.

and yes if not broken yet and also wana keep it stiff and handle better get this for frame brace kit. http://www.offroaddesign.com/catalog/steeringkit.htm


----------



## 87chevy

I could clear 35s on my 87 with a deflated 3 inch lift... might rub a little at full steering lock but they'd fit..

Blazer looks great!! Hope it works good for you after all the work you have in it!!!


----------



## magik235

Getting closer to the finish line. I can't wait to see a picture of it in action. A 35 foot discharge plume?


----------



## Maverick4x4

Soooo close. And yet not.

Quick response to the comments above:

Hitch is probably only good for 500 lbs, not nearly as beefy looking as the one on my eXcursion. Tried to find a weight capacity rating, but too rusty. Rear springs appear to be re-arched, and rear axle is 3/4ton, and it sits tail high anyway. So, I'll keep some weight in the back, and some on the hitch.

4" seems to clear the 35's just fine, and appears that it will when flexed up too. Part of this is likely due to the H2 rims, which tuck the tires in vs typical offset out.

No frame cracking...yet. I plan to have the plate installed next summer. I think that the mount will box the area and actually make it more robust, less likely to allow the twisting that causes the cracking while the mount is installed.

What a day. At 3pm, everything was installed and the blazer and blower were running. Hadn't plugged in the headlight harness that UPS had just delivered, but that could wait 'til I got up to the cabin. Family jumped in the truck and left, I was gonna follow in the blazer. Then I noticed antifreeze dripping.

Started to tighten the hose where it was leaking, and a stream squirted out. Not good. Autozone had one nearby so I got ready to go. Then I noticed that there was no lower fan shroud. What the heck? 

Ok, went and purchased the radiator and started calling junkyards. Nobody had one except one place, and they wouldn't commit because the radiators can be different heights. I got down there and we measured the new radiator and found a shroud.

5pm, got home and installed the radiator. 2" too short. Great. That meant the shroud was too short too.

Called Autozone and found the correct radiator at a store on the other side of the valley. Dog was happy for another car-ride. Drove out, swapped it out, ate a Snickers, and came back home and installed it, and then the shroud fun began, mating the bottom of the too-short shroud to the top of the original shoud. Installed and removed the shroud pieces a bunch of times. Discovered the blower control wires had to be partially rerouted for the shroud to fit. Then another time there was some mysterious fan/shroud intereference. Aaargh!!!

Got done and then installed the headlight harness adapter kit. Pretty straightforward on the driver side. Turned the headlights on...nothing, except a load on the alternator and flickering lights. Hit the highbeams and they worked. Hit the lowbeams again...load/flicker. Nice. Checked all the grounds. Moved to the passenger side to see if maybe both sides have to be installed to work.

Had to remove the battery to get to the passenger side headlights, and then the battery that came in it decided that the positive terminal was done, stripped out. (it was close, and removing the battery and the newly installed extend-a-posts didn't help).

9:55pm, Autozone was closed and O'Reilly was open for 5 more minutes. Zoomed on down and picked up a new battery. Extend-a-post tried to strip out that one too. Didn't have a short enough 3/8" bolt so I cut the end off a long one and created a stud. Got everything back together, including fixing the battery to radiator support ground. Didn't help the headlight issue though.

So here I am, stymied by the headlight issue. Highs work great, Lows don't work at all, and actually induce a momentary load and make the lights flicker every few seconds...that screams grounding issue to me. It happened immediately with the driver side. I disconnected the driver side with the passenger side connected, and it still does it. So to me it seems that there is a set of wires backwards/reversed somewhere in the low beam circuit. I'm gonna poke around a bit on the forums and see if anyone has had this issue.

Brett


----------



## sweetk30

dont ask how i know this but some extenda studs for batterys have 2 diffrent threads on them . :realmad:


----------



## Dubl0Vert

:realmad: stupid wiring glitches!!!


----------



## Maverick4x4

Dubl0Vert;1394714 said:


> :realmad: stupid wiring glitches!!!


Seriously!!!

Today's update: Operational!

Had a small glitch showing it to some guys at work...it cut out right in the middle of turning the chute, so the chute was pointed straight ahead all the way up here, and the deflector was flapping in the wind. The system was dead, no power, no nothing. Troubleshooting said the hot side was fine. Turned out to be the main ground for the blower system. Cleaned it up, and it runs great.

Drove it up from SLC through Parley's Canyon, I took the turns pretty slow and it took a little extra steering input. The only other problem was that it needed a gear between 2nd and 3rd. Wrapped out in 2nd and just didn't have enough poop at the bottom of 3rd. Wishin' I had a tach to know how hard to push it in 2nd. The extra 1000 rpm of the '96-99 Vortec would have come in handy there.

The flip side to that was that the blower blocks the air from the radiator, so it got up to 215-220 a couple times and even with more usable rpm/power, it would have still heated up.

After the summit it was fine, and once I hit the ranch exit, it came up the mountain roads pretty well, did a lot better in 2wd that I thought it would.

Blows the snow great, but can't get a good enough bite in the snow in some of the "non-level" spots when pushing the blower without chains. The chains on the plow jeep had extra links to fit 33's and are way too small for the 35's.

The place I thought would have the cross-links isn't around anymore, and web searches did nothing. I see them around from time to time, but can't remember where. So I grabbed the set that fits the 39's on the jeep, I'll pirate the extra links for the time being. Or find a farm supply store in Heber that sells such things.

Raising the blower just a little gives insta-traction on the front tires, which, by the way, had to be aired up to 64psi (10ply). Aired the rear to 45. Normal pressure for the 10ply 35's on the blazer seems to be around 35psi.

