Lift options for 2000 Blazer

Hi,

I recently lifted, locked, and regeared my Jeep Cherokee for 33" tires and now my buddy is all jealous that his 2000 S10 Blazer (4-door, not a ZR2) can't get him to the same fishing holes. So he says 'how can I lift it?'

He would be happy with 31" or 32" tires. I'd like to avoid a body lift. I'm looking for any info or suggestions on a suspension lift for this vehicle. I also have some specific questions:

  1. I searched for suspension kits and was surprised at how limited the selection was for the 2K+ Blazer. I see lots of stuff for 19??-1999 S10. Is this compatible with the 2K Blazer? What changed between 1999 and 2000?

  1. I found a 2" Superlift kit (K451) that has front control arms and rear add-a-leaf with extended shackles. Is this a good (complete) kit?

  2. How much tire will 2" susp lift fit without trimming?

  1. Could you fit 31s or 32s on a 2" susp lift with trimming and after market flares? Any recommended flares?

  2. I found a 5" Trail Master kit (CT15) that does a spring-over with the stock leafs. Anyone know if this kit will work with the 2K Blazer? Will I have trouble with steering geometry or drive line angles?

  1. Are there any other suspension lifts out there that will work with the 2000 Blazer?

  2. What differentials does the 2000 Blazer have? Are there any common junkyard diffs with compatible R&P in 4.10 or 4.56 ratio?

  1. I'm very intimate with my Jeep's live front, but I really don't know much about IFS. Any good '101' sites out there on IFS (S10 Blazer specifically) that describe issues with lifting?

  2. Is there a viable solid axle swap for the front? Would it be easier to do leafs or 4-link with coils?

Thanks,

Steve

Reply to
Steve
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1-8: IFS lifts- screw 'em. THEY SUCK!

9:

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. There's a couple guys there in the Suspension swap forums who've done solid axle swaps. I just bought every part I need for my SFA out of an 87 Wagoneer for $600. That won't pay for 1/3 of the cost of a IFS swap. Strongly suggest the Wagoneer axles as they are Dana

44s. Dana 30s and 35s are not going to live long under the weight of an S10.

Solid axle is the way to go. I will be doing mine in the next month or two.

Do the SFA- you will not be sorry.

BTW-- I see you regeared for 33s. What motor are you running in your XJ? My XJ with 3.55's and 33s has plenty of pep. What ratio and motor did you come with, stock?

Reply to
nyb

Superlift sells a kit for 1983-2003 S-series vehicles. I haven't dealt with the kit so I don't know the quality. It was the first one I saw when I searched. All it replaces are the control arms, gives 2" in front, and adds a leaf for 1" in the rear. All the rest I see, in about 5 mins. of searching, are for 2WD trucks.

See above, I guess I found the same kit you did.

MAYBE a 31x10.5, depends a little on the wheel. I have a 2000 S-10 ZR2 with 31x11.50's on the stock 15" wheels (RPO PA3) and the flares needed a little trimming.

Maybe, a ZR2 is 3" higher than a regular S-10 and anything bigger than a 31 needs trimming.

Driveline angles, yes for the rear. Not sure what the kit does for the front, but it should also come with corrective parts for ANY geometry that will get thrown out of whack.

See above.

Yours likely has a 7 5/8" ring gear in the back, though an 8.5 is a very slight possibility. Look here to ID the rear

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The front may be a 7 1/4" ring gear. That's what the ZR2 has and all I can find is that the ZR2 has an "enhanced 7.25" ring gear" front axle.

Main issue is the CV shafts. Whatever you do, you want the shafts to end up as close to parallel to the ground as possible. The main killer for them is severe angles, so the most you can minimize the angles, the longer they'll last. The "best" IFS lift is one that drops the front diff down as well, to help counteract the CV angle issue.

Reply to
Mike Levy

BTW: Solid axle swaps are MUCH easier to do with leafs. No trig involved, and they're pretty much a no-brainer.

Bad thing about IFS lifts is-- you don't gain any clearance. The front diff gets dropped via a drop bracket-- so you don't gain clearance under it. Teh torsion bars get dropped, too-- so no clearance there. After all is said and done, you end up having the same lackluster performance the truck had stock, with very little wheel travel. I think my Blazer gets about 5" of wheel travel, stock.

I'm copying a friend's build, and he gets in the neighborhood of 30" of travel.

the

Reply to
burntkat

Amen.

Every part? Cool. Are you going spring-over front and rear? How much lift? Do you need to fab a crossbar for the front of the frame to hang the springs? Are you using stock shackles and steering linkage from the Waggy? Do you keep the Blazer steering box? Using the stock Waggy brakes? Are the jeep axles close in width to the Blazer's GM 10-bolt?

