Adding a custom rollcage and suspension to a classic Squarebody Blazer!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 22 ก.ย. 2022
- The green Blazer is back under the knife for some killer upgrades, but first we need to address some seriously hazardous work the previous owner left for us on the frame. I have never seen something so bad!
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Link to the seat bracket mounts for late model GM third row for your Blazer!
www.merricksgarage.com/new-pr... - ยานยนต์และพาหนะ
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James, I’m the previous owner of this Blazer and I was completely shocked at the hack job your video shows that was done on that frame because that is not the frame I sold to the current owner. When I sold that truck to the current owner I had done a 2 1/2”shackle reversal with 6” super shackles and HD front shackles, brand new bushings and greasable spring bolts. During the video I noticed that the rear shackle hangers still have the factory rivets in them and if that was the frame that I sold him they would obviously have bolts instead. This was one of the best driving k5’s I’ve ever owned and I’ve owned 5 of them. I have pictures of most of the work that I did to it. Bottom line is that some work was done on this Blazer after he got it from me and before it came to you. I have spoken with the current owner about this. This Blazer deserves all the great work you are putting into it.
Yea Rick I know this wasn’t your work. I think I’ve seen a couple of your trucks and they are killer.
@@MerricksGarage thanks James I appreciate that
Completely out of curiosity: under what situation would someone buy a K5 and then have the frame replaced by what looks like the least mechanically inclined person available? Any rundown on the suspects?
[Edit: and under what situation would you replace a frame to.begin with? Rust? A frame with killer lift kit, axles etc -- which I don't see here anyway as being replaced as we see)
It is a mystery. I have no idea and have been wondering the same thing myself
@@MerricksGarage literally now the more interesting K5 epic story -- maybe it was for the engine and somehow the idea of swapped bodies seemed better than swapped engine?
Very nice. A roll cage and updated seats are definitely on my list.
Right on!
I'm hoping the guy who committed this awful sin sees this video, so it's never repeated and I am definitely glad you were able to correct this atrocity as it definitely shows your skill. Your channel is the holy grail of info and if there's a heaven for squarebodys...it's your garage! Keep sharing the knowledge, my friend!
Q: How difficult would it be to go from a dropping tailgate to double doors on a 1980 GMC 'Burb K25? It's about 95% similar body.
Crazy to see a hack job that bad on such a clean truck.
Seats look great in that green blazer I got the same kit from u lol those shoulder belts for the kids are great
Great layout on the video. That was a nasty hack job, I hope the leaf springs were moved back to the angle you wanted by fixing the frame
they are better, but now I have to do the pinion shim to fix the driveline angle
Got to say this is a great video of mistakes made and to learn what to watchout for thanks dude your awesome
Thanks man. Appreciate thats
great job guys, fun to watch
I think this is your best video yet! Keep up the good work!
wow! Thanks man. If you don't mind what do you think made it the best? I am always trying new things, so curious as to what you thought made this video better!?
@@MerricksGarage this video seems a little better "produced". Although there was not tons of detail, I like the way it told a complete Story from beginning to end with all of the modifications and repairs that were done. It was just enough detail to satisfy my curiosity and learn about things like that Digital dash which would have been overwhelming to think about prior to watching the video. 👍🏼
Awesome. Thanks for taking the time to respond. Appreciated!!
Everything in my dash works great just the lighting sucks I remember a video where u can upgrade to l.e.d bulbs
I would love for Merricks Garage to do my suspension & roll cage as of now the 350 fuel injection in my 91 still runs strong
The 78 has the foot well, the 77 didn't. So it is an early pre 78 frame under the 78 body.
Great job James. 👏
Needed that Cage 4 my 74, 77, & 79 K5's 😆 🤣 😂 🙂👊👍👍✌🇺🇸
I need a closer look on how the door speakers were done on the green K5. If he's keeping the 6 lug axles, take a look at the Hummer H3 front brake conversion. I love mine. And swapping in a late model 10 bolt can give you rear disk brakes and a 4" wider axle. It's almost bolt in. Same u joints, and it enables keeping a parking brake system.
About door speakers, I didn’t want to cut up my doors so I made kick panel speaker pods for 6.5” speakers. I used the factory plastic kick panel as mold (covered with foil and waxed to prevent the resin and fiberglass from sticking to the plastic) to shape the back of the pod so it would sit right up against it when done. I used fleece fabric for “fiberglass” and fiberglass resin and using wood to get the shape I wanted. Look up how to make fiberglass speaker enclosures on YT, it will help a lot more than my explanation. It’s not that expensive to do and you get to mount and angle them however you want. It’s also makes for a fun side project to do instead of busting knuckles, or getting rust in eye.😂
LMC actually makes kick panels for 6.5" speakers that I just installed in my burb. They are awesome and don't need you cut up the door
Just saw your build on ORD's website congratulations. You're videos have been really helpful with my build.
awesome! thanks for the kind words brother!!
