BAGnDRAG-K5

I would like to ask you guys/gals what would you do? I am considering cutting an access panel in the rear section of my Blazer to access the air compressors, air tank and fuel system. Pros and cons? Thanks in advance!

truckboy

i didnt slam frame or anything like that but i did help a co-worker of mine with his 94 chevy z71 full size. we dropped it 8 1/2 inches all the way around so that he would still have his 4 wheel drive but he would just be able to tuck the fenders over a set of giovanni 20 inchers wrapped in nitto dune grapplers. this project was a pain in the rear and it took us about 6 weeks to finish. First things first, you need to be able to weld solidly and cleanly (practice, practice, practice). second you will need about 8 jackstands and 2 separate floor jacks because you will need access to both sets of a arms at the same time, so both sides will have to be suspended at once. now for the fun. you will need to order a set of drop a arms, upper and lower for your vehicle, so that your ball joints will be re-alligned when your suspension is set lower. or you can just get a set of adjustable ball joints for your vehicle if drop a arms arent availiable (sorry you didnt specify make or model of your truck). this will take care of the future alignment issues. you will then need to find a set (2) of ford ranger slip driveshafts(rear driveshafts only), yes i said driveshafts. you will need to find these driveshafts off of a 1987-1992 four wheel drive ford ranger only. once you get the rear driveshafts you will understand. these driveshafts have solid bolt on u joint ends and therefore had to have a greaseable slip shaft in the center of the driveshaft to allow for driveshaft travel as the suspension flexed. you can cut these greaseable shafts out of the driveshaft carefully with a sawzall or torch and you will be able to use these slip joints in your cv axles. you will now need to get your airbags/a-arms and all the hub assembly re connected and get the tires on the truck (just as if you were doing a final assembly minus putting in your cv axles). you will now need to drop the truck until the center splined hole in your hub lines up horizontally with the splined hole in your front axle where the cv shaft normally goes in. you will need to measure the distance straight across from the back of the hub to the point where your cv axle joins to your front axle. this will be the shortest distance that your cv axle will ever need to be. you can now cut the center section of your cv axles out at the appropriate legnth as to be able to weld in your ranger greasable sliding shafts. note: when measuring to see how long your cv axles will need to be in order to accept your rangers sliding shafts, you need to have your rangers shafts compressed as far as they will go. once you have determined your overall legnth of the cv axle, and cut out the appropriate legnth from the middle to accomodate the legnth of your compressed slide shafts, then you are ready to weld it all together. you will clean and weld the compressed slide shaft to each side of your now measured and cut cv axle stubs. in essence you are replacing a solid shaft between two cv joints with a sliding shaft between two cv joints. note: on certain model truck the travel of the front axles is allowed by the shaft being able to slide inside your splined hub. if you have a truck like this then you will have a splined shaft in your hub and a solid bolt on cv joint on a flange that bolts on to you live front axle section. in the case that you do have a truck like this you will need to have the center section of your outer splined shaft (the one that goes through your splined hub) drilled and tapped so that you can use a washer as a stay to keep the shaft from pulling clear of the hub (sliding all the way out of the hub). this needs to be done by a machine shop so that it is centered exactly, or it will wear out your shaft in 20k miles or so. this process is fine to do now because you will be getting all of your distance of movement from your greasable sliding shafts and will no longer need your splined cv shaft to slide inside your hub assembly. you can now clean up and paint all your parts, install your new front axles and slam a 4x4 to the ground . obviously for time and space reasons, some small things like break line holders and shock selection have been left out of this discussion, but this should get you started on your ride for now. hope this helps and i wish you good luck. its nice to know i wasnt the only one crazy enough to try that.