My buddy uses his Blazer for a daily driver and he is worried about loosing his posh IFS ride. He's zoned in on this lift:

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Looks like a very involved install. I'm trying to convince him to go live up front - probably similar cost in terms of money and work (for leafs anyway).

Reply to
Steve

Avoiding this one for sure. No drop so it increases CV angles. I'm also not a big fan of the add-a-leaf. Superlift has a 6" kit but its apparently for ZR2 only. Looks like Trail Master is the only option for suspension-only IFS lift to clear 32x11.50 tires.

Thanks again,

Steve

Reply to
Steve

Yeah, looks fairly simple. Any gotchas to watch for? Steering, brakes, hangers, etc? If my buddy goes this route, he's probably looking to limit lift to 5 or 6 inches - enough to clear 32x11.50 without making angles too steep on stock drive shafts. Whats a good donor vehicle for front leafs and shackles/mounts?

If he goes with the 5" Trail Master kit he's going to get these to fix the torsion bar issue:

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Compelling argument for solid axle. Specifically what are you doing on yours? Spring over? How much lift?

Thanks,

Steve

Reply to
Steve

All info is available at

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My build is going to be 6" lift at maximum, as measured under the doors of a stock vehicle. This, coupled with the front axle being moved 2" forward from stock and the back axle backward 2" from stock, will give me room for 33's with very little cutting if any needed. . Plus, since my wheelbase will be about 4" longer and she'll have a 350 under the hood soon after the swap, should make the Blazer a pretty decent tow rig for my needs. Folks with V8 Grands regularly use them to tow their trailered Jeeps to the trailhead around here.

My build will use the following:

from 87 Wagoneer :

-fr> > BTW: Solid axle swaps are MUCH easier to do with leafs. No trig involved,

Reply to
burntkat

In order: Yes. SU front, SO rear. 6" at a max- I am not crazy about stupid-big rigs. Yes. No but I could, and yes. Yes. Yes- absolutely, they're HUGE. Within 1", as I recall.

reports from the guy who's build I am copying are that his truck now rides BETTER. He sprung for the expensive shocks, and his vehicle was 16 years old when he built it.

WAY too much work for it to just sit pretty and not be worth a damn offroad.

if he can do the work himself or with your help he will spend about 1/2 the money he would have spent on the IFS kit ALONE, not including install. This is why I took a couple years off from my desired completion date of December 2002 to learn to weld. I do suggest youhave the crossmember built by a good welder, and reinforce it as much as possible. See the other post I made on the subject a bit ago for directions on how to make one.

I think when all is said and done, I will have about $800 into mine . Then I'll turn around and sell the IFS front chunk, control arms, and rear axle and make back $500 easily.

Sweet. I've got a 90 XJ Laredo as well. I am going to 6" and am not sure if I am going leafs or coils at present. I'm leaning toward staying with coils- just want to find where some of the noises I'm getting are coming from in the front end and then go from there.

I've got the 4.0, AW4, and 3.55 ratio. Seriously considering a 350 swap- I already have the 700R4 and NP231C I'd run behind it. May just put the 4.3 I'm about to pull from my Blazer and put it in for the near term then step up to the V8 in a few years.

Reply to
burntkat

Thanks! That's exactly the kind of info I was looking for. Sounds like much better alternative to the IFS lift. Hopefully I can use my buddy's Blazer as a test run for the D44 front swap I've been thinking about for my XJ. :) If I have any more questions (I'm sure I will), I'll take them over to the s10-4x4 forum.

Steve

burntkat wrote:

Reply to
Steve

:)

Recent noises I had:

  1. Left coil scraping on corner of track bar bracket when left wheel drops. A bit of grinding fixed that.

  1. Loose track bar mount was creaking when steering or flexing.

Steve

Reply to
Steve

You going coils or leaves on that D44 up front?

Hint: Early Bronco Dana 44 front axle damn near bolts in-- especially if you change over to the Ford radius arm setup

Reply to
burntkat

I've got #2. I have the RE adjustable trackbar, and the TRE at the frame end is the culprit.

I've got Kevin's trackbar kit ready to go in-- to get rid of the TRE altogether- but just bought a house so can't find the time to do any wrenching.

Reply to
burntkat

Yeah, I've been looking for one. May have to settle for an earlier year and do a disc brake conversion. Only downside is the weaker ujoints, but that can be fixed. Don't think I'd go with the Bronco radius arms. Probably limit travel too much and I don't want to get into wristed axle housing mods. Shouldn't be too hard to jig up the required link brackets so I can retain my RE arms and JKS sway links.

Steve

burntkat wrote:

Reply to
Steve

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