I had to move the sliders on the blower to the front of the box, due to the angle of the blower they weren't even touching. The "grabbers" on the front were also digging into the gravel ahead of the blower. Tomorrow I'll check to see if I can change the overall angle of the blower. Hope to get some vid of the blower in action!

On the lights: A little troubleshooting this morning told me that the problem is when I plug in the high-beam harness adapter to the truck, whether or not it's connected to the rest of the Western wiring harness. Tells me the truck has a glitch. Happens on either side.

My short term solution was to wire the low beams to the Western system only, high beams are truck only. I think the long term solution will be to splice in a toggle switch to power the Western lights at my discretion, high/low or maybe both at the same time, plus I'm gonna mount some other lights on the front of the blower.

And, as a bonus: The long garage bay is 21'-6", and the blazer/blower is 21'-0"! (I designed that bay to fit a shortbed crew cab) So it will fit inside between now and when I knock out the wall. I was planning on doing that this week, but I need to build the new wall first and I burned the first half of the week messin' with the blazer.

So glad it's working!!!


----------



## Maverick4x4

sweetk30;1394480 said:


> dont ask how i know this but some extenda studs for batterys have 2 diffrent threads on them . :realmad:


K, I won't ask. I'll assume you learned by mistakes made by "someone else" 

I'm not overly impressed with either of the extenda studs I bought (two came in the pack). I'm gonna keep looking for a better set up. Maybe a car stereo shop would have something. I'm super nervous about tightening the extenda stud on the negative side. Guessing the makeshift stud on the positive side will be fine...just not what I had in mind.

Problem is, I'm not done with the electrical, I want to add a couple more relays to operate the amp and plowing lights.


----------



## sweetk30

i run multi post batterys in my trucks.

side and top post. all truck stuff factory side post.

then top post gets boat power stud adaptors with wingnut that clamp to top post and give you 3/8 stud and wing nut. i use this for all aftermarkt power needs to keep cleaner and NOT goof with side post terminals. Thumbs Up


----------



## Maverick4x4

I did multi post yellow top in the jeep. Same thing as you, engine stuff on the side, wing nut connectors on top. I love it. The jeep is a K30 if you look closely (454,465,205, D60, ff14).

I was in such a hurry the other night I didn't even consider multi top options, and they had some on the rack. I wonder if I can still swap it.


----------



## Dubl0Vert

That thing looks beastly!!! Pics look great, can't wait to see some video. Makes me want to modify some of the plentiful tractor snowblowers around here to fit the front of my jeep! Of course we would have to have snow for that to be a viable project.....D'oh!


----------



## Maverick4x4

Blew some snow today, during the 15 minutes that it ran. Didn't get any pics or vid.

Spent part of the day yesterday trying to find somewhere that sells tire chain parts (links, connectors, etc). Finally found a place and went and bought what I needed to make the 33" chains fit the 35's. Pics show the chain mods in progress and the blazer before I installed the rubber binders, 2 on each tire.

Ran it for a while yesterday, before the connector on the fuel shut off solenoid lost continuity. Took me 'til 3am to find that mutha. It would run if I primed it and then kept forcing gas with the prime-bubble thing on the gas line. Followed the fuel, made sure the fuel pump was pumping, tore the carb apart and everything checked out. Figured the only thing it could be was the solenoid so when I got up today I tested it and found it was the connector. Cleaned it up and it ran great.

Finished up breakfast and got a call from my cousin, he was stuck in a ditch. First manly test of the chained up blazer. He was on a steep stretch of the main road, hard packed and very slick. He had pulled over a little for someone too impatient to let him get all the way to the top and slid into the ditch. Typically you can back down to a driveway...but the next driveway had some landscaping rocks (somewhat out of place up here on the mountain, but oh well) and he was partially on top of one and was nervous about his new truck. Hooked up the blazer pulling uphill, chains dug in, pulled him out, no drama. Pulled over to let a sidebyside on mattracks go by and undid the strap. I had just thrown the strap in yesterday, just in case. I'll do a followup post on the gear that I'll be carrying in the blazer.

Got back to the cabin and fired up the blower. Cleared out what little snow there was left in the driveway, then ran down our road, then up to clear some parking at my cousin's cabin. That was a pretty good test, it was 18" of settled concrete snow. I had to basically inch forward 6" at a time, let it catch up, and do it again. New powder will be a blast.

I came back up our road and talked with the neighbor, he was just firing up his snowcat. Then I went back into our driveway and finished up the parking area. On what would have been the 2nd to last pass the high speed solenoid failed. As did the starter. With a couple taps with the whammer the starter would remember to do it's thing, but I was pretty much out of time and had to go back down to the office to finish up some stuff for the month.

Gonna dig into the solenoid tomorrow. And either order a new starter or remove it and have someone in town rebuild it during the week. I'll try to get some blowing pics tomorrow.

Oh ya, almost forgot: I stopped by and picked up twenty of the 60# "tube" sand bags and put them in the back of the blazer. 1200 lbs. Partly for ballast...partly so that it will fit in the garage. To fit it in the garage to chain up (didn't want to lay in the snow) we had to stick in the dirt bike rack and have a couple sacrificial teenagers for ballast. And have the blower down. Now it fits (barely) with the blower up, but with the blower down, it has the tail-dragger blazer stance that I hate. I think I'll take 3-4 of the bags out tomorrow and see if it levels up but can still fit in the garage.


----------



## rcpd34

Cool project. _Almost_ makes me wish we got enough snow here so I could do one!