Box the rain had a piece of railroad steel across the rear end above the rear axle. Give it wait for the rears not so late.
I like the rear section of roll bar.
My burb came factory with a 8 pack 56 leaf 88 tree quarter ton. It's got a modified set from me and hangers from a 77 tree quarter ton .only body modification is front fenders because dually Dana 60 hubs and offsets with 39.5 iroks rub a 8 inch lifted front so I made them not rub and closed up the chop holes because it might see lots of mud
Dude a 3/4 ton truck on 40” bias ply tires takes a man to drive on the freeway!
@@MerricksGarage o no not with swampers I plan on replacing with larger and a trailer .tires are almost $800 per for 47 ltb swampers I want the complete life out of them
You should talk to Steve and Kurt about getting some merricks garage discount codes going
'78 is when they added the foot well. I suspect the frame is earlier. I run my dad's '78 he bought new.
Interesting. I should check the VIN next time it’s here. I thought it was a 78 but at this point who know?!
@@MerricksGarage Its probably a '78, but you might compare the frame with a later model K5 that you haven't hacked up. 😉 Love following your journey. Just did a 3,500 mile trip in my '78 K5 and a buddy's '90 Burb with some friends. Got some great videos and pictures. -Cameron
@@MerricksGarage That frame is an older 73-77 one. The foot well change you mentioned happened in 78. So someone swapped an older frame. In California the frame year goes with the title. So a 96 body on a 65 frame, gets registered as the 65. I am bringing this up for two reasons. Should be not titled as a 1978, even though the body is a 78. Other reason if it's a 75 or older frame. It's smog exempt. So it might be a blessing in disguise.
I have a 77 Blazer that is a good start to restoration and am wondering if y'all do project trucks like this for your show?
I remember a video earlier in the year or maybe last year in wich u said u don't do LS swaps only full builds etc.
Whats a rough cost on custom leafs? I have a 91 burb stock that i wanna do a 6inch with 35s but ride as smoothly as it can. What are your recommendations
Any reason for the muffler in the vertical ?
Pumped!!
That frame hack job SMH. Awesome work on the cage, super clean.
thanks man. Haven't done a cage in a while so it was a fun project. Stoked on how it came out and kinda disappears with the roof on.
if that was my truck I would be frame shopping
And then what? I mean this ain’t pretty but I know it is strong.
Agreed, the tubing may add rigidity back but it won't stop any crack migration or help the stress risers created by the cutting torch hack job.
What size lift and tires? I am getting ready to lift mine, probably only 2”, but love the look of this blazer. I daily mine, off-road maybe a couple times a year. Some videos on my channel of the progress since the restoration. Really enjoy your content
Thanks man. This is a 3” lift with 33”
Do you have a good source to find the radiator support bushings and bolts? The ones I bought from classic ind. are no Bueno
Radiator mounts are available from daystar
hey merrick! we are doing a 1988 blazer. where can i see your rear bench seat bracket and what donor seat does it use
www.merricksgarage.com/new-products
I bought your seat brackets... but I won't be home till December
That is insane, the definition of a hack job, good thing you’re making it right for him…
Noticed the 12 bolt rear, not a 10 bolt-nice! Just a quick question on the cage-is it bolted thru the floor with plates underneath (sandwiched)? I’ve seen roll cages rip right out of floors, before.
Yea it is sandwiched. Still not the strongest but customer wants minimal cage. This is better than nothing
@@MerricksGarage you guys do good work-like the channel. I’m a huge squarebody fan. I’ve had 3 K-5’s & two 3/4 ton big block Burbans-love ‘em!
Seen many of the videos. Dig em.
Would like.to know your #1 choice for bolt on suspension.
Not everyone has a fabrication shop at our disposal.
These off road design were bolt on. 🤷🏼♂️
@@MerricksGarage and what are your thoughts post installation? Would you recommend this for the average guy with a decent set of tools and mechanical aptitude
Appreciate the repky
Hey man, I love the channel! Question for ya; those seat brackets that you make, they've gotta be a high liability item. You must've had to get them tested before you could sell them. Where did you go, or who did you contact for this? BTW, I've got a 72 Blazer that I could use a set for. Will yours fit?