----------



## Maverick4x4

rcpd34;1399063 said:


> Cool project. _Almost_ makes me wish we got enough snow here so I could do one!


_Almost_... I was second guessing the wisdom of the blower vs a nice plow the other night, but I think the blower will get the nod when the snow comes and sits for a couple days and gets crusty and/or gets deep enough that there's no where to push it anymore.

Went up to fix the blower high speed solenoid today. There's a little control box with solenoids for the choke and the throttle. The bolt holding down the solenoid for the throttle had come loose and the solenoid was basically flopping around.

While I bolted it down, my 15yo replaced the self drilling screws on the control module with some round screws/locking nuts. The self drilling screws were down through the front fender and could potentially contact the tire at max stuff.

Also ordered a starter today. Seems to turn over ok when cold, but not when hot.

Pics: Controller, battery and connections, blower connections in the bumper, and Ultramount connection.

Ready for the snow!!!


----------



## Dubl0Vert

Lookin' good! I agree, once you get the gremlins worked out, this will be the setup to have for clearing snow at your leisure...not during or immediately after the storm. Not to mention the heat and tunes make the speed a non-issue.

Those sheetmetal screws would work loose and cause problems down the road anyway... I sometimes zap the nut on with the mig so I only have to keep track of the screws/bolts.


----------



## Maverick4x4

Dubl0Vert;1401746 said:


> Lookin' good! I agree, once you get the gremlins worked out, this will be the setup to have for clearing snow at your leisure...not during or immediately after the storm. Not to mention the heat and tunes make the speed a non-issue.
> 
> Those sheetmetal screws would work loose and cause problems down the road anyway... I sometimes zap the nut on with the mig so I only have to keep track of the screws/bolts.


Do I even dare say I think most of the gremlins are dealt with? Nope, I don't dare. But I have gone through much of the blower electrical and mechanical, and I'm pretty confident that I can now go up and jump in and operate the rig and blower.

Ah yes, heat and tunes. No tunes yet, focus has been on function, but now I'm going to start collecting pieces for the sound system in the blazer, as well as continue with the tools that I may need while operating during/after a blizzard. Best case will be clearing new powder the evening after an overnight/morning storm. Next best will be clearing snow a day or so after a storm, and then the worst will be during a storm.

For the tunes I'm leaning towards a cheap CD player with aux input, USB would be nice, then a powerbass (I think) 800 watt amp and 10 or 12" subwoofer box, utilizing the 4 speakers that are already in the blazer. O'Reilly has a head unit for $120, hoping I can find one on ebay for less. Autozone has one with no CD player, aux only, for $50 or so...very tempting since I never listen to CD's in my jeep. I don't typically shop for stereos at autoparts stores...but I liked what I saw. When I go to stereo stores the prices are higher and a high end system in the blazer would be like putting lipstick on a pig.

You mentioned the tractor blowers earlier...are they PTO powered or ? How much do they weigh? How much snow do you get?


----------



## White Gardens

Maverick4x4;1402340 said:


> Autozone has one with no CD player, aux only, for $50 or so...very tempting since I never listen to CD's in my jeep. I don't typically shop for stereos at autoparts stores...but I liked what I saw. When I go to stereo stores the prices are higher and a high end system in the blazer would be like putting lipstick on a pig.


Back when I was 16, I had a 78 Lincoln town car. All I did was bought a cheap $25 Sparkomatic radio with a headphone jack in it just so I could run my Sony Discman in it. Along with some scavenged AC Delco speakers (which I think are the best stock speakers in any vehicle), it worked out pretty darn good.

...


----------



## Dubl0Vert

Don't say it!!! Don't say it!!! the Gremlins can hear you!

We only get about 3 storms a year, so with a plow on my pickup, and a single stage toro in the back i can handle most of what we get. I've got a john deere (lawn tractor) so I always toy with the idea of picking up a snow thrower that hooks on the front of that. They typically run off the pulley system under the motor, but I like to tinker and a good sized thrower could be fitted with a 11-13hp harbor freight special and hooked to the front of my cj. I like to weld and tinker, and my 7.5 plow is just too heavy for the jeep, so an ultracomplex project is my solution......maybe I should sleep on that one


----------



## Maverick4x4

White Gardens;1402747 said:


> All I did was bought a cheap $25 Sparkomatic radio with a headphone jack in it just so I could run my Sony Discman in it. Along with some scavenged AC Delco speakers (which I think are the best stock speakers in any vehicle), it worked out pretty darn good.


Exactly! That's my approach for the jeep and this...no need for super hi-fidelity when there's a big noisy blower or tires in the background.

Incidentally, I notice that you list your C3500HD as having a limited slip. I'll bet you lunch that if it is the factory G80 (listed on the tag in the glove box) it is the Eaton "gov-lock" locking differential. Yes it has clutch packs like a limited slip, but when triggered by the appropriate difference in wheel speed it locks solid like a spool. I loved the one I had in my '99 454 burb.

I was hoping for the G80 when I found my axles, but was equally happy to install the lockright.



Dubl0Vert;1402833 said:


> Don't say it!!! Don't say it!!! the Gremlins can hear you!
> 
> We only get about 3 storms a year, so with a plow on my pickup, and a single stage toro in the back i can handle most of what we get. I've got a john deere (lawn tractor) so I always toy with the idea of picking up a snow thrower that hooks on the front of that. They typically run off the pulley system under the motor, but I like to tinker and a good sized thrower could be fitted with a 11-13hp harbor freight special and hooked to the front of my cj. I like to weld and tinker, and my 7.5 plow is just too heavy for the jeep, so an ultracomplex project is my solution......maybe I should sleep on that one


Ultracomplex projects are always the most agrav..er, I mean entertaining. And fun. Yes, fun. Hydro-drive it off the CJ pto, or even electric gen and motor, that would be cool. Put a battery bank in the back of the jeep for ballast, hook up some kind of nasty belt driven generator off the engine and slap a motor on the blower, then a lot of the weight goes away.