The reason for the ask; I've got a little project of my own cooking, and I know people are going to ask me to make them one! I don't wanna put myself in a position to get my pants sued off. Lol
He specifically states that they are for off-road use only
yea, much like anything in the off road world these are for off road use only. I can't control what people choose to do with them once I ship them!
@@MerricksGarage I made a frame for the exact same seats: my solution was simple but expensive -- two stainless square tube runners with stainless round stock cross bars for the latches to grab. I made brackets the round stock slid into for more welded surface. The square stock runs long to give more leverage to prevent the seat from rotating through the floor in an accident. Seat functions perfectly and the brace bolts to original points.
Yo mr James @10:07 what's up with the Suburban?
thats a friends 68 he was storing at my shop for a couple of weeks
James, I could imagine, that the kids will bumb their heads to the tube over their heads 16:41. Is it possible to move this tube a bit behind the seats? Anyways, love your channel 😀
its a toss up. Move it back and you need to move the bend of the family cage. That will weaken the cage proportionally, so it is a give and take. I am generally more concerned about the cage to the side as that is closer. No cage can be perfect, but a solution is to wrap the cage in high impact foam and tape
Hey don't forget Alcon spring the best leaf spring makers in the USA because of orbit eyes
Well Alcan is who Offroad Design gets to build their leaf springs lol. They just take the guess work out of it for you
@@MerricksGarage i like the orbit eyes no more bushings giving you trouble and more flexibility.
Traction bars, and sway bars
Where is your garage located?
Santa Barbara
I'm in the middle of the rust belt, on the east coast and am scrapping what's left of a 91 Blazer. The only good thing left is the fiberglass top. I hate to scrap it if someone could use it. Anyone?
I would if you were closer!
Wait; “Kodak and TopKick,” badges? Is there a mega-build in the near future?
lol, I wish. Maybe coming in the future, but right now I have a killer little surprise up my sleeve. A dream truck that I just scored that is gonna be for sale. Newest squarebody I have ever bought. And the biggest!
You have a non California blended accent. Canada? New England? Moved around a lot?
They put the blazer body on a pickup frame I bet because the blazer frames have a flat spot there for the foot well
It's a blazer frame from 73-77. The foot well came in 78-91. They used an older frame and hacked it to fit the foot well.
yea, thats what it was. Still trying to figure out why
That thing needs a new frame, I wouldn’t trust it even with your “reinforcements”
meh, its stronger there now if anything. And I made them long enough to not transfer load to another weak place.
Lol. Only locals know what that plate means.
Nothing more expensive than a cheap truck . that couldn't be more right
This truck needs a frame swap.
Not sure if you caught this yet, but if not, check out this burb build from power Nation
th-cam.com/video/BtAVNfqy5Kw/w-d-xo.html
I have seen some hack jobs but jeez.
Yes definitely the worst I have ever seen
I have an 81 Chevy C20 3/4 ton. After hearing all the histrionics about how C10's and Blazer frames crack due the stress from the steering box I crawled under my C20 and was amazed at what I saw. No hint of cracks but I did see a factory piece of metal bracing, sort of an ashtray shaped piece of thick steel bolted to the inside of the C channel using the steering box bolts themselves. So my question is, why would anyone pay for a major steering overhaul for thousands of dollars when they could just buy or probably even make this steering box brace piece and drill three holes in it themselves?
I still use my truck as a work vehicle, it has a solid, diamond plate steel, oversized work bed on it that probably weighs 3,000 lbs. I also regularly max out the load capacity with this truck hauling a dump trailer with trees and rocks in it. I have oversized wheels and tires on it, it doesn't wander at all and I can literally turn corners using just one finger to spin the wheel. I would expect that if anyone were going to get a cracked frame I would but I have zero problems.
I guess it depends on personal preference for the body or frame swap. I have both links and custom springs and the links do ride better but not by much. THe custom springs when paired with a matched set of shocks are awesome
@@MerricksGarage On my C20 I have factory ride height but wider/taller wheels and tires (I could go bigger), factory leaf and coil springs and new Bilstein 4600 shocks on all four corners as of yesterday. It drives like a new Cadillac when all I do is beat the hell out of it constantly. I'm a European car enthusiast and not used to all the working room and simplicity of these chevys, it's like leggos to chinese algebra in comparison. I'm not afraid to do major modifications like swapping adapting 6 speeds to 5 speed cars but one thing I learned a very long time ago is not to go messing with factory front steering unless there's a really, really good reason. So I guess my preference is to leave my chevy steering and frame alone. If I had a C10 and knew where to get the factory "ashtray" that's on my C20 steering box connection point I'd spend probably less than $100 to buy it or make it since it's so simple.