My son has a john deere lawn tractor for his lawnmowing business and I honestly considered getting a blower for that, but it'd get stuck in seconds.

Tire tangent: It's amazing the difference between the blazer on 35's and the YJ (jeep wrangler) on 33's. Both chained up. The blazer did quite a bit better in the snow that we encountered, even some deeper drifted stuff.

Funny story there...

So one day 20 years ago I was up there in my stock Samurai in a pretty good storm and got stuck in the snow...kept going down hills and couldn't get back up. I didn't have tire chains and I didn't know about airing down in the snow. So I hiked out the 5 miles in knee deep snow to the interstate and hitch-hiked home (no cell phone). Went back up a couple days later with my '74 blazer and chained up 33's and basically dragged it out at 5mph with engine screaming and tires churning at about 35mph, with the chains occasionally throwing up chunks of road and mud and crud.

Fast forward to Saturday morning. Blower on the blazer, 1200 lbs of sand in the back. Get done with sourdough pancakes at my cousin's cabin and head back to our place, 15yo in the back seat (his first time in the blazer not driving it) and 12 yo riding shotgun. 'Cept I turn the other way, down the hill, just to check out the road conditions.

I get to a Y where they stop plowing the main road and it looks packed enough and there are some tire tracks so I keep going. I check from time to time and it seems packed, with the tires barely making 1-2" deep tracks in the snow. Well, the road gets steep in a hurry there, and the snow was drifted a bit and pretty soon I had gone too far. In addition, there's a nasty narrow stretch just ahead.

Backing up works...kind of...very labored and I'm worried about the front axle u-joints. I creep forward again and I'm thinking a lot about the fact that the high speed isn't working on the blower, and how to get the stuck blazer out, and weighing how much it would suck hiking back to the cabin and going home and towing up the scrambler with chained up 40's to pull my own butt out vs being able to fix the high speed throttle and blowing my way out.

I'm thinking a lot about that day 20 years ago, and wondering if this blazer can muster the same mojo that the other one did. I've got about half the HP but bigger tires, rear locker and more weight. I make a command decision and continue forward. We get to the bottom, go past the spot where the sammy had spent a couple cold nights, and start up the other side.

I gave it a little throttle and tested a couple gears to see what worked best; I was already in 4-low. I don't remember which gear I ended up in, but one gave the right balance of rpm vs wheel speed and we kept making slow progress so I kept the hammer down and sawed the wheel and just kept it moving.

We slowly made our way around the curves and up the hill, blazer rocking back and forth, steering was more of a suggestion with the final course being a weighted average of left and right inputs. The engine sounded more like a single speed industrial machine offset by the rythmic churning and grinding of the chained up tires.

After what seemed like an eternity of slow motion progress we reached the top of the hill and pulled on to another main road. During a normal winter this is usually a 5-6 foot drop from the unplowed road to the plowed road on the snowmobiles and can be a real trick coming back the other way, especially after a storm when the road is freshly plowed/blown.

Once on the packed road my 15yo and I started hootin' and hollerin' and my 12yo (who doesn't go wheelin' much, and couldn't really see the road) looked at us like we were crazy. He had no idea the predicament we'd been in, he just thought we had been blowing snow and that's why it was so loud and slow. On the way back to the cabin the 15yo snuck in a compliment about my driving.

We rode the sleds through there a few hours later and just laughed at the silly tire tracks, more like furrows in a field.

Good times.


----------



## White Gardens

Maverick4x4;1402844 said:


> Incidentally, I notice that you list your C3500HD as having a limited slip. I'll bet you lunch that if it is the factory G80 (listed on the tag in the glove box) it is the Eaton "gov-lock" locking differential. Yes it has clutch packs like a limited slip, but when triggered by the appropriate difference in wheel speed it locks solid like a spool. I loved the one I had in my '99 454 burb.
> 
> I was hoping for the G80 when I found my axles, but was equally happy to install the lockright.
> .


In all honesty I'm not sure which one it is. It wasn't stock as the local college installed one after the drivers complained about having no traction in it. If I had to guess though, I would say it's a GM part for sure as they were all about using stock parts on the truck whenever it needed fixed.

It does launch pretty good though being an 8.1 dually. Even being a 9500lb truck empty, the sucker moves when you get on the throttle. That and after last years blizzard, I was busting through 3 foot snow piles that had hardened up after pushing back drive-lanes during the storm. My sub in his 4wd backhoe was pretty impressed and said he didn't think his Kodiak or Top-kick would perform that well.

....


----------



## Maverick4x4

Love the 8.1, it's got some grunt! Hope to have one in the jeep someday. 

Ya, who knows what they stuck in there. You could make a pretty good guess though, based on how it acts. 

LImited slip: If when one side is on ice and one is on pavement, if the one on ice spins a little and the other gradually gets power, then it's a limited slip. Sometimes applying the brakes or e-brake you can help the bias and trick the limited slip into engaging. Most limited slips require some resistance on the spinning side to make the clutches tighten up enough to transfer torque to the other side.

G80 Gov-lock: If the one on ice spins around once or so and then CLUNK it engages and the other one suddenly has power and they both spin together. The clutch packs engage both sides solid like a spool. When torque is released, it opens back up. If the one on ice spins too fast, it won't engage, there is a governer in there that won't let it engage if it is spinning too fast. 

Detroit or lockright: the side on the ice won't spin any faster than the side on the pavement. On a corner, the outside tires will ratchet to let them spin faster, but neither side will be allowed so spin slower than the ring gear.

Brett


----------



## sweetk30

Maverick4x4;1406080 said:


> Love the 8.1, it's got some grunt! Hope to have one in the jeep someday.
> 
> Ya, who knows what they stuck in there. You could make a pretty good guess though, based on how it acts.
> 
> LImited slip: If when one side is on ice and one is on pavement, if the one on ice spins a little and the other gradually gets power, then it's a limited slip. Sometimes applying the brakes or e-brake you can help the bias and trick the limited slip into engaging. Most limited slips require some resistance on the spinning side to make the clutches tighten up enough to transfer torque to the other side.
> 
> G80 Gov-lock: If the one on ice spins around once or so and then CLUNK it engages and the other one suddenly has power and they both spin together. The clutch packs engage both sides solid like a spool. When torque is released, it opens back up. If the one on ice spins too fast, it won't engage, there is a governer in there that won't let it engage if it is spinning too fast.
> 
> Detroit or lockright: the side on the ice won't spin any faster than the side on the pavement. On a corner, the outside tires will ratchet to let them spin faster, but neither side will be allowed so spin slower than the ring gear.
> 
> ARB air locker : best of both worlds gets you full open diff for best tire wear and street driving. then when you need it you just activate the compressor and full locked diff with full 100% poer to both tires. then when done you turn off compressor and back to open diff.
> 
> other selectable lockers : some are electric and some are cable activated . these cn be open diff then full lock or limited slip then full locked. few diffrent brands out there.
> 
> Brett


there fixed it for ya. added last 2 options. Thumbs Up


----------



## sweetk30

3500hd trucks had dana 80 rear axles and this would more than likly get you a dana / spicer power lock posi unit. thay are so heavy duty thay are basicly like a locker in the axle. but best part is 100% full rebuildable. 

g80 rpo code in gm just ment traction adding device in rear axle. as the m-series trucks in 1ton form from the millitary got detroit lockers in the rear when all other civilian trucks got the corperate gov loc unit. dana axles did not get gov loc units.


----------



## Maverick4x4

sweetk30;1407487 said:


> there fixed it for ya. added last 2 options. Thumbs Up


Right you are. I was writing it as a way for him to figure out what he had. If he had an ARB or other selectable then he'd have some kind of switch.

I wasn't sure if it was the Dana 80 or the AAM 11.5.


----------



## sweetk30

i know i was just adding more info for others if thay find this in a search later. 

and 11.5 didnt show till new 99-up silverado body style . 

good guess tho. Thumbs Up


----------



## Maverick4x4

We got a little snow at our house over the weekend, but not enough at the cabin to make it worth going up. Bummer! No snow in the forecast this week either. Bummer!

With no snow it looks like we might go take the Pony Express trail across western Utah with a local jeep club. I'd love to take the blazer but the logistics would be a pita.

Brett (watching the denver donkies wreck the steelers)


----------



## Dubl0Vert

The Jeep will be way more fun on that trail! I hear you with the no snow.....I'm starting to think we might not get any this year and I should pull off my tube mount. I was in the midst of welding up a grille guard when it got cold so I mounted up the plow.


----------



## Maverick4x4

Dubl0Vert;1408817 said:


> The Jeep will be way more fun on that trail! I hear you with the no snow.....I'm starting to think we might not get any this year and I should pull off my tube mount. I was in the midst of welding up a grille guard when it got cold so I mounted up the plow.


While the jeep would be more fun ON the trail part, it's not even being considered due to the 130 mile drive back at 85mph on I-80 once we reach the Nevada border. I've done 75 miles a couple of times at 65-75mph, and had to tighten every bolt when I got back. 

It's actually not _that_ bad, it does surprisingly well for a jacked up jeep on 39.50 swampers. It's a trail/commute jeep that can do highway if it has to. I typically trailer it to and from distant trails.

The Pony Express trail is pretty easy, more scenic than challenging. The choice I was considering was between the blazer and the eXcursion. The blazer is 45 miles to the east, and all chained up and loaded with a blower and sandbags. We'll be taking the eXcursion.


----------



## Maverick4x4

No snow yet.


----------



## mayhem

Pack a bag and head for Alaska!


----------



## Maverick4x4

Supposed to snow tomorrow. Went up tonight to install the new starter. Problem was, new starter didn't have some connections soldered, so I had to run down and buy a soldering iron. Got it installed and blew some old snow.

So glad I went with chained up 35's and rear locker, just the little bit of maneuvering I did tried to stick the truck a couple times, would have stuck a stocker. 

In some off camber spots, a little more wheelbase would be nice, but mostly it is just right. I do get a little nervous for the front u-joints when in reverse with the blower up.


----------



## Maverick4x4

Good times tonight. Got 6" new snow. More on the way. 

I was able to go a little faster blowing the snow than I thought, so very happy! Cleared the road pretty quickly. Got into some trouble clearing the driveway at the top of the road...gravity took over and pulled me into a tree.  I need to attack that driveway at a different angle.

So glad my son could pull me out. And in so doing got stuck...so then I pulled him out. Thumbs Up

I sent the starter folks a pic of the un-soldered terminals. They sent me a new starter today.


----------



## mayhem

Fantastic!


----------



## cwby_ram

That is awesome! :salute:


----------



## Maverick4x4

mayhem;1417876 said:


> Fantastic!





cwby_ram;1417994 said:


> That is awesome! :salute:


Thanks guys!

So excited for the incoming storms I kept checking the weather forecasts today. All storms still on track...

_A Winter Storm Warning for heavy snow and strong winds remains in effect from noon Wednesday to 3 PM MST Friday.

* Affected area: the Wasatch and western Uinta Mountains.

* Snow accumulations: 2 to 3 ft through Friday afternoon with locally greater amounts possible.

* Timing: snow will develop across the area Wednesday afternoon... becoming heavy Wednesday evening. A continued moist westerly flow will allow periods of heavy snow to continue Thursday into Friday.

* Winds: strong westerly winds will develop Wednesday... with gusts in excess of 80 mph along exposed ridgelines. Strong winds will continue at times Thursday into Friday.

* Impacts: very heavy snowfall and strong winds will impact the mountains of northern Utah... making travel very difficult. White out conditions can be expected at times Wednesday through Friday due to a combination of high snowfall rates and areas of blowing and drifting snow. Avalanche danger will also increase due to
these winter storm conditions._

Lovin' the blazer performance in the snow with chained up 35's and rear locker. Amazing. However...the power windows are super slow! Beyond slow!

However, not all perfect: It needs better lighting...Forward, I need to mount some lights on the blower, the plow lights just reflect off the plume. Rearward, the reverse light doesn't correspond to being in reverse. Haven't looked to see why or if it's adjustable. Seems like it is bright enough for the micro second that it is on when I shift.

Brett


----------



## cwby_ram

Maverick4x4;1418919 said:


> Thanks guys!
> 
> So excited for the incoming storms I kept checking the weather forecasts today. All storms still on track...
> 
> _A Winter Storm Warning for heavy snow and strong winds remains in effect from noon Wednesday to 3 PM MST Friday.
> 
> * Affected area: the Wasatch and western Uinta Mountains.
> 
> * Snow accumulations: 2 to 3 ft through Friday afternoon with locally greater amounts possible.
> 
> * Timing: snow will develop across the area Wednesday afternoon... becoming heavy Wednesday evening. A continued moist westerly flow will allow periods of heavy snow to continue Thursday into Friday.
> 
> * Winds: strong westerly winds will develop Wednesday... with gusts in excess of 80 mph along exposed ridgelines. Strong winds will continue at times Thursday into Friday.
> 
> * Impacts: very heavy snowfall and strong winds will impact the mountains of northern Utah... making travel very difficult. White out conditions can be expected at times Wednesday through Friday due to a combination of high snowfall rates and areas of blowing and drifting snow. Avalanche danger will also increase due to
> these winter storm conditions._
> 
> Lovin' the blazer performance in the snow with chained up 35's and rear locker. Amazing. However...the power windows are super slow! Beyond slow!
> 
> However, not all perfect: It needs better lighting...Forward, I need to mount some lights on the blower, the plow lights just reflect off the plume. Rearward, the reverse light doesn't correspond to being in reverse. Haven't looked to see why or if it's adjustable. Seems like it is bright enough for the micro second that it is on when I shift.
> 
> Brett


Sounds nasty. Have fun and be safe!


----------



## slimquinella

badass!!!!!!!


----------



## mayhem

Sounds like a roof mounted light bar with some white and amber lights might be in order here.


----------



## slimquinella

this reminds me of a story my dad told me. He was stationed in minot north dakota witht he air force and he was assigned to the runway clearing crew for winter. they had huge snowblowers that were powered by v12 engines. he was new to the crew so they pulled a prank on his by putting a 5 gallon bucket of red hydro. fluid in a snow bank. they told him to watch out for people because that thing will suck them up and you will not know till the snow turns red. long story short they sucked in the bucket and my dad **** his pants


----------



## Maverick4x4

mayhem;1419226 said:


> Sounds like a roof mounted light bar with some white and amber lights might be in order here.


I'm afraid the roof mounted light bar would get scraped off when I backed in the garage. I was going to run a strobe for sure, but now I'm rethinking where I'd mount it.

For the sake of discussion though, wouldn't roof mounted lights reflect off the plume as bad as the plow-mount lights? Or worse...There is so much snow flying around that I can hardly see in front of the blower on the side away from the chute (opposite of where the chute is pointed). Check out the 2nd pic above, the blazer is covered in snow and it wasn't snowing. I was thinking if I could get the light source in front of the chute that I'd be able to see through the blowing snow a bit and where I was going.



slimquinella;1419306 said:


> this reminds me of a story my dad told me. He was stationed in minot north dakota witht he air force and he was assigned to the runway clearing crew for winter. they had huge snowblowers that were powered by v12 engines. he was new to the crew so they pulled a prank on his by putting a 5 gallon bucket of red hydro. fluid in a snow bank. they told him to watch out for people because that thing will suck them up and you will not know till the snow turns red. long story short they sucked in the bucket and my dad **** his pants


:laughing:


----------



## Rusty Silence

I wonder if you could see a little better if you could turn off the light on the side it's discharging on so you wouldn't be reflecting as much light back into your face?


----------



## sweetk30

Rusty Silence;1421208 said:


> I wonder if you could see a little better if you could turn off the light on the side it's discharging on so you wouldn't be reflecting as much light back into your face?


thats the ticket more than likly Thumbs Up


----------



## Detroitdan

I agree, kill the one light thats right behind the plume. If you can use a rubber mounted light forward on the blower that would be even better. Amber fog lights work good, they dont reflect back as much as white light. I usually have a cheap pair of walmart orange foglights on my plowframe for those rare whiteout conditions. Kill the headlights and youd be surprised how well those fogs light up through it. Of course, nothings going to penetrate that plume, but if it doesnt reflect back as bad, that's help.


----------



## Maverick4x4

Epic snow weekend! The storms arrived on schedule, in the mountains anyway (which was fine with me).

Guessing around 6-8" fell on Weds. Went up Friday with my son and his friend and my parents. My friend had done the side road so when we got to the cabin we 4-wheeled through the driveway and unloaded. Fired up the blazer and blower then I blew a little and then discovered the auger shear pin tab welds were broken.

Called my friend, he could get to it the next morning. Stayed over night and headed over Saturday morning in a freakin' blizzard, could hardly see. It had started snowing in the early morning hours and didn't let up. His welder wasn't big enough so we tried to get ahold of another guy, no answer so I drove over to his shop but he was out plowing too. Driving around was nasty, by this time there was about 10-12" of new, plus the stuff that was blowing and drifting.

I went back to the cabin and rigged it with a chain, but so that the shear pin could still shear. Sorry, no pics of that fine set up, but it worked really well! I cleared everything out as good as I could and then got a call from the guy with the bigger welder. Went over there, welded it up, and then went for a ride on the snowmobiles with my cousin. Still not deep enough to go overland, but the unplowed roads were awesome!

Left my parents at the cabin and took the kids home. Drove back to town in a blizzard, I-80 was covered with snow and all but deserted, apparently they were no longer letting the folks from the Sundance Film Festival in Park City on the freeway (GOOD!). Caught up with the tail end of that crowd halfway down the canyon, all of them camped out at 20mph, afraid to pass any of the big rigs. Holy Hannah!

Got a text from my dad the next morning asking how deep of snow my truck could drive through. It had snowed another 10"! 22" total from that storm (Sat AM to Sun AM), plus the drifted/blown snow! Went back up and they didn't even have the main roads plowed to my road. Chained up the truck and did a full throttle assault up the hill, made the corner, blasted up my road, dropped into my driveway, draggin' axle all the way.

Fired up the blazer and spent the next 3 hours clearing the driveway, road, another driveway and another side road down at the bottom. Broke 5 shear pins! Heavy, wet snow. Finally ran out of gas, took 7.5 gallons to fill it up. Also used 3/8 of a tank on the blazer (11 gallons?). Got some pics, no video yet.


----------



## Maverick4x4

Detroitdan;1422123 said:


> If you can use a rubber mounted light forward on the blower that would be even better.


That's exactly what I was thinking.

While blowing, running the truck lights worked better than the Western lights. When the blower was raised, I had to flip to the Western lights.

I need to find out if the Western lights have an internal relay in the controller or not. If so, simple toggle switch. If not, time for a relay.

I'll probably just install 4 relays and toggles: Western high beam, Western low beam, forward blower mounted lights, and nasty backup lights. Wishing it had a rear wiper (spoiled with my eXcursion)

The strobe, while helpful, can't mount on the roof...there is only 1/2" clearance between the roof and the garage door...it scrapes snow off when I back in.

Glad I didn't try to squeeze in a stereo just yet...I find myself listening to the blower motor to see how slow I need to go. I do need to install the tranny temp gauge...

I need to go ride even more! (the whole reason for the blower blazer was to allow winter access to continue)


----------



## Dubl0Vert

Looks awesome! Glad it is working out for you so well. The added lights on the front of the blower sound like they'll help you out a lot. The chained up 35s seem downright evil, love they way the look with your lift height. 

We got a little snow, about 1.5" and I got to do some pushing and throwing, but not any good quantity.

X2 on the temp guage for the tranny! I blew a rear seal towing my jeep to a trail in PA and noticed because my tranny temp spiked as the fluid level decreased. Quick fix but could have been expensive if I hadn't caught it quick.


----------



## Detroitdan

x3 on the tranny temp gauge. you'd be amazed how fast tempts climb when you start working the truck. Thats the reason everyone says plowing is too hard on auto trannies. I generally have a gauge, an auxiliary cooler, and an auxiliary fan on the cooler. Havent got this Blazer set up that way yet, but that's the plan. Just got my plow on two days ago.

Have to say, I thought at first that a blower seemed a little ridiculous, being a plow guy, and never having seen a need for it. I have seen them used on the highways in the Adirondacks, but for a little truck? I couldn't imagine why keeping up with the storm wouldn't be good enough, especially with a V-plow. But then, I looked at those pictures. I guess I hadn't considered the effects of leaving it for so long, the sheer accumulation is overwhelming. I know it would stop a plow in a matter of feet. Those pics above are amazing! That blower is obviously the ideal way to deal with that kind of snow, the volume and the fact that you may be a day later getting to it. I really like what you've done with the Blazer. I've built a few plowtrucks, swapped in heavier axles, and this weekend I put a plow on my 91 Blazer on 35s. If I don't find some smaller tires to plow with, I'll probably be breaking axles and thinking about upgrading sooner, rather than later.
My first short wheelbase plowrig, I like the maneuverability, but I find it's tough to keep it going where you point it sometimes. Do you find that at all? I suspect the blower actually removing the snow in front of you, moreso than pushing it ahead of you, probably negates that.


----------



## Maverick4x4

Dubl0Vert;1426978 said:


> Looks awesome! Glad it is working out for you so well. The added lights on the front of the blower sound like they'll help you out a lot. The chained up 35s seem downright evil, love they way the look with your lift height.
> 
> We got a little snow, about 1.5" and I got to do some pushing and throwing, but not any good quantity.
> 
> X2 on the temp guage for the tranny! I blew a rear seal towing my jeep to a trail in PA and noticed because my tranny temp spiked as the fluid level decreased. Quick fix but could have been expensive if I hadn't caught it quick.


Thanks! The blazer is super fun in the snow, it'd be really fun to pull the blower and go romp around a bit.

As I've driven around, especially on Saturday in the mega snow where many of the roads weren't clear and the snow was drifting, I've been really happy for the 35's. Chains would have been mandetory with any tire, but I think 35's were a good call, there's just too many opportunities to get stuck. The truck with 32's and chains on one axle barely made it up the hill in the new snow whereas the blazer isn't even fazed.

The chains are rubbing a bit on the driver side on the running board...not too concerned yet.

Right now a plow would probably be more efficient, but in the very near future, there won't be a place to push the snow. Already some of the roads have 3' & 4' tall sides.

1.5"? That's about the most we've gotten at any one time in the valley here all winter, haven't even had to shovel my driveway. Finally went and shoveled my neighbors north facing driveway last storm since they were out of town. Snowed a whole inch last night, at my house, anyway. Benches got 5", cabin got 1-2" (based on the snowcam).

Hope you get more soon!


----------



## Dondo

That thing is a beast!! The lift height is perfect and the hummer wheels look great. 
Good luck with it and keep the updates and pictures coming.


----------



## DareDog

what is with old chevy trucks and blowers on them? ha i seen a another one but a pick up a few yrs back with same blower. 

that thing looks like a Beast! get some videos of it!!


----------



## magik235

Great pictures. Outstanding outcome. Good luck with the rest of winter.


----------



## Maverick4x4

magik235;1427974 said:


> Great pictures. Outstanding outcome. Good luck with the rest of winter.


Thanks! It's been a fun project, looking forward to the access that it will provide. And the fun in and of itself, heh heh.

Supposed to get another 5-10" this weekend...but thinking of going south to play in the jeep. Ironic, huh?


----------



## Maverick4x4

Quick follow up: 

The rig works great, as does the blower. We didn't get the usual amount of snow this winter, but the system worked great during and after the snow that we did get, including a recent 16" dumping. It also rocks as a recovery rig and has been pressed into service more than once. 

Since it is a success, it will go back up on the mountain next fall for sure, and we're going to have to find something else for my 16yo to drive.

Thanks all for the help!


----------



## Maverick4x4

Update: The blazer had a rather boring winter, though it got very stuck on one occasion. It pretty much sat from March to August. I started it a few times, and did some work on the blower.

Sitting apparently caused the brakes to rust to the drums or something. We went up to grab the toys due to the threat from the Rockport 5 fire. The plan was to put the blower and the sleds on the trailer, and have Matt drive the blazer.

The blazer didn't want to move for Matt. I traded him places and rocked it a little. BANG and it was free. He pulled it out of the garage and started moving it out of the way so I could pull the trailer down and put the blower on the trailer.

I told him to take it out of 4x so it wouldn't stress the front axle on dry ground with all the blower weight. He was having a hard time backing up though, so he put it back in 4lo. Then he noticed the driver side back tire sticking out 12 inches or so. Oh Snap! There went the plan for him to drive the blazer home.

We got it on the trailer and hauled it home. Found a detroit for cheap and then a ff14, but ended up swapping in a shaft from a junkyard for $20. Didn't even take it off the trailer. Bought a spare for $15. Maybe I'll swap in a ff14 next summer when I'm not in a hurry. Pretty cool carnage.


----------



## Maverick4x4

And here's a before and after from last weekend. With some plug re-wiring in between.


----------



## Maverick4x4

Starting to think about blowing this winter. I need to sand and paint the inside of the chute and line it with teflon (or something?). I'll take some cardboard up this weekend and mock it up. No idea where to buy it though.


----------



## rcpd34

Why not try bedliner material?


----------



## Maverick4x4

rcpd34;1824016 said:


> Why not try bedliner material?


On the inside of the chute? Seems like that would make the problem worse (clogging with snow)


----------



## rcpd34

Maverick4x4;1824028 said:


> On the inside of the chute? Seems like that would make the problem worse (clogging with snow)


I had my local guy coat the spinners on my salt spreaders with bed lining material; I just had him leave the abrasive out of the mix so it spread smooth instead of rough. Works great.


----------



## novawagonmaster

Just read your entire build thread. I love this thing. Just glad I don't have a need for it!


----------



## Maverick4x4

Update: still loving this thing. Heading up tomorrow to clear 25" of fresh slow.

I'm looking at a dual alternator set up. The Blazer spends most of its time at an idle, crawling along while the blower blows. I recently replaced the battery that was installed in 2011 and it's not as big, and doesn't like lifting the blower very much.

I also get an odd thing where sometimes when the engine is under load, the alternator will quit charging. It does not happen in reverse.

Brett


----------



## rcpd34

If you ever get tired of that truck, let me know.


----------



## ktfbgb

rcpd34 said:


> If you ever get tired of that truck, let me know.


Haha I'm sure there are more than one guy on here that would fight you for it.


----------



## iceyman

ktfbgb said:


> Haha I'm sure there are more than one guy on here that would fight you for it.


Videos?


----------



## Maverick4x4

I don't seem to be able to load video from my phone (file too large). I'll try a photo.


----------

